Drummer Paul Hawley has just played in what he calls one of the
top three Hot Hot Heat shows of the band’s short career.
About 1,400 fans came to see his band and the Walkmen perform a
double bill at Seattle’s Graceland, a venue with a 1,200
person occupancy. But he’s careful not to resort to
overstatement.
“People were happy, we were happy; we got to see our
Vancouver friends who we don’t often see. It’s a level
of craziness that you don’t feel at home doing your
laundry,” he said.
Perhaps their humble roots have led to humble reactions to fame.
They are from Victoria, Canada, after all.
The members of the Hot Hot Heat were all fans of the
electrifyingly volatile Jonathan Fire*Eater, and that led them to
the New York City-based Walkmen, a band with two former Fire*Eater
members. The two acts are now traveling around the nation ““
with a stop at the Troubadour tonight ““ riding the immense
buzz surrounding both of their debut albums. For two distinctly
different bands, they’re finding themselves in just about the
same positions in their respective careers.
The hype machine has particularly gotten a hold of the Hot Hot
Heat, whose debut “Makeup the Breakdown” was recently
re-released through Warner Brothers. The band plays pop punk
similar to classic acts like the Cure and the Attractions, but it
also draws influence from the spastic hijinks of Brainiac. It
wasn’t always this way ““ their earlier music was
noisier and rougher around the edges. Now they play the music
described as “punk teaching itself how to dance.”
“(After our first shows) we started thinking about music a
bit more less as a tool to make ourselves feel better, but more a
tool to possibly make feelings present in the music. We
didn’t want to just satisfy our own needs to make
noise,” Hawley said.
Now the band plays its high energy, melodic and, yes, danceable
tunes to bigger audiences.
“It seems like we used to know everybody who came to our
shows,” Hawley said. “Now people I’d never think
to come are coming. They’re not there because it’s the
scene; they’re there because they want to have their Friday
or Tuesday night off and be entertained. That’s a pretty new
concept to us.”
After it finishes up its U.S. tour, the band is heading to
Europe. Not bad for a band from a city whose previous biggest claim
to musical fame was Nelly Furtado.
“We just wanted to kind of make a dent on Victoria and
hopefully Vancouver,” Hawley said. “Our goals were only
a few feet ahead of us. They still are, but as you learn about what
other bands are doing, other bigger tours, you kind of want to do
that too. You try the little stuff, and you think, “˜Hey,
maybe playing a sold-out show would be kind of
cool.'”
The Hot Hot Heat will play at the Troubadour today at 8 p.m. and
tomorrow night at the Glass House in Pomona.