Hey Monday Primer
BAND MEMBERS
This is Hey Monday! They are signed to Columbia and Decaydance records and their debut record Hold On Tight came out on October 7th, 2008.
Hey Monday's Members are (from left to right): Alex Lipshaw, Elliot James, Cassadee Pope, Mike Gentile, Mike "Jersey" Moriarty.
Click to viewThe band members introduce themselves for your convenience!
Cassadee Pope
Age: 19 (August 29, 1989)
Vocals, guitar
"It's refreshing to see girls taking over again... Wasn't this club getting a bit
boring full of boys? Cassadee proves that if you have the pipes and the drive,
you can be heard."
-Pete Wentz
Cassadee is the front woman for Hey Monday, and one of the founding members. As the front of the band (and because she's the only girl, most likely) she gets the bulk of the media attention. As a result, we have a lot of information on her and some great photos!
She's had voice lessons since she was little and from age 13 on she has been involved in one band or another. At age 15 she went to the Atlanta Music Confrence and managed to get a record deal with Drive-Thru records. However, it turned out to not be the direction Cassadee wanted to go in. Drive-Thru was looking for an act more like Rilo Kiley, while Cassadee wanted much more to be in a female-fronted pop-rock band. Though the deal didn't lead to anything, it did give Cassadee a chance to work on her song-writing skills. Then she and her friend Mike decided to give a band a try, but we'll get to that later!
Cassadee seems perpetually sunny. She also seems to have developed a brother-sister relationship with Pete Wentz. She appeared in the video for Fall Out Boy's America's Suitehearts.
Fun facts about Cassadee!
-If she were a superhero, her name would be the Teriyaki Terror and she would be invisible, be able to fly, and would spit fire. She has clearly thought this out.
-Her biggest musical influences are Michelle Branch and Blink 182
-She really likes "More than a Feeling" by Boston. Which seems to be a theme with the band.
-Vests are her favorite fashion item. She wants that to be her thing.
-If she could raid any celebrity's closet, it would be Ashlee Simpson. The first time they met Ashlee gave her a bunch of old clothing she didn't want.
-She regrets having a vagina. Also, the guys of ATL are creepy, but I don't think that's news to anyone.
-She prefers Twilight to Harry Potter. Her favorite Twilight book is the last one because Bella comes out on top, and she loves Bella.
-She is not a vegetarian and has no plans to become one any time soon
-She prefers Gerard over Mikey Way because she "has never seen or met the other one, so. safe bet."
-She's really into vampires. Zombies freak her out. She would rather be a vampire than a zombie because if a vampire bites someone they just turn into a vampire, they don't die a horrible death.
-If she had to bite any of her bandmembers and turn them into a vampire, she'd pick Jersey because he's always sick and she wants to end his suffering.
-Cassadee was a cheerleader in middle school
-She is something of an adrenaline junkie. She loves heights and roller coasters and wants to skydive one day.
Good Interviews/Videos with Cassadee
Interview with Alter the Press - Text
Interview with Bomshellzine.com - Text
Interview with Change the Record - Text
Interview with Alter the Press (UK tour) - Text
Interview with Buzznet - touring with boys, 50 cent, and hair upkeep. - video
Word games at Bamboozle - Video
The Making of America's Suitehearts One, Two, and Three
A few pictures of Cassadee -
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Mike Gentile
Age: 21 (January 18, 1988)
Guitar, backing vocals
Mike met Cassadee when they were both in middle school. They went to separate Catholic schools but met through Cassadee's sister at a football game. Mike plays guitar for Hey Monday and also writes most of the music for the band.
Fun Facts About Mike
-Mike likes lyrics a lot. He's constantly updating his twitter and blogs with lyrics. One of his few myspace blogs goes on and on about how much he loves lyrics. He's that kid.
-Also plays bass
- He likes to tweet innappropriate lyrics at Elliot and Jersey.
-During the Why So Serious Tour, Mike made it his personal mission to make the Cab cry during Van Wars.
Good Videos of Mike
Saturday feat. Mike - On the Believers Never Die tour Mike plays bass during Saturday so Pete can do his screaming/jumping into the audience thing.
More Pictures of Mike!
Videos featuring Mike
Saturday feat. Mike - Mike plays bass for Fall Out Boy during Saturday so Pete can do his screaming/jumping into the audience thing.
