Renee RennaMotion City Soundtrack, Panic! at the Disco, Phantom Planet, and The Hush Sound. These four, amazing bands have one thing in common this season – The Honda Civic Tour, just happened to stop in Clearwater last Tuesday.
I was lucky enough to meet and interview Bob Morris, singer and guitarist for The Hush Sound. The rest of the band members include Chris Faller (bass), Greta Salpeter (vocals and piano), and Darren Wilson (drums). Originating in Chicago, Illinois, they were signed to Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen records in 2005.
The Honda Civic Tour has only been going on for about three weeks but I had to ask how it was going. “Amazing,” said Morris, “We haven’t done a tour like this in a while.”
I asked if he had any crazy tour stories and immediately Morris laughed.
“It was our first tour ever,” he said, “We were playing in Houston, Texas with Fall Out Boy on a big arena tour. The rest of the band decided to go to Guitar Center even though they didn’t really need to. They ended up getting lost and I had to play the show completely solo.”
He continued, “I was nervous the whole time. Luckily, the band showed up to play the last half of our last song in the set. We just played Houston two days ago and there were people coming up to me saying that they had seen me perform solo that night.”
After laughing at the story, we switched subjects and started talking about their new album “Goodbye Blues.” We talked about its inspiration – literature and everyday life. “Two of the songs are about a relationship that I had,” explained Morris. He also added that he never sets out to write a song about any one, particular thing.
Between Morris and Salpeter, they had about 80 to 90 bits and pieces of songs written in preparation for this album.
When it came to recording “Goodbye Blues” he said that they used some of the coolest instruments as well as had the most expensive gear in the world. “We used a Fairchild Compressor used by the Beatles! I got to play on 1940s and 1950s guitars.”
He went on to say that the album was a little less particular and more natural-sounding, unlike their last album, “Like Vines” which was done mostly on a computer.
Having heard their new album, I was curious to know if had a favorite song. “Hurricane,” he replied. “Greta brought in the demo and I had no idea it was her. We had been taking vocal lessons and when I found out it was her, I teared up.”
As the interview was drawing to a close, I had one final question: What are the band’s future plans?
“We are planning to do a headlining tour over the summer with The Cab and a few other bands.” He also said the band will do lots of touring overseas. When they return in the Fall, plans are in the works for a support tour.
For more information on The Hush Sound visit http://www.myspace.com/thehushsound or http://www.thehushsound.com.
Their new single “Honey” is available now as well as their new album “Goodbye Blues.” The Honda Civic Tour will run until the beginning of June, so be sure to check the website for a performance near you!