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Hanging by a Moment with Lifehouse
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/29/2008 | Comments (4) | Views: ()
American rock group Lifehouse talks about fame, sad songs
and people who confuse them with ‘Lighthouse’
By Paul John Caña, Contributor
 | |
Most fans of American pop-rock group Lifehouse know them best for their saccharine sweet lyrics and heart-melting melodies. Songs like “You and Me,” “Everything,” “Breathing” and “Broken” have helped establish the band as the ultimate sentimental rock group.
But the band composed of Jason Wade, Rick Woolstenhulme, Bryce Soderberg and newest member Ben Carey have more to offer than the songs you hear on television shows like Smallville and Grey’s Anatomy.
The Manila Times: A lot of your fans are women. Where do you get the inspiration to write lyrics that speak to them?
Jason Wade: From the women—that’s where I get my inspiration.
Bryce Soderberg: Women are the inspiration for everyone, except women.
TMT: Have you ever heard a song of yours being played on a TV show and thought, “Wow, they got that one right?”
JW: Yes. The song “Broken” was used in Grey’s Anatomy. I didn’t even know that it was going be on television. I liked how they used it on that episode. Although I have to say the editing there was a little weird.
TMT: What bands did you listen to when you were growing up?
JW: For me, Nirvana. The bands from Seattle, because I grew up in Seattle. Then I got into the music of the sixties. The Beatles. Badfinger. Those guys.
BS: Anything organic really. We’re a real band that plays live. And now, a lot of people don’t. I like the organic stuff. Real music.
TMT: Are you guys fans yourselves of other artists?
JW: I think the new Coldplay record is genius. You know who Gillian Welch is? She’s one of my favorites.
BS: Yeah we’re going to see Radiohead later next month.
Ben Carey: I’d love to say Tom Petty. I’ve never seen him play live but he’s a big inspiration and his guitar playing.
Rick Woolstenhulme: The Ting Tings. I like them.
TMT: Jason, how do you feel about comments that you are essentially the face, heart and soul of Lifehouse?
JW: I feel I might be the face of the band, but in my opinion, these guys are the heart and soul of the band. Rick and I have been doing this for eight years. There’s nothing more exciting than being onstage with your best friend.
TMT: How is your musical artistry affected by fame?
JW: In the early days, when we were making the first record, there was no pressure. When that record sold a lot and it became really popular, we had to go through the growing pains. When we make records, we shut everything out. We make music because we love it, not because we want to sell records.
BS: I think too much of the music today is done through computers. There’re a lot of people who can’t sing. You really feel you’re getting ripped off when you get a record and they can’t perform it live. We take a lot of pride in making our records really pure and organic.
TMT: Out of all the songs that you’ve written, which one is your favorite?
JW: It changes depending on how long we’ve been playing the song and how sick we are of it. But right now, I would have to say a song called “Broken.”
TMT: For Ben, you’re a new member. Did you have to make adjustments when you joined the band?
BC: I think it takes a long time for people to find the right people to play with. And we were just lucky enough to find each other. We actually sat down and talked for a couple of hours before we even played our instruments. And it wasn’t an effort. It was a lot of fun and it was a good hang. The first song we ever played together was “Spin.”
TMT: How has music changed your life?
BS: I’ve been playing music my entire life. I can’t see myself doing anything else.
JW: I fell in love with music when I was 15 and it changed everything. Having an outlet to create songs and express your self and connect with people, it’s the most amazing feeling in the world.
TMT: What’s the significance of the title of your new album, Who We Are?
JW: It’s a message to all the people who called us “Lighthouse” over the years. This is the first record that we co-produced and it was our truest record and we went in without having any ideas and laid it all down.
TMT: How do you feel that your second album (Stanley Climbfall) wasn’t as successful as your first one?
JW: I still think it was one of our best records. You write songs that are honest and you open yourself up to be criticized by everyone. We just kept writing songs and moving on. And our third record was a success, with that song “You and Me” and we’re just happy to be doing this and not working at [some donut shop].
TMT: You’ve been together seven or eight years. What’s the secret of your longevity?
BS: I don’t think we even know what it is.
JW: Music is kind of magical. You don’t really know where it comes from sometimes. As long as you stay true to the music and you do it for the right reasons, you’ll be OK. I think that’s what we’re doing. We’re having fun.
TMT: With the songs you’ve written, you seem to be a sad songwriter, Jason.
JW: I’m absolutely happy and really sad at the same time. I would never hurt myself on purpose. You can’t have too many happy songs. Everything is about balance.
