Interview with Mike Hranica and James Baney of The Devil Wears Prada

Words by Brendan Montiero / photo’s by Adam Elmakias

So everyone has either watched the movie and maybe even read the book and might be wondering what the hell is a band doing with the same name. The answer to that is not a dishonest publicity tactic to get people to listen to their music, on the contrary at times it has had the opposite effect which is rather quite sad. The band made up of Mike Hranica (vocals), Jeremy DePoyster (guitar & vocals), Chris Rubey (guitar), Andy Trick (bass), Daniel Williams (drums) and finally James Baney (keyboard) are a smoldering cauldron of ideas and their music is as assorted as a scoop of wasabi ice cream, vocally Mike has such a heavy and ferocious range, and the only description I can ever muster is that he sounds like he has been set alight and put out with a bicycle chain. With so many rumours and false facts floating around about this six piece brutality machine we organised some time and found out the real story about The Devil Wears Prada.

So firstly if you could introduce yourselves and and what part you play in the band.

I am Mike, I do vocals

And I am James and I play the keyboards in The Devil Wears Prada

Can you give a breakdown of the early years of the band, how you guys met and started everything?

James: Dan and Chris wanted to start a band and they wanted to have keyboards and electronica and stuff like that in it. I happened to be the only person they knew that knew anything about a keyboard or a piano, so they asked me to do it. I was actually drumming in a different band at the time which is quite funny. We started practicing and we had this one dude who was doing vocals but we weren’t playing any shows, he was kind of trying out. So we stuck a song on myspace to kind of prepare people for when we were ready and Mike really liked it, so he was coming to all of our practices just to hang out. When that vocalist guy wasn’t pulling through and coming to practices so we decided that Mike liked the music and he should do it. As far as Jeremy and Andy, after we got the core four together we just tried them out and that is how it all came together. We have really only had the one line-up.

That is a really unique attribute to have as a band, why are things like that in this band?

James: I really can’t think of any band that I know of that’s been around for a while and kept the same members. The reason that is has worked, because it’s not like we get along because we really don’t a lot of the time and we fight, but it’s because all of us have something in common which is is believing in God and wanting to play music to spread a message and have a good time.

Mike: Because that is there I think that Is what keeps all of us together and we are more tolerant of each other compared to another band where if someone is continually screwing up you would be like “alright your out of here, we will just get somebody else”. For us we all go for the same goal and I feel that it’s was the six of us that developed it and it can’t really change.

The name of the band is said to be based on an anti materialistic ideal rather than the movie. Say you had to hit the mainstream with your music, would values like that still stay in tact?

Mike: We’ve made good money doing this and we never expected it to be that way because when we formed we did it because we were just young kids and we wanted to play shows. We all sustain a living from this and all of us love materialistic stuff like blu-ray and apple products, we love big TV’s and we love our nice tour bus. I think what’s most important about it isn’t taking your money an not buying things because that is stupid, how would the economy work. What’s most important is keeping your priorities in order and making sure you know what is most important. Just making the right choices for values that are more important than objects, if that makes sense.

That does make sense, sticking with the name of the band now. You must get asked about the name so much, have you ever thought of changing it? If I am not mistaken the name was chosen before the movie was around.

Mike: Right, they came up with the name before I was even in the band and at the time Chris’s mom was reading or actually listening to the book on tape and they thought it was clever and they picked it. Like I said we were just young kids wanting to play shows. Nowadays you look at decisions as a brand and a business and you have to think what is best for your brand or business, back then it was more like lets play a show we need a name. I would definitely like to change it. I know in more ways then I am aware of it has helped us because people see it and they think “hey what the f, that’s the name of that dumb chick flick, how’s their band”. So it draws attention but at the same time it also draws negative attention because people that are a little more narrow of a thought process don’t want to give it a chance. I can understand that because I have a narrow thought process when it comes to listening to music so it would be nice to change but it is too late.

Any names come to mind if you could suddenly change it?

Mike: Chris Ruby And The Funky Fruit Highwires

James: Fly Fish And Fish

Mike: Those were the two other options.

Unusual and interesting, lets move on to something different know. Your all a band of Christians, how hards is it to keep those beliefs on the road while touring?

James: I think that it is easier to keep those christian beliefs on tour rather than back at home because when I’m on tour I am meeting people and it is easier for me to just be civil with them and it seems I accomplish more like that. When I am at home and I am with my friends it’s a little bit more personal with them and so I feel that it’s actually easier when there is nothing to do on tour and take that time and read a book or read the bible or something that is faith related and have time to pray. Back home though I only have a week so I have to hang with this person and go here and there and hang out with that person and it’s harder to keep the faith when I am at home.

