Hoobastank Interview - 09.25.2004

Southern California natives and friends of Incubus—Hoobastank was a band that fit perfectly into the category labeled, “mediocre.” With radio successes “Crawling in the Dark” and “Running Away” from their first album coupled with endless touring managed to make their strange name known well enough for the album to go platinum. However, high record sales don’t necessarily equal quality content.

We caught up with Hoobastank on their current tour with Story Of The Year, P.O.D. and Linkin Park and sat down with bassist Markku Lappalainen to talk about the strange name, The Reason, and the tour.

We know you always give bullshit answers to this question but we got to ask you about the band name. What does it mean? We always here something different, but the most honest answer we ever heard was that it is a road in Germany or something like that.

No, the real name is “Who’s butt stinks?” The whole thing is, is that one of our friends—this guy Ryan—was at a soccer game or something and stood up and was like (in a very slang accent) “Who butt stank?” (Laughter) And that’s the truth! It’s the god damn honest truth. We are just so sick of hearing that that we decided to start telling the truth.

It’s funny all these stories that you guys come up with and people actually believe them.

Yeah it’s pretty funny! (Laughter)

Do you wish that you had picked a band name that has a personal meaning to it or is it more fun to have a band name that you can make stuff up for like Hoobastank?

Well it’s so hard to come up with band names. Like ten years ago when we started this band, it was kind of like a Primus, Chili Pepper thing and I guess the name kind of fit. The name just kinda fit the wacky music and we were going to change it when we got signed but coming up with a name is totally impossible. It’s kind of a bizarre name but it’s kinda like Jamiroqui. What the hell is a Jamiroqui? (Laughter)

It’s definitly a name that is hard to forget when you hear it, so people will be able to remember you guys easier.

Yeah once they learn it they will be fine

In the past you guys have kind of been critized for sounding like Incubus, you have been friends with them for a while and that’s what friends are for, but on the new album did you kind of feel that you had something to prove to people to say that you aren’t in their shadow?

I dunno like, first of all it’s good to be compared to a good band instead of a shitty one. (Laughter) No, we kinda grew up in the same neighborhood, same kind of family lifestyles and we listened to the same music. I think there is a little more trippy or groovy music or popish rock there. They used to be this really heavy metal funk band and we were doing what we kind of have always been doing. Their music matured a lot but it’s just like the same growth from the same kind of bands. When we write it just comes out, we didn’t try to think of anything different on this album, it just kind of got more produced and we added some strings on three or four songs so it’s just kind of like a growth for us. Every band that you listen to is going to have a different sound on each CD.

Fortunately Hoobastank overcame their lackluster self-titled, debut album—typical, mediocre, rock music—and successfully progressed in polar directions with the release of The Reason. Had lead singer Doug Robb changed his voice in anyway, the only way to conclude that this was actually Hoobastank would be to see them in person. The differences between the first and second albums are that dramatic.

The Reason addresses three main ideas: love, freedom, and modern-rock maturity. One direction Hoobastank progressed in was a lighter, acoustic side. Among others “The Reason” and “From the Heart” are obvious love songs. In the title track, “The Reason,” Robb shows a relational maturity that didn’t exist on the first album. Unlike some of the other tracks on the new album that slow down only on the choruses, “The Reason” is an acoustically enhanced love song throughout. “I found the reason for me / to change who I used to be / a reason to start over new / and the reason is you,” sings Robb from an apologetic, never before seen side.

Songs like the first single, “Out of Control,” and “Just One” demonstrate the opposite end of the song spectrum. “Out of Control” screams: struggle, release, and frustration. “Where should I go / what should I do / I don’t understand what you want from me / is it a mystery?” Writers Dan Estrin and Doug Robb have created an emotive, jump-around, stress reliever in a song. Singing and screaming along with this track will not only disturb the neighbors but is also an effective tension killer.

When critics saw that Hoobastank and Incubus were friends they immediately found the weakness they’d been searching for from the first album. Judging by the content of a third of The Reason, Hoobastank wouldn’t let lingering criticism go unresolved. Tracks like the fast paced “Just One” or “Let It Out” candidly address previous critique. “This is ours / we made it with our everything / something real / as real as it could ever be / …who cares if you don’t like it.”

About the new album (The Reason), what is your favorite song on it, maybe that is most personal to you?

