Editor’s Note: Hyro The Hero is emulating what it means to be a hard rap/rock artist. The primary reason why he had such a hiatus from 2011 to 2018 was that he was trying to find his identity as an artist. He latched on to bands such as Korn, Atreyu, and the list goes on and he completely found his voice with his critically acclaimed 2018 release “Flagged Channel”. This man doesn’t steer away from controversy either, he keeps it real and provocative. However, he’s been hunkering down like the rest of us(or what they should be doing), and doing remixes of songs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this interview with Madness To Creation, Hyro The Hero discusses the COVID-19 pandemic, craziest live show moments, and how he would react if he saw Donald Trump in a mosh pit, along with collaborating with Munky of Korn for “Devil In Disguise”. He hinted at hopefully releasing new music this year. Fans can find Hyro The Hero at the following locations:
Madness To Creation: Hyro, how are you doing my man?
Hyro: Pretty good, my brother, how are you doing? What’s good? Just trying to stay safe out here.
Madness To Creation: I saw on your Twitter account that you’re doing some remixes for the #StayAtHomeChallenge, what are a couple of remixes that you’re doing?
Hyro: I’m just doing some remixes while being locked up and staying at home to show off my creativity, just trying to stay creative in the meantime, cause right now it’s the perfect opportunity for musicians and things, to show your talent and to connect with the fans, and I’m just trying to find a place where I fit in and I’m real good at that kind of stuff, so I’ve been waiting to put it out.
Madness To Creation: What are a couple of songs that you remixed, I saw one with the Deftones and one with Refused I believe.
Hyro: The newest one I did was Refused, I did Deftones and I did “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit, I believe that’s the only three I did right now if I’m not mistaken. I’m working on an Atreyu one right now, and it sounds crazy, I made it real dope.
Madness To Creation: What Atreyu song are you working on right now?
Hyro: “Lip Gloss and Black”, I think that’s what it’s called, I have to go back and see which one, I like to do one of their main songs, one that hit the best, the one that I can work the best. I wanted to do “Ex’s and Oh’s”, but it was real fast and it was kind of weird, I just gotta find the right way to sample it, to make it cool enough to rap on, you know with the new style and everything.
Madness To Creation: You should remix “The Theft” by Atreyu
Hyro: Yeah, I’ll have to check that one out, I have one ready, but I might do that one.
Madness To Creation: Was gonna say, it’s a slower song, but it’s really heavy, the guitar work is brilliant on that song and Brandon, their drummer, just goes off in the chorus.
Hyro: Yeah, they really go crazy! I was listening to their tracks, and I was like, “whoa, these guys are wild” *laughs*
Madness To Creation: What are some songs or bands that you’re listening to right now that make you just vibe out and go crazy?
Hyro: The bands I’ve been rocking out to are usually my homies that I’ve rocked out with, bands like Sleeping With Sirens, Atreyu and Fire From The Gods, I also can kind of kick it old school with Deftones and Bad Brains and stuff like that, so it gets like that. I also like old-school hip-hop, like I’ve been listening to 2Pac’s greatest hits and I try to vibe out to them when I listen to Spotify and all that.
Madness To Creation: After jamming out to your music I can see you touring with Fever 333 and Body Count, dumb question of the day, would you like to tour with Body Count?
Hyro: Hell yeah! That would be crazy! *laughs* That would be insane, but another band that you should check out is Dropout Kings, they’re my homies from Arizona, they’ve got some real cool stuff, they do trap/metal, it sounds real cool.
Madness To Creation: One I’ve been listening to the other day was DJ Diesel, it’s Shaquille O’Neal as an EDM artist, his beats are crazy.
Hyro: For real? Man, there’s so many artists out there now that you’ve got to stand out in some kind of way, and that’s where I come in with my style, I stand out a bit, especially recently, especially with remixes of songs, I can do that real easy bro.
Madness To Creation: What makes Hyro The Hero stand out in the music industry?
Hyro: I would say the way that I am, my personality and my vibe. I stand out with my voice, the way that I rap on tracks, things of that nature. I really would say I’m not just a typical rock artist that’s dressed up in the band clothes or with the spiked hair, I’m just being myself the whole way through, I think that’s what separates me and my energy and my vibe.
