Words by Tucker Hughes
Photos by Abbey Braden
Hockey is a four piece band straight outta Oregon with a hybrid sound that LES artists can only strive for. They’re also infectious as hell and were snapped up by a label before they could even complete their upward trajectory. That doesn’t change the fact that they still do all their artwork, unironically sport plaid shirts, and are blissfully out of the loop when it comes to music blogs (one band member doesn’t even have an email account). At the end of the day they put on a killer live set consisting of song after song that sound like hit singles. Since we couldn’t find any previous interviews with the band we sent Tucker Hughes downtown to it work it out.
So Hockey is from Portland? Whats the music scene like in Portland these days?
Ben: Crowded!
Jerm: A lot of bands and a lot of really good bands. A lot of bands that aren’t necessarily from Portland but have kind of been transplanted there. Modest Mouse is there, but not from there. Spoon.
Ben: Decemberists are actually from there. Johnny Marr from the Smiths is there. It seems to be a place where people just end up. Its kind of a classic music and arts town.
Anthony: It’s a cool place, very supportive, a lot of people like to come out and actually dance if they like the music or even if they don’t.
Ben: It’s a dancing city, definitely.
Jerm: Well you can hippie dance to anything.
Anthony: That’s what is great, everyone is just…. [does a little hippie dance]… to everything,you know.
So are you guys on tour now?
Brian: Not really, its more of a tour of New York, actually not even, just a tour of Manhattan.
Anthony: But we are actually going to the UK for a tour, that’s the only thing that is planned for sure right now. I think we are playing on a battleship or something on the river Thames in London. That is going to be awesome.
Brian: It’s like a retired military warship, S.S. Belfast. The event is called Cargo I think and the show is down inside the ship.
Do you guys feel like you have a good fan base outside the US?
Brian: Probably not a fan base but we have had lots of enthusiastic response from people. We were picked up real quick [by EMI] and no one really expected that but we have been going with it because we keep getting nothing but good responses. We have gotten a couple of good write ups and some great spots, we have been played on BBC Radio 1. That pretty much came out of nowhere so that’s really exciting. We are touring over there because we want to just keep going where the enthusiasm is.
Well we have been hearing a lot about you guys over here as well. Exposure is a quick process now, if you guys blow up you could be using your songs in commercials within a week. If that happens what products or companies would you guys like to use your songs?
Brian: Vitamix!
Jerm: Breville Juicers!
Ben: I don’t really know. We are all sort of out of it. I don’t think any of us watch TV at all so we have no idea what commercials are actually on TV.
Jerm: Lets just do the next Verizon Wireless campaign. The song will be called “Call Me” or “Can You Here Me Now”.
[Awkward Pause. Then the entire band starts making crashing and burning sounds.]
Brian: Wait no, what’s the Beyonce commercial? [singing] Lemme Upgrade Ya! Lemme Lemme Upgrade Ya! Yeah we should do something like that. We can do the next DirectTV ad.
Anthony: Well I don’t think that is really at the top of our priorities right now. That is not where our heads are at right now.
Brian: Really? I think we should do it! I can put in a grill with upgrade on it!
So how did Hockey form?
Ben: Hockey started as a two piece in college and we were a two piece for a while. Then we moved to Washington and added the rest of the band. It just wasn’t working out, being a two piece, it was too hard to put on a really good show. Then all of us moved to Portland, so we have been all together for about a year now.
Where were you going to college?
Ben: University of Redlands. Near L.A.
So you started by playing shows in LA?
Ben: Yeah we lived their for over a year after we graduated just playing shows. We realized that the two piece was never going to move beyond playing the house party scene. Basements and living rooms are awesome, we just put on a beat and people went crazy but once we started to play real venues in LA we realized that people where not just going to fall down for us and say we where the best band in the world. We had to figure out how to make the music good on its own without a crowd to hype it up. Also we just really wanted to get out of LA. Like really badly. We were totally exhausted with living a car and spending our lives on the freeway. That kind of sprawl kind of kills your spirits fairly quickly. We had enough of the sun, we needed to get some rain.
Well Portland is definitely a switch.
Ben: Oh yeah the pace of life there is totally different. It’s so relaxed and loose and hippie. We just ride our bikes everywhere and its really an awesome scene right now, a lot of young people are ending up there right now. A ton of music, a ton of art.
So are you all doing the band full time now?
Brian: We are! Within the last couple months we all quit our sorry day jobs.
What kind jobs did you have?
Brian: Burrito Roller.
Ben: Burrito Technician.
Anthony: Temp jobs. Pushing pencils. We had one job where we just folded paper and stuffed it into envelopes. Side by side for eight or nine hours just stuffing envelopes.
What were the letters for?
Anthony: We never read them. We just showed up, folded and broke their coffee machine.
If music haven’t worked out for you what other field do you think you would be working?
Jerm: I would try to be an artist, a painter.
Do you paint now?
Jerm: Yeah I do all the art for the band. The record covers, the myspace.
So you are pretty much living both careers if you are painting to sell your music.
Jerm: Yeah I’m kind of sneaking my art career into the success of the band.
How about the rest of the band?
Ben: As a dream job? Probably the same. I do a lot of drawing as well. I don’t really do much for the band though.
Brian: I would like to go to culinary school and have my own little place.
Jerm: He does good work.
Brian: I would also brew some beer there. Homemade pasta from scratch and a micro brew.
Anthony: Yeah we could all just open up a place together, we would kill it. Make fresh juices and maybe a smoothie bar.
