Chris Hesse of Hoobastank

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by Deb Rao
Staff Writer

Hoobastank formed in 1994 in the quiet suburb of Agoura Hills of Los Angeles and have captured the magic that dreams are made of with their successful career garnering a massive following from coast to coast. In 2001, Hoobastank released their debut self-titled album and you can say that the rest is history. The band began touring relentlessly and built a massive fan base with their unique brand of alternative rock sound.

During that time period, Hoobastank became a huge favorite to the Boston College crowd, selling out such venues as the Paradise, Middle East, and various clubs throughout the New England area. It wouldn’t be long before Hoobastank became a household name. On Feb. 23, Hoobastank will return to Boston to perform at the newly opened House Of Blues on Lansdowne St with 3 Doors Down and Safety Suit.

Hot off the heels of their current release Fornever on Island Def Jam Records, Hoobastank have unleashed their latest hit single,” My Turn”. Fueled by the success of their 2004 hit release, The Reason”, Hoobstank return to their rock and roll roots and give the fans what they are looking for. A concert and tour filled with the angst and enthusiasm that launched the band onto the top of the charts not to long ago!

Hardrock Haven is honored to present an in-depth look at the making of Fornever with Hoobastank drummer Chris Hesse. Platinum rockers Hoobastank featuring Doug Robb on vocals, Dan Estrin on guitar, and drummer Chris Hesse are currently taking the country by storm on their current tour with 3 Doors Down. Unveiling songs from their new album Fornever that infuses the hard driving guitar hooks of Dan Estrin, infectious vocals of Doug Robb and up-tempo drumming of Chris Hesse produced by Howard Benson.

HRH: Chris, Thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven. Hoobastank is currently on tour with 3 Doors Down, and Safety Suit. How is the tour going so far?

CHRIS: It has been going really good. It has far exceeded my expectations. Not only are we playing nice big arenas, we are playing in front of a lot of people and great crowd.

HRH: Now the band is gearing up for your big show on Monday Feb. 23 at the House of Blues, which actually just opened last night on Lansdowne Street. What can the fans expect to see this time around on the tour? I know you have a huge following in Boston.

CHRIS: Pretty much more of the same, we just put out a new record Fornever about two or three weeks ago. So lookout for some of the newer songs on that.

HRH: Great, so the band will be debuting some of the new material at the show?

CHRIS: Yes, definitely, I think we play three songs from the new CD.

HRH: What does the title Fornever denote to you?

CHRIS: Fornever came from the underlying theme from the lyrics on the album. Which are spilt in half. Half of the songs are love songs like I can’t wait to see you type songs. The other half have quite the opposite, I hate you, you are a piece of crap that kind of stuff. It has the ying yang kind of factor. So we are thinking Forever and Fornever and we just put them together. We made up a word.

HRH: I like that. Tell us a little bit about the song-writing process for this album. I know Hoobastank have always been one of those bands that have been on the road touring non-stop since 2001. Did the band take some time off to write this album?

CHRIS: All in all, we took two years off from touring. We came off the road from the last record cycle expecting to put out a record really fast and continue touring. But it didn’t happen that way. We were writing and writing. So we ended unintentionally taking about a year off and we didn’t so much of anything. There were still some songs being past back and forth. After about a year, couple of songs were written that would mesh and once that happened it totally created a fire and we were off again.

HRH: The band has a new single and video out “My Turn”. What does that song denote to you?

CHRIS: The lyrics are actually from a poem that our singer Doug’s brother wrote. He actually had writing credit on the song. It is about tired of being the nice guy, and tired of waiting. He is doing everything right, so when it is going to be his turn.

HRH: Do you think that Hoobastank are returning to your early rock alternative roots on this album?

CHRIS: You know a lot of people are saying that. I am not sure that the music sound has really changed that much. I think it has changed in the angst. I think there is a little bit more angst on the record now. I think that comes from the way Doug delivered the vocal performance. I think he really stepped up this time around. A lot of comes from the fact that we took two years off and when we came back to it, we were hungry again. It was new and refreshing and exciting again. I think you can actually pick that out of the record.

HRH: The band also worked with producer Howard Benson again. In what direction and advice did he give you on working on this album?

CHRIS: He did his job and what a producer is supposed to do. He focused on the direction to bring the best out of each song. He is really good at doing that. He did it on our second album The Reason. The last album that we did with him, he didn’t do a whole lot of that. He was like whatever. This time around was a lot more focused.

HRH: Getting back to The Reason and your huge hit, but even before that song you had a huge following How did the fans react when you picked a ballad for your single? The Reason was played on the OC, and it received so much airplay. Did you have two different types of fans coming out to your shows including the die-hard fans plus the new fans from your radio ballad hit?

CHRIS: Absolutely. Our demographic before that song was release was mainly 16 – 22 year olds. Then after the song was released, we were seeing anything from 12 to 50’s and we still do. It just kind of broadened quite a bit. It brought it a lot more people that hadn’t heard us. That being said it brought a lot of fans that had known us from The Reason and a lot of times they are expecting a top 40 band or ballad band. We hear quite a bit that we come off a lot harder live. (Laughter)

HRH: Which isn’t a bad thing.

CHRIS: Yes, it is great.

HRH: How do you think the band has evolved since your debut release in 2001?

CHRIS: Pretty kind of much of like you said. To me this album, I think the song writing has really advanced quite a bit. Also, the actual recording process, I think we put everything that we have in this album. Before, the last couple of albums, I think we were kind of a bit lazy. I don’t think we put everything into it.

HRH: Hoobastank has had so many great tours. One that specifically comes to mind is the one with Velvet Revolver. How did you like touring with them? Slash and the band are legends. What were some of the highlights?

CHRIS: It was pretty amazing. More than the fact that they were legends was how sweet they were. We would hang out with these guys. These people were our idols that we all had been huge, huge fans with for the longest time. Then here we are sharing the stage with them. Not only that, we would hang out with them after shows. We would sit at the bar, and they were so friendly and so nice to be around. It was really refreshing. It was kind of surreal.

HRH: That is so cool. You don’t find that much these days. What are some of your favorite tracks off of Fornever?

CHRIS: There are a few. It is funny, “My Turn” is our first single, and I think it is a very good first single but it is still not my favorite. It is not even one of my favorites. I think there is three of the songs that represents the album and the band. One of those is, “I Don’t Think I Love You”. That song is just 180 degrees different from what it was when we first wrote it. It first started as a very slow acoustic ballad and it slowly turned into what it is now. It took about two years to finish that song. The finished product I am supremely happy with. For me it opens up with some really great hooks, and guitar lines. It is just a good rock song. The song called,” You’re The One”, to me was when I first got really excited about the album and it was one of the first songs written for the record. I liked the beat. I like the melody. It is slightly different from many songs that we have ever written. It is kind of hard to describe why it is. The song “Tears Of Yesterday” is also one of my favorite songs. It is also a lot different from anything that we have ever written. To me it is just a really groovy song. The lyrics again kind of made it work.

HRH: Thanks so much for promoting your new album, Fornever on Hardrock Haven. Best of Luck with the tour and album.

CHRIS: Thank you.