Hoobastank

STEAM: The song ‘Running Away’ was a tremendous hit for the band, but it leaned more towards pop than your other single ‘Crawling in the Dark’. Having hits on such opposite ends of the spectrum did you ever feel fans wouldn’t truly identify with the band?

 

HOOBASTANK: Well we were a relatively new band so I don’t think so. I’m also pretty sure that, unlike other bands, ‘Sell Out’ could’ve have entered fans minds either. I would say that if fans only knew our songs off the radio…then they aren’t fans…the impression they get is the impression they get. We never sit around writing songs leaning towards one way or the other, writing comes naturally to us. Every singleband has their pop songs to complement their harder stuff…Led Zeppelin…Black Sabbath. We just happened to have a hit that was bigger than the band.

 

STEAM: The Reason was such a massive hit that one has to wonder if the song ever reached the point ofannoyance, hearing it all the time on the radio…fan requests etc.?

 

HOOBASTANK: Yes and No…thought for me it happens with other bands songs that have gotten as big and obnoxious as The Reason (laughing). The song is still paying my bills and will be for a long time…so no, not annoying at all. Questions like these make me feel for a band like Nickelback. It seems like every one of their hits gets turned against them because they are constantly played over and over. It’s not the bands fault for the repeats, for the band it’s the same song from the first time you hit play to the thousandth time you hit play.

 

STEAM: Touring on a specific album has been the fad for the last few years. Any thoughts on running with it for a tour?

 

HOOBASTANK: As a band we haven’t really had many conversations on the subject, I mean we’ve all thought about it privately, but nothing came of it. On tour we’ve performed alongside bands that have decided to go that route without alienating their audience. I don’t know if many of our fans would really get it. We’re actually going to Japan soon to tour and dates are being added left and right. We’re trying to have a different set list for every show so maybe that would be a great place to do it. Fans there are passionate about everything. They’re so curios there, they want to hear every little thing you have to say.

 

STEAM: A decade since your original release, what is it like to perform songs off that album 10 years later?

 

HOOBASTANK: Some of the songs off that album have evolved and some haven’t. I think we, as musicians, are the ones that have evolved actually. Not that we’re shredders, but we’ve improved. I was reading an old John Lennon interview recently and he talked about taking some time away from the guitar and then coming back and playing again and seeing things from a new perspective. Some stuff youget better at. It’s human nature…you naturally grow.

 

STEAM: We hear that your Greatest Hits album wasn’t all the hits you had envisioned.

 

HOOBASTANK: Yeah well the record company kind of put that all together without consulting us. There were a few songs that we wish were on there and a few songs we were pissed were on there. It’s all because we were leaving the label at the time and they were milking it. Let’s just say I never picked up the album. I mean I have every single song already, but it wasn’t a creative effort so I decided to pass.