Search Results for: hot hot heat

“We grew up in a small town and didn’t know anything about the music industry or major labels,” he recalled. “All I knew was that Nirvana had signed to Sub Pop, and I thought that was cool.” Although Hot Hot Heat got its start as a screamo band, by the time it made contact with Sub Pop, its sound had mutated into what would soon be known as dance-punk. The band stood at the forefront of a movement that would explode on the indie rock scene within another year. Sub Pop head of A&R (artists and repertoire) Tony Kiewel realized… Read more »

Canadian rock outfit Hot Hot Heat will return in the fall with its next album, “Happiness LTD.” Due Sept. 11 via Sire, the project was co-produced by the band with Butch Walker, Tim Palmer and Rob Cavallo. Tracks include “Outta Heart,” which frontman Steve Bays calls “the most non-Hot Hot Heat song we’ve ever done,” and “Harmonicas & Tambourines,” which features four drum kits playing at once. “It covers the journey from bliss to misery and the attempt to get back to bliss, while acknowledging how exciting the ride can be in between,” Bays adds of the album. “Happiness LTD.”… Read more »

Los Angeles – Don’t tell Hot Hot Heat keyboardist/vocalist Steve Bays that press coverage doesn’t matter: The reviews for “Make Up the Breakdown,” the band’s 2003 effort for Seattle-based Sub Pop Records, had a direct influence on the act’s major-label debut. “People said we sounded like Dexys Midnight Runners, so I went out and bought a Dexys Midnight Runners album,” Bays says. What he heard resulted in the current single “Goodnight Goodnight.” The song, which Bays describes as a cross between OutKast’s Andre 3000 and early Beatles, takes a keyboard-laced dancehall groove into a chorus that downshifts the song. The… Read more »

OK, so you know how we’re always telling you not to believe everything the U.K. press tells you? If you haven’t heeded our advice before, it might be time to start now. It seems some of the hacks across the pond had been sounding the death knell for our country’s favourite new wave party punkers, Hot Hot Heat. Not surprising since the Victoria quartet have been showered by U.K. praise since the release of 2002’s Make Up The Breakdown, but it seems the inevitable second phase to the build-em-up-chop-’em-down model started even before the Hot Hots released their much anticipated… Read more »

For the past year, Hot Hot Heat frontman Steve Bays’ life has been an endless stream of numbers: one departed guitarist, two epiphanies, 30 scrapped songs, 42 hectic studio days, 168 hours of tape, 365 nights between shows and 4,000 used T-shirts. And out of all that came one herky-jerky new record called Elevator, which, according to Bays, is about as appropriate a handle as any. “There were so many ups and downs that went into making this record. It was a manic period, and it was extremely stressful,” he said. “It was a year of tripping hard, a year… Read more »

In what may be an attempt to avoid Canada’s cold winter, Victoria indie-rock quartet Hot Hot Heat are heading to the land of beer and Beatles, to perform a one-off gig in London, England. According to nme.com, Canada’s garage rockers will perform at the Borderline on January 26, previewing some fresh tracks from their upcoming album Elevator, which is due for release in April. The British gig will show off their newly acquired guitarist Luke Paquin, who replaced former axeman Dante DeCaro, who left the band shortly after the completion of the latest album. Originating from San Francisco, Paquin was… Read more »

Hot Hot Heat are getting ready to pull off the bandages and rock the dance floor once again. The Canadian hipster dance-punk act have finished putting together the much-anticipated follow-up to 2002’s indie hit Make Up The Breakdown. The band had hoped to get the new LP, Elevator, into your waiting arms by now, but for one reason or another, the release has been pushed back to April 2005. Over at the Hot Hot Heat website, the lads have posted the track list to tide fans over. Tongue-twister “You Owe Me An IOU” will be the first single to step… Read more »

“‘Paul Doesn’t Like Friendster Because It Involves Putting In An Effort’ there, there you go, that’s your headline!” says Paul Hawey, drummer of one of Canada’s most loveable and danceable bands, Hot Hot Heat. Hawey offers me the teaser line to this story because he and his mates, consisting of singer Steve Bays, guitarist Dante DeCaro and bassist Dustin Hawthorne, have been way too busy to concern themselves with that uber-popular online community for friend-making. There is a reason for that, actually there are many reasons keeping the Victoria, B.C. natives occupied and one of them has to do with… Read more »

Canadian rockers Hot Hot Heat will head home to Victoria, British Columbia, after a fall tour to work on the follow-up to 2002’s Make Up the Breakdown. “This is the end of this period of touring,” frontman Steve Bays says. “We want some new songs.” Shows on the band’s current tour, which kicked off last night in Las Vegas, will likely include at least one new one, “You’re Making Such a Mess.” “People get into it the first time they hear it,” Bays says. “It’s really bizarre sounding, so it draws people in right away.” Another new track, currently untitled,… Read more »