hAND are a 3 piece Progressive Gothic Metal band from Sussex, England. Originally a duo combining elements of rock and trance, the two founding members Kat Ward and Kieren Johnstone joined forces with drummer Cris Nelson early in 2006 and the band in its current incarnation was born.

MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/handgothicband
Website : http://www.handtheband.com/?ajax=yes

(Q)What are the origins of hAND and where did name come from?

Kat: Originally we were a two piece messing about with guitars and synths; myself and Kieren got together and just tried writing a few tunes. Kieren was already in a band, and I've always been into music. It was more a case of composing together rather than forming a band.
We never really had a genre in mind when we started, so we wanted a name that was quite neutral. Our music has always been quite busy and technical even when we used a drum machine and hAND seemed to fit what we were doing.
(
Q) hAND have drawn comparisons with Evanescence in the past, not least because of Kat Ward's vocal style and skills as a singer-pianist being reminiscent of Amy Lee. What are your thoughts on this?

Kat: That comparison has been there from the start, I feel it's mainly because I have deep tone to my voice which is similar to Amy Lee. It was never an intentional thing, piano is my first instrument so it was a given we were going to include it in the first album. Personally I'm quite flattered that reviewers would even place our names in the same sentence.

Cris: Evanescence are a very successful, very highly rated band, and though the comparison (as far as most bands go) would make you go "aaaaargh" I think it's actually quite a feat to already be compared to a band of that magnitude so to speak.

(Q)One of the things reviewers of 'Deadroom Journal' seem to have in common is how to categorize the sound of hAND, how would you personally define yourselves?

Kat: We generally just go with Prog - Goth or Progressive Gothic Metal. To me our music is mainly Prog, Metal influenced (Tool, Dream Theater, Hell Is For Heroes etc) but my lyrics and vocal style are more reminiscent of Gothic bands.

Cris: I would first like to take the time to say that I'm sooo tired of this question, haha, the way I like to look at it, or the way I look at it from a percussive point of view is we're a band that takes influence that anything that sounds good.
The music is all based around a lot of modern, heavy influences, and we all bring our own individual influences to the table. Our music taste as each band member goes is very diverse and random.
The easiest example for me to use is, Essentially, I'm a metal drummer, however, Kieren plays a different style of guitar, and Kat also does her own thing. Our songs can be influenced from things as modern as Machine Head to silly old 70's progressive rock, Pink Floyd and that entire lark.

(Q)You once competed in the AKG Unsigned Heroes competition and ultimately finished in the top twenty, how would describe the experience of competing against so many bands?

Kat: Unexpected. It was one of those things that I signed us up for not expecting anything to come out of it. I sent off the form and forgot about it until I got a call at work from AKG saying that they had picked us out of 800 bands to go into the public vote. I just found it weird especially when we heard the other bands that had got through.

(Q)You recently announced you are going to start performing live again next year, what can your fans expect?

Kat: New songs, we started preparing for Deadroom Journal 6 months before we were due to go into the studio and in that time all we did was practice, and tweak click tracks. Since finishing that all the ideas we've had for songs have come pouring out. There may also be something big on the horizon next year in terms of live performance but I can't say anymore till more has been confirmed.

Cris: A magical treat for cynical ears worldwide, we've spent, and are spending a lot of time perfecting each and every bar, note and mood of every song.
We've got something for all styles. Incredibly powerful songs that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Metal songs as heavy as steel plated iron girders wrapped in stone and coated with a layer of solid steel.
And, for the sake of having a bit of a laugh, a slight touch of disco funk.

(Q)What can you tell us about the artwork present on your merchandise, and the artist behind it?

Kieren: We had it commissioned from Matt at Darkwave Art after finding his website. We're really pleased with it – I'm personally a big fan of that style of art and the level of detail is great. It's definitely leaning towards the gothic / metal side, perhaps next time we will try something slightly different.

(Q)You have performed live with both Seasons End and Octavia Sperati in the past. If you had the choice of any band who would you perform live with and why?

Kat: I would love to support Within Temptation. They were the first band that really got me into "Femme Metal" so to speak and I adore Sharon's voice.

Cris: Porcupine Tree would be the best band to play with ever. Their music is fantastic and I like to think that a lot of my influence is based around the odd drumming style of Gavin Harrison.

(Q)Along with a number of other female fronted bands you made a contribution to the 'Ferocity and Femininity' album, what can you tell us about that?

Kieren: There's a great online community for female-fronted metal bands and fans at the Femme Metal Forum. After seeing that they were thinking of putting the compilation together we got in touch straight away to get involved. There was a little re-mastering done to get the tracks sounding similar and that was it!

Kat: It has definitely helped us out in that we have been given airplay over in Europe and been mentioned in several reviews purely because of this CD.

(Q)If you had the chance to travel back in time and meet anyone throughout history, who would it be and why?

Kieren: I would have liked to been around the Black Sabbath guys at the end of the 60s. They pretty much invented heavy metal, they are of course fantastic, and I would have liked to played a few gigs with them as they were on the way up.

(Q)Thank you for your time, do you have any final messages for your fans?

Kieren: I want to say thanks to Nick Hemingway again (who produced the album). I want to encourage people reading this to get in touch with us through the myspace or our website to tell us about their local venues where they'd like us to come and play.

Cris: "Excuse me sir, what appears to be your boggle? - The Official Cris 'Pedro' Nelson Fan Club"

Kat: You guys rock, thank you!

Thanks for the interviews Adam!