Their
band doesn't have a normal
name, but the four guys
of Hoobastank are normal
guys. They have normal lives,
they do normal things, and
they have the same sense
of humor as their fans.
That's why Hoobastank -
guitarist Dan Estrin, bassist
Markku Lappalainen, drummer
Chris Hesse, and singer
Doug Robb - connect with
them. Their songs have that
intangible ability to speak
for and to the things that
normal kids think and feel.
"When we're on tour
and pull up somewhere, we're
wearing shorts and flip-flops,
and we look like average
Joes. I like that. We don't
have to make ourselves up
to leave the bus,"
Robb says. "We never
take ourselves too seriously
and we're not afraid to
make fun of ourselves. When
we talk to the kids at shows,
we end up talking about
ordinary things. It's not
'fan talking to rock star.'
The band is what we have
in common, but it's not
all we talk about."
OK,
they're not completely normal,
everyday guys. Their first
album went platinum thanks
to the hit singles "Crawling
in the Dark" and "Running
Away," and they do
work their asses off to
get their breaks. But with
their second album, The
Reason, it shows that they're
songwriters of uncommon
talent, with a broader palette
of songs, moods, and emotions
than their self-titled debut.
It's called progressing.
Formed
in the mid-1990s in the
Los Angeles suburb of Agoura
Hills, while the quartet
was still in high school,
Hoobastank has since grown
into a songwriting machine.
Lots of time on the road
has made them tight and
the meticulous nature of
Estrin and Robb - both of
whom holed-up in their home
studios, trading demos back
and forth - guaranteed that
The Reason's songs would
have both muscular rock
and melodic finesse. According
to Robb, "the heavier
songs are heavier and the
softer songs became softer.
If the first album was sort
of middle-of-the-road, this
one rides on both side of
the road."
"Yeah,"
adds Estrin. "Some
of the songs might come
off as cheesy at first when
I write them, but then Doug
takes them and makes them…even
cheesier."
Cheese
jokes aside, the record
benefited from the holistic
approach of producer Howard
Benson (P.O.D, Cold, and
Crystal Method). "Howard
focused on the lyrics and
melodies and song structure,
not individual parts,"
Robb explains
The album's first single,
"Out of Control,"
presents the more aggressive
side of the quartet. It
was the last song the band
recorded for the disc, and
was written after they thought
they were finished. The
track touches on a common
theme of the album.
"A
few songs on this record
are about religion and my
complete lack of interest
in it," say Robb. "A
lot of it is about asking
questions or questioning
all that people see. It's
not all about religion.
'Out of Control' was based
on that and about opening
your eyes after being blinded
by being devoted to something.
It could be about the person
who devotes their life to
their job and ends up feeling
lost and, well, out of control.
There's
plenty of hard-ass rock
on The Reason, from the
torrential guitar and lofty
hook of "Just One"
to the blast of "Same
Direction" and the
near-epic "Disappear,"
there's a lot to rock about.
As for the softer side,
there's the sweeping grandeur
of the title track, which
features a circular guitar
arpeggio and Robb's soaring
vocal line, it's an apology
cum love song that they
don't make too many of these
days. They also recorded
a version of Rod Stewart's
"Do Ya Think I'm Sexy,"
which didn't make the record.
They were originally asked
to cover it for Deuce Bigalow,
Male Gigolo "It's not
something we want to be
known for, but we're holding
it for something good. Maybe
for the sequel…Deuce
Bigalow, Electric Boogaloo."
It
hasn't been all fun, games
and Pro Tools, however.
In August 2003, the guys
were riding miniature motorcycles
outside of the House of
Blues in Myrtle Beach. Estrin,
who bought the bike that
day, was going about 10
miles an hour when he ran
into a chest-high rope and
hit his head on the pavement.
It didn't look that bad
at first. He got up, got
back on the tour bus, but
it was obvious that it was
getting worse, so they went
to the hospital. Estrin
had a tiny skull fracture,
with a blood clot forming
underneath it. If it hadn't
been removed that night
he could have died.
The
guitarist calmly explains,
"It wasn't a real motorcycle
accident. If I'd been wearing
a helmet, I would have gotten
up and everybody would have
laughed at me. My head wasn't
even five feet off the ground.
It was such a joke, but
it freaked me out that something
that simple could cause
something so serious."
It
didn't slow him down too
much though. "I've
realized that I'm one of
those people that can't
wait for things to be handed
to me. When I was injured,
I should have been resting
and getting better, but
I was working just as hard
as I would have if I had
been fine. Aside from canceling
a few dates, I kept working."
So
in less than a month, it
was back to normal. Because
the music is the reason
they do everything else.
