Hidden In Plain View Interview - 01.23.2005
Interview with Joe Reo (vocals), Mike Saffert (guitar), and Rob Freeman (guitar)Interview by Rob Todd | 01.23.2005 | Pontiac, MI | Clutch Cargo's
First of all, congratulations on being selected to play the first half of Warped Tour this summer. What went into getting on Warped Tour? Who pursued getting the band on Warped Tour? Joe: For the most part our booking agent. She fought hard for it and tried to get us on there real fast and, low and behold, we got lucky.
Mike: We had such a great time last year, we’re so stoked to do it again.
Is there a reason for only being on the first half?
Mike: As of now it’s the first half. We submitted for the whole thing but we don’t know if we’re going to get it. They try to get as many bands as possible.
We’ve talked to a lot of bands on Warped Tour that like to share their experiences of “hardships” with their sleep schedule, merch situations, and just the chaos of it all. Since you have some experience, how do you think you might do things differently this summer?
Rob: It’s one of those things that you fall into a…it’s such a long tour. It’s almost like, have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? You wake up and it’s almost the same thing everyday. It’s different but you wake up and you walk out of your bus and you’re like, ‘It’s the same buses that were here yesterday and it’s a big stadium or something here, and there’s the parking lot.’ You get in this groove but I think we’ll definitely know to pack some more sunscreen maybe…
Joe: Drink less. (Laughter)
Rob: Drink less, drink more water.
They had those nice cans last year.
Mike: Yeah, I saved one.
Rob: I saw one of those goin’ on Ebay for like $100, an unopened can.
The new debut album Life In Dreaming, releases Feb. 22. While we have heard clips from the album through your e-card, for those people that haven’t checked it out yet and don’t know what to expect from HIPV, how would you describe your style and what to expect on the album?
Joe: Our style? We went for trying to keep it a straight up rock and roll record. We didn’t really want to try to fit into any sort of style or genre of music so we tried to keep it diverse, we tried to keep it rock-n-roll.
Rob: I think listening to the record you’ll notice that every song is different, it has a different feel. There’s hard songs, there’s soft songs, there’s fast songs, slow songs. We actually ended up going into pre-production we had 30-some-odd songs so we were like, ‘Let’s just pick the ones that are different from each other.’ We wanted it to be a record that you can listen to and not get sick of ‘cause everything sounds the same.
Mike: All of us listen to a lot of different music so that kind of helped also with putting together the diversity of the record. All our different influences got to shine through in every different song.
Are you guys nervous about Life In Dreaming coming out, being your first full-length?
Joe: Absolutely, I mean, we recorded it and wrote it the way we wanted to do it but we want people to like it, we want people to pop it in and not take it out. There’s so much stuff that goes into the business now that we see it. First week sales and all this crap and it’s hard not to think about that stuff. Some of us bring it up in the van and then we get right off [the topic]. We just look forward to playin’ big shows, playin’ good shows, it’s another record we can get out there and play more shows with.
Rob: I’m really excited. We did the record almost a year ago, not a year ago, it’s coming up kinda close actually. It’s now something we can show, it’s like our baby and we can be proud of it. Nine months kinda like a pregnancy.
Why has it taken so long for the album to finally come out?
Rob: A lot of reasons. A big one was we didn’t want to release our first full-length in the fall ‘cause that’s when a lot of records come out. In the fourth quarter a lot of records come out. And a big thing is that, because we are such a touring band, we didn’t want to be touring through the winter nonstop. We took off December, mostly ‘cause of safety. I mean, we're out here almost killing ourselves every night in this weather. And also it got remixed so that took some time.
Do you ever worry about how critics will receive the album, even though we’re a critiquing web site?
Mike: We don’t really like to pay attention to that kind of stuff. We see it and it bums you out for a little bit and then you remember that’s just one person’s opinion. For every one person that might not like it there’s going to be 100 or so who do.
Rob: I’m more interested in what my best friends have to say about it, other bands, people that I respect and admire and know will give me a straight opinion. I know a lot of reviewers who will pop it in once and…I read a review from someone saying that all of our songs are about girls, they said it’s your classic boy/girl lyrics. I’m like, ‘There’s one song on the record about a girl.’ So we know that they’re not listening too closely sometimes. I mean, I made a statement to the guys, “If you read a review, whether good or bad, I don’t want to hear it.”
What’s the biggest difference in HIPV since your first recordings and now?
Joe: We had a member change and we kind of grew up a little bit. That was about a year and a half ago since we released [Hidden In Plain View EP], let alone wrote it. So, where our minds were then to where they are now and when we were writing the new record.
Mike: It’s also our first chance to be a full-time band. Our last record we were full-time students or working jobs so you get together four times a week versus 24/7 when we’re together working on stuff.
Rob: Definitely maturity.
Which song or songs would you want someone to hear on first listen as the best representation of your band?
All: “Garden Statement.”
Mike: “Garden Statement” is a song that we have, kind of in the middle of the record, it doesn’t really stick to any form musically, it goes through a bunch of different sounds too. It could really be three different songs.
Rob: It kind of was actually. (Laughter)
You guys just finished shooting a music video but we couldn’t find any details on it. What song was it for and what’s the concept? When will it be released?
Rob: I think it’ll be released as soon as we see some rough cuts, they’re still workin’ on some stuff. Soon as it’s done we’ll put it right up.
What song is it?
Rob: “Ashes Ashes.”
Joe: “Ashes Ashes” is the quick, upbeat song that we have. We just wanted the video to be really fast paced to capture the essence of the song. It’s hard to do that nowadays with videos – capture, not necessarily the meaning of the song, but at least the essence of the song. There’s a lot of chase scenes, a lot of running scenes, and there’s a lot of really frantic live performance scenes.
You guys will be doing your own headlining tour later on in February; is this your first headlining tour? If so, what’s your reaction to that?
Joe: It’s not our first, we’ve done another one on the East Coast and a little bit in the Midwest but it’ll be our first on the West Coast. We’re a little excited but we haven’t been on the West Coast since Warped Tour.
Now, some fun questions, what’s more annoying “Freebird” or “more cowbell?”
Rob: I’d like to hear “more cowbell” more, I’d probably laugh a little.
Mike: More people shout “Slayer” than anything. I mean, come on, we’re not gonna play Slayer.
Rob: ‘The difference is, when I put my pants on, I make gold records.’
What is something you would include as rock show etiquette?
Joe: Rock show etiquette: I’ve learned this from watching boot-legs of At The Drive-In, I like to say it on stage now. You see these little girls in the front just getting crushed by the crowds. I always tell them ‘up and down instead of side to side.’ This way it gives the people in the front against the barricade just a little bit of a break from getting crushed.
Rob: With all the young girls in the audience I feel bad…
Joe: And when they fall over, pick ‘em up. That’s show etiquette.
What about for bands?
Mike: Be yourself and have fun.
Joe: If you’re goin’ out there and cursing up a storm and that’s not you then it’s obviously stupid etiquette – looking like a dumbass.
Rob: We’ve been really lucky, every band we tour with has been awesome. Haven’t really come across any dicks yet.
Any last comments for your fans?
Joe: How do you think the interview went?
I think it went pretty well! You guys are great.
