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Unsigned Spotlight: Illusion of Solace

Illusion of Solace is a Progressive Metalcore band out of Harrisburg, PA. The band formed with a vision to tell stories through the music that they create and to reach the people in the community who need a positive message.

Please list all the band members.

Bobby Hoechner - Drums/Vocals

Khaynen Alwine - Vocals

Joshua Engle - Guitar/Production

For starters, what band(s) were you guys part of prior to Illusion of Solace? How long has the band been around? 

Josh - Ill Manor, Faithful Few, Earthbound.

IOS has been around for about a year. 

Khaynen- I was in a few previous bands before this. Played bass for a Post-Hardcore band called Clutch The Impulse. After that I was playing bass in a Metalcore band called Ill Manor, with Josh actually. That's how we met. After that I was in a little project called Seasonal Affective, but that unfortunately never really went anywhere. After that I was in a Funk-fusion type project for a little bit. That was a lot of fun, to be honest. We were called Burgeon.

Bobby - I’ve been drumming for 19 years and I’ve been in so many musical projects.  It wasn’t until 2008 that I started to take performing and being in a band seriously.  I drummed for a Pop-punk from 2011-2013 called Can You Forget.   I drummed for Hip-Hop Artist/Rapper San Williams in 2014 and was lucky enough to perform at SXSW music festival in Austin, TX.  I joined a Post-hardcore band called Secret Shores in 2016 and drummed for them for a little over a year.  In 2016 I drummed for Canadian Melodic-Hardcore band Stasis.  They’ve gone on to sign a record deal with No Sleep Records.  I joined a Post-hardcore/Pop-Punk band called Sunset Hollow in 2018 and am currently still drumming for them.  I joined a Metalcore band called Hotel Graffiti for a brief time in 2019.  I joined Illusion of Solace with Josh, Khaynen and our old Vocalist Jesus in June of 2018. 

What’s the origin of the name and have you changed the band’s name before?

Our previous vocalist Jesus Cedeno came up with the band name. It took us quite some time to come up with it. Each of us kept throwing names at the wall to see what would stick, and finally Jesus came up with one we found unique and memorable. 

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time? 

Josh (Guitar) writes and produces almost all of the instruments. Our previous bassist Tyler helped write some of the songs for an old project we once had.  But funny enough, most of those songs ended up being on our “Soul Stasis” EP. On our Soul Stasis EP, our previous vocalist Jesus wrote all of the lyrics. 

But now our current vocalist, Khaynen, is writing all of the lyrics. For the new music,  Josh continues to wrote most of the songs, but every one pitches in when they can. Bobby has been putting a lot more of his inspirations into our newer tracks, mainly because most of the songs on our EP were written before we got the band fully formed. Our themes tend to vary but we try to keep the theme relatable to the band in some way.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

Josh - Invent Animate, Architects, Currents, Silent Planet, and old Northlane. 

Bobby-  I would add Polaris, After The Burial and ERRA as some other strong inspirations for our music. 

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band? 

Josh - Slipknot or Linkin Park were both the bands that got me into guitar and wanting to play loud, angsty, heavy music. I was obsessed with Jim Root of Slipknot. 

Then once I saw As I Lay Dying in concert when I was 16, I remember watching them thinking, “I need to be doing what they’re doing.” 

Khaynen - No band or artist really convinced me to start a band, but I played with Letlive back in 2012 and they're a big reason why I am still pursuing this dream. Still to this day it was the single most inspiring performance I've ever seen.

Bobby - I grew up in a very musical household, and started learning piano at the age of 5.  My father, who was a drummer, bought a new drum kit for himself during Christmas 2001 but ended up not having the time to practice, so he suggested that I take lessons.  I would say that early influences were Linkin Park, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, Incubus and Fall Out Boy.  In 2004, my father took me to see Jimmy Buffett and I loved seeing how much fun his band had on stage, and that definitely encouraged me to take drumming more seriously. 

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect..

Josh - I stretch my legs, back, hands, fingers, and wrists. If I don’t, I end up way more sore for the next few days. 

Khaynen - I try to stretch and warm up my voice before every show. Drink plenty of water and be sure to eat something a few hours before i go on so i can keep my energy up. I try to stay away from soft drinks and alcohol before a show but nobody is perfect lol.

Bobby - I have rudiment exercise that I run through to warm up my wrists.  I like to stretch my ankles, legs and arms and usually try to find someone to massage my shoulders to get the blood flowing around my upper body.  I don’t like to play on an empty stomach so I’ll usually find a snack to eat.  I’ll drink a bit of water, but not much.  I have to get in ‘the zone’ before a show so I’ll tend to go off by myself before we play and listen to some music. 

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

Josh - Biggest highlight for me personally so far would have to be our EP release show that we headlined at a venue near my parents’ house in Liverpool, Pennsylvania. That and having Rory Rodriguez from Dayseeker do a vocal guest spot on our song “Lamenting Memories”. 

Khaynen - To me, the biggest highlight we've had was hosting our own shows. It was really awesome being able to get a bunch of our homies together and put on a few bangers. It’s really stressful but totally worth it.

Bobby - I would have to agree with Khaynen.  Having the opportunity to host our own shows where we can have every little detail about the show to our liking has been very cool.  I would also say having Rory from Dayseeker on a song was also a highlight for me, as I’m a big fan of the band. 

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Josh - I would love to tour with The Devil Wears Prada. They’ve consistently been one of my favorite bands of all time since I was 16. They’ve been around for so long and have done so many great things that I knew we could learn a lot from them. Also, they seem like awesome dudes to kick back and have a beer with. 

Khaynen - I would LOVE to have been able to tour with Letlive. Their energy on stage was very contagious and their energy off stage was incredibly inviting. I also think it would have been cool to have toured during the peak of 90's Nu-Metal. Crazy times they were!

Bobby - I would say Linkin Park during the Minutes To Midnight era. They were one of, if not THE biggest rock band in the world at that time.  I wasn’t a big fan of that album, but they were playing in stadiums in front of 50,000 people during that time and I would love to experience something like that.  I’ve heard that they were known to be very welcoming to bands they brought out on tour and having been heavily influenced by Hybrid Theory and Meteora, it would’ve been amazing to watch them perform songs from those two albums every night.  Rest in peace, Chester.  Your voice will live on forever. 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

We would like to thank anyone who’s ever bought our shirt, sticker, cd, or even just watched us play and enjoyed what they saw. And if you still didn’t like us, thanks anyway, LOL. Check out our EP “Soul Stasis” on all streaming platforms (make sure you follow our Spotify page and save our EP!), follow us on Instagram and Facebook to keep an eye out for new music soon. We really believe in our new material and think it’s much more mature and focused than our previous work. Thanks!

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