Lifehouse Hits the Hall
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/28/2008 | Comments (4) | Views: ()
After playing 10,000-seat amphitheaters, large arenas and some of the biggest venues around, mainstream rock band Lifehouse comes to town next week to play a much more intimate setting – Memorial Hall.
Lifehouse plays Friday, Aug. 1, at the Hall. Quite possibly the most successful rock band to play the 1,500-seat venue, Lifehouse brings with them an energetic live show and a handful of hit songs that have not only earned airtime on radio but also have appeared on popular TV shows such as One Tree Hill, Smallville, The Hills, and Grey’s Anatomy.
The band, which became hugely successful in 2000 with its hit single, “Hanging By a Moment,” released its fourth studio album, Who We Are, last summer. The three-piece band of singer/guitarist Jason Wade, drummer Rick Woolstenhulme Jr., and bassist Bryce Soderberg, have never played Plymouth, but gigged in March at the Orpheum in Boston.
“We definitely took some chances. It was kind of a risk playing the Orpheum,” Wade said from his Agora Hills, Calif., home. “But once we took that risk, the tickets started flying. It was important for us to make that next move. The smartest thing we’ve done is that we’ve stayed on the road. Now we control our destiny.”
The band has toured extensively since 2000. The musicians wrote four albums along the way, beginning with No Name Face. The band sold more than 2 million copies of that debut disc. The guys then released Stanley Climbfall, which critics didn’t exactly embrace. In 2005, the band dropped Lifehouse. Two years later, Who We Are came out. Since its release, it has sold more than 500,000 copies.
“It’s been great,” Wade said. “We’ve had mixed reviews. The first album was huge, the second not so much. Then we came back with the third and fourth. Fans are connecting with this one.”
Wade said Lifehouse has become that, “Oh, that’s who plays that song,” type of band, particularly when new fans come out to see them perform live.
“It’s definitely interesting,” Wade said, referring to the band’s ever-increasing fanbase. “I remember when ‘You and Me’ came out; we had 14-year-olds at our shows. They didn’t know ‘Hanging by a Moment’ because they were only about 7 when it came out. Our songs have been on shows and radio, and they didn’t know us.”
Lifehouse, particularly Wade, has earned a lot of praise and accolades for a recent venture – creating a song for a commercial for Allstate insurance. The company asked Wade to write a song for its Safe Teen Driving campaign.
“I was a little skeptical. I had never written for a commercial, but as soon as I saw the commercial, it moved me,” Wade said. “I wrote it, recorded it, and it happened really naturally.”
The video for the song, “From Where We Are,” appears on www.allstateteendriver.com. The song hit home for Wade, and he felt that recording it for Allstate would make teenagers more aware of the potential dangers of driving.
“It was really important,” Wade said. “Being 16 years old, a really good friend of mine died in a head-on collision which had nothing to do with alcohol. I saw what that did to his family and friends. I think anything we can do to make people aware of it helps. Everyone’s connected in some way at some point. I’m from LA, and I see some really crazy stuff. I’ve seen a lady painting her toenails and eating a muffin while driving. It’s crazy.”
Lifehouse recently released the third single from its latest disc. Wade wrote the emotional and moving “Broken” for a friend who needs a kidney transplant.
“We were pretty much finished with Who We Are. We had 11 tracks done,” Wade said. “I flew out to see a friend of mine, and he had really bad health problems. It broke my heart to see him. He was barely recognizable, but mentally he was still positive. I stayed up late with my guitar, and it just poured out of me. I played it the next day, and he broke down. It’s the most inspired song off the new record.”
Songs such as “Broken” and “From Where We Are” hit Wade hard when he plays them in a live setting. When the emotion of the lyrics catch up to him, he does his best to play through it.
“Sometimes I feel it more than others,” Wade said. “Sometimes I think about the lyrics when I’m singing, and when I play it live, I can really feel it.”
Wade said that when Lifehouse plays Memorial Hall, fans can expect to hear all the hits, packaged in an energetic performance that will leave the audience in awe.
“Talking to people who’ve seen us live over the years, they don’t realize how many songs they recognize,” Wade said. “It’s a pretty high-energy set. I still really enjoy recording and performing live. We’ve been on the road a good eight years. We still have that energetic connection with the crowd. You miss your family and home, but music is the part you still love.”
Tickets for the Lifehouse show can be purchased by calling Memorial Hall at (508) 747-1622, or you can buy tickets online at www.memorialhall.com/events.html. Ticket prices begin at $27.50. The show begins at 8 p.m. Plymouth’s The Widescreen Edition opens the show.
