Lifehouse – Interview

You guys have sure been lucky jumping on big tours. I just heard today that you’ve joined the upcoming Matchbox Twenty and Everclear tour.

Yeah. It’s going to be great. We just got off the Pearl Jam tour, so we’ve been pretty lucky.

So you’ve decided to stick it out in California after basically living everywhere practically at one time or another.

I know, no kidding.

What has it been like absorbing all of the different cities, countries?

It’s been really good for my upbringing. I’ve always liked traveling around, but it’s nice to have a place to come home to after touring so much.

What was it like the first time you went on tour?

We haven’t done any tours by ourselves. We cut the record and then went out on the road. We were really just babies out there. It’s taken us four months to get used to it. It’s been a blast.

How did you prepare yourself for the road?

No one was really sure what was going to happen with the record and it just started happening so fast that we really had to just catch up to it.

I know you grew up with both your parents as ministers. How much has that effected you and your music?

Most of my lyrics are inspired spiritually, but also inspired by real life. I write story type songs. One of my favorite things to do is to go to Barnes & Noble and people watch. The stories aren’t literal, they tend to be more abstract, but I take a lot of my experiences I’ve had and my friends have had and mix them all up.

Was music at first more of an outlet or hobby?

I think with where I was at when my parents got divorced, it just started as me getting out how I felt. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life until I put the band together. That is when I knew we could do something with it.

So you just picked up the guitar for fun and it turned into a career.

Yeah. I mean, everyone dreams of being a rock star, but I was never in that frame of mind. I was doing it for me. I think that is why my lyrics are so personal.

Where does your ability for melodies come from?

You know what is funny? I tried writing a song the other day, and usually I lay down a couple chords and then sing a melody to it and usually it works best that way, but the other day I was singing random lyrics along with the song and actually it ended up being my best way to write songs for the past couple of months.

Do you write alone?

Yeah, I tend to write that way. Usually I write the lyrics afterwards. I would always carry the melody in my head and then finish it afterwards.

How did you pick up the guitar?

My mom always played guitar when I was growing up and would write songs, so that kind of inspired me to play. She taught me two chords and I went on from there.

I play guitar too and I was wondering if you were just sitting there jamming and had a ‘hallelujah’ moment where you played a chord or figured something out?

Yeah, totally. There are so many moments where I find new chords and I freak out. There are some transitions through different chords. You just get so excited.

I know. I’ll be sitting there playing, wondering if I came up with this cool chord progression or if I’m stealing it.

I know!

Is that why you don’t listen to lots of popular music? So that you don’t borrow from someone subconsciously?

Yeah. I’m sort of a chameleon when it comes to music. I listen to lots of soundtracks and scores from movies for inspiration.

What do you think of everyone who wants to call you knockoffs of Pearl Jam or Creed?

I think that whenever someone is trying to figure out whether they like you or not, they have to categorize you. I think it’s human nature. Honestly, I have to say it bothers me, but actually I do the same thing. I’ll listen to a band and go, ‘That really sounds like Radiohead meets whoever.’ I’m guilty of that myself so I can’t really say much about it.

It seems like a dumb question, but is it your natural voice to sound the way we hear on the record?

Oh yeah, totally. I didn’t really get into Pearl Jam until we put the band together. I missed the whole Seattle thing. I really try not to sound like anyone. I hear people singing on the radio and you get the feeling they are trying hard to sound the way they do, but I’m not. I have kids who come up to me and ask me for advice and I always tell them to be themselves. That is what makes you special.

There are just pitches in people’s voices and there is nothing you can do about it.

People are either going to have a high raspy voice or low voice or whatever.

There is this folk singer named Michael McDermott that I had the chance to interview and he sings a bit like Bon Jovi and he hates it. But he can’t do a thing about it because that is what his voice sounds like.

Really? But I understand because there are so many people who will always say, ‘Oh you sound like this,’ but it’s your voice, not your band.

It’s a vocal thing. It’s not like you are trying to rewrite some Pearl Jam songs.

I know. I remember when Creed first came out and everyone compared them. I could see it then, but now they don’t because they are so huge. You just have to develop your own sound.

The same thing happened to Stone Temple Pilots.

Exactly. They have an identity of their own. I think that they compare you until they get to know you and then you get your own identity and then they compare new bands to you. It’s the transition of being new. It doesn’t bother me that much.

Are your parents freaking out about you being on the road?

No, not really. They are just so excited about what has happened. They know it’s my dream and it’s happening, so they are so happy.

Well, you always hear stories about people on the road and stuff. I know most parents would be freaking out.

I know. My mom doesn’t worry about me too much. She’s pretty cool.

What other outlets do you have away from music?

I enjoy running and just started doing that again. I love playing basketball, working out, and staying healthy. I love playing basketball.

You’ll have to bring a portable hoop with you on the road.

I know! Hopefully, if we get bigger, some day I’ll start requesting a basketball hoop.

Or just toss it on the top of the bus.

Yeah. [laughs] We’ll have a basketball court in a trailer.

When the record first came out and people in the crowd knew the words, how does that hit you?

It hits me slowly every day. Just our last trip we opened for Green Day at a radio show and there were like eight thousand people and they all seemed to know the words to “Hanging By A Moment”. And they were signing so loud that you couldn’t even hear my vocal. It gave me the chills.

I think that is the one thing fans are curious about. What it is you are thinking when you are on stage and the crowd is singing back to you.

It’s crazy. It’s the biggest rush in the world. But also hearing your song on the radio is a huge rush too. I nearly crash my car when it comes on.

When was the first time you heard it on the radio?

In Jacksonville, Florida. They were early playing our track. We heard it twice and stopped the car and soaked it in.

I always think it is funny that a band will say that when they first hear their song on the radio they pull over and listen like it’s the first time they have every heard it. It seems so weird, but yet it’s such a simple pleasure.

Yeah, I mean, you know the history behind it, when I first wrote it, all of it. So it’s really special.

Lastly, the band name, where did the name Lifehouse come from?

It’s just an inviting name to people. It was really appealing to us because it was all songs about life. It really connected to where we were coming from and I think people are starting to feel that too.

+ charlie craine