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There’s one band that has toured the world,
literally, several times and is once again on
another trek to see everyone. Hoobastank is a
band known for exciting shows, interesting stories
within their songs and being an overall awesome
group of guys. We got a chance to talk with Chris
and asked a lot of questions fans sent in. Here’s
the beginning of another awesome interview!
literally, several times and is once again on
another trek to see everyone. Hoobastank is a
band known for exciting shows, interesting stories
within their songs and being an overall awesome
group of guys. We got a chance to talk with Chris
and asked a lot of questions fans sent in. Here’s
the beginning of another awesome interview!
| HOOBASTANK IS: |
Dan Estrin, guitar, songwriter; Chris Hesse, drums;
Markku Lappalainen, bass; Doug Robb vocals
Markku Lappalainen, bass; Doug Robb vocals
M4M: WE POSTED A FEW BULLETINS TO HAVE YOUR FANS SEND IN THEIR QUESTIONS AND THESE ARE ONLY A
FEW. ARE YOU READY?
CHRIS: Of course!
M4M: AWESOME! SOMEONE IN NEVADA SENT THIS ONE IN: WHAT’S THE FUNNIEST MISHAP YOU’VE HAD WHILE
TOURING?
CHRIS: It happened while we were touring in Japan…about 8 years ago. The only phrase I really knew in Japanese was
pronounced: ooki ching chi, which means ‘big penis.’ I learned that from Doug’s (vocals) Mother, who is full Japanese.
(laughs) It was really the only phrase I wanted to know. So, we’re in Japan, it’s the only word I know and we’re at
McDonald’s, trying to order a Big Mac. I’m pointing at the value meal, trying to say I want this. The girl doesn’t speak
any English, so she keeps trying to ask me what size. I finally understand what she’s trying to say, so I reply, “ching-chi,
ching-chi” thinking I’m saying big. I can tell she doesn’t get it, because she’s kinda giving me that blank stare. I keep
repeating and as I’m speaking, I realize I’m saying penis and not big. So I start saying “ooki ooki” (laughs.) I felt bad,
because they are so respectful over there. Over here, we would laugh at somebody saying that or smack them, but she,
I think, was too embarrassed to say anything.
M4M: WHERE IS THE FAVORITE SPOT ON THE ROAD TO EAT?
CHRIS: I’ll speak for me and Doug. Our favorite place to eat is called Ted Montana Grill. I think he’s the owner and he’s
famous. I’d think you know him if I were to say his name, (Ted Turner), but it, (the restaurant) is famous for their buffalo
burgers. The guy raises his own buffalo, being a multimillionaire - for the last 20 years to supply the buffalo meat to his
restaurants. There are about forty-five in the US and we always hit them up when we’re in a town that has one. Atlanta
was the first one we ever ate at. It is the best burger I’ve ever had in my life. (http://www.tedsmontanagrill.com/)
M4M: A GIRL FROM ARIZONA ASKED “DO YOU GUYS WATCH AMERICAN IDOL?”
CHRIS: Unfortunately no…actually that’s a funny question. We had a discussion about that, because we’re supposed to
go down and do an American Idol Press thing, just to do Press, not to discuss or participate or anything. Our publicist at
CWR said ‘so since you’re going we have to brush you up on this, so what do you know about American Idol’ which our
reply was ‘nothing.’ So yeah, we don’t watch it. You know what we do watch is Iron Chef, a lot of Discovery Channel
stuff, and Bravo (laughs.) You know what though, there is a lot of talent that comes out of there, but I don’t know. The
show is well….Didn’t Kelly Clarkson come out of there? (laughs)
M4M: WHAT DO YOU GUYS LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU’RE IN BETWEEN TOWNS? DO YOU GO TO LOCAL SHOWS IN
THE AREA THAT YOU HAPPEN TO BE IN?
CHRIS: Usually no. Not, if it’s somebody that we know. I speak for myself and I know some of the other guys would say,
having a show and seeing a show almost every night is a lot. We will watch the opening band, but really I have no desire
to go see more live music unless it’s somebody I really really like. Once, I even passed up backstage passes to
Metallica, a band I really like, but in my mind I just thought, ‘no no, it’s an hour’s drive there and back. Don’t want to do it.’
