Had a chance to catch up with Doug Robb, lead singer of the band Hoobastank, on the day their new album came out. Doug is confident but humble. Appreciative, funny and an all around good guy. Read the Hoobastank interview below as we talk about everything from the new album to Faith No More to good burgers.
The album ‘Push Pull’ released May 25, 2018 out on Napalm Records.
SoundVapors: Today’s the big day! How are you feeling?
Doug Robb: Yeah! It’s a bit of a combination of relief and excitement.
SV: How does this album feel in comparison to other releases on the first day?
DR: Honestly, I feel more relaxed than prior releases we’ve had in the past.
SV: Why do you think that is?
DR: I think maybe in the past we’ve, or at least I have put a lot of pressure on us. You put something out that’s basically a part of you for the world to listen to and inevitably to judge. And that can get stressful sometimes.
SV: Sonically, this album sounds so full and big. It’s loud but not over-compressed trying to make it loud, if you know what I’m saying.
DR: :laughs: I know exactly what you mean!
SV: Did you guys have a part in the mixing process?
DR: Yeah we always have a say in the mix. Paul David Hager is a buddy of ours who mixed our previous record (Fight Or Flight). He’s really good at being collaborative and taking our input. We give free reign – we give him a song and say “have at it” and he’ll come back with some awesome ideas, just with the mix. I’ll go “holy cow, I’ve never even heard it that way!” At the same time we might say we’d like to do this or that and he’ll allow it and maybe that’s to blame for how it sounds haha.
SV: There’s a word in, I think ‘Push Pull’, that echos and I wondered whose idea that was.
DR: Oh yeah that’s in ‘Don’t Look Away’, the word “pop” echos.
SV: Yes, that’s the one!
DR: That’s exactly what I meant. That wasn’t a producer thing, that wasn’t a band thing. We sent it to him and it came back and I heard that and said “that’s awesome, man!” I love that kind of creative input.
SV: So let’s talk about album Producer Matt Wallace. First off, Faith No More is amazing. ‘Real Thing’ and ‘Angel Dust’.. those are Holy Grail records for me. How was it like working with Matt?
DR: Well let me first start by saying I am in the same boat as you as far as the Holy Grail records. The thing is we met with Matt in 2000. We got a record deal in 2000, like at the end of ’00. Our manager said “I want you to go home and take your top ten albums and find out who produced them and we’ll reach out to them. Some of them will say no way, some of them might say.. oh hey we’ll see.” We were a no name band at the time, ya know, it was our first album. And my top album was ‘Angel Dust’. If you were alone on an Island and you could only pick one CD, that’d be it for me.
SV: I agree, it’s the perfect album.
DR: Oh yeah, it was a game changer. It’s a masterpiece.
DR: So we totally wanted to meet with Matt and he was down to do it. This is like 2001 by this time so it was kind of down to Matt Wallace and Jim Wirt. Jim was the guy that produced us on our demo’s, done Incubus’ stuff and was a friend of ours. He had really kind of taken us under his wing and helped us get a deal. We couldn’t have gotten a deal without his tutelage, his time and everything he had put into it. So we went with him out of loyalty and it was the right move but we always wondered what it would be like to work with Matt. After that we did a few albums with Howard Benson and things worked out well. But sometime around 2014-15 our guitarist Dan started running into people that knew Matt, sort of like a one degree of separation thing. Then they kept in touch, Dan said he was really cool and that we should meet with him. We started talking again in 2015. It’d been a few years since we last released a record, had a handful of song ideas and Matt was still interested in working with us.
DR: So in 2016 we made it official and started pre-production in the summer of ’16. We started recording this album (Push Pull), September- January ’17 and we thought we were done. Then we recorded another song a few months later and then just spent time tinkering and mixing. We then brought in Paul David Hager and it would’ve only taken a few weeks but Paul was front of house doing sound for acts like Beck and Chainsmokers, so he’d be mixing on the weekends in between. So he’d mix for a few days, we’d take notes and send those back. It was taking a while, so the whole process was really slowed down. People were saying “these songs are coming out!” and I was saying.. These songs have been done for a year and a half!
SV: How do you not move on, though? You’re a musician, how do you not want to start writing new songs?
