Interviews

Hit The Lights

Interview with Omar & Dave on Nov 28, 2006 by Archive Bot

A few weeks prior to the interview, I received an email from East West about the upcoming release for Hit The Lights, titled “This Is A Stickup…Don’t Make It A Murder.” Having seen them in the past, I picked up a copy of the CD. I had a chance to catch up with some of the guys are their sold out show at Irving Plaza in New York with New Found Glory, Cartel, and The Early November. Even before the interview started, we were interrupted by a pedestrian and all caught on tape. Hit The Lights requested that the pedestrian be left in the interview. Apparently he was a real source of inspiration for the guys.
 
By: Michael Passaretti
 
Hey guys, let’s begin by introducing yourselves and what you do in the band.
 
Dave Bermosk: Yo, this is Dave, I play bass and do some backup vocals.
 
Omar Zehery: My name is Omar and I play guitar…We’re doing an interview. Just tell them what you do.
Pedestrian Number One: For what?
 
O: For a website. We’re a band. What are you doing in the city? How about that?
 
P: I live here. 
 
O: Oh okay.
 
P: I just quit my job, my last day is Friday…I just quit my job.
 
O: That’s awesome. What’d you do?
 
P: I worked in marketing, but now I’m moving to Google.
 
O: Okay hey, that’s cool. Are you originally from New York?
 
P: Born and raised.
 
O: In the city? We’re from Ohio. It’s nice to visit here.
 
P: What’s the name of your band?
 
O: Hit the Lights.
 
P: Hit the Lights…you guys playing at the Irving?
 
O: Yeah we just got done playing.
 
P: Opening set?
 
O: Yeah.
 
P: Who’s the main headliner?
 
O: New Found Glory.
 
P: Ah New Found Glory.
 
O: You into them?
 
P: Nah, I don’t know them. I mean, not that I’m not into them, I don’t…I know who they are, but don’t know much about them. It could be my sound.
 
O: Check them out, check out Hit the Lights.
 
P: Hit the Lights, that’s a good name for a band, I like that.
 
O: Do you really?
 
P: I really do. It sounds like you’re about to fuck a chick.
 
O: Yo, yeah totally (laughter). I’m kinda sexy right? This is definitely going in the interview right? (laughter) Pedestrian number one, check out punkbands.com!
 
Now the real interview. How does it feel to be sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in the pop rock industry like New Found Glory and Cartel, especially coming from a do-it-yourself roots of booking your own tours?
 
O: You know what, I can easily tell you that this is one of the funnest tours, hands down, that we’ve ever done just because we get to play with a band that has influenced us for years (NFG). I remember Dave and I were freshmen in high school, maybe even 8th grade, something like that, and Dave got the “You’ll Never Eat Fast Food Again” Drive Thru compilation. He was like “did you check out this band?” and I remember listening to it and they changed me almost over night after hearing them. And the fact that years later we get to tour with them, hang out with them, and they’re like the best dudes in the world and they hang out and party and stuff. It’s like a dream come true. It’s really rad. And plus Cartel are really good dudes, like we’ve been on tour with them before, and we really love their band a lot too, so it’s really cool.
 
D: It’s the same with The Early November, we grew up going to shows. I never directly went to see them, but they grew on me just from going and watching shows. We toured with them before on Take Action and they’re awesome dudes so…we get along. This is probably the best tour to easily get along with people.
 
O: Most bro’d down tour in the world, I’d say.
 
What can you tell us about the “secret lives of rockstars” when you’re out on the road with big name acts? What do you guys do with each other?
 
O: It was weird at first. We knew The Early November and Cartel from touring before. We didn’t know New Found Glory, we were really nervous about meeting them and stuff, but they’re the coolest dudes. The other night we got to hang out with them for the night, ride the bus and stuff, party with them afterwards. It’s weird because we’re in a van, so we never get to hang out after the shows, they’re all on the bus and they don’t have bus calls until 5 in the morning, but we always have to take off right away and hit up a hotel or a friend’s house or something like that. So it’s cool getting to chill out with the dudes and actually get to hang out with them all night.
 
D: The other night Omar slept on New Found Glory’s bus, so he got to like kick it with those guys all night.
 