Mike: It’s funny you ask this question because James and I are the only two in the band that don’t drink but everyone is aware of the decisions we all make and James and I feel that it is best to not do that in the long run. I am the only member in the band that claims straight-edge and I believe that it’s good in the long run and I think it is something better within the eyes of God. Some people agree with that and I definitely would never say that because you drink makes you any lesser of a Christian than me.

Bands always say that being in a band is strenuous on relationships, do you find that is the same with your relationship with God?

Mike: Yeah for sure, we all get at each other and fight and it’s all picky little drama and because of that it’s harder for one person to go to the other and just talk. Either you could say “hey I saw you were having trouble and can I help you” or you could say “you did this and I don’t think it was a good idea” but either way those two are really hard to do and everything is just so nit picky. So I think it is hard to keep a full relationship with God, whether your like us on tour struggling or your at home you can face those same struggles. Whether you hate your job or your having problems with your girlfriend
Everyone goes through that tribulation. Ours is weird because the record is selling and people are coming out to the shows and we are put on the spotlight. People think that we think we are perfect and that is not what we mean at all, we say that Jesus is good not us. Even on the new record I tried to accent the fact that people shouldn’t look to us as hero’s because we make just as many mistakes as anyone else.

Moving away from the beliefs of the band and more on to the sound, the band has many dynamics like electronica. Is diversity something that you strived for or does it come naturally?

James: I think we are all naturally accepting of every other persons view on music. All of us listen to different things at different times and we all present them to each other. So when we are writing music and we write a heavy song, the person in the band that doesn’t really listen to heavy music would say “well I don’t really know” and the other way around when it’s really light someone that listens to the heavier music will say “this is not us”. It all just get collaborated and we were talking about the six of us earlier without any changes in the lineup and I think that is kind of the reason. For some reason the six of us work perfectly to put together a product that is not way over the top and it all blends together. I think we are all pretty welcoming of each other’s taste in music and it comes out on the records.

Mike: There are people in this band, particularly Andy and Dan, who have probably not bought a heavy record in years. That is not what they listen to so it’s fine and you don’t have to go out and buy every metal record to be able to distinguish a sick chord. With everyone listening to different music and taking what they love in their favourite bands and putting that into our band works together to make the stew, our musical stew.

James: I take back one thing, I don’t think we have ever said “oh I think that’s too heavy”

Mike: ha ha yeah that’s true

You claim that Underoath were a big influence on the band, have you ever heard people saying that you are copying them and what would you say to someone like that if you met them face to face?

Mike: When we first started people were saying The Changing Of Times (underoath’s debut) but if you listen to early crap and compare it to The Changing Of Time it is so different on so many levels, it’s crazy how different they are. The thing is back then no one else was really doing it and when we started doing it we didn’t see ourselves as original

James: We needed somebody to follow after, we weren’t geniuses that had never heard music before and where going to sit down and write something and so we needed someone to follow and other bands to take after. So yes I think we were inspired by them and we took after them as I feel many other bands did at the time

Mike: If you were to ask somebody in Underoath if The Devil Wears Prada sounds like Underoath I promise that they will say no. I think they would be right, it has the same qualities and it’s always going to be pulled together because we have the same Christian beliefs. I probably fool myself but everyone probably rips us off nowadays, back then we just tried to do something and it came out differently to what we were trying to do and now has become a product of it’s own.

James: I would say the only thing we have in common now with their old stuff and our old stuff, is that both bands hate their old stuff. We both listen to it and say that this is terrible and wonder why we ever wrote it but I guess as long as kids like it it’s cool.

Apart from fans, what do your families think of your music?

James: My mom loves it and I don’t why, I like to think she loves it in a motherly way but I honestly will walk in on her listening to some death metal band on myspace. It’s so random and I will ask her why she’s listening to it and she’ll say “well I think they’re pretty good” (in his best female impression which gets Mike and myself in hysterics). She took to it and follows it much the same as my sister. My family never listened to music and ever since I have been doing this they have all of a sudden re-found music and me being the example they have kind of taken to this type of music.

Mike: No one that I know of in my clan has played an instrument and so me being in a band was definitely weird at first for them, especially because I don’t do anything musical in the band except yelling. As soon as I was being successful at it and being happy then they approved, well they always approved of it but now they just laugh less at me.

Lastly, are there any hidden dangers with six people in the band?

Mike: Yes, less money

James: Less room on stage, there is five of us in the front where most bands have only three in the front.

Mike: There is also more people to argue with and more people that disagree with you. Less bunks for friends to come out on tour with you. Nothing is good about there being six of us.

This post is tagged Andy Trick, Chris Rubey, Daniel Williams, Ferret records, James Baney, Jeremy DePoyster, Mike Hranica, The Devil Wears Prada