M4M: SOMEONE IN NEW JERSEY ASKED, AND YOU MAY FIND THIS FUNNY, “WHO SNORES THE MOST?”
CHRIS: You know, I’ve never heard anybody snore. Our crew guys snore the most. Our crew snores at the door, but us,
can’t really say. Its weird, I have no idea, maybe its cause they work so hard all day and we really don’t do anything.
Plus when you’re moving on the bus, you don’t really hear a whole lot. The boys are pretty quiet.
M4M: WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST INTERESTING VIDEO TO SHOOT AS OF LATE?
CHRIS: Well the “My Turn” video we just did is the most interesting one I think in the last couple handful of years if not
ever, just because it was a lot of fun. It was just kind of a joke. We basically made it for the internet, so that you can
make your own and kind of choose your own adventure if you want to see it. You can pick who’s playing what, I mean
that was definitely the most fun, because we were playing in different costumes, we were switching instruments. I took a
shot at singing. It was really fun, I mean really really fun. I had a really good time on that shoot. If you watch just the
regular video on YouTube you don’t quite get it as much unless you go our website site which has the interactive version
of the video.
M4M: WHAT DO YOU PREFER DOING: LARGE OUTDOOR FESTIVALS OR SMALLER VENUES?
CHRIS: We prefer shows where the audience is going crazy. It really doesn’t matter what size. We’d always rather play
in front of fifty screaming fans instead of one hundred thousand people just standing there, with their arms crossed.
M4M: NEXT MONTH, YOU GUYS WILL BE PLAYING AT ROCK ON THE RANGE IN COLUMBUS OHIO. HOW EXCITED
ARE YOU FOR THAT?
CHRIS: Yeah, we’re really stoked for that!
M4M: HAVE YOU PERFORMED ANY OUTDOOR FESTIVALS LIKE THAT BEFORE?
CHRIS: Well yeah we have, not everyday obviously, but we’ve done one down in Atlanta called Midtown Music that
brought in upwards of eighty, ninety thousand people. We’ve done some festivals in Europe that were pretty big too that
were close to one hundred thousand. It is really cool to play in front of that many people.
M4M: WELL IS SOUNDS LIKE YOU’LL HAVE A GREAT TIME AT THIS FESTIVAL TOO! WE’RE EXCITED TO SEE THE
BAND PLAY IN THE LINEUP! THANKS FOR TALKING WITH US AND WE’LL SEE YOU SOON!
CHRIS: No problem! Thanks and we’ll see you on the road!
FEW. ARE YOU READY?
CHRIS: Of course!
M4M: AWESOME! SOMEONE IN NEVADA SENT THIS ONE IN: WHAT’S THE FUNNIEST MISHAP YOU’VE HAD WHILE
TOURING?
CHRIS: It happened while we were touring in Japan…about 8 years ago. The only phrase I really knew in Japanese was
pronounced: ooki ching chi, which means ‘big penis.’ I learned that from Doug’s (vocals) Mother, who is full Japanese.
(laughs) It was really the only phrase I wanted to know. So, we’re in Japan, it’s the only word I know and we’re at
McDonald’s, trying to order a Big Mac. I’m pointing at the value meal, trying to say I want this. The girl doesn’t speak
any English, so she keeps trying to ask me what size. I finally understand what she’s trying to say, so I reply, “ching-chi,
ching-chi” thinking I’m saying big. I can tell she doesn’t get it, because she’s kinda giving me that blank stare. I keep
repeating and as I’m speaking, I realize I’m saying penis and not big. So I start saying “ooki ooki” (laughs.) I felt bad,
because they are so respectful over there. Over here, we would laugh at somebody saying that or smack them, but she,
I think, was too embarrassed to say anything.
M4M: WHERE IS THE FAVORITE SPOT ON THE ROAD TO EAT?
CHRIS: I’ll speak for me and Doug. Our favorite place to eat is called Ted Montana Grill. I think he’s the owner and he’s
famous. I’d think you know him if I were to say his name, (Ted Turner), but it, (the restaurant) is famous for their buffalo
burgers. The guy raises his own buffalo, being a multimillionaire - for the last 20 years to supply the buffalo meat to his
restaurants. There are about forty-five in the US and we always hit them up when we’re in a town that has one. Atlanta
was the first one we ever ate at. It is the best burger I’ve ever had in my life. (http://www.tedsmontanagrill.com/)
M4M: A GIRL FROM ARIZONA ASKED “DO YOU GUYS WATCH AMERICAN IDOL?”
