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HOOBASTANK - Crawling In The Dark

HOOBASTANK

Hoobastank release their new single Crawling In The Dark on 1 April followed by a UK version of the album on 8 April. Audio and interview streams await....

08/03/2002

Hoobastank's origin can be traced back to Agoura Hills, California in the early 90s when vocalist Doug Robb and guitarist Dan Estrin found themselves competing against one another in a high school battle of the bands. Each impressed with the other, they began collaborating and eventually quit their respective groups to join forces. When their creative chemistry began to bubble with the addition of bassist Markku Lappalainen and drummer Chris Hesse, they took their show on the road. Since they were headed in exactly the opposite direction of a then burgeoning rap rock stampede, the group stood out the moment it hit the West Coast club circuit. It was a difference that fans caught on to immediately.

"There's a sense of realness about us," says Robb. "We don't put up any fronts. We're just four normal guys who play music and I think that kids have always appreciated us for it. We've had people come up to us after shows and say that we look like we're having a good time when we play and I don't think that comes across enough these days. Fans want to see players who connect with their music rather than some group that just wants to focus on its image."

In 1998, Hoobastank went worldwide with their self-released first album, They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To. While the disc sold well at shows and local retailers, it took off online, expanding the band's fan base to places as far away as England, Israel, Russia and Brazil. Within a matter of months, the band had sold every copy.

Says Estrin, "It's an incredible feeling to know that our music is finding its way to people around the world. We couldn't believe it when one kid e-mailed us from Brazil to let us know he had created a site dedicated to the band after hearing our album for the first time. That's just awesome."

With their self-titled Island debut, Hoobastank is preparing to deliver on the promise of its earlier success. Listeners tired of rock's same-sounding rap will rejoice upon hearing the melodic resonance of Hoobastank an album produced by Jim Wirt (Incubus, Fiona Apple) and mixed by Jay Baumgardner (Papa Roach, Alien Ant Farm, Orgy). The electrifying disc slices through the genre's stylistic fetishes and goes straight for its emotional core, blending invigorating melodies and sharp, insistent hooks with blasting rhythm rock guitars.

There's much to like about Hoobastank, a surging rock record of deftly written compositions. The album's stylistic touchstones--sharp wordplay, soaring climaxes and a raw, overriding energy--showcases the quartet's mercurial talents and establishes them as a band with a sound and vision all their own.

The disc kicks off with the thick groove of "Remember Me," a song in which Robb recalls an encounter with an old "friend." "I wrote this after running into the most popular kid in high school several years after we graduated," he begins. "As a teenager, I was really quiet and shy and this guy was a football star and the big man on campus. Back then, I really wanted to be his friend and hang with his clique, but he'd dis me all the time because 'I wasn't cool enough.' At the time I ran into him, the band had already made a name for itself around the L.A. area and a lot of people knew who we were. He approached me in a supermarket and said, 'Doug, I love your band! I heard you got signed--we gotta hang!'

I thought it was pretty ironic how things had turned around. I often run into people who wouldn't give me the time of day way back when, but now want to be my friend. The whole thing makes me pretty nauseous."

"Up and Gone" is about finding peace and hope in in life. Says Robb, "This is about a friend of mine whose father left when he was young, forcing him to grow up a lot faster than he needed to. At 13, he was in a gang and doing coke, while I was learning how to play guitar and chasing frogs down at the creek. I was being a kid while he had to work and help support his mom. The song is told from the point of view of someone that wasn't allowed to be a kid. Because he couldn't do any of the things he wanted, he finds himself somehow trying to regain his lost innocence."

"Crawling in the Dark" is a look at life choices and the self-doubt that sometimes accompanies them. "This was written during the band's early days," recalls Robb. "Back then, there were often times when we were unsure of what was going to happen to us. It took us six years to get here, but every time we'd get down on ourselves or begin to feel doubt, we'd get positive feedback from our fans or someone in the industry telling us that we sounded great. That was the sort of stuff that kept us going--not to mention the fact that we love making music."

"I'll never forget loading our equipment into the recording studio on the first day and thinking, 'I can't believe this is actually happening,'" adds drummer Chris Hesse. "After all those years, it was such a great feeling to know that we were finally getting a chance to make a real record.

"There was this collective feeling of excitement and anticipation on the first day of recording," says bassist Markku Lappalainen. "We were in the studio for six days a week, ten hours a day for two months and it was awesome. At the end, after sitting back and listening to the rough mixes, we all hugged because we were so happy to have finally finished our first album. We had waited so long for that day to finally come." And this is only just the beginning for Hoobastank.

Doug Robb - Vocals
Dan Estrin - Guitar
Markku Lappalainen - Bass
Chris Hesse - Drums

Video Clips
Crawling In the Dark [Windows Media 56K]
Crawling In The Dark [Windows Media 128K]
Crawling In The Dark [Windows Media 256K]

Interview
Clip 1 [56K]
Clip 2 [128K]

Relevant sites:
Hoobastank.com

Crud Magazine 2002©



01/02 Andrew WK - She Is Beautiful
01/02 Elbow - Asleep In The Back
01/02 Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
01/02 Judge Jules - Clubbed
01/02 Lunatic Calm - Interview - I Can't Techo Satisfaction
01/02 Matt Pond PA - Interview
01/02 Mull Historical Society - Interview - Watching Xanadu
01/02 Nelly Furtado - On The Radio
01/02 Robert Walker - There Goes The Neighbourhood
01/02 South - From Here On
01/02 Vendetta Red - Interview
01/02 Zac Foley - EMF Death
02/02 Juliana Theory - Interview
02/02 Ninja Tune Showcase
02/02 Travis/Starsailor/Ryan Adams/Remy Zero - London Astoria
02/02 The Starlets - Interview
03/02 Akira DVD

03/02 Andrew WK - Coordinates Interview
03/02 Athlete - Live at the Deptford Bear, London
03/02 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Live - London Astoria
03/02 BYO Records
03/02 Hem Interview
03/02 Hoobastank - Crawling In The Dark
03/02 Kinesis - Interview
03/02 LBH - Everybody Sees It In My Face
03/02 Loveless Records
03/02 Pulp - Bad Cover Version
03/02 Six By Seven - The Way I Feel Today
03/02 Sound Of Urchin - Throwin Tomatos
03/02 Sum 41 - Motivation
03/02 Charlatans - We're So Pretty
03/02 The Coral - Introducing - The Skeleton Key
03/02 The Magnetic Fields - Claudia Gonson Interview
03/02 Ikara Colt / The Parkinsons / 80s B-Line Matchbox Disaster - London Garage

January 2001
July - August 2001
September - October 2001
November - December 2001
January - March 2002
April - July 2002
August - December 2002


 
 
 

 

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