Stephen Harrison and Aric Improta immediately bonded when they met in FEVER 333. Now, striking out together, they’re properly showing themselves to the world with House Of Protection. We joined them in East London, where they explained why they can’t quit, the power of creativity, and how “we have each other’s backs, which is extremely important…”
“This is the best place to spend summer,” declares Aric Improta, happily basking in the sweltering London sunshine.
It’s hottest day of the year so far, and the House Of Protection drummer is savouring his final day in the capital, sat alongside guitarist and long-time friend Stephen Harrison. After a brief walk around Brick Lane – via detours at Rough Trade East and Urban Outfitters – the duo have joined Kerrang! in the shade outside Café 1001, as the Friday afternoon buzz gradually begins to take hold of the area.
Though their music might carry the same intensity as the summer heat, there’s a calming aura about the two of them.
“We can get violently energetic, but not be angry,” grins Aric, having just backed up this exact claim by darting up scaffolding with Stephen in the name of a photoshoot. Sharing this love of adventure, skateboarding and the exact same birthday, there’s a sense that Aric and Stephen were destined to take on the world together. Now, 12 years after they first met, the debut EP of their joint venture – GALORE – has landed.
Formerly the guitarist for The Chariot, Stephen properly befriended Aric – who also drums in Night Verses – when they both joined FEVER 333 in 2017.
“We carpooled in my busted car with no air conditioning for three years to all the practices, and we shared rooms the entire time,” explains Aric, while Stephen adds that they got closer “in the way that time does that.” When they both stepped away from the band in 2022, they hinted at “probably” working together again.
After leaving FEVER, continuing to make music together was almost inevitable for a pair tied by such a profound friendship. Asked to describe what the other brings to the band and their life, the results are as wholesome and real as expected.
“Aric is someone who I would consider a master at their craft,” says Stephen. “The dude is just a machine. That drives me a lot. His work ethic makes me look at what I’m doing, what I feel like I’m even capable of doing. The way he thinks and creates is so intentional and focused, and proves that he actually loves the things he says he loves. It makes me want to be better.”
Aric’s own words are a similar outpouring of gratitude.
“For somebody that’s so capable and unique, Stephen has an incredibly humble personality,” he says. “At the same time, most people who are that humble aren’t willing to commit to every show in the way he does. If I’m gonna dedicate the last couple of decades that my knees are still working [to doing this], I want to deal with somebody that I know is gonna do that with me. That’s a rare thing to find – I’ve played in bands with 30 different people at this point.”
This chemistry seeps out of GALORE, epitomised by its beast of a first taste, It’s Supposed To Hurt, which announced House Of Protection to the world in April.
Combining hardcore, electronica and the magic touch of super-producer/former BMTH man Jordan Fish, it was the band’s ground zero. It placed an old thought in the back of Stephen’s mind about what they were doing.
“There’s a Wiz Khalifa song [Young, Wild & Free] where he says, ‘That’s how it’s supposed to be,’” he explains. “But then, ‘It’s supposed to hurt’ feels so much more intentional and direct. The idea of having to feel some pain to get to the next level resonates way more, especially in the context of this band. We’re taking a chance, we’re betting on ourselves.”
The two knew they’d hit the jackpot when It’s Supposed To Hurt took shape.
“[I had] the same feeling as when you write your first song in a band – high school-level excitement,” Aric recalls. “There is no way I ever would have thought, this far in, I would experience that again.”
Representing the totality of the project, its music video is fittingly chaotic, featuring Aric hanging upside down from a street light, his long brown hair flowing majestically like a lion’s mane. The adrenaline-fuelled visuals for Pulling Teeth are equally bold, shot inside India’s terrifying ‘well of death’.
Risk-taking is the very ethos on which the band are built, in an attempt to create something undeniable. Arguably the biggest risk of all, however, was the decision to take up vocal duties – something neither Aric or Stephen had done before.
‘Tried to learn to be perfect / But I don’t have the time,’ Stephen sings on Being One, vocalising his journey of stepping into the frontman role. “We definitely didn’t know we were going to sing,” he adds.
His biggest hype man from day one, Aric was certain that Stephen would be cut out to front the band.
“We were playing Mad Cool Festival in our old band. We were on after Glass Animals, who didn’t show up for whatever reason,” Aric recalls. “Stephen was very comfortable walking up to the mic, telling everybody Glass Animals weren’t coming and disappointing everybody. Seeing how comfortable he was in that scenario, I knew he would be a good frontman!”
