Time X Heist are a straight edge hardcore band out of Denver Colorado. Their first show was in the fall of 2022 and since that time they have been a very active band with a bunch of releases as well as tours including three tours of Europe. Their latest album, “The Measure Of My Devotion” (released in May on Indecision Records) sees the band level up on the Youth Crew sound showcasing their members’ skills while stepping out of the box a little at the same time. With so many releases these days being short EP’s it is refreshing to hear a 12 song, 19 minute slab of wall to wall solid hardcore that stays fresh throughout. We did this interview with singer Mark Frandsen and guitarist Robert Garcia in mid-July to get more of their story. The rest of Time x Heist consists of: Rodrigo Martinez; guitar, Knox; bass, and Jeremiah Maynard; drums. Lead photo by: JC Photo Media, all live photos by: Ethan Cook. Graphics by: Jeff Marsala.
IE: What’s up? Where exactly are you right now and what would you usually be doing at this time of the day if you weren’t answering these questions?
Mark: Currently sitting around at work between cuts. I am an ice maintenance technician for a municipal ice rink. Basically, a fancy way of saying I drive a Zamboni. This is my full-time job. I get a pretty generous benefit package with lots of time off so that allows me to be able to hit the road a couple times a year. It’s very chill, both literally and figuratively.
IE: “The Measure Of My Devotion” is the latest Time x Heist release. If you had to briefly tell someone unfamiliar with this band about this new release what would you tell them?
Robert: “The Measure of My Devotion” is a true testament to TXH’s ever evolving sound and message. These 12 songs are taking what we’ve done in the past and turning the volume up. The heavy stuff is heavier, the melodic stuff is more musical and intricate, while the lyrical content remains mostly the same.
IE: What are some songs on the new album that you can single out and say or think “we’re all proud of this one”… Obviously you are proud of all of them but are there specific ones that stand out the most… for lyrics, music or a combo of both?
Mark: We were honestly happy with every song on this record. We were in a bit of a rush to knock it out because of some budget limitations so I think there are a couple that could have been even better but overall we’re stoked on how it all came out. I’d say that collectively our favorites are “Carry The Flame”, “For Your Approval” and “Stay The Course”.
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IE: Sonically I would say Time x Heist is rooted in the Youth Crew style of hardcore but the band does enough genre bending and adding layers in to not give off a “I’ve heard this all before” vibe. Can you take us through the creative process of how this band sits down and writes? Is it more a thing where the band just writes and it is what it is or is there a conscious effort to try and step out of the box more?
Robert: That is a good way of describing our sound. We try to stay grounded in the Youth Crew style but are always finding ways to expand the genre and push the boundaries. As individual members, we all can bring in our own unique influences to the mix, but in the end we remain true to our foundation. The process has been that Rod and myself write the music on our own, record demos and share them with the band. We then jam on the songs, fine tune and rearrange them as a group and decide if the final product is good enough to make the cut. Because myself and Rod can bring in a wide variety of sounds and styles to the mix, it’s always good to have the rest of the band temper the more unconventional and eccentric ideas they demo to keep things sounding true to TXH.
IE: What are some influential bands that all of you can agree on as favorites?
Robert: Floorpunch, Judge, Stay Gold, Killing the Dream, AFI.
Mark: Might be a couple of those that not EVERYONE in the band can agree on. All I know for sure is I’m the only one in the band who likes Guns N’ Roses.
IE: I want to bring up the new song “El Cyclone” because it does a 180 on literally all of your other new material. Can you tell us how this song came to be and the meaning behind the title? And for the record… I am about it.
Mark: Our guitarists are good… like really really good. Too good to be in this band probably. They wanted an instrumental track to shred on. We needed to fill up some extra space on the record so it worked out perfectly. As for the title it comes from the movie “Stand And Deliver”, which is also where the sound clip at the end of the record is from. It’s only on the vinyl version though so you have to buy that to hear it.
IE: Back in May the band went on a 2 plus week tour of Europe. How was the experience overall and now that you have been back for a few weeks what are some takeaways or memories from the trip that will stay with you for a while?
