1.Let’s start from the beginning, when and where did it all start? And with who?
Early 2002 Brent Shirey and Scott Rider formed the band Happy Hour. In the winter of 2002 Scott Schultz jointed. Our first practices were in Shirey’s parent’s basement in Sparta.
2.If you had to describe your sound in one sentence, what would you say?
Happy Hour sounds like Indie folk rock with a twist of 60’s influence.
3.Name 3 artists that have inspired you as a musician.
Pavement/Smashing Pumpkins/The Kninks
4.What do you see in the future for music, with all of the outlets available for exposure, along with the current Internet craze?
Music is very unstable right now. With the whole American Idol thing still in full power and top 40 still very bland it will be interesting to see what happens. I remember when the radio used to find new music and promote bands. Now you either listen to “classic rock” or top 40 pop. The internet has made an outlet where bands can get their music to a large audience.
5.What can we expect to see from Happy Hour in 2008? Any big plans?
Happy Hour will be working on their 3rd album in the next year and planning yet another tour. We will also be searching out labels that can help us with booking and promotion.
6.What have you been listening to lately?
I have been listening to a lot of the new Feist album. I have also been listening to The Doors, The Sliver Jews, The New Pornographers, and The Kninks. (Scott Rider)
7.Your thoughts on independent music and if it’s possible to be successful through these means of distribution?
I think that the industry is changing and it is very possible to do things independently these days. You can record a good album, package it, and sell it online all independently. To be successful you have to have the right sound, the right attitude. In our case we are growing slow. We have seen huge changes in the past few years with online importance. People are starting to search for new material again.
8.If we can’t find you playing a gig or practicing music, where might we expect to find you?
Currently you would find me catching up on some sleep. We just got home from tour and I have been so beat. If I'm not sleeping I might be down walking around Grand Rapids just enjoying the fall. I have also been spending time getting a few last holes of golf in.
9.How many shows do you play a year? What’s the atmosphere typically like?
I am sure I could go back and track home many exactly but it might take more time than it is really worth. We play out about every weekend and tour a few times a year. We just hit show 110 out of state on this past tour so that was a number that I was really proud of. As three twenty something year olds I think we have been working very hard to get our sound out to the country and we have really been working for that “break”. We don’t know where it will come from or if it will ever come. We are just out playing any being ourselves. If you make it to a Happy Hour show you will see it is very easy going. We are a band that will give you an honest performance every show. You can either come up front and shake your butt or stand in back and take in the whole experience. Either way we have a little of everything for everyone.
10.Lastly, your thoughts on INDISTR.COM?
I am very excited to see INDISTR.COM grow. When I sat and talked with Kevin he got me very excited. It is always great to see a new idea come and grow and become something new. I hope that it will become a dominant outlet for artists and consumers of music. We are very excited to be working with INDISTR.
1 comment:
The comment about the American Idol thing got me thinking; it might be the most bothersome social situation to me right now. The public seems to be rewarding people who don't write their own music and who strive to sound as generic as possible. On a slight tangent, I just heard that Josh Groban's Christmas album "Noel" has been the top US album for four weeks, selling over 2.1 million copies.
This is an album full of the most standard Christmas Carols, sung in a very typical way—pretty much the definition of "bland"—, and it's utterly destroying the charts. Note to self: Become operatic tenor. Look better than the typical tenor (not too hard). Get Oprah to love you. Step Four: Profit!
I was talking to a person who loves Top 40 radio. She admitted that she has no interest in trying to find music, and is happy to absorb whatever major companies tell her to buy. Can we break the mass populace from this habit somehow?
Reading how many shows Happy Hour plays, I'm impressed... that's a lot of work. I wonder, do they rely on venues to do promotion, or are they active marketers?
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