TAS in Session: Hooray For Earth
There's something goofy and childlike about the band name Hooray For Earth, but the Boston/New York electro-pop group has been pretty serious about gauging their professional stepping stones over the last year, signing to Dovecote Records, re-releasing their EP Momo and embarking on a lengthy string of tours, opening for everyone from Futureheads to Pains of Being Pure At Heart to Admiral Radley.
The sometimes-quintet of frontman Noel Heroux, bassist Chris Principe, guitarist Gary Benacquista, drummer Joe Ciampini and part-time producer/percussionist Josh Ascalon added a new, sixth track, "Rolling/Nectarine," to Momo when they released it in June. Plans for a full-length album are still underway, but as Heroux admitted to The Alternate Side's Alisa Ali when the band dropped by Studio A earlier this summer, recording a record can be a lengthy process and he's apt to be, well, "a pain in the ass" to his bandmates (we think he was kidding, sort of).
Happily there was nothing painful about the group's stripped-down, less "angsty" incarnation and Hooray For Earth unfurled three songs for us: "Form," "Rolling/Nectarine" (minus the vocals of Jessica and Cristi Jo Zambri who appear on the EP) and "Surrounded by Friends."
Hooray For Earth kick off an autumn tour with Jukebox The Ghost on September 20, visiting West Coast and Midwestern venues.
Alisa Ali: You’re clearly fans of the mother planet. Why did you name your band Hooray For Earth? And how do you feel about Pluto being demoted?
Josh Ascalon: It’s not a planet.
Alisa: It’s a dwarf planet now.
Josh: It’s a big, floating ice rock.
Alisa: Do you know why it was demoted?
Josh: I don’t, but I do know that in Arizona they still consider it a planet. It was discovered in Arizona.
Noel Heroux: Wait, is that a political thing?
Josh: No, I think it’s an honor thing.
Noel: Josh hates Pluto, that’s pretty much it.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf4oAIpcGVE]
Alisa: What a lovely sentiment, "Surrounded By Friends." Where were you when you wrote this song?
Noel: Geographically? I’m not sure. I think I was on a bus actually.
Alisa: Can you write while you’re surrounded by your friends?
Noel: It’s good to be surrounded by your friends certainly, and writing songs, not paying attention to what they’re saying to you. Writing songs in your head instead. It’s not too bad. (laughs)
Alisa: Is it just you writing or a collaboration?
Noel: Yeah. We basically put everything together and then we get together and figure out how to play it live. We’re doing things a bit different today because we thought it might be nice to chill more instead of blasting ourselves in the studio. We don’t have any of the loud guitars and drum amps or electonics.
Alisa: Your Momo EP recently came out. I understand that there was a full-length album, self-released?
Noel: Yeah, that was sort of us. It was when we started off, we had a different thing going on. We did record. We did have a record. It was quite some time ago.
Alisa: About five years ago.
Noel: Yes, crazy. But we switched things up a lot and for the past couple of years it’s been a major change.
Alisa: So what were you like when you started in 2005?
Noel: It wasn’t crazy different, there was similar songwriting, but it was just more rambunctious. I was 20 when I wrote most of the songs so there was a lot of bitchin’ about stuff. We just wanted to change the vibe; there’s a little bit more hope now.
Alisa: You were more “angsty” before?
Noel: That’s always been one of my least favorite explanations of a style, but it’s totally what it was. It was my “angsty” time.
Alisa: Now you feel much more mature. And on your next album it will be totally different.
Noel: Yes, I’ll be 70 years old by then and I’ll have it all figured out.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WddP_Zdu5hQ]
Alisa: You’re originally from Boston but relocated to New York. Why?
Noel: We started off [in Boston] and somewhere in the middle of 2007 I moved. Chris and Gary still hold it down in Cambridge. Joe, Josh and I are around New York City.
Alisa: Is it tough having band members in two different cities?
Noel: It does make it hard to rehearse, but we don’t like to rehearsing, so it’s not too bad.
Alisa: Why did you leave Boston?
Noel: There were a million reasons, but I just felt I needed to change. I had a special someone living in New York so it was kind of inevitable that would happen. Josh and Joe lived here, but the band reformed when I moved here.
Alisa: Your EP Momo has six songs. Do you have more? Any plans for an album?
Noel: Yeah, we’re going to actually start [this summer] making a full-length.
Alisa: So you have all of the songs written? Arrangements?
Noel: Actually no, but we’ll figure it out.
Alisa: You’ve booked studio time is what you’re telling me. That’s basically it.
Noel: Well, yeah. There’s half songs. But yes, it would make sense for you to assume that all the songs are ready. We got a nice little studio in my apartment in the corner to the left of the couch, next to the magazine rack. Seriously, we’re doing a little recording at home and then Josh has got a spot in Bushwick. We’re doing a little stuff there. There’s going to be a lot of me tinkering away for the next couple of weeks and then everyone will come in, make some sounds, we’ll mix it and then there will be a record. There’s always happy accidents and we like those.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jti7mrWHJJU]
Hooray For Earth Tour Dates
09-20-10 The Vernon Club Louisville, KY w/ Jukebox The Ghost
09-21-10 Cicero’s St. Louis, MO w/ Jukebox The Ghost
09-20-10 Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom Little Rock, AR w/ Jukebox The Ghost
09-23-10 Bronze Peacock @ HOB Houston, TX w/ Jukebox The Ghost
09-24-10 Independent @ 501 Studios Austin, TX w/ Jukebox The Ghost
09-25-10 OYSTERFEST (Lochronn’s Irish Pub) Frisco, TX w/ Jukebox The Ghost, Efterklang, Bowerbirds, Buke & Gass
09-28-10 The Loft (UCSD) San Diego, CA w/ Jukebox The Ghost
09-30-10 The Echo Los Angeles, CA w/ Jukebox The Ghost
10-02-10 Bottom Of The Hill San Francisco, CA w/ Jukebox The Ghost
10-04-10 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR w/ Jukebox The Ghost
10-05-10 High Dive Seattle, WA w/ Jukebox The Ghost
10-07-10 Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT w/ Jukebox The Ghost
