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Hillcrest Road
MYSPACE Brittany: How and when did the band form? HcR: We originally hail from Chris’s parents' garage, though back then it was just him, Jake, Scott, and Scott's brother Rob getting together to jam and write music over the summer to fend off the invading forces of boredom which were creeping into their lives. When Rob moved off to Florida, we brought on Patrick and Tom, where we all joined forces in the spring of 2006 to become the band that we are today. What began as purely fun and fancy free grew into an endeavor that has taken us from obscurity to... well... doing this interview with beatthescene.com! Brittany: Is there any significance to the name Hillcrest Road? HcR: Why yes, of course! One of the many songs that never made it onto our set-list was called "At Hillcrest Road and Francis Creek." So we dropped all but the Hillcrest Road and adopted that as our title. The actual Hillcrest Road is about halfway between Green Bay and Milwaukee, where we like to stop for Subway sandwiches, gasoline, and take potty breaks. Brittany: How would you describe your music? HcR: Our influences vary greatly, including everything from rock, to hip hop and pop, to jazz. While we are usually characterized as "pop rock," we like to include elements of the other genres we love to listen to. Probably the most important thing about our music is that we do not write anything we would not want to listen to ourselves. Brittany: What's your favorite song/songs to perform live? HcR: That would probably be the first track off of our album,Life After Liftoff. Scott wrote the lyrics when he moved out from his parents' home and struck out on his own for the first time. It starts with some solo guitar, then we all come in really hard and fast. It's designed to shock the listener, and possibly make them swallow their bubblegum. The verses are calmer with some disco-like drum beats and melodic guitar and bass, and the refrains are heavy and driving. At the bridge we switch to a cool hip hop feel and dance like idiots whilst we pluck our strings. Brittany: Do you have any favorite cities or venues to play? HcR: Green Bay, definitely! For a city where the venues are either no longer having shows or closing down completely, the scene there is surviving thanks to all of the amazing people keeping it alive. Brittany: If you had to choose your tour lineup right now who would you choose? HcR: Top five would be Saosin, Say Anything, Red Jumpsuit, Paramore, and... Yanni. We shall explain... First of all, Saosin has been one of our favorites ever since they were pressing their own EPs years ago and no one knew who they were. They are all incredible musicians and write amazing music. Say Anything has possibly the best written lyrics of any band out there today. They have a certain sting to them that makes you almost pity the people that they are written about. Red Jumpsuit has exploded in the past year and a half, and their album is one of the best produced and engineered out there today. Paramore because... Well, to be quite honest, Hayley Williams is beautiful. So probably just her, the rest of the band can stay at home for the tour and she can hang out with us the whole time. Yanni is one of the most influential and brilliant musicians probably in the history of the world. His flowing curly locks can make even the hardest hearted woman swoon over him, and bring grown men to their knees with tears of joy. Brittany: Pick a song of your choice and tell us what it is about. HcR: Most of our fans have never heard our acoustic song Marvelous, and the story behind it is one that we love to tell. Scott, Jake, and our merch-er DJ were on their front porch one cold and stormy night in Milwaukee when they were approached by a homeless man. He first lifted his shirt and spun around to show he was not "packin' heat," then joined them on the steps. He introduced himself as "Marvelous Love" and they quickly struck up a conversation. Puffing on his lit crack pipe, Marvelous told them his entire life story, from his youth selling drugs on his block, to surviving in the worst of conditions on the street, to his time spent in jail and being stopped almost daily by the po-lice, to his addiction to cocaine. When he had finished, Scott simply asked him if he believed in God after all of the hardships he's had in his life. Marvelous shrugged and replied "What do you think gets us up in the morning?" That later became the chorus of the song named after Marvelous. While we are not an overtly religious band, we are all spiritual in some way or another, and this song brings that to light. Brittany: How do you feel about Myspace and Purevolume? HcR: Myspace and Purevolume have completely revolutionized the industry by allowing independent bands and musicians to market themselves and reach a fan base far larger than had ever been possible before. In our opinion, reaching out to people in this way is far more important than going on the road for ten months of the year, not showering for weeks on end, having nothing but change in your pockets. Without sites like these, we would not have met the thousands of amazing people we have had the privilege of getting to know. That is by far the coolest part of being in a band like ours. It always blows our minds to log onto our myspace page and see page after page of comments and messages from people who just want to say hi or leave us a compliment about our music. Brittany: What do you think should be changed about the music industry? HcR: A sad reality about the industry is that musicians are not given nearly enough control over themselves. So many of the popular bands out there don't write their own music or determine their image, and simply bow to the powerhouses in the industry who make the big money off of them. If people knew some of the realities of the industry, we think most of them would be disgusted by it. It's something that we are striving to stay away from, and we hope it's something other bands do as well in the future. Brittany: What's the best advice you could give to others trying to make it in the music industry? HcR: First of all, the guys in Self Against City said it best when they told us to "Watch out for the sharks." There are tons of people out there who are looking to take unknowing bands for a ride and unfortunately there are those who fall for it. So watch out for sharks! The second is to keep working at your goal and not give up at the first disappointment. Learn from your mistakes, don't let them bring you down. Lastly, don't eat too much fast food. You'll get fat and slow, and have a hard time fitting in your van. And you'll get sweaty much faster on stage and girls won't want to hug you after the show and you'll probably smell pretty bad so your band mates will shun you until you can find a shower to use. Brittany: Has your band ever been compared to another band? HcR: Yes, but of course! People like to make comparisons, but it's important to know that we don't try to emulate any other band out there. So many people try to play the music their favorite bands play, and it just floods the scene with bands that sound the same. It's important for musicians to do their own thing and let themselves be creative. Brittany: Do you have any last words to the fans and readers? HcR: Ahem. Without people to listen to our music, to come to our shows, and to buy our merch, we would have no reason to keep making music. Thank you!! <3!!! |
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