Crimson Moon: How did the band get started?
Phil Olympia: I guess like every other band starts — we are all friends, and we were at a point in our lives where we had time to devote to a new endeavor. Having said that, we didn’t know what kind of band we wanted to be, so our first collection of songs were kinda sorta all over the place.
Crimson Moon: What kind of music do you play?
Jake Hellman: We play Monster Thrash. It’s a style of thrash metal that we invented. We’re musically influenced by a lot of genres, but we’re equally influenced by horror movies and real life scares.
Phil Olympia: With our latest record, we were especially motivated by bands like Motorhead and Municipal Waste.
Crimson Moon: How has the band response been?
Jake Hellman: The response to our band has steadily grown as people have started to figure out what we’re all about. Our album release in our hometown of Louisville, KY was the most successful show we’ve had and hopefully it just keeps getting better.
Crimson Moon: Where did the band name come from?
Phil Olympia: I grew up in a pretty religious family, and I have been exposed to more than a few televangelists. Naturally, I was also exposed to 1(800) numbers you could call to request special prayers, sometimes costing you some money. I look at the name “Prayer Line” as an almost sarcastic response to how stupid prayer lines really are.
Crimson Moon: Introduce the band members.
Jake Hellman: Phil plays guitar and sings, I play bass and sing, while Jake Miller plays lead guitar and Trent Combs plays drums.
Crimson Moon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Jake Hellman: Our first album in 2019 was “Drink The Blood.” It was written in the first sixth months of the band’s creation and recorded in the first year. Our second album is our most recent, “Thrill Me, Lick Me, Fuck Me, Kill Me.”
Crimson Moon: Tell me about some of the songs on the latest CD?
Jake Hellman: “Lick Me” is a song Phil and I wrote together. It is about “The Exorcist.” That song grew from the idea that we wanted to yell the “Lick Me, Lick Me, Lick Me!” At the crowd.
Phil Olympia: My personal favorite track right now is called “Blessed Be The Sinners” — it’s an uptempo song with pummeling double bass that is lyrically about the Linnea Quigley/Amilia Kinkade 80’s classic “Night of the Demons”.
Jake Hellman: All of the songs are about a horror movie (Night of the Demons, Night of the Creeps, The Thing, Re-Animator, The Exorcist) except for “Bad Bad Boi” which is about having bondage sex with god.
Crimson Moon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Jake Hellman: The music is written by everyone in the band in some way or another. The lyrics are written by Phil and I with occasional input from the rest of the band.
Crimson Moon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Jake Hellman: Most of them come from Horror movies, unless we are inspired by something else like a serial killer or the devil.
Crimson Moon: Has the Covid Pandemic impacted the band at all?
Jake Hellman: I think it helped and hurt the band. We got tighter musically, we wrote a lot of songs and finished an album, but we also made almost no money and spent a lot of our own to make things continue happening for us.
Crimson Moon: Do you have any side projects?
Jake Hellman: Jake Miller is in a melodic post punk band called Wireworks. They released a killer album this year.
Trent Combs is in Blind Scryer. They are a stoner rock band with an incredibly unique vocalist. They are a must see live band.
Phil Olympia: I run a Louisville-centric music blog called Never Nervous. Never Nervous also acts as a small indie label.
Crimson Moon: What is the music scene like where you guys are from?
Phil Olympia: Louisville has had a flourishing punk and hardcore scene dating back to the 70’s. Growing up, we’ve benefited from being exposed to hometown bands like Slint, Endpoint, Rodan and Crain. Today, the scene is a bit crippled due to the pandemic, but I’d say the punk and indie rock scene is still booming, while the metal scene here continues to get better and better.
Crimson Moon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Phil Olympia: We try to bring every influence and inspiration into this band. Whether it be Slayer or Oingo Boingo or the Misfits, we draw from a pretty large musical well.
Crimson Moon: What is the band like when you play live?
Jake Hellman: If you’ve ever been to a pro wrestling event, it’s like that but with better music.
Crimson Moon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Jake Hellman: I’ve played The Netherlands and Germany in another band. This band has not but we can’t wait to.
Crimson Moon: How has the fan response been to the band?
Jake Hellman: The fan response seems to get better all the time.
Phil Olympia: We’ve already sold half of our stock of new records. I hope that doesn’t stop.
Crimson Moon: What made you want to be in this band?
Phil Olympia: I think we all just enjoy being friends and making loud noise together. We’ve been in this band for a few years now, and we all enjoy each other’s company. Except for Trent. Fuck Trent.
Crimson Moon: If you weren’t in this band would you still be involved in the music industry?
Jake Hellman: In one way or another music will always be in all of our lives. It’s easily the driving force behind our existence.
Crimson Moon: As a musician what advice can you give to fellow musician just starting out?
Jake Hellman: I’ve learned 2 major lessons from being a musician for 25 years. The first thing is to always find a way. Find a way to play and keep going. If you can, find a way to play with people who are better than you. If you hit an obstacle or stall out in your growth, then change up what you’re doing and try again. The second thing I’ve learned is that it’s not worth it if you’re not having fun. The music industry will be happy to chew you up and spit you out and as long as you make sure you’re doing it for fun then it doesn’t matter.
Crimson Moon: What does the future hold for the band?
Phil Olympia: We have two new songs in the can for an upcoming 7inch record. Aside from that, we are trying to play as many shows as possible to promote our current record, and hope to be on the road sooner than later. We have big plans for the month of October. Hopefully Covid doesn’t get in the way of those plans. Say a prayer to Satan for us.
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/PrayerLine666/
https://www.instagram.com/prayerline666/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFf-te7Gtaklts-I_N7hxdA
https://prayerline.bandcamp.com
