Straight Up Random

Interview: The Hanks

INTERVIEW:

How did you guys start the band? Who gave you the most support?

Shane: Bryan and Josh started the band at school in Oregon. They moved down to LA and we became friends. I joined soon after and then we met Phil at UCLA. Our family and fans have been incredibly supportive… patient! [laughs]

How did you guys come up with your name?

Bryan: Handsome And Newly Knighted Squires…. we were in high school, forgive us.

How did you learn to play the instruments you play now and/or sing? When did you start playing? And why?

Josh: We practiced good like. And a lot like. When…? Cretaceous period.
Shane: I haven’t started yet, but plan to.

Who are your main (musical) influences

Shane: I like 80’s and early hip hop. It’s got a funky beat and I can dance to it.
Josh: I like lots of folk and classic rock. And lots of new rock. And folk.
Phil: Nah…

Where do you end up writing your lyrics? On tour, or do you guys actually take time off to write, or do you just randomly jot down lyrics from time to time?

Josh: Mostly on paper. Sometimes on the computer. We are so technologically advanced, I know. You can’t tell, but I just said that in a robot voice. No seriously, I’m always writing lyrics. Some were from tours, many at home.

So your transmission went out on your van a couple weeks ago! Tell us more about the incident. How did that interfere with your schedule?

Phil: Luckily we’d driven all night after a show, so we had plenty of time to hang out in lovely Sacramento and wait for our van to be fixed. It actually worked out that we didn’t miss and had time to take naps and a swim at our friends house in Sacramento.

Where do you plan on touring this summer?

Bryan: Utah, Colorado, some more west coast. We’re doing the south in early fall too.

Speaking of touring, what do you do to combat high gas prices?

Shane: Punch them in the face.
Josh: Lots of complaining.
Phil: We actually took out the floorboard in our van so we can use our feet, Flintstones-style.

If you could tour with any bands in the world, who would they be and why?

Phil: Mine would be Radiohead, because I’d love to watch them every night.
Bryan: ….
Shane: I’d like to tour Depeche Mode and the Cure. We could play them our covers of them!
Josh: I’d love to tour with Paul Simon or Elvis Costello or maybe Sir Paul McCartney, mostly so I could fawn over them like an adoring school girl.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done at one of your shows? What’s the craziest thing a fan has done?

Bryan: Used the bathroom at a venue.
Shane: [laughs] I knocked down a speaker stack once by jumping off of it.
Josh: Fans bring us food a lot… that’s not really too crazy, but we like it.
Phil: They’ve thrown crawfish boils for us!
Shane: They’ve made their own Hanks T-shirts which is cool! When playing live, do you tend to play more songs from “Your New Attraction” or “Distance?”

Shane: More from “Distance” now but we still play a lot of songs from “Your New Attraction”, especially in areas where we have a lot of fans from that album.

Do you guys ever play cover songs? What’s the usual reaction?

Shane: Yes. Good.
Josh: [laughs] Yeah, we play a couple Depeche Mode covers, a Simon & Garfunkel song, some other ones. We usually change them enough that people don’t really recognize them, but the people like ‘em!

Can you describe your sound for us?

Josh: Oof. Hard question….
Bryan: Audio…
Shane: Soft then loud, then soft again.
Josh: Then loud, finally.

Are there any bands that you would recommend listening to?

Josh: Whatever ones you like! We’ve played with a lot of great bands…
Bryan: Darci Cash, Single File
Phil: Meriwether
Josh: Parson Redheads, Flashing Red Lights
Phil: The Lonely Forest, Wintersleep, Barcelona, Aqueduct

Your first full-length album “Your New Attraction” was released independently, and then re-released under a label. Now, with your album “Distance” you decided to release it independently again. What were the benefits of doing so? Any down falls?

Bryan: First and foremost, we make more money per CD when we do it on our own. Second, everything’s in our control, which means we can do whatever WE want.
Shane: On the downside, it’s a lot more work.
Phil: We need to pay for everything ourselves too.
Shane: See donate button on our myspace! [laughs]


What are some goals you guys want to accomplish by the end of this year as a band?

Phil: We’d like to… clean up our rehearsal space! Woohoo, done!! We’d like to have a soft drink named after us, preferably a bottled one. We’d like to have a sit down meeting with Tom Hanks.
Shane: To discuss his future involvement in the band…
Bryan: To discuss his family’s trademark infringement on us!!

Where can our readers buy your music?

www.myspace.com/thehanks Also, you can get our first record, “Your New Attraction”, on itunes right now, and our second record, “Distance”, will be available on itunes [drumroll…] August 26th!!!
Shane: We expect cookies and punch….
Josh: …perhaps by mail?