Hoobastank was one of the many bands on the road on September 11 last year. Bass player Markku Lappalainen and drummer Chris Hesse shared their experience, which mirrors that of many Americans, watching the horror unfold on television.
The two musicians revealed about their memories of September 11. “St. Louis, that’s where we were and it was a very scary thing, ’cause Chris, Chris’s girlfriend called Chris, ‘Oh my God, turn on the TV,’ and we were in separate rooms and Chris came over, pounding on the door and I kind of woke up and I was like, ‘I’ve never seen this movie. This is like real life, oh my God,'” Lappalainen recalled.
Hesse added, “We watched the second tower fall; like we missed the first one, which was just fine, because just watching that tower, the second one fall was probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life like…hands down.”
Hoobastank had been out as the supporting act for fellow Southern Californians Incubus, and while the tour carried on after September 11, the band realized its future was uncertain.
Lappalainen continued, “We had the opportunity to play that weekend, the 15th and 16th, with Incubus at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, which was, one of our, at least my favorite shows. To have the opportunity to play for kids and kids afterwards came up to you and said, ‘Thanks for playing, y’know it meant so much for you guys to play’ and we turned it into, like, a benefit show, which was really cool.”
Hesse added, “That was basically our first big tour, that was like, we were just getting ready to go out on tour with Incubus, the record wasn’t out yet. On a more selfish note, I remember thinking, that ‘Man this is it, like our record’s never going to never go anywhere like this.’ It was really amazing how everything went on as business as usual, and I was really surprised at how fast everybody got right back to work.”