Madness To Creation: I really dig the track and music video for “Bullet”. I love the V For Vendetta and Anonymous vibe to the video, fun question for you, if you could collaborate on a track with Anonymous what would it be called?
Hyro: Are you talking about the Anonymous, the people that are against everything kind of vibe?
Madness To Creation: Yeah, he has all those YouTube videos talking politics and how we need to wake up
Hyro: I haven’t see those videos but I know it’s from V For Vendetta, my music in general is something that vibes with all across the nation, the 99% against the 1%, that’s why I say it in what I do.
Madness To Creation: You definitely have your own schtick. What was the most fun part about the music video?
Hyro: It was cool because I shot it in Houston and I got some of my homies involved, it was just a cool experience shooting a music video in Houston, I’ve always wanted to do that and get my ‘hood involved, that’s where I come from, everybody came through and showed love, I think that part of it was really special to me. I’ve always wanted to do a rock song but give it a rap type of video. I think I kind of came across there like that.
Madness To Creation: Speaking of which, with the COVID-19 pandemic going on, is the tour with Asking Alexandria, Falling In Reverse and Wage War still happening?
Hyro: Man, I’m so excited about that, but yeah there has been no word yet, but it’s most likely that it’s going to get postponed if anything, but there’s no official word on that yet, but man I’m so excited about that. But since Corona came along, it’s likely going to get postponed. I just want everybody to be safe and everything, but when that time arrives, we’re going to get out there and do what we gotta do.
Madness To Creation: What’s the craziest thing that you’ve done live?
Hyro: It was in Dallas, and I went on top of this speaker, I didn’t think that it was going to be so high and I was like, “I’m already up there, there’s no coming back from it, holy shit fuck you gotta get down somehow. I jumped off of that thing and it was so far, you can see it on Instagram, it looks crazy! When I jumped off, the crowd was in silence like they were in shock, they didn’t even know how to react to it.
Madness To Creation: And you lived to tell about it?
Hyro: I know, exactly! *laughs* but I wasn’t just going to climb down.
Madness To Creation: My luck is that I would either under jump or over-jump.
Hyro: Yeah man, when I was younger I saw a Pearl Jam documentary and was like, “whoa, you can do that stuff”, but I gotta change my performances.
Madness To Creation: Let’s say you start packing arenas and stadiums someday, what are you going to have on your stage?
Hyro: It will be crazy man! I think about that too, I don’t even know! *laughs* I think about that sometimes, that’s a real good question, when I think about that big stage, all I think about is pyro when I jump. I know I don’t want too many cool EDM style of lights, that’ll take away from what I do, my performance is kind of what makes everything. I don’t want too much, but I might jump in the air and come down with fire.
Madness To Creation: On “Flagged Channel”, you got to work with Munky from Korn for the song “Devil In Disguise”. Give me a list of your favorite Korn songs or albums and what was something that you took away from Munky while working in the studio with him?
Hyro: First of all, Munky is just awesome man! He’s just an amazing human being. My favorite Korn songs are “Coming Undone” and “Freak On A Leash”, those are songs that just get you bouncing, those songs are just epic. I come from a rap background and when we heard Korn, and we were like, “this is insane” and when they collaborated with Ice Cube, what was the name of it, it was on the Family Values tour or something like that?
Madness To Creation: Yeah, they collaborated on a song called “Children of the Korn” on the “Follow The Leader” album.
Hyro: Yeah! I was younger when it came out, but that was insane. I was at Download Festival in 2012 when I was performing, and I looked to the side and there was all of Korn watching from the side of the stage, and I thought that was crazy and they all gave me props and I got cool with Munky and we stayed in touch, and when I was working on “Flagged Channel”, I asked him if he wanted to join in and he came through so nice and he killed it so easy, and that song is so epic, it’s usually the first song I perform when I come out on stage.
Madness To Creation: What’s that feeling like when some of your peers, as this has been documented, that are headlining are watching you?
Hyro: It is epic and it’s so cool, it shows you and drives you in where you can get to, they’re like a goal to reach. Just to be a part of that and they give you props is a very special feeling.
Madness To Creation: At Madness To Creation, we focus on mental health awareness and normalizing mental health conversations, what advice do you have for our readers and listeners, and what makes Hyro The Hero happy?
