I always wanted to play bass – Interview with Hearts & Hand Grenades

Hearts & Hand Grenades is an explosive American Hard Rock band from Buffalo, NY, featuring Stephanie Wlosinski on lead vocals and bass guitar. This band literally explodes with an edgy sound for all generations of true Rock addicts!

This is what you could read in the press release for the band’s first album – “Turning To Ashes“. That made me very curious in 2021. The follow-up “Between The Lines” was released in the same year. It then took until January of this year before Hearts & Hand Grenades released album number three “Where I Begin“. And the band, led by singing bassist Stephanie Wlosinski and guitarist and keyboardist Mike Bress, has gone from strength to strength. Both founded the band back in 2012, originally as a cover band. So, there’s plenty to talk about. Singer and bassist Stephanie answered my curious questions.

MHF: Hi, I’m Rainer and I write for Metalheads Forever Magazine. Thank you for letting me do this interview with you. How are you doing?

SW: We are great! Thanks for taking the time to chat.

MHF: You are less well known outside your home country. Please introduce yourself briefly.

SW: Hearts & Hand Grenades is a Hard Rock / Metal band from Buffalo, NY. The band was formed by founding members Stephanie Wlosinski and Mike Bress.

MHF: How did you come up with the name “Hearts & Hand Grenades”?

SW: We were looking for something that was contrasting. Our music is extremely diverse. We have songs that can be classified as Punk, Metal, Hard Rock, etc. Our members come from all different interests and influences, which is why our songs don’t sound the same from song to song. I think the name describes that best. We are able to go from sweet to I’ll punch you in the face.

MHF: The press release classifies you as a Hard Rock band. How would you describe your music yourself?

SW: Hard Rock is certainly good a portion of our sound. I would say that is the majority of it. We do however cross the line with some of our songs going totally Punk in one song, a balled the next, full-on metal next, and so forth. Having variety in our musical feel keeps things interesting and our fans guessing as to what they are going to get next!

MHF: Who is in charge of songwriting in the band?

SW: In most cases, Mike starts the song creating process with his guitar riffs for each section of the song. There are a couple of instances where we’ve strayed from that process. I would then add bass parts and lyrics, then the lead guitar, and drums are usually always the last instrument added in.

MHF: As a singing bassist, Stephanie is part of an illustrious circle. I’m thinking of Lemmy Kilmister, Suzie Quatro, Paul McCartney, Sting, Nina Treml (69 Chambers). How did it come about? Do you have any role models?

SW: I always wanted to play bass. Back when I was a kid, they stuck a violin in my hand because I was small. As soon as I was able to pick one up and play it, that was it for me. I could not see me playing any other instrument. Chris Wolstenholme of Muse is one of my favourite bassists along with Muse being my go to band.

MHF: I found 2012 as the founding year. But the debut album “Turning To Ashes” wasn’t released until January 2021. Why did you take so long to release it?

SW: The band was actually formed in 2019. 2012 is when Mike and I started playing in a cover band together. We released a 4 song EP 4 months after forming and basically took a couple songs of off that EP to round off the album released in 2021.

MHF: The follow-up “Between The Lines” was also released in 2021, which is actually quite astonishing. Did you want to make up for lost time?

SW: We were sitting on the material and really didn’t want to release it that soon. At the time, Covid was still a thing, and we didn’t know how long it was going to last. We figured why not just put it out there and see where things land.

MHF: You took a little more time for “Where I Begin”. How satisfied are you with this album?

SW: We feel “Where I Begin” is an amazing album. We took extra time to make sure the songs were all an amazing piece of work. We didn’t want to have any filler on the album. The thought was, lets create an album where no one skips a song. We love all of them on the album and hope everyone else did too.

MHF: What was the reaction from the press and fans?

SW: We’ve had some incredible reaction to the music. It’s come out of the gate gathering more streams and plays than any other release we’ve done. I couldn’t be happier with the results so far. All of the reviews we’ve seen have been extremely positive as well.

MHF: What are the differences between the three albums?

SW: Our first album “Turning To Ashes” was our initial shot and putting some original music out there. We weren’t really sure what our sound was even going to be with that album. After the release, we realized our new found fans were looking for that hard and heavier music. That’s what we gave them with our second release “Between The Line” We wanted to keep things fast, hard, and upbeat. By the time we arrived at our third album, we had our sound and style solidified. We spent a lot more time on recording and producing and I think it shows.

MHF: What will happen to the band in the next few years? Is a successor already planned? Will you also present your music outside your home country?

SW: We are looking at touring over the next few years as a priority. We are not looking at putting together a fourth album at this time. The plan is to release a bunch of singles and hit the road. We’ve toured the UK twice in 2023 and will be looking at going again, as well as a possible European tour if the demand is there.

MHF: Thank you once again for this interview. Is there anything else you would like to say to the fans at the end?

SW: First of all, thank you for taking the time to interview the band. Be sure to follow us on our socials and hopefully we will see you on the road in the near future.