Hoobastank

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Hoobastank
Interview

Orlando Florida Guide Interview with Hoobastank Drummer Chris Hesse at Freebird Cafe in Jacksonville, FL

Chris Hesse of Hoobastank banging away on his drums. Photo by © 2003 Michael Montes - All rights reserved. Click here to read our review of Hoobastank in concert.

OFG: How long has Hoobastank been together?

CH: Nine years in January.

OFG: How did the band come up with the name Hoobastank?

CH: Doug's brother is the vice president of BMW Motorcycles and lives in Germany. And there is this street out by his house that is called Hooba Street or something like that and before Doug could pronounce the name, he called it Hoobastank and it was kinda a cute thing and his brother still teases him about it to this day. When we were looking for band names it's almost impossible to find a band name that hasn't been taken. Anything remotely normal has been taken already. I don't remember how it came up but someone said it and we were like yeah.

OFG: I think the great thing about the name Hoobastank is once you hear it you never forget.

CH: Once you remember the name of the band, you're right, you'll never forget it.

OFG: What's your favorite song off the new CD (editor's note: as of this interview the band had not decided on a name of the new CD)

CH: That's a good question and people use to ask that question about the last CD and I don't really have a real favorite; I have a couple of favorites. We have a song "Out Of Control" that's going to be the first single and another one called "From The Heart," which is more like a big heavy rock emo song it's really emotional.

OFG: Is it as emotional as "Running Away"?

CH: Yeah, to me it is. Because it has a lot to do with the band and if you listen to the lyrics it's about the band and where we all came from and what we overcame to get here.

OFG: Will there be a video with "Out Of Control"? (editors note-After hearing this song during sound check there is no doubt in my mind it's going to be a hit.)

CH: Yes, I am pretty sure, but we haven't shot it yet. We just finished the record before coming out here, so we haven't done any videos yet.

OFG: My favorite song from the first album is "Running Away," what's your take on what the song is about?

CH: The song was inspired because Doug and I had parallel relationships at the same time we were both dating girls, we were trying to settle down and the girls weren't into that. So, it's kinda a combination of we had these great girls and great chemistry and they didn't want to settle down.

OFG: Usually it's the girls that want to settle down not the guy.

CH: Yes. (we both laugh)

OFG: Where does Hoobastank get their inspiration for their songs?

CH: Most comes from life experiences. None of us have really good through really tumultuous times. Most of the songs are pretty positive its just kinda what we go thru and just about everyone does.

OFG: Hoobastank did a benefit concert for a middle school in Calabasas, CA. (Editor's note the benefit concert raised $19,000 for the school.) How did the band get involved in that?

CH: We all live right in that area and our producer, Howard Benson, his kids will be going to that school and he is very involved with it and he brought it up to us and we agreed to do the show. It's the first time we been able to give back and do something positive for our community and it felt really good to do. It was really fun. The vibe of the show was really great and it's were we grew up so it was like playing in our backyard.

OFG: Would Hoobastank consider doing another benefit concert?

CH: Yes.

OFG: What do you do to kill time while touring?

CH: Play a lot of video games (laughs) watch movies, read a lot, exercise a little bit and lift weights. I won't touch weights when I am home because there is a million things to do, but there is a lot of down time when your on the road, so I usually come home from touring in great shape (laughs).

OFG: What are some of the video games you play?

CH: We play Halo everybody plays Halo. We have a couple of sports games too.

OFG: What's the best thing and worst thing about touring?

CH: The best thing is playing. We don't have to think about anything all we do is just play every night and being around our friends 24/7. We are all good friends and we have a good crew. The worst thing is being away from my girlfriend. I bought a house this year so to leave is really hard. To leave my girlfriend and our pets is hard.

OFG: What kind of pets do you have?

CH: One dog and two cats. We have a toy poodle who is smaller than both of the cats. The cats tower over the dog. Poor Dog. (laughs).

OFG: I have a Pug myself.

CH: Pugs are great they are one of my favorites.

OFG: She's awesome.

OFG: What are some of the more memorable tour moments you've had?

CH: Lots of them, lets see, in Spain, me, Dan and a couple of other guys rented scooters and rode all over Barcelona. None of us are real partyers so we don't have good stories about strippers and stuff in bathrooms when we get off stage (laughs). So just small stuff like riding scooters in another country. That was really fun. Some of the shows we've done. We've played in front of as many as 70,000 people. People are all over place and I have it on video and the camera zooms way out there and you can't get anyone's face just lots of people and it was pretty awesome.

OFG: Where do you see Hoobastank in five years from now?

CH: Hopefully we'll still be touring. (laughs) We just want to make a career out of it. We're a band that wants to be around a good 10 or 15 years at least. We are all interested in a long term career. Nobody wants to be the band that has one single and then disappears. So, we just hope we can keep touring and making records.

OFG: Well, based on the first CD I think Hoobastank is going to be around a long time.

CH: Thank you. I appreciate that.

OFG: Your welcome. Is there anything you would like to say to the fans of Hoobastank?

CH: I'd like to thank everybody in general. If it wasn't for all the kids that come to our shows we wouldn't have a career. And everyone who has bought our records. We don't forget that for a second. We're not a band that is pretentious. If there are people out there that haven't listen to our records and that think we're a one of those one hit song radio bands they should come out to our show. The show is much different than the record. It's a lot of fun and high energy. (editor's note- Orlando Florida Guide can attest to this. As great as the first CD is their show is even better.)

OFG: Chris, thank you very much for your time and hope to see you again.

CH: Your welcome. Are you staying for the show?

OFG: I wouldnt miss it. I think Hoobastank is great.

CH: Thank you very much. See you at the show.