The Nwothm

Tower Hill have steadily built their place within Canada’s heavy metal landscape, carrying a clear identity shaped by years of writing, recording and performing across the country. With their next chapter already in motion, we caught up with vocalist R. F. Traynor for a conversation about the band’s roots, the world around their music and what keeps Tower Hill moving forward.

Interview

TheNwothm: Can you introduce the band, members and where you are from?

R.F. Traynor: The band consists of myself on vocals, Cam (bass), Jeremy (guitar), Chris (guitar), and Mitch on drums. We’re all from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but Mitch lives in Calgary now – about three hours south – and Chris is originally from Brazil but moved here more than a decade ago.

TheNwothm: What’s the story behind the moment you decided to form Tower Hill?

Traynor: Tower Hill was originally a solo project I put together as creative outlet during the pandemic a few years back to record some old school heavy/power metal tracks I had kicking around that didn’t really fit any other projects I was involved in. I wrote and self-released the Fighting Spirts (2021) demo and it got a little bit of hype and we were picked up by No Remorse Records. They asked me who else was in the band and I thought “Hmm… good question!” and reached out to the guys to put a live lineup together.

TheNwothm: How did the name Tower Hill first enter the conversation, and what made it feel right for the band?

Traynor: In 2015-2016 I lived in a really crappy apartment downtown with an ex-girlfriend and one of my close friends, our drummer’s older brother. The apartment sucked and I think the building caught on fire at least once and I am pretty sure a guy got stabbed there too. But it had the coolest name ever – “Tower Hill” – and my friend thought it would be a great name for a metal band. It stuck with me and when it came time to pick out a band name after writing the songs for the demo, it seemed like the obvious choice. Whenever I drive by that building now I’m like “hell yeah, Tower Hill”.

TheNwothm: Edmonton has a reputation for producing determined, hard‑working bands. What parts of the city shaped you the most as musicians? How would you describe the heavy metal scene in Edmonton at the moment?

Traynor: Edmonton’s heavy metal scene definitely comes in waves. It feels like it’s on a bit of a downswing right now, a lot of venues have closed over the years and with things getting more and more expensive it’s a bit harder to get a strong turnout for a local show. The city is really not great at supporting the arts, which makes it harder for the venues that do exist to want to take a chance on something more niche like metal, and even more niche like trad or power metal. 

Edmonton does have a good hardcore scene right now and a lot of the younger kids are really into that, which is super rad and nice to see. I like that shit too, but I hope some of them can get hooked on Power Trip and then Eternal Champion and come over to the heavy metal side of things. Edmonton is also a bit more death metal-oriented than leaning towards heavy/trad/power metal, I think us and Striker are pretty much the only really active Edmonton bands that fall into to the latter category.

TheNwothm: Are there any uniquely Canadian traditions, stories or bits of folklore that have inspired your themes of drinking or mythology?

Traynor: We wrote like two and half songs about drinking. I guess ‘Antigone’ is about mythology but I wrote it more about the play, same with ‘Kings Who Die’ which is about Hamlet and MacBeth.

The next album will have a lot more Canadian themes to it – there’s a song about the wendigo, which is like an evil spirit from indigenous Canadian mythology that can possess people and drive them to cannibalism. There’s also a song about driving across Canada on tour and a song about Louis Riel, a pretty important figure in Canadian history who led a big rebellion against the federal government in the 1880s. But it also has a song about a guy with a magical sword, so there’s something for everyone.

TheNwothm: Which heavy metal records shaped you growing up, even if they don’t directly resemble your sound

Traynor: I would say definitely it’s both the Keeper albums by Helloween. They really set me on the path to not only being into heavy metal but also making music as a whole. Those two for sure and also Gates of Oblivion by Dark Moor, I love the romantic, neoclassical sound even though that’s not something we do really. For Tower Hill specifically, I would say Dominator by Cloven Hoof and The Brethren of the Long House by Riot are the biggest direct influences. And lots of Running Wild.

TheNwothm: Currently what bands are you listening to? And are any bands that are ones to watch?

Traynor: This year so far, I really enjoyed the album Aletheia by Wildhunt and Turn to the Light by Godspear. I would keep an eye out for Grimoire out of Dallas and Blind Oath out of Tulsa – we played with them both down South last year and they’re cooking up some cool stuff.

TheNwothm: Your first release, “Fighting Spirits,” arrived in 2021. What do you remember most clearly about creating that demo.

Traynor: I remember how fast the hook for ‘Antigone’ hit me. You know when a song hits you fully formed, like a bolt from the blue or like Athena out of the skull of Zeus? It was like that, just boom, that’s a song. I think I was probably drinking a beer at the time. ‘Claw is the Law’ and ‘Fighting Spirits’ I was kicking around for ages.

TheNwothm: When you look back at “Fighting Spirits,” what creative risks did you take that set the tone for Tower Hill?

Traynor: I don’t think there were any creative risks, I think it was a really fun, paint-by-numbers heavy metal demo. I think I recorded a bass guitar harmony maybe? That felt risky.