The music of Hawkzilla is a tapestry of many influences, though it stands uniquely on its own. On one side the music has the riff-rock grooves of bands like Clutch, Soundgarden, or a higher energy version of Black Sabbath. This is combines with infectiously catchy chorus and Nirvana-like hooks that keep listeners humming the tunes hours after listening.
From the gritty bass-laden metal of "Don't Even Try," to the power punk enthusiasm of "Hooshburger" (which really is about a hamburger), Hawkzilla defies being classified into a single genre. Their arsenal includes catchy songs with deeper meaning like "Lowercase Eyes" with sometimes gravelly vocals to the clean and melodic song "The Flood" that features acoustic verses with a soaring vocal melody along with a heavy chorus reminiscent of a more streamlined, funked-up version of Alice In Chains.
Hawkzilla Bio
The music of Hawkzilla is a tapestry of many influences, though it stands uniquely on its own. On one side the music has the riff-rock grooves of bands like Clutch, Soundgarden, or a higher energy version of Black Sabbath. This is combines with infectiously catchy chorus and Nirvana-like hooks that keep listeners humming the tunes hours after listening.
From the gritty bass-laden metal of "Don't Even Try," to the power punk enthusiasm of "Hooshburger" (which really is about a hamburger), Hawkzilla defies being classified into a single genre. Their arsenal includes catchy songs with deeper meaning like "Lowercase Eyes" with sometimes gravelly vocals to the clean and melodic song "The Flood" that features acoustic verses with a soaring vocal melody along with a heavy chorus reminiscent of a more streamlined, funked-up version of Alice In Chains.
Hawkzilla formed in late 2008 when Joe Hawkins, who has played bass and guitar in several bands around Arkansas for a decade, finally decided to unleash his deep store of music on the public. After recording the initial tracks, he enlisted veteran prog-rock drummer Zach Quam to track drums for the album. Though Zach had to modify his typically complex drumming style to fit with a more straight ahead rock feel, he liked the music so much he decided to join the band permanently. Zach suggested that his long time friend Matt Tauriainen could fill out the low end on bass, and thus, Hawkzilla was a fully functional live band.
The band got a huge break even before the release of "Hawkzilla Attacks" (July 2009), when the band was notified in June 2009 that the demo version of the song "Lowercase Eyes" garnered enough votes in the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands contest for a slot on the Kansas City date of the Van's Warped Tour August 4, 2009.
Though the album was slated for release in August, Joe Hawkins worked hard to mix music and ready the artwork for the album. He scheduled a CD release party at The Gypsy on College in Fayetteville, AR, and "Hawkzilla Attacks" was birthed on July 23, 2009.