>>PREVIEW
THE LOVED ONES
Wednesday, May 10
MacEwan Ballroom (U of C)
After five years as an on-again off-again roadie with bands like Kid Dynamite, Sick of it All and Bouncing Souls, singer-guitarist Dave Hause finally decided to take the reins of his own musical career.
"Everyone around me that I trusted and loved dearly was always pushing me and pushing me," Hause says.
Stints on guitar in political hardcore outfits Paint it Black and The Curse provided a foundation to build on. Extra motivation from members of Bouncing Souls and urging from his wife to work on his own art instead of facilitating someone else’s sealed the deal.
The Loved Ones officially emerged in Philadelphia early in 2004 with Hause accompanied by Michael "Spider" Cotterman on bass and Mike Sneeringer on drums. With pop-punk melodies that drive just enough, along with infectious choruses, powerful lyrics and vocal delivery, they produce a decidedly addictive sound. For all three members, the sound and atmosphere of the new band were a departure.
"We didn’t make that conscious of a decision to stay away from our past bands. The deal is, the three of us are the guys in all of those old bands who are the most enamoured with other types of music. We weren’t the hardcore guys in the hardcore bands. We were the guys listening to ’60s, ’70s and ’80s rock ’n’ roll and just had a broader palate and had interests elsewhere other than just the hardcore punk thing. You get three guys from hardcore bands who are interested in other forms of music and maybe you don’t get such a hardcore sounding band."
Labels such as Fat Wreck Chords and Jade Tree were quick to express interest in collaborating, but Hause and company were cautious.
"Fat (Wreck Chords) was interested from the giddy-up… they were the first people to get in contact with us and say they wanted to hear the demo," Hause says, referring to a four song demo put together shortly after the band started up.
Response was positive and more demos were requested by labelhead Fat Mike. "I guess I got a little bit spooked and said I don’t really want to keep sending this guy demos. I don’t want to play the game of ‘Oh well, here’s more demos and here’s more.’ I wanted him to be sold and when and if he did sign us I wanted to make sure he knew what he was getting and was convinced and didn’t need more proof in terms of more demos."
For their first self-titled EP, they decided to go with the smaller label of Jade Tree, partly because of a past history with label manager and former Paint It Black bandmate David Wagenschutz.
"They (Jade Tree) said, ‘we’ll put out anything you guys want without even hearing it.’ We decided to do that in lieu of other demos, and then it got closer and closer to when we actually wanted to make the (new) record and we kind of felt like we had exhausted all of our resources on Jade Tree," Hause recounts.
A well-timed opening spot at a gig with NOFX brought the Fat Mike offer back to the table, and this time, they took it, releasing Keep Your Heart in February of this year. The 13-track album concocts an irresistible blend that meshes with the label’s definition of punk without getting lost in the sea of bands on the roster.
"It’s kind of early to say, but I definitely feel like we have our own program going. We have our own group of people and friends that is apart from the Fat thing to some degree. I think the important thing with any record label is to not get lost in the shuffle as just another band on that label, and have your own identity beyond the label’s identity," Hause says, citing Against Me, None More Black, and Strike Anywhere as the closest counterparts in terms of sound.
"I definitely feel like we’re part of a newer wave of Fat bands than the Lag Wagons and No Use For a Names that originated the Fat sound.
"We just have our own culture that we’ve built into the Loved Ones… We don’t rely on the label to get us tours or to get us really anything. There’s things we utilize in terms of their resources, they don’t define us and they don’t want to define us… they want us to be our own thing."
One such attribute is the lyrical style and tone on Keep Your Heart. After losing his mother at the end of 2004, Hause found a strong theme of desperation flowing on many songs, sometimes balanced out by an optimistic lining on tracks like "The Odds."
"That loss was a big part of writing that record. It was pretty therapeutic. There was a lot of other shit going on in my life that informed the lyrics. A lot of relationships around me that were under intense strain or breaking down, there was just a lot of pain involved in the years leading up to making that record."
Writing for the next record is on the backburner now as a blur of tours fills the trio’s daytimers. The Loved Ones have dedicated themselves to pounding the pavement in an effort to maximize their position as an opening band.
"We’ve been taking a couple people from every one of these different audiences that we’ve played to and forming our own little army of Loved Ones fans." |
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