Hoobastank

Hoobastank (also colloquially referred to as "Hooba" or "The Stank") is a rock band best known for their crossover hit "The Reason" (2004) and by their continued success in the modern rock market.

Early career

Hoobastank formed in the Los Angeles County suburb Agoura Hills in 1994. According to drummer Chris Hesse, vocalist Doug Robb had known guitarist Dan Estrin for some time before competing against him in a high school battle of the bands competition and subsequently, they decided to form a band.^[1] They then recruited Markku Lappalainen and Hesse to form Hoobastank, which at the time was spelled Hoobustank (pronounced the same way as "Hoobastank"). In an interview with Launch Yahoo!, Doug Robb said the name had no particular meaning: "You're going to ask me what it means. It doesn't mean anything. And it's really cool, it's one of those old high school inside-joke words that didn't really mean anything."^[2] Rob Bourdon, Mike Shinoda, and Brad Delson of Linkin Park attended the same high school, Agoura High School, as the members of Hoobastank.

Hoobastank started playing gigs in their local area and recorded a self-released album in 1998 called They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To. It featured a unique saxophone section headed by Jeremy Wasser, who executive produced said album and recorded the Summer Romance saxophone solo on Incubus' S.C.I.E.N.C.E. album. By this stage, Hoobastank had developed a strong reputation in Southern California. This attracted interest from Island Records, who subsequently signed the band in 2000. The band's reputation continued to grow on tours with the similar sounding band Incubus.

They covered a variety of songs, such as Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."

Career success

Hoobastank released their self-titled debut in November 2001. The first single was "Crawling in the Dark" which was a breakthrough hit reaching #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the modern rock chart, #7 on the mainstream rock chart^[3] and #1 on an MP3.com download chart in early 2002. The second single "Running Away" was even more successful reaching #44 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the modern rock chart, #9 on the mainstream rock chart and #3 on the MP3.com download chart. The Hoobastank album went platinum on the back of these hits and reached #25 on the Billboard 200 album charts and #1 on the Billboard Heatseeker chart. The album also achieved recognition internationally with the album touring in Europe and Asia in support of the record. "Remember Me" the third single was a moderate hit reaching #23 on the modern rock charts and #9 on the mainstream rock charts.

The band entered the studio in 2003 with producer Howard Benson who has produced records by P.O.D., Cold and The Crystal Method. However, recording was disrupted for a month when Dan Estrin was seriously injured in a freak minibike accident in August. Estrin had recovered by October and the band headed off on a Nokia Unwired Tour with the All-American Rejects and Ozomatli in November.

Their second album The Reason was released in December 2003. The single "Same Direction" was made available for download on the band's website. Doug Robb says on the band's website: "A lot of it is about asking questions or questioning all that people see. It's not all about religion. "Out of Control" is about that and about opening your eyes after being blinded by being devoted to anything."^[4] "Same Direction" would reach #9 on the US modern rock chart, #16 on the mainstream rock chart and #16 on a composite world modern rock chart (based on the US, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Canada and Australia). The Reason initially debuted at #45 on the Billboard chart.

The title track was released as a single in the first half of 2004 and was first played on 102.7 KIIS FM in Los Angeles, CA. It became a massive hit reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[5] #1 on the US and world modern rock charts, #1 on a world airplay chart in May 2004 and #10 in Australia. The song was also played during the final episode of Friends

In Canada, it spent 20 weeks at the top, setting a new record for most weeks at No. 1.

The Reason album received a new lease of life on the US album charts reaching #3 on the Billboard 200.

The band's international profile was increased by a support slot on Linkin Park's Meteora world tour in early 2004.

Their third album Every Man for Himself was released in May 2006 and debuted at #12 on the Billboard chart. Three singles, "If I Were You", "Inside Of You" and "Born To Lead" have been released so far, all of which have fared poorly on the Rock charts. Despite this, the album has been certified Gold.

Dan and Doug appeared on DJ Rossstar's Punk Rock Show on Wednesday, November 1st 2006.

They are currently on tour in America and will be touring Asia, Australia and South Africa in 2007. They'll be perfoming in South Afica at the biggest Annual Rock Fest of the year, The Coca Cola Festival, last year called Coca-Cola Colab Massive Mix, this year called MY COKE FEST, sharing the stage with other bands like 3 Doors Down, Evanescence, Staind, and Guns 'n Roses headlining the event.

Hoobastank will be returning to the studio soon to begin recording their 4th Full-Length Album, with a planned release for late 2007 or Early 2008.

Band members

• Douglas Robb - Vocals & lead / rhythm guitar
• Dan Estrin - Guitars
• Josh Moreau - Bass
• Chris Hesse - Drums

Former members

• Markku Lappalainen - Bass (left in 2005, following the band's summer tour)
• Jeremy Wasser - Saxophone (Basketball Shorts)
• Derek Kwan - Saxophone (live shows only)
• Jonathan Snider - Lead Guitar (Same Direction only)

Discography

Albums

Singles

Hoobastank had their song, "The Reason" on the Halo 2 limited Collectors edition disc during Halo 2's unveiling in E3 2003.

Hoobastank has also appeared with the song "Did You" on the Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack and the song "Right Before Your Eyes" on Daredevil: The Album. The song "Connected" was featured on the Halo 2 Volume 1 Soundtrack.

"Crawling In the Dark" is featured on the "Aggressive Inline" Soundtrack

"Losing My Grip" is featured on "The Scorpion King" Soundtrack.

"Same Direction" is featured on "Madden NFL 2005".

A cover version of "Without a Fight" is featured in the Nintendo DS game, Elite Beat Agents. The level features the Agents and all the people they helped throughout the game fighting rhythm-hating alien invaders.

The "Born To Lead" video is featured in the game "Lumines II".

"Out of Control" features Ian Watkins and Jamie Oliver from Lostprophets doing backing vocals.

"Without a Fight" is featured on the "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" trailer.

The term "Hoobastank" is exchanged in a scene between the characters Dave and 'Chainsaw' in the film Summer School.

"Out of Control" is featured on the videogame "MX Unleashed".

Trivia

• The singer Tom Jones recently made a cover of the song "The Reason", and besides, he played it in the 48th Viña del Mar's song Festival.

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