CHRIS: Unfortunately no…actually that’s a funny question. We had a discussion about that, because we’re supposed to
go down and do an American Idol Press thing, just to do Press, not to discuss or participate or anything. Our publicist at
CWR said ‘so since you’re going we have to brush you up on this, so what do you know about American Idol’ which our
reply was ‘nothing.’ So yeah, we don’t watch it. You know what we do watch is Iron Chef, a lot of Discovery Channel
stuff, and Bravo (laughs.) You know what though, there is a lot of talent that comes out of there, but I don’t know. The
show is well….Didn’t Kelly Clarkson come out of there? (laughs)
M4M: WHAT DO YOU GUYS LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU’RE IN BETWEEN TOWNS? DO YOU GO TO LOCAL SHOWS IN
THE AREA THAT YOU HAPPEN TO BE IN?
CHRIS: Usually no. Not, if it’s somebody that we know. I speak for myself and I know some of the other guys would say,
having a show and seeing a show almost every night is a lot. We will watch the opening band, but really I have no desire
to go see more live music unless it’s somebody I really really like. Once, I even passed up backstage passes to
Metallica, a band I really like, but in my mind I just thought, ‘no no, it’s an hour’s drive there and back. Don’t want to do it.’
M4M: SOMEONE IN NEW JERSEY ASKED, AND YOU MAY FIND THIS FUNNY, “WHO SNORES THE MOST?”
CHRIS: You know, I’ve never heard anybody snore. Our crew guys snore the most. Our crew snores at the door, but us,
can’t really say. Its weird, I have no idea, maybe its cause they work so hard all day and we really don’t do anything.
Plus when you’re moving on the bus, you don’t really hear a whole lot. The boys are pretty quiet.
M4M: WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST INTERESTING VIDEO TO SHOOT AS OF LATE?
CHRIS: Well the “My Turn” video we just did is the most interesting one I think in the last couple handful of years if not
ever, just because it was a lot of fun. It was just kind of a joke. We basically made it for the internet, so that you can
make your own and kind of choose your own adventure if you want to see it. You can pick who’s playing what, I mean
that was definitely the most fun, because we were playing in different costumes, we were switching instruments. I took a
shot at singing. It was really fun, I mean really really fun. I had a really good time on that shoot. If you watch just the
regular video on YouTube you don’t quite get it as much unless you go our website site which has the interactive version
of the video.
M4M: WHAT DO YOU PREFER DOING: LARGE OUTDOOR FESTIVALS OR SMALLER VENUES?
CHRIS: We prefer shows where the audience is going crazy. It really doesn’t matter what size. We’d always rather play
in front of fifty screaming fans instead of one hundred thousand people just standing there, with their arms crossed.
M4M: NEXT MONTH, YOU GUYS WILL BE PLAYING AT ROCK ON THE RANGE IN COLUMBUS OHIO. HOW EXCITED
ARE YOU FOR THAT?
CHRIS: Yeah, we’re really stoked for that!
M4M: HAVE YOU PERFORMED ANY OUTDOOR FESTIVALS LIKE THAT BEFORE?
CHRIS: Well yeah we have, not everyday obviously, but we’ve done one down in Atlanta called Midtown Music that
brought in upwards of eighty, ninety thousand people. We’ve done some festivals in Europe that were pretty big too that
were close to one hundred thousand. It is really cool to play in front of that many people.
M4M: WELL IS SOUNDS LIKE YOU’LL HAVE A GREAT TIME AT THIS FESTIVAL TOO! WE’RE EXCITED TO SEE THE
BAND PLAY IN THE LINEUP! THANKS FOR TALKING WITH US AND WE’LL SEE YOU SOON!
CHRIS: No problem! Thanks and we’ll see you on the road!
| HOOBASTANK LINK'S OF INTEREST |
Interview by: Chelsey Goraczkowski
Editor: Joshua Koloski