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STITCHED-UP HOOBASTANK GUITARIST DAN ESTRIN TALKS ABOUT THEIR NEW
ALBUM, THEIR NAME, AND THE 30 STICHES IN HIS HEAD.
BY KEITH SHARP
CHECK OUT RECENT PHOTOS of Southern California rock band Hoobastank
and it’s easy to spot guitarist Dan Estrin. He’s the one wearing
the cap. Call it a fashion statement but, more realistically, it hides
a nasty scar on the side of Estrin’s head: the result of a nasty
bike accident that almost cost him his life.
"It wasn’t even a real bike, it was one
of those mini bikes," explained Estrin, camped out at Toronto’s
Hilton Hotel prior to a club gig this past December. "We were riding
around outside the House Of Blues in Myrtle Beach, Florida, in August.
Just tooling around on these miniature bikes when I rode through a chest-high
rope, fell off and struck my head on the pavement."
At first Estrin tried to shake off the accident by
getting back on the bus, but as his condition deteriorated he was evacuated
to a local hospital where doctors found a tiny skull fracture with a
blood clot forming underneath. "I woke up in the emergency ward
in total agony. I screamed at the doctor to do anything to stop the
pain. Next thing I know I woke up with half of my head shaved, wearing
30 stitches."
Estrin has since made a full recovery and has linked
up with his band mates – vocalist Doug Robb, bassist Markku Lappalainen
and drummer Chris Hesse – on an exhaustive tour to promote their
second album, The Reason. Tonight it’s a club gig but January
saw them opening for Linkin Park across North America.
Formed in late 1994 by high school rivals Estrin and
Robb in the LA suburb of Agoura Hills, Hoobastank’s music was originally
high energy punk but, over the years, Estrin’s writing style has
become more melodic and lyrical. "At first, we were in a garage,
cranking out s**t, but the more we rehearsed and played, the more progressive
it’s become."
Since recording their gold-selling self-titled debut
in November 2001, the band has chalked up a couple of hits in ‘Crawling
In The Dark’ and ‘Runaway’, and have toured throughout
Europe, Asia and the US with the likes of Incubus, Sum 41 and Live.
Their new album, The Reason, produced by Howard
Benson (P.O.D., Blindside), projects a balance between the pure punk
energy of the first single, ‘Out Of Control’, and more melodic,
introspective numbers such as ‘The Reason’ and ‘From
The Heart’.
"‘Out Of Control’ was literally added
after the album had been completed," notes Estrin. "We were
doing a show in Hawaii and I was at a soundcheck and just started to
play this guitar riff, and the manager got really excited about it.
I went back to the hotel, finished it off and that became the first
single. I guess it works because it’s so fresh compared to the
other tracks. ‘Crawling In The Dark’ was done the same way
off the first album."
By the way, the name Hoobastank is not derived from
some kinky sexual connotation. "It’s supposedly a non-descript
Finnish word suggested by our Finnish bass player." (Nobody at
Toronto’s Finnish Consulate has a clue what it means.) "We’re
really big in Finland!"
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