1. We love the xheartworksx demo. Any plans to make physical copies or play any shows outside of DFW?

Paulyeah [we] are gonna have cds in a little stamped manilla envelope at our show with BulletsBetweenTongues, Catalyst, Party Hats, and Sinema on feb 11th and maybe online if we have leftovers and as far as shows, we have some shows planned for other cities in texas in the next few months, funny enough our first official show was at gweebfest in san antonio which was HLBD’s last show and is about a 6 hour drive from where we live.

Benyes and yes, we’re in the process of making the physicals right now and we’re getting out of town shows set up for the spring i think

2. What or who do you draw inspiration from when writing music specifically for xheartworksx?

Paulthats probably more of a question for christian but for me probably neil perry, spirit of versailles, merchant ships and haikus

Christianwriting the demo i was listening to a lot of the spirit of versailles. I opted for more shrill vocal style and cadence similar haikus just because i like how pathetic it sounds. going into it we were planning on having a more core sound, so initially listening to a lot of Xone fifthX, love is red, a new kind of american saint. all though we don’t sound like those bands we still draw from them aesthetically.

BenThe Spirit of Versailles is my biggest inspiration in this band, and then Neil Perry and Die, Emperor Die!

3. Are there any past or current emo bands you think deserve more attention?

Paulthe big three in texas i feel like get a little overlooked is Sinema, shooting birds and touch girl apple blossom, all so amazing and all on spotify and youtube and everything definitely check all of them out

Christiani hope that sinema blows the fuck up they are genuinely so amazing

BenI think SOV is maybe the most underrated band ever, I don’t get how their songs aren’t in TV shows or movies

4. In your recent How Can I Forget interview you mentioned trying to increase straight edge awareness in your local scene with XInResponseX. Can you tell us a little about that?

Paulyeah it was an idea me and christian had just because straight edge kind of fell out of dfw after covid there wasnt really any straight edge kids and we had alot of issues with kids drinking or getting high and starting fights which puts us at risk of losing venues and thats what straight edge was all about in the beginning so i think its just the circle of life kind of thing itll always come back to solve that problem i guess

Christianit just sucks to see kids making poor choices. it doesn't help that some shows can almost act like a safe haven for kids to get fucked up. i think it’s easy to overlook the amount of influence you have over kids when you play in a band, and every time you glorify your struggles with addiction on stage it reassures them that their drug/alcohol use is normal. a lot of these kids just genuinely don’t know about straight edge/good straight edge bands, or may just see it as out of the question for them. XInResponseX serves to expose show goers to straight edge hardcore, and show that a vegan / straight edge lifestyle is not only feasible, but is the best case scenario.

BenMy motivation for doing In Response is to motivate and inspire young people by introducing them to the art and music creations of straight edge bands. We’re not trying to preach to kids or put them down for whatever, we just want to introduce the idea to them and show them cool bands that a lot of people don’t know about and plant that seed of interest that maybe sobriety and/or veganism could be good for them.

5. What do you like to listen to outside of metal and hardcore?

Pauli really like liz phair, pedro the lion, elliott smith, guy clark, alot of different stuff but mainly like guitar music sad sappy singer songwriter stuff its like as raw as it gets, but also i love like hardcore like the EDM kind and like hard bass or gabber kind of stuff, me and christian are both really like this group called disciples of annihilation , its kind of a big question tho i try to listen to something new every day.

Christiani’m super into 90’s gabber / speedcore. stuff like D.O.A, U.V.C, dj tron.

BenI’m super into 90’s Trip Hop and Indie. I love Portishead and Stereolab

6. Do any of you collect records or physical media? If you had to pick one item to keep and lose the rest what would it be?

Pauli have a copy of the i have dreams mini disc ep and i will die buried with it

Christianif i had to keep one record i own it would be total liberation by gather

Benprobably Slipknot’s first album on CD, it’s just one of my favorites and i’m super into Nu Metal

7. Post-covid there's been a revived interest in live music, especially so with emo and hardcore. Do you feel like this has impacted the DFW scene and if so how?

Paulkind of ties in with my answer about XInResponseX but alot of the ethos of hardcore/screamo was lost with the whole “hardcore/screamo kids from tik tok” thing, kids coming around to feel like the main character or to posture or get fucked up starting bands with nothing to say, starting fights it kind of just became a circus mirror of what it used to be and lost alot of meaning, but its not something that hasnt happened before, kids who feel something deeper for a music scene will stick around and the ones who are there for the wrong reasons will be weeded out or stop showing up thats just the way it goes.

BenI definitely think so, but only because that’s what people have told me. I started going to local shows in like early 2022, so I am definitely a part of the post-covid kids. it seems like a lot of kids heard about hardcore from Tik-Tok and shit and they have some main character energy about being at shows and it’s definitely pretty obvious

8. What was your favorite movie you watched in the last year?

Pauli really like that movie barbarian, i dont remember if it was 2022 or 2023 when that came out but i really like anything with justin long in it hahaha

Christiani am horrible at watching movies i can not pay attention

BenOppenheimer!!!!! also i guess this was beginning of this year probably but Poor Things is awesome-sauce

9. One thing you love about the DFW scene? Any changes you'd like to see?

Christiani love how active it is, we are super lucky to have venues that allow hardcore to happen, and i’m super stoked that kids are going to shows. i’d like to see more people going vsxe, more straight edge bands

BenI love how kids go to every show even though there’s like a million every month. It shows a lot of people are into it and are still bringing new people around. If I could change anything, I would have all the beatdown bands sound way less slam and more east coast hardcore metal. Also, more old school artwork and band names overall.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! If you have anything else you want to add tack it on here

Paulnever stop starting bands, inviting new kids, letting bands crash at your house, booking shows and coming out to shows, or whatever it is you do. any music scene rests on the back of every kid who makes this apart of their life and once that starts slipping it falls apart, you have to build a scene up to be what you want it to be and your body and mind are the only tools you need to change it.

Christianshout out meaty mike and his elixirs

BenThe support for Heartworks is so mind blowing to me, seriously. I kind of thought people would hate the demo cuz the recording quality is bad, but people seem to really like it. Also, keep an eye out in the summer for a band that some In Response dudes and I are working on