If you’ve grown tired of your friend’s boring garage band and wish they could just kick it up a notch, you’re probably not talking about We Are Hex. Their last single, “Twist the Witch’s Titty,” was released on Jack White’s Third Man Records and started We Are Hex’s path to long overdue recognition. They’re a noisy rock band from Indianapolis and they sound like what you wished the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s could be in your wildest nightmares and more.
Chicagoans got a taste of We Are Hex at a show where they supported Rabble Rabble’s 7-inch release earlier this summer. At that show, everyone in the Empty Bottle probably a) had a crush on lead singer Jill Weiss, b) was blown away that this was the band’s second show with their new guitarist and c) embarrassed and shocked they’d never heard these monsters from just one state over.
We Are Hex sounds influenced by punk bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees and other hardcore/punk acts with front-women, but you can’t peg them as a band that relies on their girly singer to make up for a lack of substance or talent. It isn’t a gimmick and you’ll realize why after taking a listen to just one song. The band’s ghostly, eerie and cultish take on rock ‘n’ roll needs high-pitched squeals and squeaks from Weiss. Her voice sticks out yet makes you feel like you’ve heard it before; it makes you second guess who you’re listening to.
While the backing instrumentals sound like the members of the all-male band Women having some ‘roid rage, We Are Hex implements high-pitched feedback-infused staccato single note guitar riffs that are out of this world. You’ll instantly hear why Jack White wanted to put out their last 7-inch and knew they’d deliver a killer performance.
I got a chance to meet the band after their third show in Chicago at the Abbey Pub. During this hour-long conversation in a drippy, leaking basement, I learned who We Are Hex is and why their live show is so mesmerizing and their songs so captivating.
When I asked founding member/drummer Brandon Beaver what working with Jack White was like, he said: “Yeah, I guess Jack White saw a video of one of our shows on the internet. I was out to dinner on my birthday and got a call from a protected number. When I said ‘hello,’ the person on the other line said, ‘Hey, my name’s Jack White and I like what your band is doing and was wondering if you’d wanna come down and work with me in Nashville sometime soon,’ and we did. Literally, the whole process took about three months from the initial phone call, to recording, to mastering, to the pressing and release of the 7-inch. [It] was so refreshing compared to what I’ve heard from friends who work on major labels where the process of releasing and album can take two years. His whole studio down there is built on rock ‘n’ roll, and even the vinyls are pressed just a few miles from the studio itself. It was also cool to look up from playing my drums and see him [Jack White] in the control room totally rocking out as we recorded.”
Brandon: “Well we’ve just been doing this so long that it’s who we are. We’re not in it for fame or money. We’re all artists, not musicians. None of us can read music or know theory—we’re artists and we just choose music. We just channel our aggression, emotions and energy into our music, and after 10 years, we’ve gotten pretty good at it. That’s why [new guitarist] Jeff was such a good fit for our band, we had known him and seen him play in bands for almost 10 years, we knew he was a lifer like us, but on the other hand I have some friends that say, ‘If I’m 36 and not doing anything big, I’m quitting music.’”
Jeff: (interrupts) “Yeah and that’s bullshit. You can’t just quit like that if you’re in it like we are. You do this because you love it, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. Whatever it is you do, painting, sculpture, whatever, you have to be willing to sacrifice for it and be in it 100 percent, otherwise everything else in your life will suffer.”
Brandon: “Yeah, like tonight, we spent $100 just on gas. We all work full time, some of us even more than that. Jill works at the Historical Society and has a master’s degree in—something, I get paid too much to essentially sit at a record store and do nothing, and Jeff gets people drunk and steals their money (pause)—he’s a bartender. The job is secondary to the band, and you can’t just quit your day job if you wanna play shows and get out there.”
As more water dripped on my head, I realized that I had gotten about as close to a “band ethos” that I would ever get. That’s where the magic behind their sound comes from. These days anyone can get together and start a noisy rock band in the garage and put the results on the Internet. What separates We Are Hex from that is the true dedication behind their music. They push themselves to the limit—and then some—every time, and that’s how their songs can get heavy and washed out, but still crack like a whip.