O: I’ll tell you a funny story about that. I woke up after a long night of partying. It’s still early in the morning and I was sleeping in the back lounge. There’s a front lounge, then all the bunks, and the back lounge. I woke up and I needed to piss so bad and I didn’t wanna go through the bunk area where everyone was sleeping and I didn’t know where the bathroom was or anything. So I dug through the garbage and found two bottles of water, I dumped it out and pissed in them (laughter), and I stuffed it into an empty potato chip bag and stuffed it into the bottom of the garbage (laughter). But yeah, it was awesome.
 
D: Dude, you hid the evidence so New Found wouldn’t find out that you pissed in bottles on their bus like we do on our van.
 
O: Yeah, we’re really used to pissing in bottles in our van. I hope those guys don’t read this and find out, dude, ‘cause you know they’re so over pissing in bottles, they’ve got a bus, and a bathroom.
 
I’ll make sure to send them a copy (laughter). Do all the bands usually have time to hang out after the shows, or do you guys usually do your own thing after?
 
D: Me, personally, I find myself, almost every show where I don’t have to drive, because we take shifts driving, I end up finding a couple of the members from each band back at the bar during New Found’s set and we just watch from the back of the house, have some drinks.
 
O: Buy each other drinks!
 
D: Yeah, buy each other drinks, and just like sing along to the New Found songs because everybody knows like every song on this tour. I know Joe from Cartel says they’re one of his favorite bands, so we’re always back there just kickin’ it and drinking and talking to fans and stuff. It just gets expensive.
 
O: I stick in the back room where the free drinks are. Yeah, and if we don’t have free drinks I kinda bum off the other bands because they definitely have free drinks back there.
 
Where did you derive the inspiration for the title of your album, “This Is A Stick Up…Don’t Make It A Murder.” I heard something about Bum Fights…
 
D: Haha, so it’s actually making it’s way around now. Yeah, actually our other guitar player Nick, he was watching, well it wasn’t even the actual Bum Fights, it was a knockoff called like Bum Wars or something…oh it was Bum Hunter. They were getting ready to fight each other, they had to do their best line to instigate a fight. The one guy was like “this is a stickup, don’t make it a murder.”
 
O: We actually have a song titled that, a B-side that didn’t make it to the record. But, we just love that…
 
D: It’s kinda funny because like, who names the record something that there’s a song for but you don’t put it on the CD, that’s kinda weird. But whatever, we like the name and it kinda went along the theme we came up for the CD. So that’s what matters.
 
Where did you guys get the inspiration for the actual songs on the album, the music, the feeling, the lyrics, everything?
 
O: I think growing up and being really influenced by New Found Glory, there’s other bands that we just loved going to shows and like listening to records like Saves The Day and The Stryder from Long Island. I don’t know if you know The Stryder?
 
Haha I’m a Long Island native, of course!
 
O: Yeah okay yeah (laughter). So we got to see those guys early on. Just seeing those bands and the energy and the attitude of those records really influenced us and for years too, you know what I mean? A lot of kids that are into pop punk get over it, you know what I mean? They kind of equate it with a “young thing” but I love the energy and the attitude and we try…we’re really definitely influenced by that feeling. Now of course we listen to a lot of other stuff, but that’s the type of music we grew up listening to, and it’s the type of music we love writing, and the type of music we love playing.
 
Did you guys name your band off the Metallica song “Hit The Lights” purposely or was that just a side-effect?
 
O: You know it’s really funny because a lot of people ask us where do you get your name from, but the actually story is so boring that we tell a different story every time.
 
So kind of like what Blink-182 did?
 
O: Yeah, I don’t think anybody knows still what Blink-182 was about. But really what it was, was one of our friends from Milwaukee, his name is Chris Nolan, dude used to play in a bunch of amazing metal bands from up in the area, he was like “you should name your band Hit The Lights.” We were like oh my god!
 
D: It had an instant ring to it, like whenever we heard it, the name itself was so full of energy. I think whenever we come out on stage live, or if you see is at a show, it personifies what we are on stage. It’s the best way I can describe it.
 
O: I don’t think we’ve ever the real story of where our band name came from. We say we got it from like the Christina Milian song, have you ever heard that song? It’s like “somebody hit the lights / so we can rock it day and night.”
 
D: There’s this movie, it’s like a 1980s skateboard action drama flick called “Gleaming of the Cube” with Christian Slater and there’s some part in the movie, a chase scene, where they’re trying to get away from somebody and they say “hit the lights, not the wipers.” It was the most random thing we could come up with, so we told that story.
 
