Hoobastank

Hoobastank is an American rock band, best known for their 2004 hit "The Reason" and other hits "Crawling in the Dark" and "Running Away". They formed in 1994 in Agoura Hills, California, with singer Doug Robb, guitarist Dan Estrin, drummer Chris Hesse, and original bassist Markku Lappalainen. They are currently signed to Island Records and have released four albums and one extended play to date. Their fourth album, For(N)ever, was released in January 2009. To date, they have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

History

Early career (1994–2000)

Hoobastank formed in the Los Angeles County suburb Agoura Hills in 1994. According to drummer Chris Hesse, vocalist Doug Robb had known guitarist Dan Estrin for some time before competing against him in a high school battle of the bands competition and subsequently, they decided to form a band.[1] They then recruited Markku Lappalainen and Hesse to form Hoobastank, which at the time was spelled Hoobustank (pronounced the same way as "Hoobastank"). In an interview with Launch Yahoo!, Doug Robb said the name had no particular meaning: "You're going to ask me what it means. It doesn't mean anything. And it's really cool, it's one of those old high school inside-joke words that didn't really mean anything."[2] However, on the December 16, 2003 broadcast of Loveline, Hoobastank, guests on that show, claimed Hoobastank was the name of a gas station in Germany near where a friend lives.

Hoobastank started playing gigs at the local venue Cobalt Cafe along with Incubus, 311 and others. They recorded their first full-length self-released album in 1998 called They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To. It featured a unique saxophone section headed by Jeremy Wasser, who executive produced said album and recorded the Summer Romance saxophone solo on Incubus' S.C.I.E.N.C.E. album. By this stage, Hoobastank had developed a strong reputation in Southern California. This attracted interest from Island Records, who subsequently signed the band in 2000. At the time of signing, the band had completed a second full length album, titled "Forward", also featuring Jeremy Wasser, however Island execs felt that the direction they were heading in would work best without a sax, so Jeremy departed the band and the album was shelved. A few of its tracks were re-recorded for release on the bands self-titled 2001 release. The original recordings from the "Forward" sessions made their way to the internet via peer to peer sites in late 2001.

Hoobastank (2001–2002)

Hoobastank released their self-titled debut album in November 2001. The first single was "Crawling in the Dark" which was a breakthrough hit reaching #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Modern Rock chart, #7 on the Mainstream Rock chart[3] and #1 on an MP3.com download chart in early 2002. The second single "Running Away" was even more successful reaching #44 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the Modern Rock chart, #9 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #3 on the MP3.com download chart. The Hoobastank album went Platinum thanks to these hit singles and reached #25 on the Billboard 200 album charts and #1 on the Billboard Heatseeker chart.

However, the album received many negative reviews including a 2.5 stars review by Allmusic which includes the line: "Nothing here's gonna change the world, but the fact that these guys don't seem inclined toward filling any agenda or catering to a specific audience is promising".

The album also achieved recognition internationally with the band touring in Europe and Asia in support of the record. "Remember Me", the third single released from this album, was a moderate hit reaching #23 on the Modern Rock charts and #9 on the Mainstream Rock charts. The band also made a song titled "Losing My Grip" for the soundtrack of the movie The Scorpion King. In late 2001, Hoobastank was invited to play in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame due to the success of the album.

The Reason (2003-2005)

The band entered the studio in 2003 with producer Howard Benson who has produced records by P.O.D., Blindside, Cold, and The Crystal Method. However, recording was disrupted for a month when Dan Estrin was seriously injured in a freak minibike accident in August. Estrin had recovered by October and the band headed off on a Nokia Unwired Tour with The All-American Rejects and Ozomatli in November.

An interview was made with Chris 'soldier' Hesse, asking the same question all ask ... "How did the band come up with the name Hoobastank?" He replied, "Doug's brother is the vice president of BMW Motorcycles and lives in Germany. And there is this street out by his house that is called Hooba Street or something like that and before Doug could pronounce the name, he called it Hoobastank and it was kinda a cute thing and his brother still teases him about it to this day. When we were looking for band names it's almost impossible to find a band name that hasn't been taken. Anything remotely normal has been taken already. I don't remember how it came up but someone said it and we were like yeah."[4]