Mark: This is the third time we’ve been over there. I’d say at this point we feel more at home in certain places over there than we do in the states. Berlin, Budapest, and Prague were probably the top 3 shows of the tour. We had some longer drives on this one than previous tours which was a bummer. We had some interesting things happen on this tour that we can’t really discuss at this time. I’ll leave it at that.
IE: Where else has the band toured and was this your longest run to date?
Mark: All the EU tours we’ve done have been the long ones. Usually around 3 weeks. Best guess is we’ve played about 150 shows total since we started. Majority of those have been in Europe. We’ve done a couple runs in California both on our own and supporting Crime In Stereo for one and Shutdown for the other. We’ve also done some of the South (with Berthold City) and East Coast as well as a Midwest run.
IE: Did you use any management to set this up or did you do this all the old fashioned way of contacting people individually and sort of piecing it all together?
Mark: For Europe we go through Stronger Bookings. Best in the game right now as far as we’re concerned. For the US we get a lot of help from my brother Mickey who works with Reclaim Music Group.
IE: On that recent UE tour you played a few countries that bands sometimes pass over like Poland, Hungary and Prague in Czechia. Just from being a music fan I often see comments from the “lesser traveled” Euro countries where they feel slighted because some tours bypass them altogether. How were your experiences at these particular locations?
Mark: We’ve played Prague and Budapest before. Budapest we’ve played 3 times total. Those are consistently the best shows on the European tours aside from the big ones in Germany like Berlin. Budapest is like our second hometown. Actually, I’m gonna say we might be more popular there than in Denver. If any band is skipping those spots it’s because of the cost of travel. Gas is expensive over there like it is here. Flights are expensive. So you can cut your costs way down if you travel around a smaller area. We got to play Poland for the first time on this tour which was great. It made for a few drives that were quite long but it was worth it.
IE: Were there bands that you played with on that tour that totally were not on your radar beforehand that you can say you became a fan of?
Mark: Mashaal from the UK. Probably my favorite of the newer bands we played with on tour. Fast catchy youth crew with a good message. Can’t go wrong there.
Wrong Man was also very cool. New to me but they’ve been around for a minute. I’d describe them as a kind of mix between Hot Water Music and Sick of It All. Some ex-members of Rise And Fall. They have a new record coming out on Deathwish soon.
Mindgaze from Prague was really good as well. I think the show they played with us in Prague was only their second show. Really cool kinda post hardcore vibe.
IE: One thing that I doubt bands from the East and West coasts of the USA think about much is their geographical location and how it can be tied to exposure just by living in more populated areas of the country… Do you guys feel that a band from the mountain states region like yourselves are at a sort of competitive disadvantage because of geography?
Mark: I’ve touched on this in other interviews. There’s definitely a disadvantage in being from Denver. We can’t do an easy weekend run of weekend shows in big cities without spending a ton on travel. In the scheme of things I think Denver bands get overlooked a lot. Moral Law, Destiny Bond, Public Opinion and us are the bands that have seemed to be able to break out and do a good amount of touring but I feel like we aren’t on a lot of people’s radar. There’s a certain fest this year in a state that touches ours and not a single Denver band is on it. Kinda weird.
IE: What is the current state of hardcore punk in the Denver area? What other bands should people check out and where should bands look to book shows and with who?
Mark: Denver is a great city for hardcore right now. Convulse Presents Convulse Records and A World Apart are bringing in lots of good shows and bands from everywhere. We have tons of new kids coming out to shows and some strong DIY spaces like Ante Up and D3 Arts. I’m hesitant to list all the bands because there’s always someone I forget and they get bummed or I feel bad I forgot them. Any band that either of the two promoters I mentioned has booked is worth checking out.
IE: What are the band’s plans for the summer and the rest of 2026?
Mark: No real plans for the summer other than a couple local gigs. We’re playing Within These Walls fest in Phoenix in September. Right around that we’re going in to record a couple songs for a split we’re doing with a very sick band from Sweden. That split is going to be released by Refuse Records sometime next year. In October we’re playing a massive show that isn’t announced yet so keep an eye out for that. Some cool stuff planned for next year as well. We keep it moving.
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