In 2019, Split Persona was the winner of the High School Battle of the Bands.

Split Persona, the four-piece hard rock band fronted by Zander Hoschak and characterised by an unwavering devotion to their hometown, have garnered regional acclaim for their unwavering passion and tenacity.

Emotionally captivating, but coolly abstract, lyrics are juxtaposed with exploding walls of driving music in the studio and live by the band.

We were able to interview the band in order to learn more about them and their new album "I Need More," which provided us with a wealth of information.

What is your real name?

Zander Hoschak

What's your official Band name?

Split Persona

How did you get into music?
I watched the movie Whiplash with my dad when the drum solo at the end reminded him of Alex Van Halen's legendary drum solos. So he showed me him playing, as well as his brother Eddie Van Halen, and I was mesmerized.

After starting guitar with Van Halen riffs, I discovered Foo Fighters and their story. From there, Dave Grohl inspired me to start singing and writing my own music to tell stories and entertain crowds as a frontman.

He's nothing but an inspiration, and the way he could speak through music and put on such a captivating performance inspired me to take the seat myself.

What field or genre are you into and how would you describe it?
I would describe our genre as breaking barriers and opening horizons above classic rock and roll. We're inspired by all the same legends, Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Hendrix as well as newer artists paving the way.

So in a way, we try to pay tribute to them in the live performances and in the writing try and 'break the rules a bit with what genre we write in with all the rock sub-genres that are out there.

What were your first project and the people you worked with and which year?
The first official project I ever worked on was recording the EP. I wrote songs like "Stay Away", "Melted Clocks" and "Keep It" when I was on my own as a musician living in Truckee, CA back in 2018.

I set up a studio in my room with a drum set and some microphones and recorded demos doing all the instruments myself. Once I moved up to Reno about a year later, I wrote songs like "All Us Three" about my past toxic school environment in Truckee, and "Strawberries" about my one and only experience with LSD.

I met a fellow producer Tom Gordon through a friend well known for engineering for White Snake, Ozzy, and Dr Dre. He was super stoked to work on the music, and the intention was to start the band with this EP and write music collectively in the future which is exactly what happened.

American Hard Rock Band Split Persona Discuss Their Music In An Interview

American Hard Rock Band Split Persona Discuss Their Music In An Interview

Who or what inspires you or motivates you? And why?
Honestly, the music itself is motivating. Being able to create and write about whatever you want is super freeing.

I don't have to stick to any deadlines with it, and I can just focus on creating and mastering the craft. I would say watching videos of my idols (Dave Grohl, Caleb Shomo, Brent Smith) just doing what they do best during their live performances and studio sessions.

I always need to watch "All My Life" or "Everlong" live at Wembley when I lose hope or need to be motivated before a show.

Any models you look up to? With reason(s) why?
Specifically? Dave. I mean he barbecues for his fans. What more could you ask for? He's the ultimate idol for being a badass in this industry and an extremely kind person. I hope to have a beer with him one day and talk about Queen's 'Hot Space' or something.

What do you look out for in this line of business?
Honestly, it's becoming clearer every day everyone in this industry either really wants to help you, or wants to drag you under.

It's a harsh world we live in already, and being manipulated and thrown around as such a small band already is hard on us.

But we know no matter what, we're just gonna go out and do what we do best and not give a flying f**k who thinks we sucked. We love music, and love sharing it by putting on speaker shaking performance.

What are some of the challenges you face in your career path?
There are plenty of obstacles we have to overcome whether they're mental or physical. It could be running out of gas on tour before a show, or getting a bad review. Either way, we pull through motivated by putting on a show and loving music.

How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
I feel like the internet made music sharing incredibly easy. With streaming services and increased accessibility that's not physical records and tapes, you can basically play music anywhere.

I'm not so sure about the whole paying artists fairly stuff and Napster and blah blah, but I just like being able to listen to anything anywhere.

Do you have any advice for aspiring songwriters?
Just write. Don't be afraid of what you write, everything can be broken down and used. There are parts of songs I wrote that I hated, that ended up in new songs and sounded great. Sometimes one part just doesn't fit in that certain song but does somewhere else.

What is your current project about?
Most of the EP is written, but as we are still pretty young (19-21) working day jobs, money because a pretty big issue when we want to go into recording, which surfaced the idea of releasing the EP through singles to save money and time.

But without a large label to front us recording money, it's hard to pull it together ourselves, mainly because it takes longer.

What are your hobbies?

My hobbies outside of music are building guitar pedals, going out on the town with the band or with friends, and just making spontaneous travel plans. I'm pretty chaotic to be friends with, but I'm always having fun doing something!

What do you do aside from this profession?
Aside from music, during the day I work at World Market, Mike works at a local Reno piercing shop "Black Hole Body Piercing", Brogan works in a wear house, and Jacob works a Pizza Hut. We're kids man.

I know right…lool. What is one message you would give to your fans?
The one message I would send to anyone who is a fan of our music is to buckle up. We're not letting anything stop us in this industry, and we love everyone who supports us really.

I can't even buy a drink yet but I've already been on tour as a band which I think is baffling. But we're just getting started, and we're so excited to share everything with you all!

https://open.spotify.com/album/3t80iB1mJUBCwdCHxFRfdI?si=3893be05fffd4fd5

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