O: Here’s one we’ve been telling. We got it from an All Time Low song, it’s titled…do you know those guys? Yeah they’re rad dudes.
 
(At this point a guy tried to park where we were standing, apparently we got distracted and moved on)
 
What’s your favorite New Found Glory album?
 
D: Me, personally, my favorite is Sticks and Stones. Everyone disagrees with me on that, but it’s my favorite.
 
O: I agree with you. The new record is amazing, it’s mind-blowing. And the song writing is great. I think a lot of people are giving them a lot of slack for changing their sound, but I don’t think they changed they’re sound, I feel like they just got better at what they’re doing.
 
I think they changed just enough for people to still pay attention to them, they’re not going to disappear.
 
O: Song after song is solid. I really love that album. But I’d definitely say Sticks and Stones.
 
How does your song writing process begin?
 
D: Well, it begins differently every time actually. I don’t think we’ve ever written a song the same way once. If you listen to the record, it has the same structures in the songs, the basic song structures. For the most part, somebody comes up with a riff or melody or something and we just work around that, but every time it’s different.
 
O: We try and bounce ideas off each other. That’s why it’s cool. It’s not like there’s one songwriter in the band getting credit for everything. Somebody comes up with an idea, we jam it out until everybody loves it, everybody’s really stoked on the song.
 
D: If I could interject…we felt a little bit rushed on writing the last record.
 
Label pressure?
 
D: It wasn’t even the label so much, it was just kind of us and procrastination.
 
O: Actually I disagree with that. It’s more we were trying to tour and we felt like touring was a bigger, I guess importance at the time.
 
D: We’re just now learning to write on the road too.
 
O: Yeah, totally. We’re actually going to have some time off…after we get home from the UK with New Found Glory, it’s going to be our first time having like two months off for the last year. We’ve been out on the road for like a solid year. I think we’re definitely stoked, because everybody has all these ideas and stuff. We’re actually going to get to sit in a room and not be rushed and actually get to really work on different stuff and focus on different things that we’ve never really focused on before. So everybody is really excited for this next record, putting it together.
 
Has your song writing process changed from when you were unsigned to when you got signed?
 
O: That’s a really good question.
 
D: I don’t know if it has to do with the signing of a band, but when you’re in the beginning stages of your band everything comes out how it comes out, you don’t think so much of how a song is going to sound on CD, you’re just throwing it together because you love the parts and everything. But I think that’s one thing we’re definitely going to keep in mind when we start writing our new stuff, you know, you don’t have to go with the same song structure just because that’s what people are expecting. Yeah…people…you know…their parents beat them and stuff, so…(laughter)
 
How did you guys hook up with Matt Squire? He seems to be the new “thing” these days. Did he live up to his name?
 
O: I think we went with Matt because he produced a band that’s on our label called The Receiving End of Sirens and it’s hands down…
 
Hands down one of my favorite CDs of all time.
 
O: Oh my gosh, dude, you listen to that thing? There’s so much stuff going on. They’re also the reason we signed to the label that we’re on too. They’re such a great band and we figured if this dude can handle a record like The Receiving End, then that dude can definitely take us and make a good record with us.
 
D: I feel like one of the only other things that he did that was kind of like “in the vein” of what we’re doing was, you know, Pollyana, Northstar, like that CD. I’m not even going to say that we’re like close to being that great of a band, but I love Pollyana, I love that CD. That definitely helped out too.
 
What do you think of the stereotyped “emo” profile? Do you think you guys fit it or is it just a played out title?
 
O: Emu, like the bird? The ostrich? (laughter) You take this one.
 
D: I don’t think we really give a shit either way. If people want to call us that…it’s something that a lot of bands get upset over, but if people want to call us that, whatever. We’re not going to try to taint our sound to not be “emo” or whatever kids want to call it, you know?
 
When you were kids, when you went to the Vans Warped Tour, before you started doing bands, I’m sure you thought how amazing it would be to play on these stages in front of all these kids and go to all these places. When you guys played Warped Tour did it live up to your expectations?
 
