Interview

The Lonely H is an up-and-coming Washington-based band of classic rock aficionados who've been touring nonstop to spread the word (and the rock) of their latest Control Group full-length effort, "Hair." Although I was unable to make it to the the band's performance last week at The Fire in Philadelphia (I fall dreadfully ill every February), I've heard that these kids put on quite the show. They'll be on the road (and playing SXSW) until school's out, so catch these guys live if you get the chance. Guitarist Eric Whitman was kind enough to answer my questions via e-mail, so read on to find out what the members of The Lonely H are all about.

The Lonely H is:
Mark Fredson - Vocals, Keys
Eric Whitman - Guitar
Ben Eyestone - Drums
Johnny Whitman - Bass

EP: First of all, please state your name and what you do in the band.

Eric: My name is Eric Todd Whitman and I play guitar sing back up vocals,
you can leave the Todd out.

EP: What does the "H" in your name stand for, and I must ask - why is it lonely?

Eric: Oh, the "H." Well, we always tell people we were big junkies back
in middle school, hence the lonely side affects of herion, but
sometimes they just don't buy it. The real story is from an old
English lesson -- so there's "who," "what," "when," "where," and
"why," which we refer to as the the 5 "W's." But we always leave out
"how," making it the Lonely H. And it's important because "how"
questions are the most essential questions we can ask.

EP: How did the band first form / what was the music scene like growing up in Port Angeles, Washington? I'm assuming that it's no Seattle.

Eric: I hate this question. We were all born in the same hospital, went
to the same schools, and hated the same things. Basically we couldn't
avoid being brothers. And as we grew up, we all gradually picked up
different instruments and naturally came together. There's about
17,000 people in Port Angeles, so a music scene is nonexistent. There
was one venue for a while, but the small-town Hot-Topic 16 year-olds
would just sit outside and smoke Swisher Sweets rather than pay to go
in. Now, when we go back to Port Angeles, we just rent out an Elk's
Club and put it on ourselves. That's what it has come to.

EP: You guys are very influenced by classic rock 'n' roll – can you talk about some of the bands that have carried the most weight in regards to your current musical endeavors and why?

Eric: We're all vinyl junkies. We naturally took after our heroes -- Tom
Petty, The Allman Brothers, Thin Lizzy, Bruce Springsteen, T.Rex, Mott
the Hoople, and the list goes on. You could walk into my room and
smell that musty thrift store odor. It's fucking great, classic rock
can please your ears and nose. As for newer bands, we've been digging
the Hellacopters, Kings of Leon, BRMC.

EP: How did The Control Group find out about your band? Were you interested in any other labels?

Eric: Well our manager, Joe Reineke, played in a band called Alien Crime
Syndicate. As they kind of went there own ways, the drummer from ACS,
Nabil Ayers, opened a record store and label in Seattle and Joe opened
a studio. Anyways, we played a battle of the bands at the EMP in
Seattle, and Joe saw us play and immediately fell in love. We won some
free studio time at his studio, so we cut a demo and progressed from
there. Joe showed us to Nabil and we signed with his label, the
Control Group. We didn't really shop around for labels -- it just felt
comfortable.

EP: I'm not totally familiar with The Control Group (though I see they've once released The Killers) – are they an upstream to a major label? If you we're approached by a major today, would you sign?

Eric: The Control Group releases vinyl pressings of massive bands like
the Killers. The Killers were never officially on the label, they just
put their vinyl out through The Control Group. The Control Group isn't
tied in with any other majors, they're on their own. If a head-honcho
of a big label came up to me, I would probably tell him to "fuck off,"
unless he offered us a really good cut or had a big bag of drugs, or
something. They just fuck bands over and make them hate each other. If
you can make a name for yourself on an Indie, you've beat the
business.

EP: You've been touring non-stop in support of your latest full-length, "Hair" – how has life on the road been treating you? What's it been like to share the stage with bigger acts like Rooney and Chase Pagan?

Eric: We love driving around America knowing that we don't have a home.
It's what keeps us going. We try to take care of ourselves, but we do
a terrible job. Basically, my 21st birthday won't mean shit. At this
point, the road is more or less all we know -- we went to college for
a bit, but moved on. Who the hell is Chase Pagan? That name doesn't
ring a bell... we've played with Sikamoor Rooney, not Rooney. But that
would be fun.

EP: What's the craziest thing that's happened to you guys while on the road?

Eric: Last night in the Big Apple was a doozy. I didn't even sleep. We
went to the Mars Bar and talked about copping smack with some old New
York punkers. I met a really nice lady who leads a girl-gang. I asked
if I could be admitted, I could maybe pass as a moustachoid girl, but
she said she would have to castrate me. Anyways we ended up at some
ladies' house. When I looked at the clock, it said 7:00 am, I wasn't
happy. So I put my clothes on and walked outside, not knowing where
the fuck I was. It could have been anywhere in the city. I kept asking
the business early-birds where I was, they probably thought I was
fucking lunatic. So there I was, standing in the middle of the street
with a fringed buck-skin jacket, completely out of my mind somewhere
in New York City. I wasn't going to buy a fucking cab, so I started
walking and ended up back at our friend's mom's friend's three story
condo in the West Village around 11:00. On the trip I actually pushed
a car out of the snow for a lady who got stuck. It's all about good
karma.

EP: Do you have a favorite show that you've play so far? And why?

Eric: Our favorite show was in Juarez, Mexico. The people were just great
and friendly, not to mention actually appreciative of music. We played
at this little filthy hole in the wall bar, and had an amazing time.

EP: I heard that you guys will be playing SXSW this March - is this your first time playing the Texas festival?

Eric: This will actually be our second time playing during SXSW, but our
first official show. Austin is a really fun city. I think we'll be
playing more house parties this time around, which are fun. You don't
have to deal with so much bull shit.

EP: You've already garnered some positive press from the likes of CMJ, SPIN and The New York Post – is it ever overwhelming, given this attention has been happening in a rather short amount of time?

Eric: Well normally I don't do interviews, so it's not so much
overwhelming for me as it is for Mark. He talks on the phone a lot to
a bunch of different press people. With all this press though, we
still play shows to 3 people every once and a while.

EP: Can you explain the creative process that goes into writing songs? Is it a group process, or does one of you take the creative reigns?

Eric: We find songs in dreams. Who gives them to us? We don't know, but
if we ever meet this magical dream creature who blesses us with this
tremendous gift, we will shake his/her hand firmly...Really though, we
start with a riff, then we all add our own juice until we have a
delicious concoction (?) of rock. 100% Organic.

EP: How does "Hair" differ from your first full-length, "Kick Upstairs"?

Eric: On "Kick," we were just youngsters who had some songs that we were
transferring onto tape. On "Hair," we were better, more experienced
musicians who had a pretty good idea of how we wanted the album to
sound. We realized the possibilities of the studio were plentiful and
we decided to take advantage of those opportunities in order to really
give the songs the attention and substance they deserved. But when it
comes down to it, both albums are like our children, the kind you
don't disown.

EP: What new music have you been listening to recently?

Eric: Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Iron and Wine, the Killers, the White
Stripes, the Strokes. It's a tough question seeing as modern music
makes up about 5.78% of our collections.

EP: You guys are very serious about your hair...ever thought about cutting all off?

Mark: I (Mark) have shaved mine a couple of times in the past few years
and it's exhilarating. But, until we get another album out, we are
bound by contract to keep it on our heads, so why waste time thinking
about something you can't change?

EP: Any final words you would like to say to your fans?

Eric: You make our world go round. Thanks for giving us the opportunity
to share our attempt at the best thing in the world with you, you make
us feel good.