Brian: We could have an oyster bar. I could make broccoli boats.
Jerm: Yeah fuck this guys lets just quit and do that.
Oh god, what have I done.
Anthony: Woah hold up. Lets at least wait until we are fat and older.
Ben: Yeah let’s wait until we are washed up first.
Anthony: So, like a year and a half?
Brian: Yeah Uncle Tony and Uncle Brian’s Pizzeria and Smoothie Bar.
Sounds like you guys have one of the best fed tour buses out there. Other than food are there any influences you have that would surprise your fans?
Ben: Fleetwood Mac!!
Wow. Immediate Response!
Ben: Love them! The first pop song I ever remember hearing was when I was two years old they had Rumours on tape and I was totally captivated by “Dreams”. I didn’t even really know what music was but there was something in that song that absolutely enchanted me. I just wanted to hear it over and over and over. Stevie Nicks’ voice kinds of floats in over that really mean but understated bass and drum groove.
Anthony: Fleetwood’s a huge drum and bass inspiration.
Ben: Very simple straightforward rhythm and blues, its not flashy its not busy, it is just tight and direct and supports the entire song.
Anthony: Brian and I got drunk a couple weeks ago in Portland and sang Phil Collins karaoke. That sparked a couple week long Phil Collins obsession and that definitely influenced some of our music. It wasn’t even like a joke or ironic or anything, we just really love him. My parents have listened to him since I was really little so I will always have those songs stuck in my head.
Ben: Also the Wu-Tang clan. Big influence. Lyrically they are insane. I don’t think anybody, especially in rap, tells epic stories like that. The stories are so unique and real. Even all the flows about snapple and french fries are awesome. It’s not like ‘I got my Rolls Royce cruisin’ its more like ‘Yeah I’m on the corner eating french fries.’ The music is more about the mind that wrote it than the scene that is around it. It is always a step ahead you never have any idea what those guys are going to say. They throw out a line like ‘I bet you a cranberry Snapple’ and you are still like dammmnnnn.
How about influences outside of music?
Ben: There are some literary influences for sure, I studied poetry in college and wrote a lot. I really like Frank O’Hara and Allen Ginsberg.
Jerm: Some painters too. Basquiat. I want to make music that is more like artists like him and those poets than other actual musicians.
Ben: Yeah like when I said I do drawings I really mean I create art with words, its mostly text and I usually pull song lyrics from that or the other way around. Even if there isn’t a direct connection these influences are about things that make us feel creative.
Anthony: I think most people can tell by our music that we are into literature.
So how did the band name Hockey come out of those influences?
Ben: Well the name Hockey is so old it has been around since the very beginning. We were looking for a band name and I just mentioned the name Hockey and everyone just kind of agreed. The reaction was so immediate that we just stopped thinking about it.
Brian: It came shooting out of the universe and just arrived in our minds.
Ben: We had some really cool, funny, eccentric friends at the time and it was really funny to them at the time so we kept it.
Brian: I like the way it looks when it is spelled out. It is sort of a disassociation thing because everyone knows what hockey is obviously this has nothing to do with the sport. Clearly none of us are hockey players or fans. It is kind of a different hockey, like Bulhockey, which means Bullshit. You know? ‘Thats Bullhockey!’ Its a common term.
Anthony: I also like that it is almost impossible to find us online. Hockey is kind of un-google-able.
Ben: It’s like ‘I don’t want to see a clip of fights! I want to hear this band!’.
Anthony: It kind of maintains the mystique that bands used to have.
It’s still easier than bands like “Fucked Up” or “Screaming Females” where you get really disturbing results.
Anthony: Yeah actually what is with the revolution of bands with the word “Fuck” in their name?
“Fuck” is the new “Wolf”!
Hockey just wrapped up a tour with Passion Pit and are about to embark on one with Friendly Fires. Spring and Summer US, UK and Festival tour dates are listed below! See ya at Bonnaroo.
Apr 10 Beatnik Studios -Sacromento, California
Apr 11 The Partisan -Merced, California
Apr 13 Troubadour w/ Friendly Fires -Los Angeles, California
Apr 14 Detroit Bar w/ Friendly Fires -Costa Mesa, California
Apr 15 The Loft @ UCSD w/ Friendly Fires -San Diego, California
Apr 16 Cellar Door -Visalia, California
Apr 24 The Roundhouse (MTV “Camden Crawl”) -Camden, London and South East
Apr 25 Bristol University w/Friendly Fires -Bristol
Apr 27 Manchester Academy 2 w/Friendly Fires -Manchester
Apr 28 Wulfrun Hall w/Friendly Fires -Wolverhampton
Apr 29 Waterfront w/Friendly Fires -Norwich
Apr 30 Forum w/Friendly Fires -London
May 1 Southampton University w/Friendly Fires -Southampton
May 2 Digital w/Friendly Fires -Brighton
May 3 Custard Factory w/Friendly Fires -Birmingham
May 5 Leeds Met University w/Friendly Fires -Leeds
May 6 Studio 24 w/Friendly Fires -Edinburgh
May 7 OMU w/Friendly Fires -Glasgow
May 8 Red Room -Nottingham
May 11 Black and White@ Plug & Play (16+) -Reading
May 12 Clwb Ifor Bach -Cardiff
May 13 The Cellars -Portsmouth
May 14 The Great Escape -Brighton
May 16 The Great Escape -Brighton
May 24 SASQUATCH – Music Festival @ The Gorge -Quincy, Washington
Jun 11 BONNAROO – Music & Arts Festival -Manchester, Tennessee
