Today we have something really speciall in this section. I had the pleasure to interview on-line a group in Los Angeles, California: Hopes High. So if you want to know more about this amazing band, read this and enjoy!
1. Introduce the band to the people that don't know you yet:
Hopes High consists of five guys all aged 22 and 23. We have Jesse Weidner on vocals and acoustic guitar, Keenan Hall and Matt Mark on electric guitars, T.J. Barnhart on bass guitar, and last but not least Steve Tippeconnic on drums. When we started the band in January of 2006 we had a lot of the same influences. Most us had the same favorite band—blink-182—and other shared favorite bands such as Yellowcard, Something Corporate, Relient K, and Jimmy Eat World to mention a few. Although this type of pop/punk genre is our favorite, we really listen to and enjoy all genres of music.
2. Why did you decide to get together to form a band and how were your beginnings?
A metal band that T.J. and I (Keenan) were in all throughout high school had broke up and I wanted to get something new and fresh started up. I met Steve at a Hawthorne Heights concert in State College, Pennsylvania and talked about getting together to jam. After our first jam session we knew that we had to get a band started up. We started recruiting its members right away, one of which was T.J. from my last band Pandemic and Matt and Jesse who were friends of Steve's. After we got the band together and started writing music, Hopes High was born.
3.What’s the best and the hardest thing about being in a band?
I would have to say that the best and the hardest thing about being in a band is living away from home. It's hard to be away from family and friends at times but at the same time it's like a constant vacation for us. Five Pennsylvania guys waking up in Los Angeles, California everyday with the sun in our eyes is definitely one great vacation.
4. What is the most special thing that has happened to you since you’ve been in hopes high?
This is a hard question because so many special things have happened to us since we've been in Hopes High. The first year we were together we got to travel to Nashville, Tennessee and record our first album. We were all 17 and 18 at the time so it was a really cool thing to get to do. Now we're all living in Los Angeles, California and just finished recording the best music we've recorded to date. So I would have to say that getting the chance to record an EP in L.A. is the most special thing that has happened to us thus far.
5. What inspires you while writing songs? Which one of you composes the songs?
I think that we all inspire each other and it comes out in our songs. I think that other inspiration comes from everything else in our lives: family, friends, fans, our surroundings, and especially our girlfriends and ex-girlfriends. Writing about past loves and crushes are always a favorite song plot. As for the composition of the songs, we all have a different and unique part. A song is usually sparked by a cool guitar part that someone comes up with. Then we all sit down together and build off of that part. After we have the basic idea of the song down Jesse will write lyrics for it. Occasionally we will help him come up with lyric ideas but for the most part the lyrics are Jesse's baby. Once the lyrics are done we make a few minor tweaks and the song is complete.
6. What are your plans for the near future?
As of right now we plan to live in L.A. until we get picked up by a label and start touring. We hope that this will be in the near future but that is up to the labels.
7.Has your life change in any way since you got into music?
Hopes High has drastically changed our lives. I'd say that nothing else in my life has changed it more than Hopes High. Some of us were in college and we kind of put a hold on that so we can get our music careers started. If it wasn't for Hopes High we would still be living in State College, Pennsylvania instead of L.A.. Things would be way different.
8. What do you think about music business nowadays and how do you think it has changed over the past few decades?
I could write a book on this question but I'll make it short. I'm a bit afraid of the music industry right now, although, I do believe that there is room for Hopes High. There is no doubt that the Internet took a lot of business away from record labels, however, there are still musicians out there making a decent living with their music and that's what we're striving to do too.
9. How does a new band like yours promote and how does the Internet take part in it?
The Internet is DEFINITELY a powerful tool for promoting Hopes High. We use myspace, facebook, youtube, twitter, and purevolume, as well as many other websites to help promote for the band. The Internet makes a big difference for kids starting a new band and trying to expose themselves to the world without touring.
10.What do you think of music piracy?
I have a very open mind so I can definitely see both sides of the argument. I can understand why record companies consider downloading music off of the Internet illegal, because it is. But I also understand why people don't see music piracy as a horrible thing because everyone does it. I think that they need to make program that is legal where people can download music for free. Maybe the person watches a commercial for a sponsoring company or something like that and gets to download a free song.
11. Finally, say whatever you want to say to the people who are reading.
I really want to tell whoever is reading this that we love them. We love them for supporting us and giving us the opportunity to do what we do. We are lucky to get to live in Los Angeles and pursue our dreams. I will end by say that if you haven't already you should buy our EP that came out today (2/14/2011) on iTunes. It would mean the world to us!! Peace and Love!
So to end, to promote a bit this band, I'm going to show you some of the websites where you can know more about them and listen some of their great music:
Thanks for reading! xx
P.D: Más tarde colgaré la entrevista traducida, para que todos podamos entenderla y disfrutarla.
