HYRO THE HERO REVEALS DETAILS ON UPCOMING TOUR DATES

In just shy of a week, rap rock harbinger HYRO THE HERO has announced an upcoming series of shows with nu-metal outfit P.O.D., a spot on Brooklyn‘s annual Afropunk Festival, a headlining gig for the official Epicenter Festival after-show, a spot on the inaugural Rockstar Energy Drink Disrupt Festival summer tour (The Used, Thrice, Circa Survive, Sum 41), and a guest spot on the latest single from DJ and EDM producer Crankdat, “Monster.” On top of this, HYRO THE HERO recently premiered the music video for the single “Never Back Down,” which Consequence of Sound praised for having “Rage Against the Machine-like verses with a melodic chorus.”

HYRO THE HERO will kick off his busy summer on May 3 in Jacksonville, FL at Welcome To Rockville before heading to Rockingham, NC on May 10 to perform at Epicenter Festival where he’ll also headline the official afterhours show with support from Wilson and Arrested Youth. He’ll then hop on a two-week jaunt with P.O.D. from May 12 to 24 as he makes his way to Rocklahoma on May 25 before getting his gaming on as he joins Trivium and Cane Hill at DreamHack in Dallas, TX on June 1. After taking a short break, he’ll return to the road with the Rockstar Energy Drink Disrupt Festival tour from June 21 to July 28. HYRO will then wrap up the summer dates with a stop at Afropunk Festival on August 24/25. A full list of dates is provided below; tickets are available with links and on-sale dates at www.hyrothehero.com.

Scroll below for a Q&A with HYRO THE HERO!

Featuring his signature blend of infectious modern rock riffs overlaid with invigorating rap vocals, HYRO THE HERO‘s sophomore album FLAGGED CHANNEL is out now via SONY/RED MUSIC. The album, produced by Mitch Marlow (Papa Roach, Filter), includes hit single “Bullet,” which debuted in the Top 40 on Billboard’s Active Rock and Mainstream Rock charts while having over 2.7 million streams on Spotify. Watch the music video, originally premiered by Billboard.com, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACEKhljj5bk

HYRO: The time period in between now and my last album was one of growth and patience, I took some time to improve musically and let the game come to me. I dove into different genres, learned to produce, learn song structure and found ways I could bring my message to the people in the most powerful way possible. That is why Flagged Channel is so important to me, it’s the re-introduction of Hyro The Hero.

Over the past year there’s been a resurgence of bands in the ‘rap rock’ genre with up-and-coming artists including yourself, Fever 333, HO99O9, and even those like Lil Peep and Post Malone who’ve gained commercial success. While most have been likened to taking influence from Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit, Korn – whose guitarist Munky guested on your album-, etc…what do you feel you bring to the table with FLAGGED CHANNEL? How do you stand out from the rest?

HYRO: It has been amazing seeing the genre grow the way it has been. I’ve been a man on a mission since the MySpace days blending the rock and rap sound. It’s what started me off back in 2005 when I was sampling sick riffs and breakdowns and rapping to them with hip hop beats on my first mixtape, Gangsta Rock.

The catalyst for my music style comes from an emotional place. My powerful words need very powerful music behind them. All of this combined with my talent of rocking the mic lyrically like no other is what separates me from the rest.

HYRO: Yeah, there is still a negative connotation with it, but with all these sick bands we have now and the diverse styles of it–thatis going to change real soon. There is a coolness to it like never before which comes from influence from the trap sound that is popular in this day and age–the style bleeds over.

I’m proud to tell people about it because I know when they listen, they are gonna become instant fans.

HYRO: My lawyer Eric German set it up! He shows me so much love and always has his ear out for stuff he knows I would be good on. Once the song was sent, I killed it and Crankdat loved it. It was dope because Crankdat would hum little ideas through voice text message so I could go in and try them out so he would have more to play with while building the track.

HYRO: It’s all energy. Once I am giving the people the energy they desire, it will translate perfectly. We are in a turn-up era, people want loud and energetic feelings. The only thing I believe is missing is true emotion in rapping today. Eminem and Tupac, for example, had that. I believe I bring that part back, so no matter what genre I take part in, it will hit the audience hard. 

HYRO: Haha, Yea, I’m actually hurt right now. My ankle is f*cked up, but adrenaline fixes that every time I’m on stage. The thing with me is I’m spitting so much lyrics from my heart that I have no choice but to emotionally be involved in it–it’s spiritual for me and an expression I get to let out. I’m so chill in real life that people can’t believe it’s me on stage. Something takes over and my body just does what it feels.

HYRO: Size of the place doesn’t matter to me so long as I’m in front of people. I feel blessed to rock at festivals with lots of people and blessed to be intimate with fans up close rocking small stages. Either way it goes, I want each person to feel I’m talking directly to them.

HYRO: Absolutely incredible, dream come true type sh*t. Words can’t begin to describe it.

HYRO: I’m working on new music and will be focused on hitting the road this summer with all of these shows lined up. I just want to do an amazing job with my band and kill every show, all while leaving people with feeling like they got a message after seeing my set.

^ with P.O.D. & Nonpoint & Islander
# with Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival Tour