Protest the Hero Singer Shows Vulnerability + Apathy on 'Within'

Protest the Hero are back with the ambitious and thought-provoking new album Within and singer Rody Walker says there are two key factors that have made this the right album at the right time for him.

Walker stressed the importance of embracing vulnerability in his chat about the album for Full Metal Jackie's weekend show. "It's true that I have become more comfortable with age being more vulnerable. I think that it is important for men to show vulnerability in a time where we are being told to repress our emotions outside of anger," he shares.

The singer also says that there's an apathy that's also come with this stage in his life. He clarifies, "[It's] not apathy towards the world, but apathy towards how the world views me. I don't care what people think about the lyrics that I've written. I wrote them from my heart. And should people not like them, who cares.

"I'm gonna go coach my son's baseball team. I'm gonna go walk around the suburbs with my wife. It doesn't matter, doesn't affect my life in any way and that's the apathy that I'm talking about, is I created this art with my friends. I love it and that's what matters to me, he continues, concluding, "Outside opinion can just bugger off."

Within the chat, Walker and Full Metal Jackie discuss how the maxim "as above, so below" plays into the new record, they delve into the role of messaging in the modern world and how it's impacting our personal views and relationships and Rody also addresses the band going independent with their operation now.

There's also discussion of the new songs "Mouthpiece" and "Fishhook" and talk of Rody's travels as a touring musician. Check out more of the chat below.

It's Full Metal Jackie and it is great to have back Rody Walker of Protest the Hero. Happy to have you back on the show. Within, the first album in six years, but it's really the start of a new journey for the band, who've gone completely independent with their operation now. Rody, can you speak to how having full control of all parts of this process impacted the making of this album, whether it be the challenges faced or the freedoms gained from doing so?

Yeah, it was really interesting. Definitely we weren't quite prepared for how difficult it was. There were a lot of things that people had been handling for us for a very long time that we weren't aware of. We didn't know very simple things and we have had to learn them. But it is very liberating.

It's been a long time where we have been somewhat confused by all of the old contracts and who owns what and who has the rights to what and we're very happy to start a new path where we can just start cleaning everything up. It's no shade to any of the record labels or any of the people that we've worked with in the past, but we're very happy, we're very proud to have produced this all on our own and we're very excited to forge this new path after what's been a long and confusing career.

Protest the Hero, "Mouthpiece"

Rody Walker from Protest the Hero is my guest on the show. We're talking about the new record Within. and let's talk about that track "Mouthpiece." It speaks to a larger issue of how messaging is being controlled in today's world. Anyone paying attention in the U.S. has seen some of the impact in our media decisions and ownership in the last few years. Rody, what initially drew you into this conversation and do you feel there's enough concern or action being taken given what we're seeing these days?

I think we're all vaguely aware of what's happening and we're vaguely aware of the influence that people have over us and media personalities and failed comedians and stuff like that, podcasters, so on and so forth, but we're not really doing anything.

It's inspired by sitting around and talking with people and hearing what they're saying and hearing normal people, regular everyday people start quoting what I would consider extremists, like Andrew Tate and stuff like that. You hear that stuff start flying around, all this kind of horrible [stuff] and you start hearing it flying around dinner tables like it's normal, like it's okay, like the subjugation of women is just something that we should consider because males are lonely. And that's sort of what inspired the idea.

We are being divided. We are actively being divided by these charlatans who are convincing us to hate one another and it's not cool with me. They're doing it for money. That's the only reason why they would ever do this and I'm not interested in having regular people divided because we should be together and we should overcome the true oppressors, which is, the large corporations and the billionaires.

The new album is titled Within, and while that may seem like a simple title, it comes from a larger maxim — as above, so below. How did adhering to that idea influence what you were doing and did it lead to a personal self-examination within the process?

You know what? I think the self-examination really came before. The title came afterwards, and it just fit so well. I was already writing this thing about how these larger ideas were affecting me on an individual basis and trying to write something that would be specific and still appeal to a broad spectrum of people.

And then while discussing the idea with my wife one night, she sort of said, "Well, why don't you go back to that as above, so below thing?" She was like, "There's a portion of it that a lot of people don't ever really speak." And we talked about it for a while and went, "Well, that works really well. It fits within the concept of Within the concept."

So that's really all it was, just sort of brainstorming with my wife. And I know when we put out the press releases, I've written it up in such a way that is very pretentious and very pseudo-intellectual BS, but that's all it really is. It's writing about how the larger world affects myself and it fit within that maxim very well.

Rody, another strong and to-the-point song on this album is "Fishhook," which addresses the public divide in opinion and how we handle it. Do you feel we've reached a point of no return with how we treat and address one another? Is there a way back to understanding and civility? What do you feel is our public contract with one another in dealing with beliefs and opinions that may conflict?