-
Elliot James
Age: 19 (September 29th, 1989)
Drums
thanks to everyone that came out, sorry if you got hit by a water balloon, and sorry to the girl that got hit with the drum sticks, people are getting it with all kinds of hitables these days
-Elliot (seriously, if you want to know more about Elliot, read this blog entry. He's absolutely hilarious.)
For all of the stuff he puts on the internet, Elliot is strangely difficult to find information on. Elliot's involvement in music stems from a fascination with Michael Jackson as a child. He also seems to be a pretty serious photographer and into graphic design. He has said that if he wasn't doing Hey Monday, he would be going into that field.
His blogs show him to be pretty thoughtful and even a romantic. At the same time he seems to have a great sense of humor and is always ready to bust a dance move. Check out the videos linked below for more on him.
Fun Facts about Elliot
-Elliot is originally from England and attended a private school in the UK. He came to the US about six years ago.
-At one point Elliot was planning on moving to Boston to pursue a career in graphic design
-He collaborated with Glamour Kills to design this Hey Monday shirt.
-Elliot is a HUGE fan of Michael Jackson. His first concert was an MJ concert, and there is footage of an 8 year old Elliot dancing in a white hat and single glove. He lists Michael Jackson as the reason he's in the music business.
-Elliot loved Pushing Daisies and wrote a heartfelt blog about what the show meant to him.
-Elliot was left behind at the airport in the UK.
-At one point his desktop wallpaper was of an octopus which he described as shady. This may be a fun fact only to me, because I agree that octopuses are shady as all get out.
-He is scared of horses because of a time he was kicked off the back of his friend's horse.
-Elliot has a few tattoos - One, Two, and Three.
Good Interviews/Videos with Elliot
Interview with Punk Disasters - Text
DanceDanceDance - Check out Elliot's sweet dance moves. Pretty sure he took some of those straight from Thriller.
Elliot playing drums during Homecoming video shoot
More Photos of Elliot!
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Alex Lipshaw
Age: 19 (December 4, 1989)
Rhythm Guitar, vocals
"Jersey, make sure I don't hit anything... What the fuck did I just hit?"
-Alex
Alex attended the same high school as Cassadee. And...that's all I have on Alex right now. He doesn't show up much in the videos and while there are a ton of pictures of him clearly being awesome with his bandmates, there's less of other media to pull from.
Fun Facts about Alex
-Alex sometimes goes by Pimpshaw
-Owns two dogs, Fritz and Harley
-Youngest member of Hey Monday
-Started learning how to play Guitar and Piano at age nine.
Videos
Alex talks about inspiration and Fender® & Squier® guitars. - Video
More Pictures of Alex
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Mike "Jersey" Moriarty
Age:23 (November 27, 1985)
Bass, vocals
I'm falling. you can tell it’s happening when i spend an entire night recording a minutes worth of music all because i can’t sleep until the the music is out of me.
-Jersey
Jersey, as one can gather from his name, is the only band member who is not a part of the Florida music scene. Jersey got his name because there was already a Mike in the band, so they call him Jersey. Jersey joined the band after Hey Monday was in talks with Columbia records. At the time Jersey was working as an intern and Hey Monday needed a bassist. He had been in a few bands in the Jersey scene and someone in Columbia knew what sort of music was he into, and introduced him to the band. Since then he's been in tight with them all and the rest is Hey Monday history.
Jersey reportedly is in Jersey band The Years Gone By video for their song You Might As Well Be In Space. I can't pick him out but there are a lot of scene looking kids at the end, he's in there somewhere.
Fun Facts about Jersey
-Jersey is obsessed with Mac products.
-When Jersey found out that Blink 182 was doing a reunion tour he ran onstage while Mike and Cassadee were performing an acoustic set to tell everyone the good news.
-Jersey has some ink
-He was the captain of his high school's championship cross country team.
-Jersey has claimed to be a fan of the Jonas Brothers
Interviews/Video with Jersey
Article about Jersey. - Text
Jersey talks about inspiration and Fender® & Squier® bass guitars. - Video
Fall Out Boy - Believers Never Die Part Deux U.S. Update - Pete harasses Jersey. Starting at 4:22
More Photos of Jersey!
