Name: Hoobastank
Formed: 1994
In: Agoura Hills, CA
Musical Styles: Punk-Pop, Post-Grunge, Alternative Pop/Rock
Similar Artists: Incubus, Our Lady Peace, Third Eye Blind, Alien
Ant Farm, Depswa, Default, Lostprophets, Minus.Driver
Detailed: Post-grunge quartet Hoobastank formed
in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills in early 1994, after vocalist
Doug Robb met guitarist Dan Estrin at a high-school battle of the bands
competition. The two chose to join forces, and after adding bassist
Markku Lappalainen and drummer Chris Hesse, Hoobastank were born. While
the heavy alternative sounds of acts like Tool and Alice in Chains were
primary influences, Hoobastank tempered the gloomier elements of that
music with a suburban California groove and an eye for accessibility.
The self-released, clumsily titled They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts
Like They Used To generated strong local buzz upon its 1998 release,
and soon the band had moved from backyard gigs to shows up and down
the Cali coast.
Island took notice and put Hoobastank on the payroll in August 2000,
and tours with the likeminded Incubus and flavor-of-the-moment Alien
Ant Farm followed. Hoobastank's eponymous debut dropped in November
2001, and the singles "Crawling in the Dark" and "Running Away" were
hits at radio and MTV. The LP went gold, and the quartet supported it
with a jaunt through Asia and Europe that summer. By early 2003, the
band was back in the studio, laying down tracks for its sophomore effort.
They then played a few dates in June and July, but were forced to cancel
the remainder of the club tour when Estrin was injured in a freak minibike
accident. The guitarist was back on his feet by October, and Hoobastank
headed out with the All-American Rejects and Ozomatli for the Nokia
Unwired tour.
The quartet offered the lead single "Out of Control" as a free download
from its website before releasing the full-length The Reason at the
end of the year. It showcased a harder-edged vocal performance from
Robb. A year later, the Let It Out DVD collected the band's videos.
On a 2005 co-headlining tour with Velvet Revolver, the band received
a chilly reception from some audiences and rumors of a feud between
Robb and VR frontman Scott Weiland were soon filling Internet message
boards. "If I Were You," the first single from their 2006 album Every
Man for Himself, addressed the whole affair. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music
Guide
