Mit ihrem neuen Werk "Design The End / Follow The Horizon" dürften die aus Florida stammenden Hand To Hand endgültig dem Newomer-Status entwachsen, präsentiert sich hier doch eine Band, die sich im Vergleich zu deren LifeForce-Einstand "A Perfect Way To Say Goodbye" und der im Jahr 2008 erschienenen EP mit dem bezeichnenden Titel "Breaking The Surface" weitaus gereifter, befreiter und vor allen Dingen auch mutiger präsentiert. In jedem Fall dürfte "Design The End / Follow The Horizon" als Paradebeispiel dafür gelten, dass melodischer Hardore – man darf das hier Vorgetragene an dieser Stelle gern auch als Screamo betitulieren – noch lange kein klischeebeladener Einheitsbrei sein muss. Bereits im Vorfeld der Veröffentlichung von "Design The End / Follow The Horizon" sprachen wir mit Hand To Hand-Frontmann Robert Kellom:


SJM: You had to cancel your fall tour due to a family emergency, so I guess you'll be on tour in the States in Europe in spring and summer 2009. How does that feel like with a brand-new release like "Design The End / Follow The Horizon" in your pockets? How does it feel like leaving home for such a long time and just concentrate on the band?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: First I would like to thank you for giving us the chance to answer these questions.
We couldn’t be more excited to get back out there and start playing shows. It kind of feels like its be raining all day and you cant wait for it to stop then you go outside and ride your bike. Except out bikes are our instruments.

SJM: I suppose a good place to go on is with the new record. The release date is set for May 11th, at least in the US, and it is entitled "Design The End / Follow The Horizon". Upon first glance, this is a quite poetic and melancholic sounding title. Now I'm pretty interested in this sort of stuff, so I was hoping you could briefly elaborate on where the title came from, and how you think it relates to the rest of the record.

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: To us its one of those titles that sums up everything this band has endured. We have gone though member changes and the constant setbacks. It’s like a whole new design but we kept pushing to see that horizon. It’s our way of saying “never give up”.

SJM: What, in your opinion, and after having listened to "Design The End / Follow The Horizon" for about a hundred times in the studio, are the most exciting aspects about the new record?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: The four guys behind me making sweet noise are the most exciting. I personally feel lucky to have such a talented group of friends.

SJM: Well, your honesty, integrity and ambition shines through you music. Your band definitely writes honest music, at least that's my opinion. Your band seems to stand for a certain kind of emotional intelligence that sometimes gets missed in nowadays music. Do you as a band ever think about your lyrics and music in this particular way?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: Yes and No. I think anyone writing lyrics or music should try to translate that emotion into their sound. I think our songs pretty much write them selves. We are just the puppets who play them.

SJM: What is the main difference between the messages portrayed in the lyrics of "A Perfect Way To Say Goodbye" and "Design The End / Follow The Horizon"? What different thoughts are being brought out through your music? Have you mostly stuck to the same topics, or have you progressed to another subject matter?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: Well with the first album, we were so excited to have a chance to get the hell out of our town and tour. And with the new album its more like we have seen the ups and down and we want to ride this bus to the wheels fall off.

SJM: From my point of view one could call your songs melodic hardcore, but all of them seem to take a quite melancholic viewpoint on life. What would you retort to that? Am I partially right with this?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: One would or could say that. But when we started this band we never paid attention to these made up music genres. I think you would probably find our cd the rock or the r&b section. We hope one day to be sold in libraries as well.

SJM: From my point of view, Hand To Hand have become far more melodic. Whereas some of the songs remind me of earlier work of Thursday and Grade, most of the refrains remind me of a band like Saosin. Are these references you could easily live with?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: We would love to be amongst those powerhouses but we are going to have to work on our fitness a little more.

SJM: You keep your fans up-to-date via your MySpace-site regularly. How important is MySpace for you as a band? How important is MySpace in times like these? Do you think it's a great possibility to promote a band?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: Myspace, facebook and any other site that you can keep your fans up to date is a must have. I personally don’t keep up with today’s technical advances. So I give all our fans my home number.

SJM: As long as we’re on the topic of youth bands - where do you feel the industries' headed?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: DANCE DANCE DANCE!!!

SJM: Whether you’re going hardcore or screamo - it tends to be a youth oriented movement. How do you as Hand To Hand stay young in the genre?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: No one starts listening to music when they’re old. We like fresh minds, they headbang better.

SJM: Just let's briefly talk about your plans in 2009. What are the most important aims and plans with Hand To Hand? What is about to happen?

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: We really want to tour and keep touring as much as possible.

SJM: I always leave the last statement for the band. Is there anything you might want to add or just say? Then please, be my guest:

Robert Kellom / Hand To Hand: We couldn’t have made this possible if it wasn’t for those out there taking the time to listen. Thank you! Pick up a copy of design the end/follow the horizon in stores this may. If you don’t like it, it makes one hell of a Chinese star!!!!!

(Dennis Grenzel)