About the Band
After Cassadee's deal with Drive-thru didn't work out, Cassadee and Mike formed a band called Blake. Blake was discovered by Columbia records but before a deal could go through, the band fell apart. Cassadee and Mike both decided that they would rather try to make a band work than go to college. So they tried again. Columbia was still interested in signing them, so Cassadee and Mike called up Alex Lipshaw, a friend from Cassadee's high school, and Elliot James who they knew from the Florida music scene. They still needed a bassist, so their A&R guy suggested Jersey. They got together and knew it was going to work out. At this point they were still operating under the name Blake, even as they were trying to come up with a new name.
Enter Pete Wentz. The band's demo was playing in Crush Managements Office on a day Pete happened to stop by. Hearing the demo, Pete loved it and decided he wanted that band on his record label. Columbia and Decaydance worked out a deal, and the band was signed. The band still needed a new name, so they held a contest to name the band. The name Hey Monday won, and here we are today!
Group Videos!
Interview on SURS - Gives some basic background info and everyone likes the same bands.
Real World! Interview - Asked what two bands would have sex and produce Hey Monday as an offspring. The answers include Blink 182, We the Kings, Queen, and Cyndi Lauper. Elliot immediately identifies Jersey as being the one who came up with Cyndi Lauper.
Kiwi Box Interview - More basic info and Cassadee talks about the Van Wars with the Cab.
Australia Update - Elliot can't juggle, Cassadee joins FOB on stage, and they call all their suitcases baby.
Japan Update - Video that shows Hey Monday being generally adorable. My favorite part is when Elliot harasses Cassadee while she's on the phone at about 1:15. Also, Mike has some serious banana cutting skills.
JUMP DIDDY JUMP DI JUMP DID DIDDY JUMP - Jersey, Elliot, and a friend are idiots and jump from the headboard onto a hotel bed. Jersey catches Elliot falling on his ass like, three times in the same video, dude.
Jerk Off The Horse Harmony - A band tradition, as Elliot says, Plain and simple, we always talk about Jerking Off Horses. Like when someone says a lame story so at the end you say “oh, and then you jerked off a horse!?”
Hey Monday Rides The Bullet Train In Japan - Elliot and Jersey are amazed by the bullet train in Japan. Elliot can't even drive that fast on the high way and he drives fast.
Cassadee and Elliot: T-Rex Race - Can't explain it more then that.
Elliot and Cassadee Split a Crunchie Bar - Elliot shares his gross English candy, Cassadee isn't impressed.
Alex and Elliot Go Bull Riding - Alex and Elliot show off their riding skills.
Cassadee and Jersey Do "The Beckett" - They've learned a lot from Beckett.
Fall Out Boy - Hey Monday Video - Pete fails at promoting Hey Monday.
Music/Music Videos
Hey Monday's debut album Hold On Tight was released on October 7th, 2008. You can buy a hard copy for $11.99 or a digital copy for $7.99.
The songwriting process for Hey Monday tends to be Mike writing the music and Cassadee working her lyrics to the music. Cassadee did write two songs on the album completely by herself - 6 Months and Should've Tried Harder. They collaborated with Butch Walker on How You Love Me Now and William Beckett on Home Coming. Cassadee has ties to Cartel from when she met them at the Atlanta Music Conference. One member lent backing vocals to Candles and the another did some guitar work on Arizona.
Tour Mates
Hey Monday has toured with the following bands -
Fall Out Boy
Cobra Starship
50 Cent
All Time Low
Metro Station
The Academy Is...
We the Kings
The Cab
This Providence
A Rocket to the Moon
Friday Night Boys
The Bigger Lights
Stereo Skyline
All American Rejects
Carolina Liar
Music Videos
Homecoming - Shenanigans in a bowling alley.
How You Love Me Now - a distinct Dirty Dancing meets Saved by the Bell feel.
Live Peformances
Homecoming Acoustic
Josie - the band has said a few times this is their favorite song to play.
Candles
How You Love Me Now
Six Months
Links to more information
Hey Monday Official Website
Hey Monday Myspace
Hey Monday Buzznet
Hey Monday Youtube
Hey Monday Pure Volume
Hey Monday Blog
Hey Monday Friends or Enemies
Hey Monday Twitter
Cassadee Twitter
Mike Twitter
Alex Twitter
Elliot Twitter
Elliot's Blog
Elliot's Vimeo
Elliot's Flickr
Jersey Twitter
Jersey's Blog
Jersey's Photogallery
Jersey's Website
Jersey's Friends or Enemies
For more pictures, see the Hey Monday Picspam! - Just a note, there are 200+ images, some of them are ridiculously large.