While they were in town for Counter Revolution, Larry sat down to chat with Forest and Joe from California’s power-pop band HelloGoodbye to talk about their tour, their new album, and… real estate prices.
What have been some of the highlights of the tour so far?
Joe: Everything’s great. We love Australia – we just had a trip to the beach, which was rad. There were four bands, probably twenty or thirty people cruising around together.
You were here a few years ago weren’t you? You did Soundwave in 2009, but you’re doing smaller shows now. What’s this kind of experience like?
Forest: Similar, maybe a little more low key. It feels like we’re doing a little bit less, because last time we were here we were doing sideshows almost every day off, which was really cool. This time is different because we just kind of get to hang out and do whatever all day. The downside is that it’s a little more pricey here, for us at least.
Joe: Yeah, and we’re responsible for paying for ourselves!
Forest: You don’t want to not go out and have fun, but you’ve got to tread that line pretty closely. The thing is all the food and stuff is fantastic, so it is worth it.
So the rest of the week you guys get to spend in Sydney, and then you’re off to do the rest of the shows?
Joe: We go to Melbourne tomorrow, and have a show the next day, and then Adelaide, Perth.
Knocking it out. That’s the best part about these tours is that they do it all for you, you’re part of a big show, where you don’t have to organize your own tour.
Forest: Yeah, everything is taken care of for you. You just get in that groove mentality and just go along with it. Start walking behind them saying, ‘where are we going? I don’t care.’ You go to the airport and they’ve got it all sorted. They’ve been getting us into a lot of the local attractions for free, like the aquarium, so it’s great.
You’re down here promoting an album that’s been out for a while now – I guess that’s kind of a weird position to be in, where you’ve had it out for almost a year now.
Joe: Yeah nine months now.
How have you found the fans reactions to the album? I can’t imagine you’re sitting idly looking forward to recording soon.
Forest: It feels really fresh for all of us, even though it’s been out for a while now in the states, because we had the last album out for a really long time, and this one – it’s only nine months. So it still feels pretty new, and the reaction is awesome. It was a big change for us, totally different to our last record, and it’s great that it makes it down here to Australia. The kids here really get it.
I heard there were problems with your own label, but you’re sitting on your own now. Was it still a more difficult process, having to do it yourselves?
Joe: Oh no, it wasn’t too difficult, you just kind of get it into the system and it’s pretty simple.
Forest: I think the main thing was like, you can do it yourselves or you can go to any one of the labels that offering you a deal, and you just say what’s the best thing for this specific album. It probably could’ve come out a bit earlier but we had to pick, and we went with the best option at the time.
And Joe, you came into the band in 2008, so this is the first album you’ve been involved in.
Joe: Yeah, at that time I was still living in New Jersey, and I was flying back and forth a lot but I still got to hang out in the studio, and it was a lot of fun.
So that’s before you moved to California though?
Joe: Well I did, but then I moved back. All of 2010 I lived in California, but I had some real estate issues so I had to move back to New Jersey.
It’s tough isn’t it, and it’s not really get any better. But it’s not about the money, it’s about the lifestyle, I guess – are you still enjoying that aspect of it?
Forest: Oh yeah it’s great, get all sorts of perks, I mean I get to travel to Australia! You get all sorts of perks that other people don’t really get.
Joe: And bands and record labels and everybody, we can all survive if we figure it out together. We can sort of move on, and not die.
Well everyone keeps crying poor and saying we don’t have any money, but they’re still making money, they’re just making less! But what can we expect from you guys in the future? I know you’ve sort of dabbled around with a few things over the years – I remember you appeared on an Oingo Boingo collection of tribute album, and the Degrassy soundtrack, and things that probably influenced you growing up – but what’s coming up soon? Are there any treats in store?
Joe: We are kind of starting to look forward to the next record. I’ve got a head full of songs, and I thought it would be years before I could fathom writing more, but I’ve got them coming out again. So working on that stuff again. But we’re just letting this record have it’s time, while working on the next one, and that’ll be soon though. Really just more touring, and just seeing what happens.
Well its great to see you guys back down here. And Joe, I know you’re an accomplished web and graphic designer – do you still handle that side of things?
Joe: Yeah I think about 90% of the things within the band work that way, and that’s why I think it’s so important to be able to do those things. If I didn’t make the website, we probably wouldn’t have one!
Well again it’s great to see you down here, thanks for your time, very nice to meet you!
Forest: Thank you!
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Transcript by Ross Hetherton
Edited by Emily Booth
