HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS
By: Homie

Hawthorne Heights hearts might be in Ohio, but there asses are on the bus. Things are busy for the largest selling new artist in Victory records history. Very little, if any, time off has been seen by the band since the release of their debut “The Silence In Black and White” back in June of 2004. Dayton, Ohio’s seemingly overnight sensation found itself atop the independent rock scene by the end of last year, with a label poising the band for more mainstream attention in 2005. A recent phone in with drummer Eron Bucciarelli gives us a rundown on the whirlwind takeover that’s been the past year for Hawthorne Heights.

Once known as “A Day In The Life,” the band eventually would undergo the name change thanks in part to a high turnover rate of band members. “Originally, JT started A Day In The Life and everyone else is different from the original band. Our guitarist quit, Micah joined, the bass player quit, and another one joined that’s not in the band now either. The drummer quit, I joined, the other guitar player quit, Casey joined, and then that bass player quit and Matt joined.” So what did A Day In the Life sound like? Anyone with patience can actually find out for themselves when the band re-issues their current release to include the track “Apparently Hover Boards Don’t Work on Water” recorded in the bands formative days. Eron’s general feeling on the difference between the old material and new: “…two different bands entirely. There was that similar pop-punk, melodic influence in there but there’s a harder edge in Hawthorne Heights.” The band opted to approach a more aggressive style of play in an effort to get people more interested and more active at their live shows, and by all accounts, it’s paid off. First at home in Dayton, Ohio, a small town that, despite its lack in size, continues to hand out more than their fair share of artists on the national level. “People are proud of the bands that come out of Dayton. There are quite a few bands that have come out from there even though the scene is so small out there. Dead Poetic on Tooth and Nail records, 12 Tribes on Ferret records, there’s a band from about an hour and a half north of us called Hit the Lights who are probably going to be getting pretty big here soon. Of course, Guided by Voices are from Dayton and the Breeders, so there’s a lot of music here.” When asked what it was that gave bands in the area a shot at the big time, he suggests perhaps that its less the proximity to Chicago or New York and more the personal drive of the bands stating: “If you lived here, you’d want to get out too. It’s a small city, there’s not much around, so it’s like, if you want to do anything you’ve got to go elsewhere to play.” Elsewhere the band went, touring regionally for the better part of a few years as an unsigned band, booking themselves and occasionally finding their way on to a bill with nationally touring bands. “I think I did create a fake booking agency or management company to make us look a little more professional because appearance is everything. If you appear professional, people take you a lot more seriously and they give you the opportunity they might not necessarily give you. If you’re starting out, put together a professional looking press kit. You can read up online as to what goes into a press kit, and the music industry is a business, so you have to take a business approach to how you promote yourself.”

Word around the rumor mill is that this is the first band in recent history that Victory Records owner Tony Brummel found, heard and signed completely on his own. So how does a new band handle the pressure that comes with the presumable pressure of being a personal project of sorts for the owner of the label? “He’s a part of all the operations at Victory, so you definitely want to be on his good side. But we definitely have a great relationship with him, we bounce ideas off of each other, and as far as marketing and promotion goes, we’re involved in our careers where a lot of bands aren’t. They just sort of go slow and do what they’re told. I guess how we got that way was just staying in touch with him. Every night after our show I email him an update about how it went, how everybody’s reaction was to us, how we did in merch, and all that stuff. He likes that, he likes it when bands keep him up to date and interested. It keeps the excitement going, you know?” The band’s die hard work ethic has kept them out on the road and in the bus/van for the better part of the past year and it must be working as made obvious by the more than 300,000 copies of their debut that have sold to date, making it one of the top selling records in Victory’s history.

Gaining your fair share of attention doesn’t come without people approaching you from all angles. Most commonly, artists find themselves stepping it up for causes near to them. “Casey is involved with PETA, Peta2 rather. He just eats cheese, doesn’t eat meat, doesn’t eat vegetables, just eats cheese and bread. We’re doing a cancer benefit before we leave for warped tour. We have a friend who has lymphoma, so we’re gonna do a benefit concert where all the money we make goes to him to help pay his medical bills. You know, stuff like that we do every once in awhile.” Another worthy cause, with or without the support of the band has been the Warped Tour. Year after year, the tour continues to thrive, introducing new acts to the masses while backing them up with punk rock staples that have been at the center of the tour since its inception. Because the band only just started to take off last summer, they’ve yet to play a warped tour. When asked about his fondest memories of watching the tour, Bucciarelli recalled the first ever warped tour and its stop for him at the Stone Pony in New Jersey. “It was great for all of the old school hardcore bands and there were post hardcore bands I grew up listening to. Quicksand was playing, Siv was playing, Orange 9mm was playing, those were the three I was there to see. I think Sick of It All may have played. I remember seeing Snapcase one year, and Bouncing Souls and H2O, all different kinds of acts. Every year I had a blast. It’s really the first tour for this kind of music.” Not unlike Hawthorne Heights, the tour has found success by sticking to what they know. In a time where the concert business continues to fail based on low ticket sales, festivals tend to run an even higher risk. The surefire action taken by event organizers each year keeps the festival similar, yet fresh. Its heritage is its legacy and with it come accolades that distinguish the tour as a giant amidst failing festivals launched and re-launched each year. “It’s impressive just how long the tour has been going on. If you look at Ozzfest, I think they’re talking like this year might be the last Ozzfest and Lollapalooza is only doing like a two or three day festival now in Chicago. It’s like, none of those tours were successful, then you’ve got the Warped Tour that’s been around forever and it doesn’t show any signs of letting up. I think it’s a great tour and it helps bands out tremendously and it’s great for fans because they may get to see a band that otherwise might not come to their area.” Bucciarelli lets it be known though that he’s not particularly looking forward to coming into the Smash Magazine readership area. “I don’t even want to know, I know it hits like Arizona and places like that. It’s going to be so hot there. It’s like 70 where I’m at now.” Regardless, the band will triumph through their southwest dates (desert towns included) and continue on through the summer headed back east wrapping up some time in late summer, early fall. Your chance to help the band can be found in the basics, half jokingly, Bucciarelli recommends donating basic toiletries including “toilet paper and all that stuff.” Catch Hawthorne Heights on this summers Warped Tour and pick up the re-issue of “The Silence In Black And White” including demo’s, acoustic performances, and an older track from the band recorded as “A Day In The Life” in stores now.