Hyro: Honestly, I’m not no mediation person and I’m not no Zen person, but it’s just always great to break away from people, which is epic that everybody can do that right now, and you can sit here and literally focus on what you need to do. You can think about your goals, you can think ahead, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing because sometimes my mind’s been running so much that I want to go here and go there. Ever since that I’ve been in this little state, I’ve kind of been sitting down on these beats and make beats. I can see different ways of doing my social media, different ways of performing, I look at performing and focusing in on your goals, see the future and just kind of make those things happen. Even if you can just break away for five minutes or ten minutes and just zone out. Turn the TV off and step away from the phone, those are other things that I like to do.
Madness To Creation: What makes Hyro The Hero happy?
Hyro: What makes me happy? Music honestly, seeing my music getting heard by people, if there’s one person or 10,000 people, it’s whatever, and getting the acknowledgement of someone saying, “hey, that’s a cool song”, that’s always a cool thing. I ain’t really ever heard of a bad thing, but if someone doesn’t like it, someone else will.
Madness To Creation: Fun question for you, let’s say you’re rocking out at your concert and Donald Trump gets into the mosh pit, what would your reaction be?
Hyro: I don’t know man, I probably wouldn’t be mad at him honestly, cause if he’s down with it, then it’s kind of cool, but he might get treated like how you’re supposed to get treated in the pit. I wouldn’t trip on it, but other people might go off on him. To me, they’re all the same to me, I don’t really judge them on that end, but if he’s in the pit, I gotta give him props for sure.
Madness To Creation: At your concerts, what’s your favorite thing that the audience does?
Hyro: My favorite thing is the mosh pit, I feel some kind of way if I don’t see a mosh happening, it’s my favorite thing, you can’t expect a mosh every time. There’s always one person that builds up so much and they might be like, “is there anybody us that’s going to join me right now”, and when you see that momentum build up that’s when it turns into a full out mosh, it’s my favorite thing ever.
Madness To Creation: Do you like stage diving?
Hyro: Oh yeah, I never trip on that, some people may not like it but I don’t mind it, but at the level I’m at, I don’t really care. *laughs* I’m so close to people anyways, if you get on stage and jump off, it’s cool. I saw somebody climb to the roof in New Orleans, somebody got the mic and started singing, but at the level we’re at it’s punk rock, but as we get to the bigger stages.
Madness To Creation: Give me one artist or band from Houston that I should check out.
Hyro: I don’t know really any new bands from Houston but I know Kings X is from Houston, so yeah that’s dope. I just know they’re from Houston, I haven’t really jammed them, but that’s the one thing that I remember they’re from Houston honestly. But Fishbone and Bad Brains are my thing. Houston would be more rap honestly that’s like Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, and Slim Thug.
Madness To Creation: Any rap that you cannot stand?
Hyro: Oh man! Some of this new rap, I don’t get it at all, it’s that autotune singing and all that kind of stuff. You gotta do what you gotta do, it’s not that it’s necessarily bad, it’s more about the rhythm than the words, so I don’t like that so much. I come from the era of lyrics, but it’s not like that no more, these kids are more about feeling now, it’s just how you feel in that moment, and then they make another song about how they feel in that moment the next day, it’s just about making this right now and putting it out.
Madness To Creation: Anything else you want to add in regards to your future plans or “Flagged Channel” or anything like that?
Hyro: Just get ready for my new album coming soon, I rock with Better Noise, and I got about seven or eight dope tracks right now, they sound amazing and I’m finishing up the album. I got a single dropping with Ben from Asking Alexandria, that’s insane. Whenever this tour is happening, I got this great album, I think I did better than “Flagged Channel” on this one. I can’t wait for people to hear it.
Madness To Creation: Do you have any working title for the album?
Hyro: I haven’t thought of it yet.
Madness To Creation: Definitely looking forward to checking it out, thanks so much man!
Hyro: Thank you man!
On Friday, July 18th, Hyro The Hero will be performing at Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin. For tickets and further information, click here.
- We are anticipating based on the interview that the Asking Alexandria/Falling In Reverse tour is going to get postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will keep you posted as things transpire.
