Philadelphia rock band Hiroe are set to release their debut album entitled Wield on June 20th. The band’s guitarist Eric Kusanagi spoke with Metal Express Radio about their upcoming album, the band’s formation, his favorite releases of 2025, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: How did the formation of your band come about?
Kusanagi: Hiroe formed during the pandemic when the world shut down. It began as a small project with myself and Jill, and it served as a way to connect through music. Nothing made sense at the time, the only thing that made sense was the solace in playing music. For me, it had been over ten years since I’d really been involved with music, and it was during that time I truly realized how much I’d missed it and how much I needed it.
What started as a coping mechanism quickly ignited a passion I had ignored for a long time. Ultimately, with Hiroe, we were just a couple of people who wanted to connect, create, and express ourselves through music.
MER: You’ll be releasing your debut album entitled Wield on June 20th, what can you tell everyone about your band’s first album?
Kusanagi: We’re incredibly excited to release our debut album, Wield, on June 20th! Wield is designed to be a journey, meant to be listened to from beginning to end, as one complete piece. We put a lot of care into sequencing the album, aiming to truly present listeners with a cohesive journey.
Beyond that, Wield is meant to be a direct counterpart to our first release, Wrought. Wrought was all about creation, like fashioning something from raw metal. Wield, then, is about doing something with that creation—it’s about wielding it. While the name might make you think of holding a weapon, we weren’t trying to evoke aggressive imagery. For us, it’s more about “wielding this opportunity”—taking what we’ve created and doing something meaningful with it, refining it, expanding on it, and building upon it.
MER: How was it writing and recording together for the first time?
Kusanagi: The writing process for Wield actually began while we were still recording Wrought. I was initially worried that Wrought might be too short, so I started developing new ideas. While these ideas weren’t fully finished for Wrought, they naturally progressed and became the foundation for this album. This transition to Wield felt very natural, and I hope that listeners experience that seamless flow as well. Wrought and Wield are distinct, but they aren’t entirely separate.
MER: You’ve released two songs from the album so far, do you feel those songs represents the album well?
Kusanagi: Yes, I think the two songs we’ve released so far, “Tides” and “Dancing at the End of the World”, represent the album well. Plus, you’ll hear a third one pretty soon!
You’ll notice that all the songs are distinct in their style and tone from one another, and that’s completely by design. Wield is meant to be a journey with a lot of peaks and valleys, a lot of ups and downs, which really reflects life itself.
“Tides” is a pretty heavy, slow-moving song, a little angry, and inspired by some doom and sludge influences.
“Dancing at the End of the World” is on the prettier side of things, a little more melancholy, which I think would appeal to more traditional post-rock fans and romantics.
“Collider” is our longest song, at 10 minutes. It’s a driving and optimistic track, and people seem to respond well to it when we play it live—there are a lot of guitar theatrics in that song.
As musicians, we love to play different kinds of music to bring out different emotions. I wanted to take the listener on this emotional journey, hopefully providing an escape for them and giving them a soundtrack for their own story.
Individually, the parts of the music are quite simple, but when you combine all the parts, that’s where you find the true complexity. And I hope the listeners get that.
MER: What changes within the band have you noticed since the release of your 2022 EP entitled Wrought?
Kusanagi: The most significant change since Wrought has undoubtedly been the substantial lineup shift within the band. Aside from myself and Jill, everyone else is new. It was a challenging but necessary evolution. While the core vision started with Jill and me, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to bring in a new group of players who are truly amazing musicians and individuals. Their talent, dedication, and chemistry have been transformative, making the creative and logistical aspects of being in a band significantly easier. This fresh energy and perspective have allowed us to move forward much more quickly with our music and plans, proving invaluable to Hiroe’s growth.
MER: What do you see as plans for you and your band to support the upcoming album?
Kusanagi: Our immediate plans to support Wield are focused on regional touring. We’ll be playing in cities like Brooklyn, Boston, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis, primarily targeting larger markets on the East Coast. We’re traditionalists in that we love connecting directly with an audience through live music, and this is the perfect time and opportunity to do so. Our goal is to bring the album to life on stage and share the full dynamic range of “Wield” with as many people as possible.
Beyond that, we’re exploring opportunities for festival appearances in Europe next year, which we are hoping will become a reality and presents an opportunity to reach a larger audience.
MER: Who do you hope to tour with and why?
Kusanagi: I think we’d be a good fit with almost all of our European label mates; it would make for a really interesting package. We’d certainly love to tour with any of them, including our American labelmates SOM, Shy, Low, or Rosetta. On a personal level, I’d love to do something with either The Ocean or a run with our friends Spotlights; they are among a small handful of bands that are doing very interesting things with music right now. Beyond that, I’m very fond of our French label mates, Year of No Light. I’ve admired their music for a long time. They aren’t super active on the touring circuit, so catching them during one of their active periods and potentially sharing a stage for multiple nights in a row would be an incredible opportunity.
MER: Is there anywhere in particular you hope to play live and why?
Kusanagi: We’d all love to experience Europe, particularly during festival season. Dunk! Festival in Belgium. To me, it feels like a chance to play for “our people,” if that makes sense. While the post-rock scene isn’t huge, it’s proven to be a very close-knit community, and you can thank fests like Dunk and Post for helping create and foster that community. The legendary bands that have played at Dunk! over the years has been nothing short of astonishing, and playing there almost seems like rite of passage for a post band, since Dunk are such a cornerstone for our genre.
Then there’s ArcTanGent in the UK. ArcTanGent would be an honor, given its reputation for pushing musical boundaries. There is a good reason why they are known for celebrating unique and progressive independent music, showcasing both established and up-and-coming acts. Every year, they manage to put together lineups that somehow top the previous one. It’s a place where you can see your favorite bands and discover incredible new bands.
And of course, we would love to play Pelagic Fest in Maastricht alongside our labelmates, it’d be a really special experience for us, to play this celebration and the largest gathering of Pelagic bands, and Pelagic fans.
MER: What have been some of your favorite releases of 2025 so far?
Kusanagi: That’s a great question, but I’m actually terribly behind on keeping up with new releases lately! However, I will say that Mogwai, in my eyes, can do no wrong, and their new album The Bad Fire is proof of that. Also, Deafheaven’s new album, Lonely People with Power, has proven to be a welcome return to form that a lot of us were hoping for, especially after the dramatic change in direction with their last album.
MER: What are your hopes for your band’s future?
Kusanagi: Our biggest hope for Hiroe’s future is simply to continue to grow. We want to keep evolving as musicians and as a band. This means continuing to write music that truly expresses who we are, pushing our creative boundaries, and hopefully connecting with more and more people through our songs. The response to the Wield singles has been amazing, and we just hope to continue to build upon that. We want to be a band that people find meaningful, and we’re truly excited about the journey ahead.
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