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After a breakthough LP for indie label SubPop,
Canada's Hot Hot Heat will move to Warner Brothers
Records for their next album.
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Although very few bands could be considered overnight sensations, Hot Hot Heat may be one of the handful that at least marginally fit the bill.
Hailing from Victoria, British Columbia (more specifically at the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island), Hot Hot Heat began life in a cloistered music scene a scant three years ago (after a long local history of rotating bands and musical styles) as a dark Punk band with a penchant for keyboards over guitars. When that sound proved less than satisfying, keyboardist Steve Bays, bassist Dustin Hawthorne and drummer Paul Hawley split with their singer, designated Bays as the new lead vocalist and added guitarist Dante DeCaro.
"He was a fan of the band before he joined; I remember seeing him at a bunch of shows, and he kind of traveled to see us," says Bays of DeCaro. "We randomly ran into him at a party, and he was playing guitar and we were blown away. The reason we didn't have a guitar player in the band before is that we hadn't met anyone that was good enough or that had similar influences as us. He was kind of perfect. He adds this weirder side."
Part of that weirder side is a sound that hearkens back to the clockwork Punk of XTC and Gang of Four with a furious Pop undertone. The sound was evident on Hot Hot Heat's 2002 debut five-song EP for Sub Pop, Knock Knock Knock, and was furthered on their full length album, Make Up the Breakdown, last October. But even as he acknowledges the affinity, Bays clarifies the band's foundations.
"It's more that we sound like them than we've been influenced by them," says Bays of the XTC references that crop up in every review. "Dante is really close with those records and without him I don't think we would get that nearly as much. But we definitely haven't been that influenced by contemporary music. It's usually a lot of the stuff from the past and coincidentally a lot of stuff from the UK, a lot of BritPop. I'm sure the Beatles were more of an influence, but people don't say we sound like them."
After substantial touring, Hot Hot Heat did some shows with Vue, a Sub Pop band from San Francisco, who mentioned the Heat to the label. At nearly the same time, HHH recorded a split 12-inch single, Red Light Sting, with another Vancouver band. That one wound up on Sub Pop's Web site as one of its favorite new releases. Bays made an inquiry and was directed to send a demo which eventually led to a contract.
The release of Make Up the Breakdown last fall was met with a hail of critical acclaim, and Hot Hot Heat responded with more of what they've always done best, namely an incessant touring cycle to further spread the word. And the spread word was good: Before the shrink-wrap on Make Up the Breakdown had cooled, the band had signed a major label deal with Warner Bros.
"The EP stirred up a lot of talk, but only a select group, because a lot of radio stations won't play EPs, and a lot of magazines don't review EPs," says Bays. "But the people that did like it were really rabid."
A burgeoning fan base in Los Angeles included a Warner employee who mentioned HHH to her bosses. While the band was getting interest from a number of labels, the Warner deal seemed to be the most appealing, and that's where the band threw their allegiance. With HHH freshly signed, the decision was made to re-release Make Up the Breakdown on the Warner imprint, Sire, this summer while the band tours and ultimately assembles their next studio album, which will then be released on Reprise.
"When we wrote the material for the record, we had no clue that we had the option to come out on a major label," says Bays. "Which is kind of why I like that it's half on Sire, because I didn't know if we'd be an important band on Sub Pop. Bands like the Shins were selling a ton of records, and I just assumed we'd be one of their smaller bands. I just assumed we had too much of the niche market."
With their current tour generating a lot of buzz, Hot Hot Heat is a long way from the niche market. They've got a couple of new tunes completed, which they're performing on this latest circuit, and they're looking forward to translating their previous recording experiences into their next one.
"We did the LP in six days, and plus I've co-produced everything we've done, and I've grown a lot as far as what I prefer with production," says Bays. "The next album is going to be a lot more developed. Since we recorded the LP, we've played probably 250 shows, so when I hear it now, I think, 'I can't believe I sang it that way.' But that's also what gives it its charm. The EP sounds like it's just about to fall apart, and I really like that. You can't really plan that. And the LP I really like because we were all really surprised that we could write that kind of music. It's documenting a time when we were really pleased with ourselves and surprised we could do that. Now we know what we're able to do so we're trying to challenge ourselves a little more."
HOT HOT HEAT plays Top Cat's on Tuesday with The Fever and Vue.
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