Vote For Lifehouse in the MTV VMA Nominations!
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/27/2008 | Comments (10) | Views: ()
This year MTV is letting the fans decide who the nominees are for the VMA's! Voting is now open for the Pop Video categories. Make sure to go to vma.mtv.com to vote for Lifehouse's videos for "First Time" and "Whatever It Takes" now! Voting closes Wednesday 7/30 at 11 AM EST.
Meet Lifehouse in the Philippines!
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/25/2008 | Comments (9) | Views: ()
The band that brought hits that turned ballads into secondary anthems for lovefilled situations serenades us this Saturday, July 26, at the Araneta Coliseum. MTV Philippines and co-presenter MCA Music proudly bring Jason Wade, Rick Woolstenhulme Jr., and Bryce Soderbergthe-the talented threesome of Lifehouse- for a one-night concert at the Big Dome.
Reminisce with songs that not only captured top spots in charts all across the globe but the hearts of many as well. Sway along with “Hanging by a moment”, “You and me”, “Sick cycle carousel”, “Whatever it takes”, “Spin”, “Breathing”, and “First Time,” among others.
From their debut album No Name Face that contained the single “Hanging by a moment” to their latest album Who We Are that contains the new single “Broken,” this band from Malibu, California, has reached heights father than any of them ever imagined.
Lifehouse has been a resident band in popular TV shows that require moos enhancing musical scores. This includes the Superman TV series Smallville that effectively utilized the song “Everything.” Another smash hit that is a TV show favorite is the song “Broken,” which is part of their latest album titled Who We Are. This songs has been used in episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Criminal Minds, and The Hills.
Much of the appeal of the work of Lifehouse comes not only from the music but the genius collaboration of heartfelt words laid down by the group’s lead vocals, Jason Wade. In a pervious interview, this songwriter described his take on composing songs:
“A while back, I had a falling-out with someone I was really close to. I went through a hard time dealing with that, picking up the pieces. I’m not the kind of person who wants to sit down and have a long conversation about my feelings. That stuff tends to get worked out in the songs”
Jason gets his influence and inspiration from one of the biggest names in the music industry. He states in another pervious interview. “I grew up not really listening to much music but my mom turned me on to the Beatles, and they changed my life. I became obsessed with them. How can you not be? They’re the best of the best.”
Delving deeper into the pop pantheon, he discovered the works of Todd Rundgren, Badfinger, the Raspberries and other masters of the form.
Lifehouse has indeed been on a wild journey filled with mostly success and little bumps on the road with the change in band members and the unavoidable comparisons having to exceed expectations of many. How does a breakthrough act like Lifehouse view this journey? They not only compare it to the success of the music they offer but their own over-all view on life. As Jason would say, “It’s hard to move on from a certain place in your life, but it’s the struggle to do it that’s gets you where you need to go.”
Indeed, the greatest feat along this frequently rocky path is to stand, climb, fall and get back up again.
There is no better way to get a glimpse of what Lifehouse has to offer than to get the collection of songs that speaks of utmost emotion and understanding.
ALBUM SIGNING.
Get to see the Lifehouse members on July 25 at 5pm at the Main Mall Atruim of SM Mall of Asia. Get your copies at the venue of the Who We Are Limited Philippine Tour Edition Album. Fans will only get one but two CDs filled with Lifehouse hits. These feature live versions of Lifehouse hits such as “You and me” and “Hanging by a moment” plus new songs like “I want you to know,” “Sings of Life,” and many others that will only be released in this unique collection Lifehouse hits and fresh materials. Only limited copies will be sold in the venue so make sure to get there early.
Fans of Lifehouse also have the option of acquiring limited Meet and Greet passes available at participating NoCurfew Watch Stores. Call 556-0428 or 0917-856-7208 for details and inquiries.
Lifehouse Arrives in the Philippines
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/24/2008 | Comments (12) | Views: ()
Lifehouse has safely arrived in the Philippines for their much anticipated concert at the Araneta Coliseum on July 26th. Check out a video of their arrival here or view it below!
Breathing on Life(house) support
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/20/2008 | Comments (6) | Views: ()
With a little more dirt and motor fuel in their new album “Who We Are”, Lifehouse proves they can grind those guitars harder and talk about other things (try suicide and kidney transplants) apart from, you know, being “whipped.” Still, the record’s also got its share of ultra-introspective, emo-solemn ballads; the stuff that’ll get all the girls flinging their panties at the stage when the band comes to the Philippines “for the first time”, rocking the Araneta Coliseum on July 26. And hey, all those girls’ boyfriends might just be as enthusiastic as well.