Um, I like “Never There,” I think it’s a pretty cool song. And then “The Reason” that’s a really good mellow song. I just like everything on the album. I think my favorite one though is “Never There.”

Is there a favorite song to play live?

“Pieces” is actually still a good fun live song. I dunno, something like “Out Of Control,” I like the fast ones the best. We don’t have a lot of time with the half hour set so we incorporated some samples with strings and stuff.

What are some of your personal influences when writing music?

Not really any motive, you just pick up the guitar or bass, or drums. Everyone plays each others’ instruments, I actually play more guitar than I play bass. You just set around at home on a bed or couch or whatever and come up with riffs and sometimes they sound cool and other times it’s like, eh…but you know.

On the album we noticed that a couple of the songs are written to be slower than the other 2/3 of the album. Is there a reason that Doug and Dan wrote that part of the album slower, or is that just how it came out?

It’s kinda just how it came together. We had a shit load of songs, and added a bunch of songs but we had like 20 songs. We will probably use those other songs; we did actually record them. We recorded like 16 so we will probably use those on whatever soundtrack needs them. And it just happened to fall into that kind of rhythm.

Do you know the next single off from The Reason?

Probably “The Reason.”

Do you have a concept for the video yet?

Well actually we are just talking right now about the video. When we get back home in two weeks we will have a week off and do a show in L.A. and then do the video. It’s just going to be some kind of weird video, we don’t really know what’s going to come out of it but hopefully it will be pretty cool.

Is there any big reason why you guys named the album after the title track?

No there was no reason for The Reason. (Laughter) We’re so fucking, like I dunno, it’s just so hard to come up with names and we wanted to call it “From the guys that brought you Crawling In The Dark and Running Away” (Laughter) but we just decided on [The Reason]. It’s better than something like From The Heart you know, that might sound a little gay. (Laughter)

That might raise a few more questions.

(Laughter) Yeah, exactly.

What is the best aspect about your live show that people should come see?

I dunno! We just enjoy going nuts on stage and having a good time and you know we do what we do and for this show we play a half hour and we play all our heavier songs and try to put a good energy out there. We just got back from Japan doing an hour and a half shows, our shows, and doing these shows is so short ya know. But we just try to run around, and have a good time playing our shit.

How has the tour been going with Linkin Park, and P.O.D.?

Awe man! It’s been great. Linkin Park guys are really cool, P.O.D. guys, Story Of The Year guys are all cool so it’s been a blast with all the crews and the bands, it’s like one big family. We’ve been just hanging out having a good time and the shows have been going real good. And all the shows have been pretty much close to sold out if not sold out.

What are some of your best or worst tour moments?

Hmm, I think our very first tour and we knew it was going to suck. But it was with this band Corporate Avenger and they are like totally opposite of what we did, they are like really heavy. There were about five people at each show. (Laughter) We where like, “why are we doing this?” We kinda just dropped off that tour because it was totally useless to us. They were obviously much heavier than we were and it was just kind of a waste of money for us to be out there for five people. But then we did the Alien Ant Farm tour after that with 311 too and those guys are really cool. This tour has been just amazing too though, and then…yeah we had an opportunity to go to like Southeast Asia, Australia, and Japan and that was really cool to play those shows.

Are there any bands you haven’t played with that you would really like to?

Yeah I wouldn’t mind going out with like Thrice or something. I dunno, maybe Iron Maiden. (Laughter)

Hoobastank makes good on Lappalainen’s promise of playing hard for the short time they get. Generally opening with some of the powerful singles from the new album and fan favorites like “Crawling in the Dark” from their debut album. This album is a gold medal for Hoobastank. They accomplished what many bands struggle with, continuing beyond one-hit-wonderdom, and assert their range of musical talents and song writing abilities. Don’t dismiss this band as just another joke in the ever-changing music industry. These four guys love music and despite their funny name (Who-butt-stank) should be taken seriously with The Reason.

Hoobastank will be on tour with Linkin Park, P.O.D., and Story Of The Year until the end of March and will be starting a tour with Lostprophets and Ima Robot. 

The final question: is there anything that you want all your fans to know or maybe people that aren’t fans of Hoobastank but fans of your music style in general to know?

Um, I dunno! Not really, but if they did buy the album mad props to them. If they downloaded it, meh, just come out to a show buy a shirt or something. But that’s about it just props to everybody.