Yeah, it's difficult. I think there is a way back, but it's gonna take a global eye-opening, I think. What that consists of, I don't know. Maybe it consists of everything burning down first. That would be unfortunate, but that is one way it can come about.

That song really speaks to how I have been affected by propaganda as well. No one is impervious to it, including myself. And I have my own opinions and we clash in certain ways and we all become weird little stereotypes. But it's also about how simple it is to become an extremist, right?

People who used to have just slightly right-leaning conservative opinions, now all of the sudden the perspective in the political spectrum comes all the way over and it's just a short leap to extremism.

People might consider me an extremist for holding some of these beliefs. But really, I just believe that everyone deserves the same thing. Everyone deserves the same treatment and It's not a silly belief to hold, I don't think.

Rody, earlier we spoke about the band's independence and having a say in all parts of your career. As an artist, the music is definitely yours, but when it comes to a music video or artwork, there's a certain trust that's turned over to another party to meet that vision. Can you speak to what communication or direction is given when it came to Within's album art and the "Mouthpiece" video and your thoughts on how it all turned out?

So with both the album art and the "Mouthpiece" video, we are as involved as we can be, but we are also using people that we trust. Martin Witfooth did the artwork and he is someone who we've used in the past and we know is always gonna create something that not only represents the music that we create, but something that's beautiful and something that we very much enjoy. Visually stunning stuff that is usually right on point. So we don't really have to give him much direction. We tell him what it's about. I give him a brief blurb. He doesn't even hear the music and he just paints it. We go, "Jesus, that's bang on."

And Troy, [Maher] who directed the video for "Mouthpiece" is a Newfoundlander. That's all I really need to say. We trust and love Newfoundlanders with all our heart. We gave him a little direction. We sent him the song and he went, "I got this." He made a visually stunning video that follows the lyrics somehow with very little human imagery.

So we really just employ people that we trust and love and that's the key to it.

Rody, it could be argued this is one of the more ambitious albums for the band. It gets a little more personal and benefits from not holding back. Is this a record that basically comes with age and a comfort level to put yourself out there like that? Do you think this could have come at another stage in your career or were the circumstances from outside influence to who you are at this stage in life made this the perfect time to voice these sentiments within the album?

Yeah, I think that's a very good question. It's true that I have become more comfortable with age being more vulnerable. I think that it is important for men to show vulnerability in a time where we are being told to repress our emotions outside of anger.

I think a big part of it is apathy that comes with growing older. Not apathy towards the world, but apathy towards how the world views me. I don't care what people think about the lyrics that I've written. I wrote them from my heart. And should people not like them, who cares?

I'm gonna go coach my son's baseball team. I'm gonna go walk around the suburbs with my wife. It doesn't matter, doesn't affect my life in any way and that's the apathy that I'm talking about, is I created this art with my friends. I love it and that's what matters to me.

Outside opinion can just bugger off.

At this stage in your career, you've likely traveled the world over a few times. Do you have stops around the world that you've gravitated toward and you like to spend a little more time if there's an option to? And what personally grabs your interest when you're out on the road?

I really get quite anxious when it comes to going out on the road. The idea of sleeping in a bus or a van without air conditioning and my little creature comforts or flying and all that stuff, I get really anxious.

But then when I get out on the road, I love it. I always enjoy it. And that makes me think of when we were going to South Africa for the very first time. My mom was driving me to the airport and I was sitting in the front seat going, "I don't want to go anywhere... ," grabbing and griping, and then we went and I had such a wonderful time. The people, the food, the show itself, the metal scene. And then we went back like six months later and I was like, "I love South Africa, man."

We didn't make any money, but I'd go again in a heartbeat. It was such a wonderful place to be and a wonderful time that was had, the way we were treated.

There's a lot of different places that I could mention that would have a similar effect on me, but that's the first one that comes to mind.

And Rody, things continue to evolve for bands. You've seen plenty of change over the years. What's the biggest challenge for yourself as a band in 2026, and what advice would you give to others just sort of starting out in this industry?

I'm not sure that my advice would be good advice. We've been doing it for a very long time, and we have middling success, but success nonetheless.

The biggest challenge for me, it's trying to stay connected because I'm really just sort of finding out now how disconnected from everything I am.

As I'm doing a lot of press to promote the album, people are talking to me about modern metalcore releases and stuff like that and I don't really know much about it. I have sort of reverted back into sort of like the late '90s skate punk kid that I grew up as. I'm learning there's a lot of interesting and fun music out there that I should maybe be paying attention to, but I'm not doing it.

I think that's kind of the biggest challenge for me promoting this record and staying sort of fresh is knowing what's happening in the greater world of heavy metal because I do not.

Thanks to Protest the Hero's Rody Walker for the interview. The album 'Within' is available now. Stay up to date with the band through their website, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show here.

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