You guys have been touring the US cities lately so it’s quite a trip you’re going all the way here.
I’ve been to the Philippines before but I was really young. I lived in Hong Kong for three years when I was seven, passing through the Philippines with my family, but this is definitely the first time the band is playing here and we’re really looking forward to it. Seems like we’ve got a pretty good following over there.
Yeah and people here know Lifehouse as a sort of flagship band for softies, which is a bit different from what you guys are now via Who We Are, your latest album, which packs-in harder rock with a little more grit. There’s even a song about some dude’s suicide…
I feel like we’re really comfortable with both at this point. You know, when “You and Me” came out, I think a lot of people wanted to pigeonhole us as just kind of like an acoustic rock band, but our roots from No Name Face on have always been more electric guitar-driven. But I kind of like the balance between both.
The third record really dealt with the falling-out that I had with my father that a lot of people perceived to be about a girl or whatever. And I kind of dealt with that and kind of moved on and didn’t really wanna write about that on this record. I feel like I’ve always written what I know—whatever’s going on in my life—and I feel like I’m in a really comfortable place in my life right now with my relationships. But it’s almost like when you’re happy, these songs are kind of harder to write. You can write better songs when you’re falling apart and when you’re in a lot of pain, but, I don’t know, I’m starting to use other people’s lives as inspiration and you almost become an actor and start role-playing and trying to put yourself in different scenarios outside of your own life.
The song that talks about suicide is “The Joke,” which deals with the issue of kids getting bullied today and people not realizing how many commit suicide because of it. So I wanted to tackle something that I’ve never really written about and I had to write the song three different times, putting myself in the kid’s shoes and write it from his perspective before I really connected to it.
At least there’s an effort to stray from just being that band girlfriends listened to while their boyfriends approached your music with pitchforks and shovels—were you ever bothered by that?
(Laughs heartily) Our first single “Hanging by a Moment,” a lot of people didn’t realize it was a rock song first—that it was number one in alternative radio for, like, eight weeks. And then it crossed over to Top 40 and I think all the little girls got really excited about it, which turned off the guys. But over the years, we’ve never changed our sound to appeal to anybody. We’ve just kind of written our songs and got the crowd wanting to come to our shows and it feels like guys now aren’t so much ashamed to say that they really like Lifehouse.
And if it wasn’t for “Hanging by a Moment,” we probably wouldn’t have a record deal right now and I’d probably be working at Dunkin Donuts (laughs). I feel like it was a blessing and a curse. It took us eight years to kind of get beyond “the band that sings ‘Hanging by a Moment’” and it’s been a long, uphill climb, but I feel like I gotta have respect for that song ‘cause it definitely got us out of being a bar band or whatever. But at the same time, it was kind of hard ‘cause people didn’t even know the name Lifehouse. But if you’d sing “Hanging by a Moment,” they’d know the song.
Was slapping on the guy-liner a conscious effort at changing your image a bit?
(Laughs) That was just for that one video! (the vid for “Blind”) Kind of like an art piece or whatever. You won’t be seeing me in guy-liner at the show!
Is there some ritual that gets you so damn in touch with your emotions? I have this image of you looking wistfully across a lake when you write these songs.
(Laughs) Well if I did have a ritual, I feel like it wouldn’t really work. I have a songwriting style that’s so random, like, a lot of the time, I don’t really sleep a lot during the night—I just get woken up by a thought or an idea and I write a lot of my songs at three or four in the morning. I’m always listening to the older ‘60s stuff like Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. The Beatles are my all-time favorite band. I feel like they wrote some of the best songs that can never be duplicated. That time so much inspired me—so I’m always listening to that.
Then again, Zeppelin was the sort of band you knew trashed their hotel rooms and diddled their groupies. I have a feeling that with Lifehouse—not so much. How do you guys not live that sort of rock star high life?
Well, a lot of us are family men, you know. I’ve been married for eight years and Rick has been with his girl for, like, seven years. And Bryce and Ben are single so they kind of do their thing. So I feel like we’ve got a good balance since [Rick and I] are like the anchors of the band, keeping this thing going for a little over 10 years now. I feel like we’re the responsible leaders and it makes room for everyone to have a good, healthy time.
Our band is really tight-knit so on days off or whatever on the road, we always end up at restaurants getting Mexican food and margaritas together or going to see movies. We’re all really good friends and we try to keep each other grounded and never become those unapproachable rock stars that feel like they’re better than everyone else.
