You may think Indy Metal Vault is all about heavy riffs and spooky vocals. But what would heavy metal be without its rock ‘n’ roll roots? The Vault got a chance to chat with Max Hughey, vocalist and lively frontman for one of Indy’s only glammed-up rock bands, Stackhouse!
Indy Metal Vault: So, tell me a little about yourself. Just who is Max Hughey? Have you always been into music? Which bands did you grow up listening to? What kind of instruments did you pick up?
Max Hughey: Who is Maxwell Hughey eh? Simply put, I’m just a dude who works hard and parties harder! I’ve always loved music! I’ve never been very cultured with it though… Like, I couldn’t tell you the name of everyone in Black Sabbath or name an album that Deep Purple has put out for instance. I just hear somethin’ I like and think, “Hey yea! I dig this!” I grew up listening to what your 55-year-old stoner dad probably grew up listening to. Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Van Halen etc. Classic Rock ‘N’ Roll stuff ya know. I never had a preference for genres or styles though, I love it all! I really love to listen to Soda Shop Pop and Bluegrass when there’s no boggarts around to tell me to change it haha! As far as instruments go, I have been playing drums mainly since I was 12 or so and Ben (Hughey) was so good at guitar that I never really even tried because I just sounded like a dumb dick haha. But I have recently picked it up a little and it’s super fun, Shreddy McShreds or no. I play a little bit of everything else too as much as I can with no wits about music theory and all that jazz. Never sung a song in my life until we started Stackhouse three years ago. We just needed a singer, and I said fuck it!
IMV: What is Stackhouse’s history? How did the band form? What is the band’s story?
MH: Well the origins of the music and members of Stackhouse begin back in middle school and high school days. Me, Ben, and Mike (current members excluding Jake Lotz) started our first band called Velvet, originally Purple Velvet. We never played any shows. We really would just jam after school. Then Ben and I played together in Wefunk for a few years in high school and did manage to play quite a few shows.
Then Ben joined the Marine Corps and played in several bands while he was out gallivanting with all that stuff and came back with a mission to start up the band again and actually write songs. Songs with lyrics! So me and him started jammin’ again literally the minute he got back. I asked Mike, who I don’t think had picked up a bass since Velvet, to bass it up for us. So he did and we’re all jammin’ again. I’m still on drums (at the time) and we’re looking for a singer. Tried out some people and it just was not working! Mainly just, we wanted a singer and a frontman and no one was even close to right. So Ben said, “Why don’t you just do it Max?” So that’s what I did and then we were out a drummer. But luckily our good bud Zach Yde came on with us and Stackhouse had its first show! Shortly after, we brought on Kevin Taylor who played drums for us for a while. He actually recorded our first studio song with us until he moved to California.
So we’re out a drummer again for a few weeks, til one day. It was a stormy day, clouds covering the entire sky. Suddenly, the clouds started to part just above us and there was a crack of lightning followed by a booming thunder. Through the clouds came a single ray of light as a mysterious figure came crashing towards the ground not but 12 feet from us. But this was no mysterious figure, we would come to find out. This was a man. A drummer. This is Jake Lotz.
IMV: You all are into rock n roll and glam metal. What made the band choose this musical path? Did the band form wanting to play this type of music or did you all slowly develop your style?
MH: We are all definitely all about Rock ‘N’ Roll! We just write, play and do what we want and it comes out how it does!
IMV: Where does Stackhouse’s inspiration come from? Who are the band’s biggest influences and what can potential fans expect to get out of your music?
MH: Inspiration comes in so many ways for each of us but when it comes down to it we just like to play music. We want people to feel when they listen to our music and come to our shows, to feel like they’re at an exclusive loud wild party, cause that’s what it is!
IMV: Stackhouse was recently featured on a soundtrack for the film Space Babes from Outer Space. How did the band get involved with the project? What is it like having your music in a film?
MH: The producer is someone we know through the grapevine and he sent out a wire looking for local music with a description that fit what we did perfect. And we were absolutely fine having our music attached to something as great as Space Babes, so we were in! Its pretty cool knowing that people we don’t know and have never met are listening to our stuff, whether they wanted to or not! Haha!
IMV: What are your thoughts on the Indy music scene?
MH: I personally think it’s great! You can find live music of all sorts every night. And lots of people here are very open and super passionate about local music!
IMV: How does Stackhouse manage being one of the few rock ‘n’ roll and glam metal bands in a city full doom, stoner and core metal? Is it beneficial to you all or do you find it tough at times?
MH: We don’t really think about it. I think people get when they actually see us play, that we’re not doing it as a gimmick and we just love what we do! I’ve had lots of people come up to me and say “man I really don’t like hair metal, but I love you guys!” We get along just fine.
IMV: Is the band looking to do more projects? What does Stackhouse have planned for the near future?
MH: We’re always looking to do more and more! We’re always writing new material and we will certainly be following up our debut album as soon as we’ve got it all recorded!
Want to check out Stackhouse?:
Click here to go to their Facebook. Be sure to check out their fully length debut album “Animal Instinct” on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play or YouTube.
I love these guys, super fun to play shows with.