Interview: Slow Pulse
Slow Pulse is my baby. It's my first band, and I really wanted, if we were going to come back, to be equally as strong.
Up and coming Austin, Texas hardcore band Slow Pulse have recently returned after a hiatus with a brand new line-up and a fresh outlook, whilst still retaining their energy from before. The band have just brought out a couple of new songs in ‘Hands Of Manipulation’ and ‘Portrayed In Spite’ that has them sounding revitalised and building one that they had started before. Gavin Brown had the pleasure of talking to Slow Pulse vocalist Brooke Hampton to hear all about the new material, the return of the band, how the hardcore scene in Texas is currently and who her biggest vocal inspirations are.
E&D: I first became aware of Slow Pulse when you commented on a post on UK hardcore band False Reality. Are you a fan of the band?
Brooke: I am a big fan of the band. I found out about them because my friend had sent me one of their songs, the one they did with Speed, and then I just listened to the album from there. I mean, honestly, I love women in hardcore. I’ve always really been a supporter of that, so I feel like anytime some of my friends see a band with that, they’re like, oh, we gotta send this to Brooke! They are so good. I love all the elements, all the styles that they incorporate in their music. I think her vocals are insane. I found out because a friend sent them to me, and then I was just clicking on all the members pages because I was just checking seeing who they were, then I saw one of them, Louis actually followed Slow Pulse, so I messaged him, and I was like, I’m a huge fan of your band, and you already follow mine. That’s so cool! We discussed, if we ever were in the same place, we could hopefully get a show going together, because my band has been on a hiatus for like, a year and a half, but we just recorded and released some new songs, so we are gonna be back at it.
E&D: Can you, can you tell me about the new songs that the band have done?
Brooke: Yeah, absolutely! The new songs, they are a bit different, because we do have a different line-up. My drummer had moved and my guitar player is no longer with us either. So we have two new members that I feel like bring a new style. My vocals have definitely changed a lot too. I was doing a mid to lower range with my vocals specifically and now I actually do a lot more highs. So I think the vocals have definitely changed and we also have our bass player doing some vocals as well. So it’s a bit of a dual vocal thing, which we didn’t really incorporate. I think it just adds a little bit more of a dynamic to it, when there’s multiple voices on the track. It definitely is a different sound. Maybe a little bit more of a metalcore influence too. Definitely still hardcore, but definitely a little bit different. I’m interested to see what people think of it. I’m super excited to come back with it.
E&D: Have you got plans for an EP or a full length album of new material?
Brooke: No plans yet. I mean, we have been itching to play and before we started even playing shows, I really wanted to showcase the new music, and at least get a song or two out there. Since the line-up is different, I wanted people to hear what the new sound was. We’re still going to obviously incorporate the old songs too, but just get a new flavour of what’s to come of Slow Pulse before we started hitting it back again, but after that, we’ll definitely be working on an EP.
E&D: Can you tell us about the reason for the hiatus and what led to the band coming back?
Brooke: My drummer moving and my guitar player no longer in it with us. They’re both still two of my dear friends, but I just took a minute to kind of get back, because the three of us had started the band together, and I want to be really particular about who was going to be in the band, because we had such a good thing going, and I wanted it to be equally as strong. So it took me a minute to find the right people to put in their places. Our original bass player is back as well. He was away for a minute, and then he came back, so we have a really strong unit right now, and I’m really excited for what’s to come. The hiatus was pretty much putting those pieces back, because when our drummer moved, I think that was hard. He’s a tattooer, he moved back to his hometown. I wanted it to be the right people before I jumped back. Slow Pulse is my baby. It’s my first band, and I really wanted, if we were going to come back, to be equally as strong. So I was just particular and wanted it to be really, really tight before we came back around.
E&D: Do you feel reenergised with the return of the band and this new line-up?
Brooke: Oh, 100% We were on such a good run before. We had just come off a tour, and then we had just played Furnace fest, too. Not too long after that,with everything happening, it shook things up. I definitely wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. Hardcore and fronting a band is something I wanted to do my entire life. I took vocal lessons after our tour because I just wanted to have a more dynamic sound, a better range, so I haven’t been able to showcase that. I haven’t been able to put my new skills on to record yet for anyone to even hear, and I’ve been working really hard at them, so I really wanted to come back with that. I’m super excited to just showcase what I can do, and just show off the new talent that we have in our band too. I think it’s really powerful, and I think people are really gonna dig it. So yes, I’m super energized. I’m cannot literally wait to get out there. I’m so excited to share the new music with fans.
E&D: Does it almost seem like starting again?
Brooke: It does feel like starting again in a way. Since Slow Pulse was my first band, at first, I kind of had no idea what I was doing, and I put the band together the first go around as well. Just found people that wanted to play, and it ended up working really well. So I’m kind of doing the same thing this time around, but I am way more experienced, I feel like I knew exactly what I wanted to fill those spots. I feel because I’m a little bit more knowledgeable just being in a band and knowing what I want to sound like, I feel starting again but with a better head on my shoulders about it, and definitely more experience and knowledge.
E&D: What is the Hardcore scene like in Austin and Texas a whole at the moment and what bands would you recommend to check out?
Brooke: I wish there were more bands, there are definitely some, but I would say they’re not even strictly hardcore. I would say they’re more metalcore. There are a few straight hardcore too, but it’s definitely widespread of different genres. Soul Exchange are getting a lot of traction right now. They just opened for Madball, Initiate and Brat when they came through here. They’re great dudes. Some of them are in another band called Virtue. There’s a band here called Banged Out, love them. Their first show was playing our EP release, and they’re all amazing musicians. Current Comfort, I might be biased, but the drummer is my fiancé, who is now also the drummer in my band. They’re great and they’re amazing musicians as well. A band called Houses We Die In are getting a lot of traction as well. They’re getting a lot of hype too, and every Houses show I’ve been to, people get very hyped for them. I think all those bands deserve it, because I think they’re all really great.