DR: Yes, exactly. I was almost afraid to write. If we wrote anything we really liked we would want to go “whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s put this on the record” and that would’ve slowed it back even more.
Click on album to purchase from Amazon
SV: What about the writing process? Do you write as a band or do you write lyrics beforehand? Or does Dan come to you with a guitar riff and then you write?
DR: I do have some stock lyrics I’ll just write, but not a ton. Dan will come in with his guitar but for the last ten years or so they really don’t start as guitars. He does more programming stuff and keyboard things. He then eventually writes guitars over them. Jesse our bass player has a ton of ideas and between the two it was like, overkill. I had SO much to work with.
SV: So how did the recording process work on this album?
DR: This process and recording in the studio was definitely different than anything we’ve ever done. Because usually, the first X-number of days are drum days. Chris will lay down all of the drums to all of the songs. Then the bass, then the guitars and checking boxes as we mold the songs together. I would come in near the end. But this one.. we were almost working on a song at a time. There are five rooms at the studio and each of us sort of locked in our own rooms with our laptops.
DR: Matt would be in the main room kind of like a chef and we were all like the sous chefs. Matt was running around to each room and he’d come in like “Doug I need some harmonies for the second verse and maybe this way, it’s good but it’s not good enough.” Then he’d go into Dan’s room and say “I need a tastier part for the verse because it’s good but it needs this or that.” Then he’s go into Chris and Jesse’s room. So we were all working together at the same time in different rooms. It was almost like an office and very productive. It was an interesting and extremely collaborative effort.
SV: Where did you record?
DR: It was at Matt’s studio, ‘Studio Delux’, in Van Nuys, California. It’s at the Sound City complex.
SV: How did you guys come up with ‘Head Over Heels’? Did you plan on doing a cover song for the album?
DR: Being kids in the 1980’s and 90’s, you’re always fond of music you grew up with and a lot of songs from that time, we like. Matt asked us if we’d consider doing a cover for the album. We said “sure” but didn’t want it to be obvious or too cheeseball. So we took a couple days with all of us including Matt just coming up with our favorite songs from all of these different eras. It spanned like 70’s funk to Adele. Then we started voting on these songs and chipping away. Finally, we got to a handful and it ended on ‘Head Over Heels’. Everyone unanimously liked the song. Once we started tinkering with the song, it was clear to us that we could put, or hoped we could do a pretty cool rendition of the song that wouldn’t be exactly like the original but pays homage to it.
SV: You guys did a great job with it. The first three songs almost have a light, upbeat feel and this cover of an 80’s song, which a lot times 80’s music gets a bad rap of being too cheesy, you take an 80’s song and give it sort of a dark, contemporary feel. Especially changing to a half time tempo.
DR: Originally when we started doing it we had the same beat but it felt a little campy so we wanted to change it, not too much but just enough.
SV: What do you enjoy more, being in the studio, the writing process or playing live shows?
DR: I was would say.. the studio, right now.
SV: What’s your favorite studio experience?
DR: Ahh.. that’s a good question. I would have to say our first album, being our first album, will always be special. I will always have extremely fond memories of the first record. We were experiencing this thing we’ve never done, that we dreamt of doing and we were doing it. There was a youthful naivety about it. We didn’t know about the business, we were just making music, ya know?
DR: But if you take away the “it’s your first” kind of factor, I had a lot of fun doing this new record. And a lot of it is becasue of Matt. He’s become a good friend. It was a great overall experience.
SV: So, long day at the studio, you get home.. what’s your favorite comfort food?
DR: :laughs: My biggest vice is junk food to be honest with you. Pizza’s awesome. But burgers. Man, I will put down a good burger. Absolutely.
SV: Any touring plans?
DR: Touring stuff is coming into shape and more info should be coming in the next month or so.
SV: Any plans to shoot a new video?
DR: We are in the editing phase for a video for the song ‘Push Pull’ but we are not in a rush. We’ll get it right and put it out there.
SV: Perfect! I’ll tell you, I really like the flow of this record. I hope people give it a chance and will listen to it a bunch of times like I have. It has a lot to offer. Congratulations on it!
DR: Thanks so much!
Check out the track ‘More Beautiful’ from their new album ‘Push Pull’.