Interviews

Aric Improta & Stephen Harrison – House Of Protection ‘The Biggest Obstacle To Climb’

Paul 'Browny' Brown

CEO/Founder and Editor-In-Chief

Jan 16, 2025

7 min read

Starting a new band can be pretty daunting… Starting a new band after departing such a widely praised and globally recognised outfit adds further anxiety to the mix, but House Of Protection‘s Aric Improta and Stephen Harrison have taken a tumultuous band breakup in their stride and rebirthed with a project that’s snapping necks in the alternative scene – proving you can’t keep talented musicians down.

The boys burst back with debut track ‘It’s Supposed To Hurt‘, combining eclectic drum and bass with contemporary post-hardcore instrumentals and set the foundations for what would later become their GALORE EP – produced by the musical mastermind Jordan Fish (ex-BMTH) – and serving as a launchpad for their newfound approach to music, much to the approval of unsuspecting and devoted fans.

Ahead of the band’s first visit to Australia, we grabbed Aric and Stephen for a recap of their breakthrough year, the struggles they overcame with House Of Protection and how touring with Bad Omens and Poppy feels like a summer camp with best friends.

Listen to the podcast below (and via your fav podcast app) or read on for the best bits…

I first quizzed the band about what was more daunting – starting a new band and essentially starting from scratch again, or trying new things like singing different notes, and hopefully not alienating the fans in the process – to which Stephen replied:

“They’re both pretty anxiety inducing things. The idea of starting a band from the ground, I just think, personally, at my age and where I’m at in my life, when we started [it] was a mountain in my way. I think to this day, it’s been the biggest obstacle to climb.

It’s just kind of where I was mentally too. It’s such a weird thing when I actually sit back and think about it, which I don’t do very often anymore. But, it was hard. Because we always loved the stuff we were making. But that’s the challenge with doing something different.

So you don’t really know what you’re setting yourself up for sometimes but I’m just extremely grateful for how we’ve been received, even through a lot of that self, I don’t want to call it doubt, just some of the mental hardships of starting something new and doing something new.“

Without hesitation, Aric cheekily added to Stephen’s response with:

“I knew that was your experience. I fucking loved it. I love the minute that we heard it was new. It felt like the first band practise you’d ever been to. We were just like, ‘Oh, holy shit, this is completely new territory’. I know Steve had a long drive from LA down to where me and Nick [DePirro – Night Verses] were in Orange County, but if anything, I think it was a healthy balance for Steve to come in with his energy and me to be overly like, ‘Let’s fucking do this’ every single day. And then those things sort of mellow out.

It was really nice that Steve was such a good singer, it made this whole project. He could have had a voice that we just hated and we would’ve been like, ‘all right, well, this is what we’re working with‘.

The initial response blew expectations and with follow-up singles like ‘Being One‘ and ‘Pulling Teeth‘, the greater vision somewhat expanded upon, while also leaving the alternative scene to question what sounds the duo would experiment with next.

But the band’s experience and longevity within the music industry didn’t take too long to pick up the attention of others, especially with Jordan Fish in the production booth. Jordan [who was also mixing new music from ARCHITECTS at the time] suggested the UK metalcore powerhouse incorporate House Of Protection on ‘Brain Dead‘, one of the tracks from their forthcoming album The Sky, The Earth & All Between.

Attention turned to the collaboration and despite remaining extremely tight-lipped about the project, Harrison shared what little information he could:

“I don’t now that we can share much about the song. I think it’s just got to be one of those things where you hear it and you’re like, ‘okay, totally [makes sense’]. I met Sam [Carter] when I was 17 on one of my first tours in England and I’ve been an ARCHIETCTS fan ever since. We’re homies. Jordan Fish was working on their album and I guess when they were writing the song, they were talking about having us on it and they sent it over [and] we’re like ‘This is sick’ and yeah we just jumped on it and it’s dope. Love those guys.”

That kind of comradery in the music business is few and far between these days. When egos come into play as bands get bigger, they tend for leave behind the scene that made them a household name. When big bands lend a hand to smaller or newer/upcoming acts, it shows that no matter how big you get, you can always continue paving a path for others to follow, which is something Aric touched on in his response:

“I think one of the coolest things about ARCHITECTS is they had heard some of our material early, like before it had come out (because they were also recording with Jordan), and they asked us before anything came out. And for them to be on board like that was fucking awesome.

I feel like when you’re a new band and you don’t know who’s got your back, them just being like, ‘Hey, do you want to do this’ right off the bat was so fucking cool.

But yeah, I mean, not that we’re like, elitist or anything, everybody’s cool to do their own thing. But we don’t like the sound of everything. So we’re only going to collaborate on stuff that we really genuinely enjoy.”

Next week House of Protection will make their Australian debut on the long-awaited Bad Omens headline tour with Poppy in support. For the ill-informed, these three acts are well connected with each other and are in the same social/friend circles, so from an outsider’s perspective, it seems like the tour is less work, and more like a friends on summer camp vibe.

“That’s a good way to describe it.” claimed Aric. With Stephen further explaining, “It really does feel like that. Poppy is a good friend of mine, Noah from Bad Omens is a good friend of mine. I’m very excited for it to be in that company for our first tour. It really does feel good to know everyone. And I also love playing Australia, it’s been a long time since I’ve been down there to play a show.“

“But I love planning shows down there. It’s just a different energy. I feel like Australians just want to have fun; that’s like that’s like priority number one. People are less likely to kind of just stand and stare with their arms crossed, they would much rather go crazy!”

Aric closed out the conversation reiterating his love for Aussie fans, stating:

“There’s no grace period. Every time I’ve ever played Australia, they’re in [from] song one and I feel, as a band, that’s such a relief, like why waste time? Enjoy the entire set. All of my [shows] I’ve ever played in Australia have felt like that”

Having caught up with Poppy herself at the tail end of 2024 (revisit that chat here), we quizzed her on the possibility of live collaborations on songs like ‘V.A.N‘ or ‘Scary Mask‘ (which featured Stephen and Aric from their Fever 333 days) to which she simply replied: “There is potential.“

Can you afford to miss out on so many firsts on this tour – including House Of Protection‘s high-energy Australian debut?

Interview by Paul ‘Browny’ Brown @brownypaul

Catch House Of Protection touring with Bad Omens and Poppy next week!
Tickets here