House Of Protection: Former Fever 333 members and Jordan Fish talk launching a “new era”
Former Fever 333 members Aric Improta and Stephen “Stevis” Harrison have launched their new band House Of Protection with the Jordan Fish-produced debut single ‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’. Check it out below, along with our exclusive interview with the three friends.
Improta (also of Night Verses) and Harrison (formerly of The Chariot) announced their departure from Fever 333 back in October 2022, citing inner band tension and “creative differences” but vowing to work together in the future. Now they’re back as a duo, having signed to Red Bull Records to unleash the pummelling debut single ‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’ – showcasing their blend of punk, electronic music and hardcore.
“‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’ was the first song we wrote together,” Harrison told NME. “It just feels really magic. We’ve put a lot of work in between then and now.”
The song itself is the manifestation of the duo looking for a new beginning after parting ways with their last outfit. “Lyrically, the song is just about the process of starting House Of Protection,” Harrison continued. “‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’ refers to starting anything new and worthwhile – there’s always going to be a painful and uncomfortable element to it. Building House from nothing had a lot of uncomfortable moments. There were some big learning curves to work through.”
Improta remembered: “We were on one of our last shows [with Fever 333] together, and Steve said that he’d always wanted a song called ‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’. Within the first minute of improvising, it instantly came out in what I was singing. It felt like the right ethos given that in these situations, you don’t why to shy away from something if you want it bad enough to see how you can progress as an individual and as a team.”
The song was made in collaboration Nick DePirro of Night Verses and and former Bring Me The Horizon member turned producer Jordan Fish. The latter first met Harrison when The Chariot first travelled with Bring Me on the Warped Tour in the US around a decade ago. “Since then, we’ve just been boys and got closer and closer and now he’s one of my best friends,” Harrison explained.
“During my time in Fever, he was always there encouraging me and being a homie. He always said, ‘Whenever you start writing music, hit me up – I want to support.’”
Living by the mantra of House Of Protection being intended to feel like a high school band of close friends, Improta explained how “we’d come out of a thing where there were so many writers and other people involved. With this project, we were like, ‘Can we please keep this as a camp of people that we all know and have a long history with?’”
Fish revealed how working with House Of Protection was the first production project he took on after leaving BMTH. “I just did it on a whim,” he said, speaking to NME from a parked car outside Harrison’s apartment. “We started working on ‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’ together in summer of last year. It was just timing really because things were wrapping up with Bring Me and they just said, ‘Shall we get together next week and make a record?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, fuck it, why not?’
“I came to LA and this was the first thing I did. It was perfect for me because Steve is one of my best friends and I’m also very tight with Aric. It was the perfect thing to get me started. No one knew what it was going to be so there was no pressure.
“It’s kind of weird doing a new band because there’s no history. It can be whatever.”
Fish explained how he was drawn to the chemistry of the band as “they’re kind of like brothers,” and felt welcomed into the fold. “I like a two-piece because it’s a different dynamic; it’s always more intense with two people,” he said. “They’ve got a really good energy.
“We just got in there, everyone had ideas, and it could have turned out any way. It was fun to help out in that process of a band finding and moulding their sound.We just sit there together. For the time I’m working with them, I’ll act like I’m a member of the band. That’s pretty much always how it works with everyone I’m working with.”
Harrison paid tribute to Fish’s “unmatched” ability with “production and adding all the sprinkles, magic and meat to the skeleton”.
“He’s a genius with sounds and vibes,” he continued. “The pace he works at is just so nuts. The dude just creates masterpieces. He’s got a lot of really good ideas about song structure. The dude brings a lot, man. His production is where he really shines. He’s nuts.”
Improta agreed: “He’s also really good at taking a reference and turning it into something completely new. With a lot of dudes you’ll talk about something and will try to mimic it, but Jordan is really good at catching a vibe and making something totally different.”
With Harrison on guitar and Improta on drums, the pair split vocal duties and give a maximum performance to give the feel of having two frontmen. It’s a dynamic was always at the core of House Of Protection – a duo that fans have come to refer to “The Gemini Twins.”
“We’ve found that we have a weird amount of similarities,” said the drummer. “We have the same birthday, we have the same taste in a lot of music, and the thread in that music is always about how it made us feel the first time we heard it.”
He added: “But we both have really different upbringings and experiences in music. Ultimately, it usually makes something a little more unique and interesting because you have to fight your way through the chemistry to find the common ground.”
Harrison agreed: “There’s a yin and yang situation where we’re two sides of the same coin with a lot of things we do. That’s what people seem to be drawn to with us.”
With a sound inspired by the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, The Prodigy, Alice Glass, Cocteau Twins and Sleigh Bells, and a name inspired by Massive Attack’s ‘Protection’, their drive is to always follow the energy and never be tied down by genre. “Steve and I have played a lot together because we had five years on the road and we were touring a lot before that,” said Improta.
“The biggest goal of this was for it to have the energy that we love, but to have it sound a little less familiar than the bands we had toured with. We wanted the pace to be drum and bass focussed, but not lose any of the relentless energy that we’re used to putting in our heavier projects.”
He added: “It’s about harnessing that energy, but in a way that would generate as much dancing as it would stage-diving.”
That fluid nature and hunger for life is also what made the project a no-brainer for Fish.
“Generally, I’m attracted to people who are creative – I’m not so bothered about virtuoso playing, particularly – I’m more looking for someone with ideas and a direction,” Fish said. “I’m usually attracted to artists who don’t want to go down the same road as something that’s been before. I’ve worked in rock music for quite a while, and there are a lot of bands that do sound similar. I’m usually looking for someone that wants to bring in a broader influence and blend that in.
“I can’t help but do that. I tend to go for stuff that’s quite colourful. I’m not that into drab music. I want to be like candy. That’s more my style and instinct.”
Fish, who has completed four records this year already (that he can’t talk about as they’ve not yet been announced, aside from his single with Architects) told NME about the freedom he’s currently enjoying through the roster of artists he collaborates with. “I’ve done a pop record, but it’s not straight pop,” he revealed. “I’ll go for anything as long as there’s enough for me to be excited about. I’m not bothered about genre, as long as it’s good. If I vibe with the people, if they’re cool to work with, that has a massive impact on how shit comes out.
“That’s why I’m so happy with the House stuff. They’re two of my best friends, so the rest comes naturally.”
Promising more music soon and tour dates on the horizon, House Of Protection doubled down on their drive and hunger for a new era – and were thrilled at the serendipity of being able to share it with Fish.
“We talk about that,” said Harrison. “It’s just such a special time for Aric and I, and for Jordan. I’m honoured to be the first project that he worked on post-Bring Me. When you’re in a transitional period like that, you want to do something with your friends. He was super hyped on that too and totally feels that vibe.”
Fish agreed: “I’ve moved on from a previous band and those guys have been through a similar thing. They’re obviously completely different circumstances, but this was a totally new thing for us both at the time. It felt like a bit of a perfect moment.
“It was the best people in my life in a room together. What more can you ask for? That’s a dream job. Situations like that are as good as it gets.”
Improta ended by looking forward to the fresh challenges that lay ahead, even though the duo have such a history. “Even though we have a lot of chemistry and we’ve done five years of making music together, this is such a new context,” he said. “We were trying to psyche ourselves up and say, ‘We’re ready for whatever’ comes our way.”
‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’ by House Of Protection is out now.
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Andrew Trendell
NME