But Aric had to play his part, too.
“If I’m telling somebody they should do something for the first time and not be scared, then I should be willing to do the same thing,” he explains.
Trading off each other, their vocals layer up in scintillating style, from spoken/rapped verses to melodic highs and bone-crushing screams.
“The first few people who heard the songs, they couldn’t tell who was who,” reveals Stephen.
Determined to distance themselves from the safety net of pure heaviness, GALORE ventures down multiple avenues. Flavours of The Prodigy and Linkin Park converge on electronic-rock rager Fuse, while Better Off ends on a curveball of a glitched-out instrumental break – rather than a “predictably easy” half-time breakdown.
Being One, however, is the obvious outlier, taking influence from Bonobo and trip-hop, as Stephen properly unveils his singing voice.
“I’ve always known I could do it, but I’ve never been part of a song like that, or in a position where I could use something like that, in any other band,” he admits.
“The verses [collect] all these different descriptions that get you back to the centre point of feeling one with the people around you,” adds Aric, before Stephen jumps back in to develop the explanation.
“On a personal level, I equate that song to the show setting, where it’s one collective energy. That’s what I’ve wanted in any band. That movement, as one organism.”
House Of Protection find themselves in a unique position: they’ve not physically met their fans yet. Though debut shows are booked in for Los Angeles and London this autumn, Stephen is taken aback by this concept, anticipating – in all likelihood – an “eclectic group of people”, when you consider their past and current projects. While their fanbase will reveal themselves in due course, the duo have a distinct focus for the type of live show they want to create.
“We want it to be comfortable for a lot of different kinds of people and show-goers,” muses Stephen. “Obviously, the music gets heavy, but we don’t want it to be strictly mosh energy. We want you to feel like you can dance.”
Aric elaborates on this idea, referencing a recent Smashing Pumpkins show where he was inspired by the range of personalities in the audience. It was, he says, “Costume party energy with dancing, moshing, singing. Absolute freedom. Like the concept of lucid dreaming, where you don’t have to worry about anything going wrong, because you’re in control. I think we would love that sort of energy.”
Envisioning this utopia of sorts, the mindset circles back to the name they bestowed upon themselves: House Of Protection.
“Protection in the way that we have each other’s backs, which is extremely important,” says Stephen. “Protection from judgement, from feeling you need to be a certain way.”
“We wanted it to be a safe space for creativity,” continues Aric. “You can get as weird as you want. Don’t expect anything other than to get to be yourself.”
Built on these deep-rooted yet open-ended foundations, GALORE feels like an appropriate title with which to introduce themselves, epitomising the loose, liberating nature of the band.
“It’s almost like a lush way to describe overstimulation – and that’s what this project is,” suggests Aric.
“There are too many ideas, and we try to make it feel beautiful as it falls out of us,” Stephen nods in agreement. “Genre-clashing galore, wild visuals galore. There’s nothing black and white about it. It’s such a strong word to paint over a project.”
Quite literally painted over a wall over the road on Brick Lane, as if it were fate, is the word ‘GOLORE’, with a giant ‘H’ alongside it. The tiny inaccuracy almost adds to the magic of the discovery; House Of Protection are far from the perfect, polished article. Aric gives Stephen a leg up to pose for a photo. When they see it, their faces light up, like kids in a toy shop.
“I’m the same as I was in third grade,” beams Stephen. “I love all the same shit. I love Pokémon, running around, comics. That childlike energy about stuff in general, I’ve always had it, Aric’s always had it. I don’t see it ever leaving us.”
Reflecting on his time in The Chariot, where he stepped up – under-qualified – to become the guitarist, there’s a similar sentiment this time around, as Stephen prepares for the challenge of fronting House Of Protection.
Unorthodox and courageous, Aric tells us how the style of Primus’ Les Claypool is the very reason Chino Moreno plucked up the courage to sing. As they turn their attention to the mood of their first full-length, House Of Protection are setting out to continue that thread, inspiring future generations to shoot their shot in the name of art and creativity.
“A lot of people don’t even start, ’cause they feel like they can’t,” Stephen concludes. “If I could inspire someone to do something similar with singing, that’s everything. I’m not qualified. You just need to find your lane.”
The bricks have been laid, and the House Of Protection is open. You’re all invited in.
GALORE is out now via Red Bull. House Of Protection play their first UK show at The Underworld in London on October 15. This article originally appeared in the autumn 2024 issue of the magazine.
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