Interview: Hit The Lights - 09/12/08

Jon caught up with Nick, Kevin and Dave from Hit The Lights on their recent tour with Bayside in London.

The guys spoke to Alter The Press about being back in the UK, touring with Cobra Starship, being signed to Triple Crown Records, talks of playing Give it a Name 2009 and more.

Alter The Press: You guys finally made it back over to the UK! How has the tour been going so far?
Hit The Lights: The tour has been awesome. I got sick the second day (Nick Thompson - vocals) on the tour. Everyone has been super nice we are sharing a bus with Oh No Stereo and Bayside too. Awesome hangs.

ATP: What's been the best date so far?
HTL: Manchester and Leeds. Those two killed it. That was Kevin's favorite show of all time.

ATP: Any time off to do anything?
HTL: We had one day off in Newcastle. A lot of us hung out and watched 'The Incredible Hulk' and 'Indiana Jones'. We wondered around in the city, got lost, looked at some statues, took some photos. It was crappy weather, so it wasn't that much fun to hang out.

ATP: You are no strangers now to coming over here, what has been the best trip to date?
HTL: This tour has been the most fun for us. As far as the people, I love you guys, thank you. We've had an awesome guy tour managing us and everyone is having a great time. We're just so happy to be back over here. We played in 2006 with New Found Glory, January 2007 with Cute Is What We Aim For and played Give It A Name which was a lot of fun. We were supposed to do a headlining tour also but our vocalist quit which left us high and dry.

ATP: 'Skip School, Start Fights' was released on Triple Crown. How did you guys end up signing with them?
HTL: Fred from Triple Crown approached us, a really awesome dude. At the time we were speaking to other labels but it seemed like there were a lot of bands on the label which we respected. He had a lot of pop punk bands on the label so we knew he wasn't just trying to jump on trends, he generally liked our band. We'd say that label has been the life line that has kept us alive when we were down for so long. Fred had always stayed with us, back us up and been supportive in every decision we've made. No label would of done that, especially with the situation which we were in.

ATP: Shane Henderson from Valencia and Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low guest appeared of your record. How did this come about?
HTL: We just wanted to put our friends on it. We tried to get more of our friends too but it was a time issue.

ATP: Favorite songs off the record?
HTL: 'Say What You Wanna Say' (Kevin), 'Breathe In' (Dave). I have too many to say for different reasons (Nick).

ATP: Favorite songs to play live?
HTL: 'Back Breaker' is always fun. 'Hangs 'Em High', the guitar work is a lot faster which is fun, you can't be bored playing that one!

ATP: You just wrapped up the Cobra Starship's 'SassyBack' Tour. How did it go?
HTL: It was really cool. We definitely brought Sassy Back! We got to play to a lot of new face, which was good. There is a very younger audience that comes with the Cobras, a lot of 12 year old girls, which by the way are the most vicious things that you'll ever run into! These girls are insane. These little girls will claw your fucking eyes out if you try and take their spot. I am more scared of 12 year old girls now then any crew member, KKK member whatever. They frighten me to my very core, i've seen some stuff! (Kevin).

ATP: Did they ask you to play?
HTL: It was Cobra's call to put us on. Gabe, I think decided when he was over in the UK and was talking to one of our friends about bringing Hit The Lights on tour with him. Thank you Gabe!

ATP: (for Nick) When Colin left, did it feel weird just purely sing lead vocals when you first starting playing live shows again?
HTL: It felt different. We played our first show in New Jersey at a VFW hall. The kids were so supportive and awesome. Its so hard not to get pumped up when kids are going off for you. I think after the first two shows, we thought its going to be alright. Its definitely a transition from playing guitar.

ATP: Alternative Press Tour 2009. You were the second band to be confirmed. Can you give us any details?
HTL: We aren't allowed to officially announce anything but its a good variety of upcoming bands. Its all bands which kids that read AP all want to see. It was very smart of them to pick the bands they picked. All AP readers are going to be excited about it.

ATP: Are you guys headlining?
HTL: No, we are one of the support bands.

ATP: Are you guys playing Give It A Name 2009?
HTL: We can't confirm that, but we'd love to. We have our fingers crossed.

ATP: Do you know anyone who is playing yet?
HTL: (Dave) I'd be excited if it was the same line up when we played. Jimmy Eat World, AFI, MXPX but I wish they just..Gave it a Name! We have not heard anything though.

ATP: What have you guys got planned for 2009?
HTL: We plan to record, playing Warped Tour, the Alternative Press Tour and some headlining stuff. We are excited.

ATP: When are you coming back to the UK?
HTL: First chance we get but nothing is confirmed.