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Hidden In Plain View
Posted by Rob Ortenzi on 16-Nov-05 @ 04:49 PM
HQ: Stanhope, NJ
NOW PLAYING: Life In Dreaming (DRIVE-THRU; drivethrurecords.com) WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM:According to the "Admit One" slips AP's office furniture is currently buried under, you already do. YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: The Early November/ Matchbook Romance / Senses Fail Hidden In Plain View just flew cross-country to Los Angeles at "like, 6 a.m.," lead vocalist Joe Reo says over an office speakerphone an hour or so later than he was originally scheduled to be on the other end of the line. But his tardiness is perfectly understandable: The current seven-day stretch is probably one of the most hectic he's ever going to experience in his life. By the end of the week, the band not only will have shot a video for "Ashes, Ashes," the first single from their debut full-length, Life In Dreaming; they'll also have hit the road with Something Corporate and Straylight Run. By the end of the month, they'll be touring with Punchline and labelmates Hellogoodbye. By the end of the summer, they'll have completed a second Vans Warped Tour stint. By the end of the year, they'll be on a whole new level of visibility altogether. So, how do the Hidden In Plain View boys feel about their impending mainstream breakthrough? Scared? Excited? Nauseous? Ready to conquer the world? "Oh, man," says Reo. "All of the above." After years of booking their own tours and independently releasing both a six-song EP on the Chicago-based indie LLR and an eponymous 2003 EP on Drive-Thru, Reo, guitarist/vocalist Rob Freeman, drummer Spencer Peterson, bassist Chris Amato and guitarist Mike Saffert have transformed their sound into something "more diverse and rock 'n' roll," confirms Freeman. "We just write what's real." Guitar-driven and densely layered, the effect is nearly cinematic. But the transformation shouldn't really be that surprising. Produced by Jim Wirt (Something Corporate, Incubus), Dreaming is crammed with somber subject matter-rape, dissolving friendship, car wrecks and suicide-but that doesn't mean the quintet spend their days moping around. Reo and Freeman, who first met in high school and both majored in communications in college, have tentative plans to film a documentary about the music scene in which they grew up. "New Jersey is really special," says Reo. "You have kids renting out halls and putting on their own shows, and everyone helps each other out. I wish more places were like that. Can you imagine how different the world of music would be?" -Julie Seabaugh UNDER THE INFLUENCE What album's had the greatest impact on you? "I think we're all pretty much in agreement on this: At The Drive-In's Relationship Of Command," says Freeman. "They don't do things the way everyone else does. It has this really raw and almost live feel to it. It's frantic, and the guitars are always doing something new. That's the kind of thing we want to do: always exploring different places." |
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