Hello Industry is a conscious alternative rock band. Think Queen meets Depeche Mode at a Radiohead concert. It’s highly emotive, high-substance music for people who are sick of mediocrity.
Last year we faced the biggest musical challenge we’d ever faced as a band. Over six months we committed to playing six shows in our home town (Peoria, IL) - all completely different styles of the same Hello Industry songs. We weren’t even sure which styles we’d play when we made the commitment, but four major styles came out of it: alternative rock (our default), electronic (no drums, synth bass, lots of loops, dark and scary), bluegrass (I use that term loosely - but lots of boom-chucking, upright bass, wurlitzer, and acoustic guitars), and classical (grand piano and a strings section).
Most bands rehearse for a few months on a single show. Then they go perform that show a couple hundred times over the course of a year. The next year they add some songs, rehearse, and repeat. We did a tour’s worth of arranging and rehearsing in four completely different genres of music once per month for six months - each time for one single show.
This is not logical or efficient. It’s the opposite of logical and efficient. But it does help explain who this band is a little bit more:
1. We will go to great lengths for our fans. We originally planned to play six rock shows last year but all agreed that it would be much more interesting for our fans to see six unique shows instead.
2. We will not be musically or artistically static. Static is pain for Hello Industry. We’re not satisfied unless we’re exploring. You can call us musical explorers if you want.
3. There is some serious skill lurking beneath the surface of Hello Industry. The band is made up of music teachers and jazz, classical, rock performers And we’re convinced Brett is a direct descendant of Angus Young (somehow).
What does this mean for you? I’ll tell you what this means for you. It means over the next 1yr, 5yrs, 10yrs you’re going to hear a lot of really great music. You’ll hear it in coffee shops, arenas, front rooms, churches. And every time you hear it we hope the music does something new inside you - the way it has inside each of us. That’s why we do what we do.
With that said, I present to you three opportunities for the month of March. You’ll want to do all three of these at just about all costs:
March 11 -> B-SIDES (electronic show) at Copper River Coffee in Peoria, IL
March 13 -> B&W (classical show) in Bloomington, IL
March 18 -> Rock show at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL
Check the schedule on our website for more details and for shows during the rest of the year. See you this month! -Hi
COMING -> this March in Peoria, IL
….and to God what is God’s Tax season again…refunds are nice, but filling stuff out is a drag. Brett here again. I’m having a rare quite weekend afternoon. Although it’s only mid-Feb it’s starting to feel like spring for some reason. HI’s off this week after playing at a WI retreat with our friends from Harvest Bible Chapel. No, I didn’t have any WI cheese, but the ice cream was top notch. I hope everyone that attended had a great time worshipping God, I know we did. I got to play guitar for the air-guitar contest the group held, and had some fun cranking out some some classic rock. I took notes on the moves that I witnessed, I’ll have to try those in the future. On the gear front, I had to repair the fretboard inlays on my Epi Elitist Riviera. I don’t know why, but about three or four of them started popping off the fretboard, maybe my basement is still too humid. I had problems at first with getting super-glue on the fretboard, but I was able to file the glue and inlays back down flush. Almost good as new. All my finger sweat from playing the guitar the next week at RCC smoothed out the nicks in the fretboard from the chisel. In case you didn’t know, Beth is expecting our second child. D-day is 22Aug10. So we’re really excited and we’re thankful for our new blessing. I’m probably going to be out of commission for a while band-wise late this summer…but I hope to be done tracking guitar for HI album #3 before it gets too close to D-day. Exciting! Until next time, Brett
Great time with the Harvest Students in Wisconsin this weekend!!!
YES, “Hymns” is getting closer…
So HI has been busy divy-ing up various responsibilities, working on our strategy, on our next album, on our pitch, on our calendar, etc.
I’m excited to see what 2010 is going to bring. So far we have a bunch of dates shaping up on the calendar. Our newest booking strategy involves setting up “residency” in a few different cities. We’re hitting DeKalb, Bloomington, Champaign/Urbana, Chicago, St. Louis, and Peoria pretty hard this year. If you live in or near these cities, we could really use your help promoting the shows. Our goal is to build up a significant fan base in Illinois, and play lots of music! Keep checking our calendar so you can tell your friends!
So here’s the pitch: Hello Industry is a conscious alternative rock band. Think Queen meets Depeche Mode at a Radiohead concert. It’s highly emotive, high-substance music for people who are sick of mediocrity.
Album 3 is underway. This album promises to be awesome. We promise it will be awesome. We have 9 songs towards a finished product. Over the next month we have a number of weekend retreats where we will be A) leading worship for students and B) arranging/writing the remaining songs for album3. So excited to see what takes shape. We’re planning on recording this spring/early summer. Keep a look-out! One of my personal faves right now is our electronic remix of Stop the Rain from the MaryAnn album. I’m hoping that makes it onto the line-up!
On a more personal note, God has been prompting my thoughts lately to reflect on my true identity, my identity in Christ. This has really been a topic of reflection over the last month. He’s shown me my own depravity in a few specific areas, and wow, Thank you Jesus for saving me. I had an enlightening conversation with my friend Jamie yesterday. Currently, sadly, frustratingly, my joy has been 100% contingent on my circumstances. And while I know that’s not right, I find myself slipping into impatience and wrong thinking: if only… if only…
Praise Jesus for breaking the chains and making us free, so we can be free. I tend to operate in chains, even though I’m free. I forget. But my gracious Father keeps gently reminding me, through friends, through sermons, through scriptures and songs… what gracious love He has lavished upon us! I am His daughter, bought at a high price. This is my true identity. I don’t have to try and strive and try and strive. I’m a mess. I don’t have it all together, as much as I want you to believe it. And I do. I really want you to believe it. As much as I want GOD to believe it!! It’s hard to admit that. I want to be the responsible employee, but you know what’s missing? The love part of my relationship with God! I would not bother the CEO with my personal problems, I would not expect to have lunch with the CEO! But He’s my Father, my Dad, my Papa. That’s what’s missing when I try to keep juggling all the balls perfectly.
Thanks, God, for not letting me stay where I am, for putting me through the crappy refining process (awful as it is), for smashing my inaccurate picture of You and showing me the REAL You. You must love me.
We’re friends again. ;)
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If you’re a Twitter follower of ours you may have noticed the above image when you visit our Twitter page (apparently there’s a rule about how many friends you can have on Twitter).
Don’t worry, our lawyers are hard at work. By the end of the week Twitter won’t even exist anymore. Let this be a lesson for all of the technological/cultural phenomenons out there.
In the mean time we’ll make sure to forward our updates to Nathan’s twitter and to Hello Industry’s Facebook page. We’ll do a little more blog posting as well. We’ll be on the road pretty non-stop this next couple of months so we’ll have lots to tell you.
Keep in touch!
- Hi
