In late 2019, fans of Red Sun Rising let out a massive “Nooooooooooooooooooooo” that was heard all around the world. They had their music loving hearts ripped from their chests when the band the band announced that they were going on an indefinite hiatus. I have to raise my hand as being one of those fans who shouted out, but I think my words were a bit more colorful. About a year-ish ago, strange, cryptic messages began to appear online and a buzz started to grow that former RSR lead singer Mike Protich was working on new music. Well, we all knew that it would just be a matter of time before that happened. The excitement and buzz continued to grow and suddenly we were presented with a new track by The Violent called “Fly on the Wall.” Yes! Mike had returned and it was definitely him because it’s damn near impossible to not be able to know it was his distictive voice. We were treated then treated to “Smile Like a Hostage,” and most recently “Impression” and “Think For Yourself.” Fans also learned that Mike needed help recordingn these songs and leaned towards two people that he knew very well. He brought in former RSR members Patrick Gerasia on drums and David McGarry on guitar. We had the opportunity to sit down with Mike recently and he schooled us on how all of this came together, what lies ahead for the guys and what the first album was that he bought with his own money. Did you know Mike was a Weird Al fan?
Let’s get down to a little bit of business. With this new band, kind of reading the press release and everything; is it…I don’t know if saying it’s a product of the pandemic is the right way. Was it kind of born out of being in lockdown?
Mike Protich/The Violent: I think, the best way to put it is the band was going to happen, regardless. It was kind of heading that way, as our previous band was, you know, we decided that we wanted to announce a hiatus, and we all kind of wanted different things. Myself and the two other guys that are now The Violent, we were in Red Sun Rising together. And then it was one of those things. We kind of always joked like, ‘Hey, we should just do a three piece just for fun on the side. But then when, you know, things of came to an end with Red Sun Rising, the cards kind of showed themselves, like, “Well now it’s the perfect time to do this.” So we kind of started planning things out as that kind of came to an end. Then the pandemic happened, which was pretty much fuel on that fire. Cause now it’s like, well now there’s nothing else to do, but work on this. So we might as well really hunker down and build this right, really get it off the ground and actually maybe come out of this pandemic stronger than before. With brand new projects that we’re excited about and that’s pretty much what happened.
So were you guys, were you all in three different locations during the pandemic? You did it all like through the internet and this stuff?
Yeah, so basically, right before this pandemic happened, we had one session down in Nashville and that was kind of like, to feel each other out. I mean, obviously we played in a band together for, years, but with this new project and the exploring, you had to kind of feel out what that was going to be. And, uh, that’s all that session really yielded. Um, we didn’t really keep too many tracks from that session itself. Um, so then the pandemic happened and we all went back to our respective homes and we’re like, shit, now would we do?
Especially, all of us were in states you couldn’t leave or you had to be on mandatory watch or whatever. So we had to basically put our heads together and start, coming up with a gear list of what we needed. We talked to our producer and they’re like, ‘Hey, what do you need from us at home, for us to send you tracks that you can actually, you know, use. And so we kinda got that list together, made some investments and everyone built up their little home set ups. yeah, we were pretty much doing it. I mean, I was singing vocals in my closet, for real.
Wow, that’s crazy! So once everything started loosening up, with the pandemic wind, when did you guys actually get to, be in the same room or the same studio, all three of you together?
Fortunately, for us, a lot of our gears all down in Nashville, our producers in Nashville and the south kind of started opening up before the north did and we’re all from the north. So once Nashville was kind of loosening up on everything, we went down there. And of course the studio we went to had restrictions. But you know, the first time we went down and we just went to our producer’s house and worked at his home studio. And then, you know, we went down a second time and this was probably, um, I want to say towards the end of last year or towards the end of last year. The end of…? The year…its like the math of that year doesn’t even make sense in my head anymore I’m trying to remember when that actually was! (chuckling)
But I remember going down there twice. The first one was like, really strict restrictions. The second one, we went to a studio and they’re only, you know, like “you gotta wear a mask until you get into your private studio room” and that was it. And we were like, yeah, we can deal with that for sure. Then we started to kind of build more and more, but yeah, like we pretty much only did drums and like some bass and guitar rhythm stuff in those studios, the rest of it was all done remotely.
Man, you guys came out of the gate blazing! I mean, I know a lot of artists, like you said, that’s all they had time to do; just focus on their art. Me and several friends had made a comment that, we’re definitely going to get some incredible art out of this, whether it’s novels, paintings, you know, whatever art that that individual does. Because these artists are at home more than they are normally, ‘cause you’re normally out on the road and you don’t get much home time that that’s what they’re going to focus on. Seems like the reaction, from what I’m seeing on the internet, man, people are just really digging it. How are you feeling with the response?
