Introducing:
Rusted Hearts
For Fans Of: Armor For Sleep / Senses Fail / It Looks Sad.
Not new to the industry, the members of Rusted Hearts have all made music individually before coming together two years ago to form this dynamic four-piece. Now, having just put out the second of three EP’s that are tied together by storyline, we chat to Patrick Farmer about the grief behind Waiting Room, where the idea to do a trilogy of releases came from, loving The Clash and more.
Words: Renette van der Merwe
Photo: Amanda Specht (Press) & Kate Becker (Live)
Interview
Tell us a little about yourself. Where the name came from, how long you’ve been going for and anything else new fans would want to know.
I’m Pat, I play in Rusted Hearts. The name actually came from my girlfriend, she was always saying I should release the songs that eventually made up Return Home, but I didn’t have a name and she was always going on about this name she had come up with which was “Rusted Hearts” cause we’re from Cleveland so technically in the rust belt. I did the tedious Bandcamp and Spotify search for other artists of that name and there wasn’t anyone directly with Rusted Hearts so with her blessing I used the name and I couldn’t be more thankful.
We’ve been going for as a band about 2 years now. But all of us have been playing in separate bands for years since I was about 16 or so Michael (bass) and I were playing in bands together and Nate (drums) I met just being in the scene I actually recorded his first band which was like a Twenty One Pilots style 2 piece type of thing which was actually super sick. And Christian (guitar) I met through a mutual friend who was always going to shows and showing me demos and such so when he started writing songs with Christian I met him and we just kinda hit it off.
If we have any new fans which I hope we do! You can hit us up on the Rusted Hearts Hotline at anytime all of that is in our socials and just that we’re really really aspiring to make music that we relate to and something that can help you through the day or a test or just different aspects of life in general.
Going way back to the beginning, can you recall your very first memory of music?
Yes! some of my very first memories with music stem from my dad actually. I remember the first time it really clicking when I was in like 4th or 5th grade when my dad would put on London Calling from The Clash I really like REALLY loved The Clash for the longest time like they were my favorite band for a very long time. After that my dad kinda drip-fed me new music through his record player. His favorite band was YES so we always were listening to that but I kinda found my own identity in The Clash and so when he showed me bands like The Kinks, The Ramones, New York Dolls those bands just kinda clicked with me more when I was trying to find my own musical identity early on.
“Waiting Room presents vulnerability through raw vocals and honest lyrics that remind me of music by bands like Can’t Swim, Tiny Moving Parts, and Signals Midwest.”
Soft Sound Press
Who’s on your wishlist of artists that you’d love to collaborate with and/or open for on tour?
As far as touring goes Jimmy Eat World, Armor For Sleep, Better Off, Microwave, I Am The Avalanche, Koyo, Overgrow, The Early November, Light Years, Sommerset Thrower, honestly there’s so many more but I will spare the audience.
Collaborating wise I’d love to work with Jimmy Eat World, Kim Petras, Senses Fail, Just people who I really respect and I feel like they would have so many insightful things to say. Again there’s so so many more but I will just narrow it down to those three.
Speaking of live shows, what’s your favourite story from a show so far?
I’d say my favourite story from a show going perspective would be when Michael and I would go to these Light Years shows and just like go off crowd surfing and shit. People probably hated us for real but it was just an absolute blast being able to have those times with him.
Playing wise probably has to be playing our friend Alex’s Birthday show. It was a super good time and got to play with some bands I never thought I would see play again live everyone was just in a room full of friends you could mess around with and stuff so no one was taking it too seriously just a fun time for everyone involved.
Your new EP, Waiting Room has been out for a month. What were some of the most fun and most challenging aspects of recording it?
It’s really challenging just kind of believing in the songs after you’ve heard them like 100+ times, we record all the music ourselves so we don’t ever have a producer there or an outsiders ear to be like “no that part is kinda weird” or “we should think of something new here” I do 100% believe in what we do and I’m always super happy with it but when you’re like in the trenches with it it’s always really hard to tell. Which is funny because my favorite part of recording is being able to do all the recording! I love having all the tonal control and just messing with sounds and pedals and just trying to find what works and what doesn’t or discovering a sound that I didn’t have before, It’s just super awesome to be able to put your songs under that microscope and kind of watch it grow.
What inspired the idea of creating a trilogy of EPs that all tie together?
It was after my family’s cat Jill passed away she was always just a part of the puzzle piece and seeing how it operated after she was gone inspired me to write about that just having that piece taken away from you. If you’ve heard Return Home before a lot of the songs I have on that are about my family or about my interaction with my family even if it’s awkwardness or embarrassment. It’s just continuing that feeling with the same introspective look but also looking at the rest of my family and trying to write out what I’m seeing in their grieving. I just felt like Jill was such a large part of our lives so I wanted to “immortalize” her in some extent. The next ep has alot of elements on letting go and finding comfort I don’t think Waiting Room gives the listener, you can keep your eyes open for the final EP in early 2021.
Settle an argument for us (and the rest of the world) pineapple on pizza?
I genuinely can’t say I’ve had pineapple on pizza! so I can’t reaaaaaaaallllyyy say it shouldn’t be there. But at the same time I morally cannot put pineapple on a pizza so I’m saying pineapple is chalked. This answer was provided by Banana peppers & Mushroom Gang.
Music
Inspiration
Rising to the challenge, Rusted Hearts have put together an electrifying collection of songs that best encapsulates the artists and music that inspire them as a band.
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