Hull is a rock band from the Washington D.C. area. Their debut EP, “It’s Been Like a Dream,” blends elements of shoegaze, 90’s alternative rock, punk and post hardcore.
I caught up with band members Philip Rotondo, Max DiPatri and Nathan Dubuc to talk about their early musical influences, how they started playing music and the making of the E.P.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you all as kids and what artist or band did you enjoy the most?
Philip-Rush was one of the first bands I really clicked with, especially the Moving Pictures album. It definitely still influences how I write, play guitar, and think about atmosphere in my music.
Nathan-The first music that made an influence on me as a kid was definitely my dads band, wingtip sloat. They had practices at my house every Friday, and still do. It definitely imprinted on the way I listen to and make music, and I probably wouldn’t have become a musician if I didn’t have them.
Max-I was exposed to a lot of rock music early on which helped me develop a natural feel for riffing. The music that originally interested me most was stuff like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Beatles etc. I’d say my favorite albums back then were Highway to Hell, Back in Black, and Zeppelin IV. I also played violin and would play out of turn in orchestra a lot which made me realize I prefer performing my own music and messing around on my instrument.
CMM-When did each of you start playing music and writing songs?
Philip-Ive played guitar for as long as I can remember. I started making edm songs and hip hop beats on GarageBand when I was 10 years old. I was super into production for a long time and then started getting serious about writing rock songs over covid when I discovered shoegaze and indie rock.
Nathan-I started writing songs back in middle school, I started writing on the piano. After that I learned blackbird by Paul McCartney on the guitar and played drum set to dark side of the moon, and kept building upon myself and improving from there.
Max-I started playing violin at 4 and started guitar in like 5th grade (I’m not a bassist but I do play the bass). I stopped playing guitar for a bit and didn’t get serious about it until I was 15 or 16 when I realized I had to get a lot better to play the metal songs I listened to. As for writing, I’ve always made riffs and melodies here and there but aside from dabbling in edm and trap instrumentals I didn’t really take writing seriously until we formed Hull in 2022.
CMM-The band recently released a new E.P. called “It’s Been Like A Dream”. What was the writing and recording process like? What gear and instruments did you use during the sessions?
Philip-Almost the entire thing was written in the span of 2 or 3 months from January-March 2024 when we were trying to stylistically revamp the band. For guitar I ran a knockoff stratocaster from the 80s that I found online. It was built in Korea by a Samick brand called Hondo. My pedal board starts with a tube screamer-style overdrive that i use to beef up my clean tone and push a proco rat 2 for distorted sections. That all goes into a walrus slo reverb with a couple different presets for different parts of the record. All the guitars were recorded through a Boss Katana combo. We tracked the drum parts for the record at a local VA studio. Everything else – guitar, bass, and vocals – we recorded in our homes and in practice rooms at college. I mixed and mastered the record in an AV room in my college library.
Max-I rocked a Peavey Max 300 bass amp and for pedals I used a Boss ODB-3 for distortion with a Behringer EQ after it. The bass I normally use is my Jackson JS Series JS1M, it’s a pretty cheap and basic P bass but it works and the Jackson headstock is badass.
CMM-If the band could do a score for any film director who would it be and what would the film be about?
Philip-I would want to score a sci-fi movie by Denis Villeneuve. He obviously got a ton of praise for the Dune trilogy, but we especially love what he did with Arrival. I could see us probably getting more into our space rock bag for a project like that. We like the themes and riffing from space rock overall but drowning the music out with shoegaze-level reverb and including some ambient sections would more match the movie. It seems like an oversight that there aren’t already any sci-fi movies with space rock scores.
CMM-What do you all have coming up next? Any new recordings or shows?
Big things are cooking. Expect a single or split plus a new EP this summer-fall. We’re also brainstorming the direction of our debut album but that will be after all that happens so maybe winter or next spring. We already have some shows lined up for the summer but we’ll be putting more together soon. Current dates are May 30, June 4, and July 17, follow the Instagram for updates @hullbanddc
