Severed Hand
This "5 and Dime" interview was conducted on the phone with Paris Bierk, the drummer for Severed Hand, on November 10, 2005.
This "5 and Dime" interview was conducted on the phone with Paris Bierk, the drummer for Severed Hand, on November 10, 2005.
Tell me about your band Severed Hand and its sound.
We're from central New Jersey, but we don't fit into that scene music-wise. There's a bunch of bands from there that are more trendy, but Severed Hand does things on their own. I'm Paris Bierk, the drummer. Our "industrial-influenced" bass player is Mitch Burger. He is a great bassist and he adds some vocals. Dave Keelen is our rhythm guitarist, adding some leads as well as some vocals. Paul Christian is our lead guitarist, he does all of the guitar solos, and he is real energetic onstage. Severed Hand was originally a four-piece band, until we added Walter Figueroa recently as our lead vocalist. I met Walter in New York City, and he's an amazing singer. Since he joined the ban,d, it's been Walter's year to shine. As a four-piece band, people were labelling us power metal/screamo, but we wanted to add to that mix. We wanted to avoid getting labelled or being just another band in a trendy scene. Walter added something new, we can write heavier songs and we're more comfortable on stage without worrying about vocal limitations. Our sound is a little bit of everything good that's come out of metal, and we all bring in our various influences. Paul, Dave, and Walter do most of the songwriting.
Talk about your band's CD, "Keep Your Wives Inside" and the musical statement you're trying to make
"Keep Your Wives Inside" will be available at cdbaby.com real soon, but you can also pick it up at our shows. Or, you can contact us through our website or Myspace page, and we'll make arrangements. There are rough mixes of the songs that you can sample on our myspace page. With this CD, we want to introduce our sound. The songs are a culmination of what we've done the last five years, and we're really proud with how it came out. The musical statement is that we are Severed Hand, and we're gonna kick your ass with some straight-up heavy metal.
Severed Hand recently opened shows at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, for Sebastian Bach, and at Dingbatz in Clifton, New Jersey, for Seven Witches. Are any more live shows planned?
We're piecing things together for shows here and there, but we're all busy with school and jobs. Next year, after school ends in May, we hope to tour and play all summer.
What does Severed Hand have in store for your fans in the next 12 months?
We're writing new songs and hoping to demo them this winter. We might do an EP just to get these songs out there, but with four songs done, we're also throwing around the idea of a concept/theme record. We're playing some of the new songs now in our set, and these songs are a lot heavier.
Feel free to promote anything else you'd like that applies to your band.
Our official website is www.severedhand.com and our Myspace page is www.myspace.com/severedhand. We're hoping to add an Electronic Press Kit at the website. Shirts and our CD are pretty much it as far as merch, and you can purchase them at a show or through the website.
Please share your thoughts on Dimebag Darrell.
When I was much younger, Dimebag and my Dad (Sebastian Bach) were working on a side project and he stayed at our house. I don't remember much of it, but Dime hung out in my room, showing me some chords and guitar riffs. I was so young, but he was so cool taking the time to show me things on guitar. He was so sharing of his gifts, he appreciated everyone and everything. I can't believe that somebody would take such an amazing musician away from this world. Our band, and especially our lead guitarist Paul Christian, was influenced by Pantera and Dime's prowess on guitar.