Hoobastank Biography

Hoobastank is the American alternative rock band known for their 2004 hit "Reason".

Early career (1994-2000)

Hoobastank formed in Los Angeles County suburb Agoura Hills in 1994. According to drummer Chris Hesse, vocalist Doug Robb had known guitarist and Estrin for some time before competing against him in high school Battle of Bands competition and then, they decided to form a band. [3] then recruited Markku Lappalainen and Hesse to form Hoobastank, which at that time spelled Hoobustank (pronounced the same way as "Hoobastank"). In an interview with Launch Yahoo!, Doug Robb said the name does not have a specific meaning: .. "You'll ask me what it means it does not mean anything and it's really cool, it's one word that old high school inside-joke that does not really mean anything." [4], Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson of Linkin Park attended the same high school, Agoura High School, the members of Hoobastank.


Hoobastank started playing gigs in their area, the band began to Cobalt Cafe along with Linkin Park, Incubus, Avenged Sevenfold and others. They recorded a full length self-released their first album in 1998 entitled The Make sure you do not like regular basketball shorts. It featured a unique saxophone section headed by Jeremy Wasser, who executive produced said album and recorded a solo saxophone on the album Summer Romance Incubus Sciences'. At this point, Hoobastank developed a strong reputation in Southern California. This attracted interest from Island Records, who then signed the band in 2000. At the time of signing, the band has completed the second full album, titled "Forward", also featuring Jeremy Wasser, however Island executives feel that the direction they are headed will work best without a sax, so Jeremy left the band and the album was shelved. Some of his songs re-recorded for release on the band's 2001 self-titled release. The original recording of "Forward" sessions made their way onto the Internet via peer-to-peer sites in late 2001.



Hoobastank (2001-2002)

Hoobastank released their debut album in November 2001. The first single was "Crawling in the Dark" which became a breakthrough hit reaching # 68 on the Hot 100 Billboard # 3 on the Modern Rock chart, # 7 on the Mainstream Rock chart and # 1 on the MP3.com download chart in early 2002 the second single " Running Away "even more successful reaching # 44 on the Hot 100 Billboard # 2 on Modern Rock chart, # 9 on the Mainstream Rock chart and # 3 on the MP3.com download chart. Hoobastank album went platinum thanks to the hit single and reached # 25 on the Billboard 200 chart and # 1 on the Billboard Heatseeker chart.


However the album received many negative reviews, including reviews 2.5 stars by Allmusic which contains the line: "Nothing in here should be enough to change the world, but the fact that these people do not seem inclined to fill any agenda or catering to a specific audience enough promising. "


The album also received international acclaim with the band on tour in Europe and Asia to support the record. "Remember Me", the third single from this album was a moderate hit, reaching # 23 on the Modern Rock chart and # 9 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The band also performed a song titled "Losing My Grip" for the soundtrack to the movie The Scorpion King. In late 2001, Hoobastank was invited to play at the Rock and roll Hall of Fame because of the success of the album.



Reason (2003-2005)

The band entered the studio in 2003 with producer Howard Benson, who has produced records by POD, Blind Side, Cold and The Crystal Method. There is, however, the recording cut off for a month when Dan Estrin was seriously injured in an accident mini bike in August. Estrin come in October and the band headed out on a Nokia Unwired Tour with The All-American Rejects and Ozomatli in November.


Interview made by Chris Hesse, asking the same question everyone is asking ... "How did the band come up with the name Hoobastank?" He replied: "brother Doug is vice president of BMW Motorcycles and lives in Germany and there is this road from his house, called Hooba Street or something like that and before Doug could pronounce the name, he called it Hoobastank and. It's kind of funny and that his brother is still tease him about it today when we are looking for band names, almost impossible to find a band name that is not taken away .. Something normally taken in advance I'm not. 't remember how it came, but someone said it and we like yes. "


The reason their second album was released in December 2003.It memamerkan hard edge vocal performance from Robb. "Direction of the same" single 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 the people see it's not just about religion," Out of Control "is about that and about opening your eyes after blinded by being committed to anything" "Same Direction" would reach # 9 on the U.S. Rock Modern Chart, # 16 on Mainstream Rock chart and # 16 in the complex world of modern Stone Chart (based on U.S., German, Swedish, Finnish., Canada and Australia). A year later, in Let It Out DVD collected the band video.


The title track was released as a single in the first half of 2004. It was a big hit reaching # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 # 1 in the U.S. and world modern rock charts, # 1 in the World Airplay charts in May 2004, # 10 in Australia and # 15 in Germany. The song was also played in the last episode of Friends. In Canada, spending 21 weeks on top, set a new record for most weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. Meanwhile, the album reached # 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart.


This band's international profile was raised by a support slot on Linkin Park's Meteora World Tour in early 2004.


Every man for himself (2006-2007)

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 You" and "Born to Lead" have been released so far, all of which fared poorly in the rock charts. A second single, "if only" is scheduled to be released, but was canceled due to unknown reasons, possibly because of low performance charts of the first three singles. Nonetheless, the album was certified Gold in the United States.


In 2005 co-headlining tour with Velvet Revolver, the band got a cool reception from some audiences and rumors of the feud between Robb and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland soon filling Internet message boards. "If I were you" from every man for himself directed the whole affair. Doug later said in an interview with MTV News online that he is not against Scott Weiland or other members of Velvet Revolver.

Upcoming Album (2008-present)

In October 2007, Doug published on the official Hoobastank message boards and said they had "Setting the bar very high for the next CD," and that they have "More ideas into this CD than ever before."


In January 2008, sent Chris a message on their official MySpace page and said:

"Happy New Year to all. Just a little update to let you know that we do not fall in the face of this planet. We are currently completing the process of writing to a record number 4, try to wrap everything so that we can go into the studio and began to record in late February is an exciting time for us is everything we have worked over the past year came together very well, and the album getting close to being finished. This means the tour season is approaching, and we can do all the new pieces for you.


This site will soon be given a complete examination and will get updated on a regular basis (sorry for the last six years of lagging!). Please be patient as we tidy up things and go back out there for you. Can not wait to see you on the road. "


The second of June, Doug posted an update on the site while they, announced that their upcoming album recording is almost done and expect a release date within a few weeks



Members of the band



Current members

Doug Robb - Lead vocals and rhythm guitar

And Estrin - Lead guitar and backing vocals

Josh Moreau - Bass guitar

Chris Hesse - Drums and Percussion


Former members of the

Markku Lappalainen - Bass guitar (1997-2005)

Jeremy Wasser - saxophone (Basketball Shorts only)

Derek Kwan - saxophone (1997-1999)

Joseph Sy - bassist (1997-1999)