Thank you. Yeah. I mean, I think I’m seeing it build and build. we’ve only released four songs, which is still mind blowing to me. I’ve never released music at this slow and this conservative of a pace, but, when you can’t tour, it makes total sense to do that. And I know other genres do that. Rock doesn’t do it that much, but other genres do that, you know, like hip hop and pop and even alternative, will release, just singles and just kind of slow drip to the fans, where rock bands kind of release, more EP’s and albums. So that was different for me. We just kind of had to focus on the digital side of everything, including the marketing, including how to entertain our fans without going and playing shows. So we had to come up with creative visuals for them. That was exciting, because I’ve never had to do that. I think, I think it actually worked to our advantage being, you know, that was the only way to see us. We weren’t playing shows because we didn’t want to, we couldn’t. So that was the only way to see us.
To have to rethink how to do stuff like that; I don’t know how, any events that you’ve dealt with in the past, with doing things like electronically like this. But I know for some people it’s kind of pushed them out of their comfort zone and just made them think in a way like, I’m never really viewed it this way in the past. So that’s kind of got to be, I would think refreshing in a way and exciting.
Yeah. I mean, back to your point about a lot of music coming out. I think a lot of artists not only created over the time, if they took advantage of that downtime, but I think you’re right. They, us included, we’re pushed out of our comfort zones, which injected this, energy that you can’t really get anywhere else. Other than, you know, I need to figure this out. I think, you know, artists started to push themselves a little more. So I got, let’s see what I can get away with now.
Cause I’m already uncomfortable. You know, it’s like, we’re in this new project, nobody knows who we are. You know, they know they know our last band, but this, this band is technically a new sound and a new name. So let’s see how far we can take it before it’s like ridiculous and someone has to be like, that’s too far.
With the sound, was it intentional to have a different sound or, did it just kind of grow that way?
I think we definitely did not want to do things exactly like Red Sun Rising did. Obviously I wrote most of those songs and I write most of these songs. So I had to completely reevaluate the way I write songs and obviously being a singer, I can only change my voice so much. So there were certain aspects that would, would remain the same. So we tried to challenge all the other factors, like, the guitar sounds that we use, the different types of instruments that we used, and the song structures that we were applying. And, I think it was a challenge, but it was like a lot of fun. And I think I’m a better musician and artists for going through that.
I’m a big, big music nerd. The name, how did you guys come up with that?
Really funny story, cause I hate naming things and anyone that’s ever worked with me will tell you that I hate it. It’s like at the end of the day, and someone’s like, “Oh, you didn’t name this song, it still has a working title.” I’m like, I don’t give a shit. I don’t care, please. somebody else name it.” So when it came to naming the band, I was like, we went through so many things. Eventually we landed on this. We wanted it to be The Violent “something.” At first it was The Violent Tongues and we were like, this sounded a little too like artsy and little too pretentious, that’s kind of lame. Then I don’t remember who said it. They were like, “Why don’t you just do The Violent? Is that available?” And we’re like, there’s no way. And he looked it up and sure enough, like nobody has the rights for that name. We’re like, alright let’s grab that.
How about that? Was there a reason that you kind of leaned to The Violent and not The Violent “something”?
Yeah, I think it was just kind of to capture the darkness, the energy of the angst that we were feeling in that time. You’ve got to remember, not only did a pandemic happen, and people were scared about what their futures were going to be. There was also a very heavy political environment happening at the exact same time. And so that combination of things where everyone’s just at home and just living on the internet and, you know, arguing on the internet basically, and there’s, there’s clips of different, both sides being shared and manipulated information everywhere.Social media became like a war zone and it created this, like this violent energy and that’s kind of where that came from.
So you’ve done several singles. Do you guys have a plan for an album of eventually? Or are you just keeping the singles route the way you’ve been doing things?
I think the next step is going to be an EP. We have more than an album’s worth of materials done. We’ve, like I said, we’ve never been in a position to be able to really sit back and kind of, put out a song and see how it reacts, and then adjust our next move off of that reaction. Like usually with a label they’re like, okay, you got to put out this record and then you might get a great one or two songs, maybe three, if you’re lucky.
Then the rest of the songs you kind of just got to keep trying to remark it somehow. But the fans, they already have all that music. So there’s not, there’s not a way to keep giving them something more. I do like this small, you know, release at a time. I just, I think we’re going to just try to pick up the pace a little more as the industry starts to wake up a little bit.
