Interview: Christian Female Rocker 'Makes a Move'
Their 12,000 and growing fans on Facebook are just an indication of the impact that Icon For Hire is making with the release of their debut album, Scripted.
Hailing from Decatur, Ill., the female fronted rock band formed in 2007 and began to establish a fan base touring throughout the Midwest before signing with Tooth and Nail Records.
The group released their major label debut, Scripted, on August 23 and has no deceleration in sight. In the midst of the craziness that came with their album release week, front-woman and lead vocalist Ariel made time for an interview to talk about the album, their conversion story, future plans and more.
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BC: What’s the story behind “Make a Move?”
Ariel: "Make a Move" was inspired by my personal struggle in trying to change the world. I hear the statistics on human trafficking, or how a few dollars can help build a well and save little kids’ lives, and at some point all this knowledge is either going to change my behavior, or I’m going to tune out in an attempt to not have to. It makes me sick to realize that I can choose to spend my ten bucks on a box of hair dye this month, or I can feed somebody for several days. But guess what? My hair’s still pink, isn’t it, so the hair dye won. And I know it’s not “balanced” to think this way, I know it isn’t totally healthy and some well-meaning people will chalk it up to my youth and wait for me to outgrow it. But I’d rather fall in this side of the ditch, because, like the song says, we all know what’s going on.
BC: How did you guys meet and form the band?
Ariel: Our drummer, Adam, and our guitarist, Shawn, used to play together in their party days. They’d be playing Freebird in the garage to a bunch of their friends, just jamming, you know? Then Shawn decided to get clean and cut all his party friends out of his life, including Adam. I met Shawn six months later and as soon as I realized he played guitar I asked if he wanted to work on some stuff. We started making music the next day. We realized we needed a drummer so Shawn called Adam up out of the blue. We played our first show a few months later to a packed club in our hometown. We sucked! But our friends and family were kind enough to be patient with us.
BC: How would you describe the band musically – its sound?
Ariel: We are first and foremost just a rock band. That’s where our roots are and where our hearts are. But a few years ago we started really getting into synths and programming. We love the combination of brutal, in-your-face riffs, with the fun candy of pop production sprinkled all over it.
BC: What song on the album was the most difficult to write?
Ariel: Oo, good question! I think all the songs came pretty naturally, and we usually know right away when we’ve stumbled across a riff or a melody we love. But I’d say “Fight” took the most effort. We had the privilege of working with Ben Kasica on that one, so we drove up to his studio for a day and worked till about midnight. We left with a good memories and a new friend, but the song wasn’t even done yet! We went back out next week and finished it up. I’d say that’s the only song that’s even come close to taking 30+ hours to craft.
BC: What’s your conversion story? How did you come to the Lord?
