Hoobustank Interview
12-13-01 Bogart's, Cincinatti, OH
(Pressure 4-5 and Earshot opening)
Isaac - so, ready to go?
Markku – let’s do it!
Isaac – ok… so, you guys started about 6 years ago
Markku - umm
Chris – yah 6…
Markku – 7 in January around that
Isaac – and how old are you guys now
Markku – around mid 25
Isaac – so you started when you were… late teens
Markku – yah like 19
Chris – yah… right out of high school
Isaac – and touring in California stuff like that…
Who were some of the bands that you started out touring with?
Markku – as an island def jam artist or as just bands… that we…
Isaac – early on
Chris – the first band we ever toured with was Home Grown…
Isaac – ok… cool
Chris - have you heard of them?
Isaac – yah
Chris - and that was kind of Doug’s connection, like he…
* cell phone in the background distracts *
went to school with like the bass player and they were kind of friends and they heard our CD from him and kind of liked us so we just went on a few shows
*talk with each other about if that was actually the first show*
and that was like that first anything…
Drum Tech – where we both went to school, we both worked at chucko’s in Detroit… it was a comedy club…. he waited tables and I was a bar tender and that’s how I got to meet the guys
Markku – how did you get to be a bartender so young
Drum Tech – yah I was 20 times 20 but I had that fake ID
Markku – forgot about that
Isaac – how did like your music progress from when you guys started out till now, like I know you guys used to have a saxophone player in your band… Jeremy
Chris – yah most of it was… it was keyboards
Markku – we just ahh… we’ve matured the album now is just like 7 years of playing…. Well actually I don’t know where I’m going here… this album is what… like 6 months old... of writing
Chris – basically everything from this record is really new
Isaac – so it’s all brand new fresh stuff?
Chris – brand new, yah… pretty much
Isaac – so was your older stuff like, would you categorize it as harder/softer
Chris – more playful probably
Isaac – I know I heard one of your songs with mike enzinger, kind of a little rap song
Markku – show me your titz… yah *everyone laughs*
Tech – that was my idea
Chris – that was awesome… kind of like playin around and shit
Markku - yah… this was in the studio when you guys went in
Chris – yah, they were finishing up their first record SCIENCE and we just went down to hang out… and everybody left and Mike and me and Doug and Dan stayed and just started bustin out, and we didn’t have the keys to the studio so we just started rollin tape and we just wrote down our own little laughs real quick and just let it rip
Markku - *laughs* show me your tits
Isaac – so you guys, don’t didn’t freestyle rap back then
Chris – no there’s no rap so, that
Isaac - was that just playin around stuff… so you guys are getting ready to go to Europe and tour with 311 and Incubus
Markku – yah that’ll be in January
Isaac – so is that like your biggest tour so far per-say
Markku – no last year we went out with Incubus what 2 moths ago, no what… 3 months ago
Chris – September 7th… they’re about the same like… and all the shows are about the same size
Markku – same size shows… about 2,000 or 3,000 seaters
Isaac – so you guys have been friends with incubus for since awhile back… are they like hometown guys
Markku – yah yah… well they’re pretty much in the same neighborhood
Tech – even though they know us they still take us out on tour
*laughing*
Isaac – yah that’s definitely the way to hook up with bands like I know PR helped our AAF and stuff like that, that’s definitely cool… um do you guys have any future tour plans… like future tour plans past the incubus…
Markku – umm yah… actually we’re going out with 311 then after Europe
Isaac – ok… in the US
Markku - that gonna actually be pretty fun too… it’s gonna be like big places
Chris – yah about the same size venues…
Isaac – have you guys looked at anything for this summer like Warped Tour/Ozzfest
Chris – we’ll have to wait till it gets closer to that time… and we’ll see what’s goin on at that time
Tech – we might get offered the Pantera tour…that might be cool…. That would be Pantera, Fear Factory… what’s the other ones… Slaves on Dope
Markku – Slaves on dope’s plain that one?
Tech – yah… I think there on the bill
Chris – yah that would be a good one… there’s a few out there… that’s one of the ones that was kind of tossed kind of recently
Isaac – They're kind of more on the heavier end then you guys
Markku – They're definitely heavier but you know it’s kind of funny… we tend to cross over pretty well, we’d almost be considered like a Glam band compared to them
Tech – the pantera guys love us though
Isaac – I know, I live in southeastern OH and there’s a local group that hangs out with Pantera a lot, so I guess their friends with everybody I guess
Chris – yah, it’s a small world especially the rock world… all the bands know each other kind of
Isaac – um, track on incubus’s CD SCIENCE was that done by your former keyboard guy, and what happened to him… I don’t know if this is treading on…
Chris – no no no… this is… it’s just more like the keyboards just started not to really fit with the music, our old CD was like… the more that we matured the less the keyboards fit in with the music, so we were the band and the entire time the we had the keyboard player it was like, he’d never come to practice… he was kind of an ass… and so like…
Markku – he was just more like one of those hired guys that just play for you
Chris – so as we started slowly progressing we’d write a couple songs and put the keyboards on and it would kind of sound funky… and write a couple more songs and it would sound even funkier and like finally we just let him go… and it was like I think it’s time for you to go… and there wasn’t really any place for the keyboards anymore
Isaac – whenever you guys went in to do this album did you guys think about having any guest artists or anything like that on it
Markku – not on this album
Isaac - maybe on future albums or something?
Chris - it’s better to make a name for yourself without some gimmick… and that way you get known for yourself instead of some gimmick… I think that hinders a lot of other bands… even later after you get successful
Isaac – I actually only heard about you guys earlier this year and I kind of feel bad because you guys are like an awesome band and I consider myself someone who keeps up on the music industry… so like how has signing with IDJ helped get the name out as opposed to… did you guys have any previous record contracts or anything like that
Chris - no
Isaac - just independent
Markku – no the old album we did it ourselves and we paid for everything ourselves but you know…
Chris - Island records was the best thing we ever did
Markku – yah… And we here…
Chris - they provide for us they give us the money to tour they put out gobs of money to promote the band you know gettin us… and all kinds of other stuff
Isaac – whenever you guys went into the studio did they let you do your own thing or like…
Chris – yah… we saw our A&R guy 3 times the entire album cycle… he came in at the beginning and the end just to see and then at the end of our mixing… he never ever said a word about like try this do that… it was just like…
Isaac – I know a lot of bands feel pressured to have some kind of cookie cutter…
Markku – Island has totally givin us the freedom to write our own music and it shows
Isaac – awesome… well you’re probably all tired and all, so I’ll let you go
1-7-02 Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh, PA
(Hotwire and Injected opening)