So Louder than Life, will that be the first, I guess maybe public performance? Where you are actually in front of real people?
Yes. That’d be, the first, time ever, at a festival. So that’ll be wild.
A small intimate performance.
Right, right. Small intimate performance to kick it off. Yeah.
The Sirius XM thing that you guys just did, just real curious. I was not expecting that Doors cover.
Yeah.
How did that happen?
I’ve always been a huge Jim Morrison fan, ever since I was little. I think, “Love Me Two Times” was one of the first songs I ever tried to learn on guitar, when I was like 10 or 11. I just love his whole persona. When I was a kid, he was so intriguing. Just a rock star, which I don’t think really that doesn’t really exist anymore, the way he was. In the way that those types of rock stars were.
They’re more like iconic, which is not the same anymore. I’ve always wanted to do one. And, you know, with The Violent, I wanted to do a song that kind of lyrically kind of made sense or had a, had a darker vibe to it. That one came together really quick. I think it’s just because everybody was stoked on it and it just felt, felt right.
Nice. That was very cool stuff. I was digging that. I’ve actually, I’ve gone back and watched that a couple of times, in my, what little free time. I was actually, I was trying to catch it at work on my lunch break because I worked so late yesterday. I remember taking my ear buds out and the guy across the table was like, dude, what were you listening to? He said, “The expression on your face, man.” He said to quote unquote, “that shit must’ve been good.”
(both laughing) I love it, I love it!
You’ve got Louder than Life, and then a couple of lab dates in Ohio. What else is coming up, you’re working on that you want to plug into this and mention?
You know, those shows might be the only shows for the rest of the year, unfortunately. It’s like, we’re going to play, I’m not ruling out more shows. I’m just, I think we’re going to be pretty conservative on the actual live performance for awhile. I know what we’re going to do is prepare for this EP and then eventually it will probably turned into an album, an just keep building more songs behind the scenes, building more assets, doing some videos, and finding creative ways to entertain and grow our fan base without the touring. But believe me, when I say that we want to tour. We just want to make sure it’s a little more clear of a picture. It’s a little more certain, you know.
Right. You want to tour and we want you to tour. It’s a very mutual thing now. And I get it. Cause every time I, I look online and so many people are canceling tours and postponing and it’s, it’s like we’re backsliding.
And that’s what we want to avoid. We want to keep it tight, more conservative and just make sure we can actually fulfill it.
Yeah, I gotcha. Okay. I’d like to end this thing with something we call “Three for the Road.” Just kind of, three little fun questions that we throw out there to see what you got. Do you remember the very first album that you bought with like your own money that you saved up?
Yeah, I think I bought a bunch of them at once. I went to Chapel Hill Mall, in Akron, Ohio, to like the FYE. I think it would not have been a Camelot at the time. And I bought The Offspring. I forget what record that was. It had the lobster on it. I bought that one. I bought Green Day’s Dookie. I bought Weird Al’s Running With Scissors. What was the last one? I got another one too. Oh, Beastie Boys’ License to Ill. The thing is, I listened to everything and I really mean that. Those four records don’t really define my love of music, but it was just a really random group of four.
Right. I like that. I liked to a little buffet of music, so to speak.
Right!
Did you have a favorite cartoon growing up?
Favorite cartoon? Um, I really liked a cartoon called Doug. I used to watch all the time, it was on Nickelodeon.
I remember that one and there’s his blue friend Skeeter.
And when you look back at the characters names. Those guys must’ve been stoned out of their ass.
Right. (Chuckling)
Naming those guys, they must’ve been cracking up. But like, as a kid, you don’t think about it? When you’re older, you look back and you’re like, where did they come up with these names, Patty Mayonnaise…
The girl that did that voice for Patty Mayonnaise was on Orange is the New Black.
Oh really?
Yeah. She actually played one of the prisoners on there.
No way!
And it bugged me, I can’t think of her character’s name, but it bugged me for the longest time. I kept forgetting to catch the credits at the end because you just binge watch and you skip to the next one. And I was like, oh, I gotta catch it. And I’m like, you’re shitting me! Patty Mayonnaise is all grown up and she’s in prison. (Chuckling) Imagine that, what a life! So, last one, if music was over today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?
I’d be the Incredible Polk. And I would just like come out with polka music and fight people with like a accordion or something.
The Weird Al influence.
Yeah, there ya go!
By I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
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