How does a band from the Midwest, far outside the music fiefdom of New York or Los Angeles, obtain a record contract, gain notoriety and ultimately become a chart-topping band? For a group like platinum-selling artists Hawthorne Heights, the answer might very well be fate. Sure, fate has played a hand in the success or obscurity of many artists—if Elvis Presley hadn’t walked into Sun Studio to record his mother a song, if The Grateful Dead had never decided to go electric, if Nirvana had never known The Melvins—but for this particular band from Dayton, Ohio fate—both good and bad—seems to be the overriding theme of their career.
Even the way they came together seems like destiny. “We were actually in a bunch of different bands around the Dayton, Ohio music scene,” explained lead singer JT Woodruff. “Then we sort of formed a super group of sorts. One guy was playing in this band and that didn’t work out, so we stole him. We were all friends before and then, we just ended up being the same band.” After the final lineup of the band—including lead guitarist Micah Carli, bassist Matt Ridenour, drummer Eron Bucciarelli and guitarist/vocalist Casey Calvert— was established, the guys had to then determine how they were going to pursue their music career.
From all their work with their former bands, the members of Hawthorne Heights had decided that just playing clubs was not enough. Instead of focusing their energy on booking gigs, the band decided to put all their efforts into writing songs and creating a stellar demo tape, though their expectations were low. “[Our expectation was] just to have fun,” explained JT. “Just that we would play some weekend shows and that we would write songs and just see where it went. I don’t think we had any expectations of being signed or being on a label or anything like that.”
In the end, the band did send out their demo to multiple labels. “You pretty much have to send away and hopefully, they like what they hear or they even listen to it,” JT said, remembering their first experience submitting their tapes. “There’s no guarantee that they will. If you live in New York or L.A., maybe an A&R [artists and repertoire] person will be at a show. They’ll see you and check you out. [But] it’s not like that in Ohio. So we were just [at] the mercy of people opening our package and listening to our songs.” Eventually, they heard from a number of smaller groups that heard their record. They weighed their options and eventually signed with Victory Records.
Hawthorne Heights’ first album, The Silence in Black and White was released in 2004. Though the CD had a slow build, once the single, “Ohio is for Lovers” premiered on MTV, their album quickly shot up in the charts, earning the band their first platinum record. Perhaps that’s why the guys are such big fans of MTV and so excited that their first single, “Rescue Me,” off of their 2008 album, Fragile Future premiered on Pete Wentz’s new MTV music video show FNMTV. “All music channels have started playing less and less videos because people aren’t really watching them,” sighed JT as he discussed the current state of music. “I think that Pete Wentz has come up with a really cool show to put music videos back on TV and I hope that it’s going to be like what it’s like in the future. I hope there a lot of these shows. And I hope there are like two hours where there is nothing but videos that you don’t even need a host or anything; it’s just video after video. That’s how it was when I was growing up and I used to love sitting down in front of the television and watching videos because those bands were like my idols. Those were like my gods. To see them on there playing songs and everything, I knew that that’s what I wanted to do.”
In 2007, another act of fate struck the band. After the release and chart-topping success of their second album, If Only You Were Lonely, the band suffered a great loss with the death of their guitarist and resident screamer Casey Calvert. “It’s tough to lose a friend,” said JT, thinking back on the difficult days right after his bandmate’s untimely death. “We had a lot of amazing times with Casey. Some of the best times I had in my life were with Casey. So that’s hard, but you always remember those good times. I think that’s how we’ve been able to get through it. You remember all the positive things that he brought to us and you just kind of live with it that way.”
According to drummer Eron Bucciarelli, Casey had suffered from depression as long as he had known him. It was common knowledge in the band and something they were dedicated to working through with their friend and bandmate. “We just tried to always keep things positive and try to make bad situations seem like good situations,” explained JT. “Just trying to talk and be as open as possible. You know when somebody’s depressed that’s sometimes the last thing they want to do. Sometimes it takes some prying, but a lot of time people just want to talk. They don’t know how to talk to people about this and they’re embarrassed, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We all go through really tough times. We all feel sad or upset about something. It’s always better to talk to somebody because chances are, they might feel the same way or have felt the same way and you guys can get through it together. I think that’s how we kind of handled the situation.” Casey passed away when the group was on tour promoting their new album. Toxicology reports stated that Casey died from fatal mix of anti-depression, anti-anxiety and pain medication.
Though fate dealt them a painful blow, Hawthorne Heights has regrouped and is returning to the limelight for the release of their new album, Fragile Heights. The music was inspired by many of the tribulations the band encountered over the last year and a half and the friendship they found once more in one another. “A lot of the inspirations came from us, from wanting to put out a new record and struggling hard and going through a lot of hardships,” said JT about the new album. “It’s definitely made the four of us in the band a lot closer together, not that we were ever far apart or anything. You lose a little closeness by being around somebody all the time. Once you go through an adversity, you always move closer together. We definitely appreciate our friendships more and appreciate what one another brings to the band.”
Currently on tour with Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution, Hawthorne Heights are back to enjoying the art of making music with one another. No matter where the road may lead or what fate may deal them, the band will always appreciate being able to make music together. “We’re just happy to be putting out an album now,” enthused JT as he discussed Hawthorne Heights’ new work. “We’re happy that people are going to get to hear our song. Sometimes we take that for granted because you think maybe you should have more of this or more of that, but really, it just comes down to music. It really comes down to what you actually wanted to do-- write songs so that people can hear them.”
Living_In_Fantasies Community Member 
|
|