D: It did and at the same time it was like one of the hardest things to do. This past year (2006), we just did a 2-week run of it, and it was from Texas out to Seattle, and it was the hottest places ever. Sometimes it was, you know…you get to hang out with all your friends because there were so many bands we knew, but sometimes it was just the most uncomfortable way of living. We had an RV, obviously that’s a little more comfortable than doing it in a van like I know some bands did. But you don’t get to go to hotels, you just like…
 
O: I didn’t shower for like 10 days for those two weeks that we were on. And I think the filth on my body created like a film that’s like a scotch guard, so that I just stopped stinking after like a week. I remember the first time I cleaned, I scrubbed myself down and the bath water was like black, it was like, sick dude, it was awful.
 
D: I think the raddest part about Warped Tour for me personally was getting to watch Saves the Day like twice a day; acoustic and then live band. They’ve had lineup changes but the songs are still there. Chris still hits every note and it’s wonderful.
 
O: I still get star-struck by that dude, too. Completely star-struck by that dude every time I see him. It’s one of those things where you’re like a stupid, bumbling, babbling idiot. Dave met him at Bamboozle…
 
D: It was the second day at Bamboozle Left out in California, and I ran into him just randomly out in the crowd for Brand New. He was out with his wife walking out in the crowd. I saw him there. I was kind of drunk, but I was like “yo I have to do this.” So I go up to him and I’m like “hey Chris what’s up man, my name is Dave in a band called Hit The Lights.” He knows who we are just because our manager is friends with them, he used to tour manage with those guys, so he was like “Oh yeah cool man.” I told him “I just want to let you know that I love your band and I love you.” But I’m sure it came out like “Mumble mumble love mumble you.” (laughter) Yeah I was pretty loaded at the time, but either way I wouldn’t take it back. No regrets.
 
What do you think about the situation with Hawthorne Heights and Victory Records?
 
O: Wow, I don’t know man. We’re actually really good friends with Hawthorne Heights. They were actually the first band we started playing outside our hometown. It was thanks to Hawthorne Heights because they were giving us shows. It’s weird, you know, I think some labels are just doing it for the wrong reasons and they kind of take advantage of their bands and I think that they kind of got caught up in that. They’re great dudes and we really like them so I hope that that whole situation works out for them and that they figure that stuff out because they could be stuck really bad if it doesn’t work out for them.
 
D: They definitely helped us out in more than one way when we were getting started and everything, so…
 
O: We did a tour with them too over the summer, which was awesome, because we’ve known those guys for years, so I really hope that that whole situation gets worked out. I want them to win. So we’ll see what happens. (laughter) It’s time for pedestrian number two!
 
If you could put together your own tour with you guys, any bands, dead or alive, what four bands would you pick?
 
D: I’ll start with mine. My four would definitely be The Descendants, Saves the Day…wait four bands then us? Ok I’m going to say The Descendants, Saves the Day, New Found Glory, and the Stryder. I think that would be a radical tour, at least for me. I mean there are so many other good choices but those are some of my biggest influences.
 
O: I’d say Blink-182 headlining, New Found Glory, Saves the Day, Descendants and us. Yeah, that’d be a great tour. It’d be amazing.
 
What’s in your CD player or iPod right now? What’s the last thing you listened to?
 
D: I got a couple things. As Tall As Lions, they’re actually out of Long Island, that’s one of my favorite CDs since last year. I love that record to death, I listen to that every night.
 
Lafcadio or self-titled?
 
D: Self-titled. And then there’s…it’s so funny, I’m so into Long Island bands. A little band called Envy on the Coast. Those guys…
 
O: Shout out to Permanent Me from Long Island too. Those guys are good too.
 
I want to give a shout out to Three Minute Warning. Hopefully they read this. (laughter)
 
O: I would say this band called Set Your Goals from San Francisco. They’re a really awesome band, they’ve got a great vibe to them. We never got to tour with them, I hope we get to do something next year with them. They’re amazing, their new record is phenomenal.
 
Thank you guys, it’s been fun. Anything else you would like to add?
 
O: If you read this, check us out, listen to our music, we’re on myspace and purevolume. I’m sure people that read punkbands.com know about those sites. So check us out. If you like what you hear, come out to our shows and come say what’s up to us. We love to hang out. You know, we like to get down.
 
D: If you’re on the fence, check out some songs online, or if you get the CD and you’re still on the fence about it, come out to our live show, I think we’ll sell it to you there.
 
Yeah, I will attest to that. Thank you guys very much.
 
O: Thanks to punkbands.com for the interview.
 
 
 

© 2006 Michael Passaretti and Punkbands.com