By: David Rachac
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| The Lonely H - Photo by Kirt Reynolds |
We met each other through school, brotherhood or baseball. We all played separate instruments and thought they would sound better if combined rather than solo. As our band increased in seriousness, our friendship soon developed into a brotherhood, minus the blood thing but something we might do on some crazy, lonesome night in Nebraska.
Many reviewers have tied your sound to the big British rock bands of the mid-late 70s. While I would think that you would not disagree with that assessment, are there times where you say “Dude, I can’t believe you can’t hear the [name of band] influence in this song”?
We would not tend to disagree with the statement, but would rather get rid of the level of specifics. Instead of "British, mid-late 70s rock," I think we'd prefer "old fashioned rock and roll." As far as the discreet, hidden influence, I'd have to say 80's Henley.
Where do you think your sound comes from? It is tempting to surmise that it was just a matter of you raiding your parents’ record collections, but I’ve got to believe there is more to it than that.
Yes, it wasn't solely a matter of us discovering a gold mine in our parents’ basements, but that did play a factor. As we were organically exposed to the greats of yesteryear via radio, parents, etc., it became apparent to us that this was the stuff for us. But as far as listening exclusively to 70's rock, that's not the truth. We like all sorts of good music from the Strokes to Graham Parsons, but it just happens that most good music, in our opinion, is in fact, old. This being backed up by the greats of the 60's and 70's being pretty much the only music selling out arenas (minus Miley Cyrus) these days. It's pretty simple -- we make music that is inspired by what we listen to, and that just happens to be mostly older stuff.
Starting out, you must have had incredibly supportive families – how many parents would let their high schoolers in a van and tour the US?
We were all 18 and 20, with a high school diploma and a legitimate national tour lined up, backed by a freshly released sophomore album. Combined with the fact that they all love us and support us without question for the most part, that made it pretty easy to head out on the road without too much grief. Plus, would they rather have us do what we love or work at the local video store all summer, daydreaming of rock and roll?
Tell me about your first big break and how it impacted your band’s future.
Hooking up with our now manager/producer/booker/ Joe was the deciding factor in all of our success up to this very point. Without him, none of this would be possible, period.
You went out on tour right after you graduated from high school. Have you been on the road pretty much since then?
We hit the road about a month after we graduated and then went to college for autumn quarter at the University of Washington, then hit the road mid-January and have been out since, and plan to be through the fall.
Are there extra challenges to being on the road at such a young age? You can’t rent a car, some hotels have age limits, and then there is the whole drinking thing.
I'd say the positives of youths on the road outweigh the negatives. Yes, 3 out of 4 of us can't "legally" drink in bars, but I'd like to say our youthful vigor keeps us from collapsing of exhaustion when a 31 year old would. Plus, having a 21 year old in the band (Johnny, bass) helps aid some of the setbacks you speak of.
You just got done playing SXSW. How was the overall spectacle?
After we played our showcase, Eric and I decided to bask in the wonder of SXSW one last time before the festival came to a regrettable end. So, with Perez Hilton's "A Night In Austin" party on our minds, we headed down to the sea of hipsters and took a swim. After waiting in line for a half an hour, watching the brothers Hanson and other "important" people get let in, the door man gave us the "I guess you can go in" hand motion, we were in. N.E.R.D. was bringing down the house and I couldn't help but obey the charismatic Pharell whenever he ordered me to shout things like "yeah" and his band's name. There was free cognac and rum served well into the morning, generosity we were not necessarily used to, even being a touring band. And Eric and I proceeded to schmooze with some industry people, one being a slick major label man who tried to convince me that the major label route was the way to go. I just kept repeating: "I think we're gonna take the hard road, man." At about 5 AM, we were fed up with the plasticity of the room and
caught a ride with some girls back to our place of temporary residence. Overall, SXSW was a great, overwhelmingly music-saturated experience, lots good, lots mediocre. It really makes you feel like a drop of water in an endless ocean, but hopefully next time we'll be a gallon.
You’ll be playing in Minneapolis at the Uptown Bar on Saturday, April 5th. For someone who has never been to one of your shows, what can they expect?
Three words for you: ROCK AND ROLL. It's a simple equation: Chord into amplifier turned up to 11 = a good fucking time. That pretty much covers it.
The Lonely H plays at the Uptown Bar on Saturday, April 5th along with Wishbook, Skirt and A Night In The Box. Admission is $5.
Artist Info: The Lonely H
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