August 21st, 2014 
John Bazley 
“I feel like in this world you’ve gotta leave some kind of mark and impact. Most people have kids, I have music.”
Due to a parking mishap at the Scranton date of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, I missed the interview time we had scheduled to speak with Suicide Silence vocalist Eddie Hermida. By the time we arrived at the press area, the band had left to prepare for their set. However, we were able to track the band down after their killer performance and three-hour meet-and-greet session, in which the band personally met every single person who was there to see them.
The band was exhausted when the session was over, and I was shocked when Hermida was still enthusiastic to speak with us for a few minutes about his role in the band. Eddie is the most professional artist I’ve worked with, and I can confirm that he is just as excited about the band off-stage as he is when he’s on stage, tearing it up.
I saw on Facebook that you guys played Starland Ballroom the other day.
Yep.
That’s out where I live. How was the show?
Fucking awesome, why weren’t you there? First you’re late to our interview, now you’re telling me you weren’t at our Starland show? Alright, you suck dude [Laughs].
I’m sure everyone knows by now, but you used to be in a band called All Shall Perish and now you’re in a band called Suicide Silence. What’s it like working with the Suicide Silence guys? Any big changes?
Dude, yeah, the vibe and energy with the band is… I can’t say there’s been much difference, because to me, we’ve been brothers for a long, long time. It’s like stepping into a band that I’m already friends with. We work hard together, play hard together, and we’re all really good friends.
A lot of the reviews on the new album have been saying that you pushed yourself harder and that this your best work as a vocalist. How do you feel about that? Do you think you had something to prove when you entered the studio?
Yeah. Fuck yeah, man. I had to make sure, without a doubt, that people understand that I’m here to fucking do a job and do something positive, and I’m here to continue portraying Mitch’s message and move this band forward. The only real negative thing that has come from this is that my band decided to move forward without me, but aside from that, I’m here to do as hard of work as I did with All Shall Perish and give it my all. I’ve been kicking my own butt, and I’m getting to that age in my own life where I feel I have to step it up for myself, because I feel like in this world you’ve gotta leave some kind of mark and impact. Most people have kids, I have music.
This is your first album with the band, and you re-recorded “Ending Is The Beginning,” which Mitch wrote, and the title track has some of Mitch’s personal lyrics. Given those constraints, did you feel like you had enough creative energy to come in and make it your own?
Those were my creative choices actually, there were no constraints. I came into this band as a brand new member, and they’ve been treating me like a full member of the band since day one.
That’s awesome to hear.
Those two songs- I mean, the guys suggested it and I said, “Dude, that’s such a great idea.” I really wanted to kill “Ending Is The Beginning,” I wanted kids to hear it as my song. As if I had come into the band and written that song.
As the new vocalist, you wanted to redefine the old stuff.
Yeah, yeah. I wanted to show people that I can still do the stuff very similarly to Mitch. We wrote very similarly. I mean, to where I would to a long scream, he would to a short scream. That’s really the only difference. We have the same voices, we both really love lows and highs, and I think all of that stuff is very similar. That’s why this all works.
Excluding You Can’t Stop Me, what would you say is your favorite Suicide Silence album?
Black Crown. Black Crown to me was the band really putting on their big boy shoes and really writing an album that made sense. My biggest qualm with Suicide Silence when I was a peer, coming into it and analyzing, I was thinking, “This band right here, they’re so much more simple,” and as a death metal fan, I’m looking for the most technical and most proficient musicians. That’s kind of a blindsided way of looking at music, you know what I mean? They always had the grooves and the drops, and I’ve always felt like Suicide Silence was more of a dance band. They wrote music for the live show. All Shall Perish wrote music for the studio, and we just tried to completely out-shred ourselves and outdo ourselves. I really feel with Black Crown they did that. I feel like they went in there like, “I want to make the best album I can possibly make,” and not just the heaviest record, but the best record, and I feel like they did that.
In that regard, you could also say you’re continuing the band and moving it forward.
Yes, exactly.
You performed “Slave To Substance” from The Black Crown on the band’s live DVD tribute to Mitch. Was that the first time you worked collaboratively with the band, and how did that come together?
Well we toured together, but that’s about it. That’s maybe a question that’s better for them because I just got a call. They said, “Hey dude, we’re gonna do this memorial show, would you be down?” and of course I was down. It was one of those things where Mitch had just passed, and my heart was very much in pain. I felt like I needed to say good-bye to my friend and I needed some closure, and what better way than to stand on stage with his band and sing one of his songs, you know? That day was such a cathartic experience.
That whole performance was extremely powerful.
Yeah, absolutely. It was fucking cool, dude. Seeing some of my best friends in the industry performing with some of my other best friends in the industry. Mitch was there, just like he’s with us on stage every day.
Conducted by: John Bazley
Photography by: Derek Scancarelli (D. SKANK PHOTOGRAPHY)
In addition to UTG, John has contributed to Alternative Press and Full Frequency Media. Follow him on Twitter for pictures of his dog.
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