Apart from settling in as responsible rock stars, your latest album is your first self-produced album. So now, you guys can pretty much play whatever the hell you want to play.
Absolutely. We wanted to cut the cord with preconceived notions with what kind of record Lifehouse should make on this one. And we wanted to make a record that was fun to play live, ‘cause we’re a band that lives out on the road, so writing just ballads isn’t really fun to play live. So that’s another reason why this record is a little more uptempo ‘cause we wanted it to be exciting in an energetic live show.
I feel like we’ve always been a band where we don’t wanna recreate the same record twice just ‘cause it was successful. We kind of took a risk on Stanley Climbfall, our second record, and that was a little heavier than the first one. It didn’t really do very well but I’m still proud of the fact that we tried something new and didn’t just write another Hanging by a Moment just to be successful. So when we get back in the studio, I wanna continue to grow and change and even lyrically, come up with new concepts.
You also mentioned in an interview that these days, you “don’t give a damn” so much. Were you referring to how Hanging by a Moment, with all its lash-batting introspection and being the most overplayed song of ’01, turned you guys into the poster babies of soft pop rock and how you don’t give a damn about that anymore?
I mean, as an artist I feel like, whenever you’re gonna write a song and put it out there for the world to criticize, you’re opening yourself up to becoming more vulnerable. And to be honest, when I started writing songs when I was 15, my ultimate goal wasn’t to get a record deal or get famous and make a lot of money. I needed to write these songs just ‘cause I was going through a hard time. And for me, making music and writing lyrics kind of gave me an outlet—almost like therapy, so when all this stuff started happening, it took me years to kind of get comfortable with it. I think I’m finally at a place in my life now where I’m comfortable performing live. I would get stage fright in the early days and feel really uncomfortable in front of the cameras and all that stuff. So it’s been one of those things where it’s been an eight-year transition for me to actually feel comfortable in my own skin. And I feel like, as a band, we’re getting to that place where we can just be ourselves and not really care what people think.
And also, getting successful is being able to go to places like the Philippines for five days or so, and places that we would never get to go to if we had a nine-to-five job. And I know the guys really feel the same way, so we’re looking to enjoy the culture over there and have a good life experience.
Lifehouse in Manila by Concertus Productions, brought to you by MCA Music, MTC Phils, NoCurfew, Gant Time. Co-presented by Tanduay rum, Clear for Men, SM Mall of Asia, Discovery Suites, Chrysler, Global Destiny Cable, Azta Urban Salon, Figaro, ETC., Jack TV, 2nd Avenue and Crime and Suspense.
Flickr Photo Contest Coming to a Close
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/19/2008 | Comments (1) | Views: ()
Lifehouse's Flickr Tour Photo Contest is coming to a close, with less than one week left to submit your best photos!
Don't miss your chance to win a signed merch pack from the band. It includes:
- Tour laminate
- Tour merch package (T-shirts, stickers, and more)
- Signed official "Disarray Tour" posters
- Full Lifehouse album and DVD catalogue
If you haven't entered already, all you need to do is go to www. flickr. com and upload your pics with the tag "Lifehouse Tour".
The last day to submit will be Monday, July 21st.
The 10 Best photos will be featured on Lifehousemusic. com, with the winner being selected Friday August 1st.
"Broken" Available On iTunes
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/08/2008 | Comments (7) | Views: ()
Lifehouse's much anticipated third single off of their June 2007 release, "Who We Are", is now available on iTunes. The song "Broken" has been edited for radio with a more 'rock' feel to it. It's much different from the original, but the song still has that same awesome emotion and a raw feeling to it.
Who We Are (Limited Edition)
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/07/2008 | Comments (3) | Views: ()
Lifehouse has released a special edition of "Who We Are". The new album is available at most stores, including Wal-Mart and Best Buy.
The new release features two discs: the original album "Who We Are", and on Disc 2, there are the following live tracks:
First Time (PBS Soundstage)
Hanging By A Moment (Nissan Live Sets)
You and Me (Nissan Live Sets)
From Where You Are (April 1 - Live at Roseland Ballroom)
Whatever It Takes (April 1 - Live at Roseland Ballroom)
"Hanging By A Moment" on BuzzCuts
| Posted by LHadmin on 7/05/2008 | Comments (9) | Views: ()
BuzzCuts is here - The 30 biggest and best alternative rock hits of all time on 2 awesome CDs.
Lifehouse's 2001 most played song of the year, "Hanging By A Moment" is part of this collection of two discs.
You can purchase this CD collection at MusicSpace.com!