Their second album The Reason was released in December 2003.It showcased a harder-edged vocal performance from Robb. The single "Same Direction" was made available for download on the band's website. Doug Robb says on the band's website: "A lot of it is about asking questions or questioning all that people see. It's not all about religion. "Out of Control" is about that and about opening your eyes after being blinded by being devoted to anything."[5] "Same Direction" would reach #9 on the US Modern Rock chart, #16 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #16 on a composite World Modern Rock chart (based on the US, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Canada, and Australia). A year later, the Let It Out DVD collected the band's videos. 'The Reason' was put to a popular music video on Tangle. See [6]

The title track was released as a single in the first half of 2004. It became a massive hit reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100,[7] #1 on the US and World Modern Rock charts, #10 in Australia and #15 in Germany. The song was also played during the final episode of Friends. In Canada, it spent 21 weeks at the top, setting a new record for most weeks at No. 1. Meanwhile in the United States, the album reached #3 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

The band's international profile was increased by a support slot on Linkin Park's Meteora world tour in early 2004.

Every Man for Himself (2006–2007)

Their third album Every Man for Himself was released in May 2006 and debuted at #12 on the Billboard chart. Three singles, "If I Were You", "Inside of You", and "Born to Lead" have been released, all of which have fared poorly on the rock charts. Another single, "If Only" was planned to be released but was canceled for unknown reasons, possibly because of the low chart achievements of the first three singles. Despite this, the album has been certified Gold in the United States.

On a 2005 co-headlining tour with Velvet Revolver, the band received a chilly reception from some audiences and rumors of a feud between Robb and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland were soon filling Internet message boards. "If I Were You" from Every Man for Himself addressed the whole affair.[8] Doug later said in an interview with MTV News online that he has nothing against Scott Weiland or any other member of Velvet Revolver [9].

For(N)ever (2008–)

Main article: For(N)ever

In October 2007, Robb posted on the official Hoobastank message boards and said that they have "Set the bar very very high for this next CD" and that they have "More ideas going into this CD than ever before".

On June 2 2008, Robb posted an update on their temporary website, announcing that the recording process of their upcoming album was almost done and to expect a release date within a couple of weeks.[10] On September 19, Robb posted a MySpace bulletin announcing that the "new Hoobastank album is nearly done".

The first single from the new album is called "My Turn"; it premiered on radio October 13. The album For(N)ever was eventually released on January 27, 2009, as announced by Doug Robb in a blog entry on the band's official website page[11].

On April 20, 2009, a Vanessa Amorosi fan website revealed details of a collaboration between Hoobastank and the Australian singer, a duet version of The Letter. On August 5, 2009, was also confirmed another version of the song on Universal International. This one, a duet between Hoobastank and the american-japanese singer, lyricist, actress and model Anna Tsuchiya[12].

The website, VanessaAmorosi.net, also provided the duet version to be streamed in full for the very first time.[13] The music video was shot in Los Angeles at Lacy Street Studio with director Paul Brown (Alicia Keys, Jack White). The video and single was serviced to Australian media on May 4.

While the single was released in Australia on June 19, 2009, featuring Vanessa Amorosi, the version of the song featuring Anna Tsuchiya[12] appears on Hoobastank's greatest hits album "The Greatest Hits: Don't Touch My Moustache (Deluxe Edition)".

For(N)ever had its Australian released on June 26, 2009.[14]

The best album The Greatest Hits: Don't Touch My Moustache released on August 5 2009 through Universal Records in Japan. Deluxe Edition's tracks were selected from their first four albums by Hoobastank fans on band's official record label website.

It was announced in July that Hoobastank would be the support band on Creed's 2009 reunion tour.

On September 2, Hoobastank announced on Twitter that they are recording an acoustic CD.[15]

On October 30, Hoobastank covered a song "Ghostbusters" for Halloween and music video released on Hoobastank's official YouTube channel.

On December 8, Hoobastank released a live album Live From The Wiltern available exlusively through iTunes.

Band members

Current members

* Doug Robb: Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar (1995–present)

* Dan Estrin: Lead Guitar (1995–present)

* Chris Hesse: Drums (1995–present)

* Jesse Charland: Bass (2008–present) [Live]

Former members

* Jeremy Wasser: Saxophone (1995–2000)

* Markku Lappalainen: Bass Guitar (1995–2005)

* Derek Kwan: Saxophone (1997–1999)

* Josh Moreau: Bass Guitar (2006–2008)

* David Amezcua Bass [Live] (2008)