E&D: What are the biggest influences on Slow Pulse?
Brooke: My number one was always Bloodline Calligraphy, that was my biggest inspiration. Still really absolutely love that band. Our first show, when I put the band together, I basically asked our local emo night, because they would have bands play, I asked if we could play, I just wanted to scream on stage, literally, and I asked if we could do it and if I put a band together, we could do a show and I got the band together, and I was like, can we just do an all Bloodline Calligraphy cover set for the show? And they were like, No, you’re gonna want people to know some of these songs, and not everyone knows this super niche band from l2004 so I was like, Okay, you’re right. We played one Bloodline song for that, but they made the right call. Poison The Well is one of my drummer’s favourite bands. I’d always been a fan of more the beatdown hardcore, whereas other members weren’t. I feel like I still am more into old hardcore. That’s always been my influence. Walls of Jericho as well, was always a big presence for me growing up.
E&D: What have been some of your favourite live shows that the band have done so far?
Brooke: Furnace fest, hands down, was one of the coolest days of my life. It was just being able to open for some of my favourite bands ever. I’ve been to that festival every single year since it came back in 2021 and then for me to be able to play, I literally have goosebumps now talking about it. It was just amazing. Candace from Walls Of Jericho was watching my set because they were on that bill later. And when we finished, she came up to me telling me how great it was. That was like a holy shit, very full circle moment for me. I was like, Oh, my God, I literally do this because you have been one of my influences as a kid. So that was really amazing. And then later, the band With Honor asked me to do guest vocals on their set, they had DM’d me that prior to the festival, and that was amazing too, because the reason I went to Furnace Fest in 2021 was because With Honor was playing and they were reuniting, so to be asked the year I’m playing, to join them on stage, was crazy to me, mind blowing. So that was super cool and the people that go to those festivals, they just have a lot of heart. I haven’t been to a festival yet, that tops that for me.
E&D: Can you tell us about the Screaming 101 classes that you do?
Brooke: I’m also a makeup artist.My best friend and I run a hair and makeup company here in Austin, and we do hair and makeup for weddings. So I did a bride once, and we just got on the topic of music. I was telling her she listened to the same genre, and I was like, Oh yeah, I play in this band, and I was just talking about it. Then she checked us out, and months later, I had gotten a DM from this organisation here called Femme Rock, and it basically teaches different instruments and vocals and you can also form mini bands. They’ll do cover bands for six weeks, and all femmes will learn a different instrument. It’s a super cool organisation that I didn’t even know about until she had told me about it. They had lost their screaming vocal coach, who weirdly was my vocal coach. Didn’t even know she did that, because she did that a long time ago, and they needed a new one, so they recommended me, and I was like, I don’t know if I’m prepared for this, but I’ve taken lessons with a lot of people so far. And so I basically was like, you know, I’ll give it a try. So I took my favourite parts from the lessons that I’ve done, and made my own curriculum. I’ve been teaching group lessons there. It’s like a six week course, and then after that six weeks, another new group of people come in, and then I’ve been doing private lessons through them and on my own as well. It’s been really awesome. It’s people that have not screamed at all, and almost all of them, by the end are screaming. So I think I’m doing something right, which is cool, and it’s fun to watch their progress.
E&D: Who are the biggest influences on your vocals?
Brooke: Emma from Dying Wish has been a really big influence to me. I love her music, but also I’ve watched her vocals in her early days, going through some vocal struggles, and change her vocals to what they are now, and how much of a powerhouse she is. She’s always been super inspiring for me. Crystal from Initiate too, her vocals are so visceral and cool. Courtney LaPlante from Spiritbox, just watching Courtney deliver vocals so effortlessly, she can do a super low or mid and she just looks like she is walking and talking! She almost looks like she puts no effort for like it, but makes this insane sound and honestly Rachel from False Reality lately. I remember when I first found out about them. I keep saying all women, but that’s who inspires me, just hearing her vocals as well, in her range. I’ve been watching some YouTube lives of False Reality, and they’ve been incredible as well. To watch False Reality come up right now, I just feel like, right now, the time for hardcore is as great as ever, so that gets me really inspired to restart, because I was pretty down when we stopped for that year and a half that we did. I felt like I was gaining this sense of identity into the hardcore world and then with the fall of that, just feeling really depressed of not being able to perform and share these songs and play these songs for people. So watching hardcore be on the up and up, and girls like Rachel, coming out with her sick band. I’m like, Yes, I want to be that again. I want to do that again. So very inspiring to me.
E&D: So you’re always checking out up and coming bands too?
Brooke: Absolutely, right before I was talking to you, I was just looking at a list of bands for 2026 to watch, because I’m always looking for new music. My friends always joke that I’ve been into hardcore and this whole scene forever.I literally have not changed a bit. When I was in college, I ran a hardcore radio show for three years, and I’ve just always been listening to the same song over and over and over. Of course, now I’m incorporating newer bands, but I still listen to Bloodline and Walls Of Jericho. I feel like I won’t ever let that stray, but yeah, I’m always on the hunt for new bands, and admittedly, I’ve been going to less shows than I used to when I was younger. Now I’m 35 and I feel like I don’t go as much, but I still like to try to support the scene as much as I can, and the energy in a room for a hardcore show, there’s nothing like it.
