Hit The Lights: Mad, Mad, Madden World

For those who’ve been following Ohio’s small-town sweethearts since their pop-punk roots first took hold along I-75, HIT THE LIGHTS have always been destined for the musical big leagues. So when their song “Until We Get Caught,” from 2006’s This Is A Stick-Up… Don’t Make It A Murder, was tapped to suit up and hit the virtual field on EA Sports’ pigskin playmaker Madden NFL ’07, HTL had their game faces ready.


“[EA Sports] approached us. [Our song] must have gotten passed along to them,” says newly christened lead vocalist NICK THOMPSON. “They wanted to do it and we were like, ‘Absolutely!’ Kids at shows always talk about how they’d be walking through a game store, and they’d have the [Madden NFL ’07] demo on and our song would be playing.”


Of course, sharing a soundtrack with the likes of AFI and Taking Back Sunday is never a bad thing. “That’s huge promotion. And I think that’s one of the biggest-selling video games of all time,” adds Thompson.
While the band might devote their primary thumb-work to their first love of playing music on the road, that doesn’t mean an occasional workout won’t do the digits some good. “Dave [Bermosk, bass] and our old tour manager played [Madden NFL ’07] all the time,” admits Thompson. “They used to play it on the plane, and then take their earphones out [so everyone could hear it] whenever our song came on. It never got old.” –Jennifer Grathwol