Ballyhoo! Has been awesome and so far have invited me to multiple shows! Every time, they have extended an offer for an interview, and unfortunately, every time life gets in the way and Immortal Music has not been able to attend. However, in November 2013, an email interview with Howie Spangler did occur. He was kind of enough to do a second one, and had quite a few things to say! So read on! You might just get some knowledge involving Ballyhoo!'s future and some laughs along the way.
1. What inspired the Halo EP? “Halo” is new version of an old song called “Beautiful Day”, originally released on Pineapple Grenade last year. We went in with John Feldmann (Neon Trees, 5 Second of Summer) and wrote some new parts and really jacked it up. We wanted to get some music out for the summer and we had an alternate version of “No Good” and our cover of “The Lazy Song” just collecting dust. We figured our listeners would dig the material. 2. Why'd you decide to cover, "The Lazy Song”? We were submitting for Punk Goes Pop but we missed the deadline. I was trying to think of cool song that we would sound great as a pop-punk track and I’m a big fan of Bruno Mars. His version is a laid back reggae jam and I thought it would be perfect. It turned out pretty rad! 3. What has been your favorite place to perform so far and why? I love playing at a venue called Jannus Live in St Petersburg, FL. It’s outside in a courtyard surrounded by bars and we pack it out every time. Just a very cool spot for a rock show. The weather is usually awesome too. 4. What are some things fans can look forward to in the future? We’ve got a new EP coming this fall. Its looking like it will have 3 brand new songs and 3 alternate versions of older songs. They sound really cool with these new arrangements and I think the fans will like them a lot. 5. What do you do in your spare time? I draw, write songs and I have a two kids. That’s pretty much my life, ha ha. 6. What sort of music do you listen to on a regular basis? I listen to reggae and punk rock usually. I like old UB40 and then I’ll go to Operation Ivy and my top faves are Green Day, 311 & Sublime. Sometimes I’ll put on Pandora or Spotify radio. We listen to a ton of comedy albums like Bill Burr, Louis CK & Hannibal. 7. I've heard you have started your own record label. How's that been going for you? It’s going well. We have a major distribution deal and we can do whatever we want. We have three official releases out there. Pineapple Grenade broke the Billboard 200 last year in it’s first week. We will be signing and releasing some new bands in the next year as well. I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve always wanted to help other bands that I feel deserve it. 8. You play a lot of smaller venues, but have you played many small venues? If so, how do the big shows differ from the smaller ones for you? We’ve played just about every type of venue. No stadiums yet. As long as the energy is there, I don’t care what kind of place I’m playing. You can create intimacy at a big spot just as well, you just have to know how to make that connection. Sometimes a Sunday night crowd feels hungover, but you just have to get in their face and make them move. 9. Which member of the band is most likely to be arrested for doing something stupid? We’re usually pretty good about not drawing that kind of attention to ourselves. Not saying we don’t get wild and dumb sometimes, it’s usually in a building so we don’t frighten the general public. 11. Why was there no #10 question? You decide. It was a question that was so deep and rich that the answer upon reading, would literally blind you for up to twenty minutes and stir your deepest thoughts and emotions in a way that would change your very core causing you to rethink your entire existence and probably leave your wife and kids..That’s why. So, there you have it! Thank you very much, Howi for being so awesome as to do this interview once more! One of these days we'll sit down and do an interview in person. Meanwhile, hopefully you enjoyed answering the questions. Who knows, maybe you rocked out to some Sublime and 311 while you did so!
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InformationThese are interview that I myself have done. They have not been found anywhere, they have not been done for me. They are my work. Archives
July 2016
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