Half Raptor ***New Interview***

The punk scene of today is far reaching, some say not far enough. Straight out of Arkansas, Half Raptor is a great band. They have toured and have a great 10" split record out. With some many punks bands out there, it is great to see a band like Half Raptor in the mix. Great tunes and a great band. I got the band to tell their story...

Introduce yourself…
Hey! We are Half Raptor. We are a rock and roll band from Russellville, AR
Memebers consist of:
Forrest Hittle-Guitar/Vocals
Mitch Woodson-Bass/Vocals
Clay Harmon-Guitar/Vocals
Braden Franklin-Drums/Some Vocals

How did the band start?
The band started when all of our other bands broke up. We had all been in bands or toured together at some point through our friendship before we started Half Raptor

How did you come up with the name?
We came up with band name in Virginia, when two of us (Forrest and Braden) were in a rock and roll band called True Gritt. We were on tour and the guy we were staying with warned us of his neighbors roosters and how they did not sound like normal roosters should. When we awoke the next morning we heard the roosters sounding off the morning. They sounded like a dinosaur, a Veloci-Raptor to be exact. Half rooster, half raptor. Braden hated the band name and still to this day hates the band name, but.......Mitch was willing to get Braden's name tattooed on his (Mitch) arm for the band name Half Raptor. Braden bought a tattoo kit and tattooed his name on Mitch's arm.

Who would you say are your influences?
We all have different influences all the from Alkaline Trio to The Rolling Stones and all the way back up to O' Pioneers and The Gaslight Anthem. But....We all agree on two major influences, Bruce Springsteen and The Replacements

What is the punk scene like in Arkansas?
The punk rock scene in Arkansas can be awesome or really lame, but when you get in good with one of the great punk bands around here, it is great !

Describe the song writing process...
The song writing process is always running strong. Mitch and Forrest always have a pen to a piece of paper writing things down as they go through out their daily routine, what they encounter or the emotions they deal with through what ever is going on, is what will eventually turn into a Half Raptor song.

What have you released?
Our 10inch record Have You Seen This Cat?" is a split with our good friends Bent Left from Kansas City, MO. Our side of the split is a 4 song EP. It can be ordered through the I Hate Punk Rock Records website.
We have released our 10inch split "Have You Seen This Cat?" and our "Demo". You can Download both of these from our bandcamp page. halfraptor.bandcamp.com

Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
There is a long list of bands we have had the pleasure of sharing a stage with. Some in which include............
Bent Left, The Jetty Boys, The Haddonfields, Rodeo Ruby Love, The Academy Is.., Eastern Turkish, The Heat Machine, The Dirty Mugs, Brother Andy and His Big Damn Mouth, Adam Faucett and the Tall Grass.

Have you toured?
We tour as often as possible. We have pretty much have only gone to the Midwest and the East Coast. We plan on going to the west coast soon.

Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
We do not like to choose favorites between bands we have played with.

Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
Some of our favorite places we like to play are.....
Club Mustashe in Kansas City, MO and The Hole in Omaha, NE, and White Water Tavern in Little Rock, AR

How can people contact the band?
People can contact us many ways....
halfraptor(at)gmail.com
www(dot)facebook(dot)com/halfraptor
halfraptor(dot)webs(dot)com
You can listen to our tunes at.....
halfraptor(dot)bandcamp(dot)com
You can order our record from.....
www(dot)ihatepunkrock(dot)net