grande prairie tour date interview w/jacob
from: ENCORE! Thursday July 03, 2008
Hedley plays the TEC Centre at Evergreen Park, July 5. Encore's Owais Siddiqui had the chance to catch up with lead singer Jacob Hoggard last week and find out more about the young Canadian rockers.
E!: Your band has toured Canada three times, but have you ever been to Grande Prairie before?
JH: Yes, we've played Grande Prairie once. It was in the dead of winter, and we are very excited to come back - maybe the weather will be just as terrible (jokes) because it'll give people a reason to want to stay indoors while we perform. But we have played in Grande Prairie once before and we are all really anticipating coming back. It should really be an exiting show.
E!: I understand your album went platinum in 10 days, how do you feel about that?
JH: (Sarcastically) I was upset, I was expecting eight days. To miss a goal like that by 48 hours is really just kind of hurtful.
E!: I hear that. You know you could have cut it down to a week or five business days even.
JH: A quick four days would have been nice too. But really, you know what man; it was really, really, neat. It's sort of mind-boggling, especially the second time around. When the whole time you're spending time making the record and preparing for it you're just really nervous.You're not sure what's going to happen this time around, or if the fans are going to accept it the same way they did the first time. To see it come around and work is such a relief and it is really exciting.
E!: What were some of the bands you listened to when you were growing up?
JH: Bob Marley and the Wailers, HUGE, Neil Diamond, HUGE, Billy Joel, HUGE. I listened to a lot of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (my mom was a 'big country' woman).
E!: The bands you were listening to growing up sound a lot more eclectic than I figured - I figured you might have listened to more Nirvana or other grunge or punk-type bands.
JH: You know what, man, I was never a huge Nirvana fan - I'll just say it, I'm not afraid to say it. Sometimes there are bands out there that EVERYBODY likes, and if someone doesn't like them, everybody's like "WHAT, are you crazy man?" If you don't like some kind of music you don't 'have' to like it. I like some Nirvana songs, but I don't lose my mind over them. Everybody should be able to reserve the right to be precious with their taste in music.
E!: What does winning four of the six Much Music Video Awards (MMVA's) you were nominated for mean to you?
JH: That was a pretty BIG trip. You know what, that was so special for us. That's a big Much Music thing. We've known that Much Music has always sort of been there for us and done a lot for us in the past and really helped us out. But to see the MMVA's turn out the way it did was sort of a wake-up call. Wow. These people have really, really helped and have done so much for us and you can be nothing but grateful.
E!: How has your Canadian Idol fame helped or hindered your musical career?
JH: That has been the only reason why we're having this interview right now, really. If it wasn't for that show, I wouldn't be doing this (interview) and we wouldn't be talking right now. It paved the way and gave me the opportunity to get in front of a large group of people and show them who I was and what I do and create a relationship with them and call them my fans.
I grow with my fans and I change, and they grow with you and they change. That's made all the difference. Without that fan base, I would just be another guy that no one knew about trying his best. There are sooooooo many people like that because there are so many artists out there who are really awesome and times can be really difficult and the window of opportunity can be so small.
E!: I was thinking over asking that question because you've been quite critical of Canadian Idol in the past.
JH: There was definitely a large period of time where it was important for me to separate myself from Canadian Idol and become an entity unto my own. What happens with Canadian Idol is 365 days later, there is a new top 10, there's a new third place, there's a new winner. The tide changes very quickly there and it's easy to get washed away with the previous year if you're not careful.
It was big for us to be an entity unto our own, to be Hedley, to be a band and something that someone can associate nothing else with except something that's our own recognition. Despite that, it's a fact that without that show I wouldn't be here so I kind of owe everything to them. As far as this being a music business is concerned, they treat you the least bit like a business partner and more like a family.
E!: What bands are you listening to these days?
JH: (Rapper) Lil' Wayne - oh man, he's SO good. Just when you think that he couldn't say anything more about making money, f****** bitches, and being hard, he surprises you. Lil' Wayne is incredible. He is such a creative artist and he just goes where no one else goes. He's a genius and he's really brilliant and he's just a really smart artist - and he's SO much fun to listen to.
E!: I was surprised when he (Lil' Wayne) did that song 'Shooter' with Robin Thicke.
JH: Dude... that's my ringtone! The groove on that song is standout. I don't know why that song isn't more popular, that song is really good. I've been singing that song for the past three days. You know when you when you have a song stuck in your head and you kind of sing it to yourself when you're not doing anything - THAT is a song like that, "SHOOOOTERRRR".
E!: How would you like to see your music evolve in the near future?
JH: I want to be a hip-hop star - ha, I'm only kidding dude. I think it isn't a matter of expecting to evolve a certain way. But it's more a condition of thought and anticipating to evolve. I'm going to keep growing; I'm going to keep learning. This career is such a learning experience for me. Every day you learn something new; and if you're not busy learning, you're busy making mistakes so that you can learn from them the next day. So you grow and the growth is rapid. Therefore, as an artist, you should also be growing with your experiences, your insight, and your perspective on things.
In that respect, it's important to always anticipate your growth and to embrace it and accept it and just learn to channel it. The thing that's unpredictable IS the growth. You don't know which way you're going to go or what you're going to start thinking or how you're going to start seeing things. It's always important to try and maintain a handle on that, as opposed to "trying" to grow a certain way and forcing it (creativity) out of yourself.
E!: What are some of the mistakes artists make when they first enter the industry and what are some of the experiences you have learned from?
JH: What are some of the mistakes artists make when they first enter the industry ... Well, they think they are going to make a lot of money right away - BIG mistake. Eventually, if you're lucky, things will work out a little bit - and you will be able to support some really greedy habits - other than that, it can be pretty daunting.
Also, the music business is ugly. A lot of people think that you're going to meet all the other artists and it's going to be fun. But the music business is a very volatile combination of people that are both catty and desperate. Together, it makes for a very hard time when you're in a large group of them. Lots of musicians and artists are very competitive and have quite large egos. It makes it very difficult to appreciate them sometimes. But, you realize that that's the dog-eat-dog world it is. Everybody is trying to get ahead and if you don't maintain that thick skin and be able to take certain things on the chin, and go with it and roll with it, then you won't be able to keep getting up for round 9, 10, 11, 12 through 50.
E!: What advice can you give to young artists looking to play more gigs?
JH: I definitely think that getting an agent is paramount; because once you get an agent, they can start pairing you with other bands. If you hit it off with a bigger band, that band can call your agency and can request to do more gigs with that band. Then the little band gets to play in a bunch more shows. All of a sudden, that band might start getting a bit of a fan base; and they can go out and do a few shows and garner their fan base and then work on drawing a crowd and bring out more of a crowd. So now they have a bit of ticket value and might get matched up with larger bands now, and that's how it kind of goes.
E!: What is your opinion of your fan base and how would you describe them?
JH: I would describe my fans as 'fan-matic' and dedicated. The whole reason we're here is because of our fans. We have such a cool relationship with our fans because we're such idiots. We do so many different things. Some of them are stupid, and some of them are funny, and some of them are just plain annoying that for our fans to stick through thick-and-thin with us is very incredible. We are really, really lucky. I like to really pride ourselves on how much we do not take our fans for granted, and how grateful we are for them, and how much we want to give back to them because they are the reason we are here. If people don't come to your concerts, then you don't get to play concerts anymore. If people don't buy your CD's, then you don't get to make CD's anymore. Our fans are our life-blood, and we treat them with the utmost respect and graciousness because they give us the opportunity. It's always important to make that (concert) night important for them because that will make them come back and that'll be able to make us come back.