Hellogoodbye is a powerpop band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001. They are signed to Drive-Thru Records and released their first full-length album,
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! in 2006, in addition to their previously released EP
Hellogoodbye and DVD
OMG HGB DVD ROTFL. In 2005, the band appeared on MTV's
Austin and won MTV2's
Dew Circuit Breakout.
History
Early career (2001-2004)
Hellogoodbye was initiated in 2001 as a recording project by Huntington Beach High School student Forrest Kline. With the aid of fellow student Jesse Kurvink, Kline started recording synthesized power pop songs on his computer, which originally only served the purpose of entertaining their friends. However, Hellogoodbye's fan base grew steadily, as more and more of their songs appeared on MP3.com: a total of eleven spread on fan-assembled CD-Rs labeled
The Parachute EP and served as demos for both their following EP and full-length album. Originally
The Parachute EP was planned to be officially released containing four songs, however, only a handful of copies were burnt by Kline himself. According to Kurvink, the band name was taken from the Beatles song "Hello Goodbye".
Hellogoodbye began playing local concerts without having a released album. For live shows, vocalist/guitarist Kline and keyboardist Kurvink were accompanied on drums by either Parker Case, who would later form the now defunct JamisonParker and is currently a member of Say Anything, or Aaron Flora, formerly of the band Throwdown and currently of the band Northern. Flora and bassist Marcus Cole soon joined them permanently, completing the band's line-up.
Though Drive-Thru Records signed Hellogoodbye, everything the band does is still entirely done by themselves, ranging from recordings and album artwork to posters and merchandise designs. Shortly after their signing, Kline and Kurvink recorded the band's debut EP,
Hellogoodbye, which spawned a music video to the song "Call n' Return." The video featured Kline and Flora playing a comedic game of tennis against Cole and Kurvink. In March, drummer Flora left the band and was replaced by then Chris Profeta (formerly of A Cutthroat Kiss).
Hellogoodbye EP (2004-2006)
The EP was released on August 17 2004 and supported by various U.S. tours. During one of them, the "Sounds of Change Tour" with An Angle, Socratic and Steel Train, Hellogoodbye flipped and totalled their van and trailer after Cole dozed off behind the wheel while driving through Pennsylvania on October 22 2004. None of the band's members were injured.
While participating in 2005's South by Southwest, a music festival in Austin, Texas, the band appeared on several episodes of MTV's
Austin. The cast of the TV series produced a video documentary about three bands on the festival's line-up (the other two being Halifax and Enon), including interviews and live footage. The appearance gave a boost to the band's popularity.November 22 2005, Hellogoodbye released a DVD titled
OMG HGB DVD ROTFL. It featured two hours of concert and touring footage, as well as music videos to the five songs off their debut EP. Following the release, the group was also featured on the third and fourth installment of the Drive-Thru Records DVD series. In December 2005, the band won MTV2's
Dew Circuit Breakout, competing as Los Angeles' representative against New York City and Chicago finalists Pete Miser and Tub Ring. The prize included $10,000 cash, a set of Gibson equipment and an opening slot on an upcoming major U.S. tour.
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! (2006-Present)
In 2006, Hellogoodbye appeared on the Vans Warped Tour. On August 8 2006, Drive-Thru Records released Hellogoodbye's first full-length CD
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!. The album contains mostly re-recorded versions of previously released songs, five of which were scheduled to be on Hellogoodbye's never-released 2002 debut album ("All Time Lows", "I Saw It on Your Keyboard", "Two Weeks in Hawaii", "Figures A & B", and "Touchdown Turnaround"). On November 7, 2006, hellogoodbye released an internet-only remix EP called
Remixes!, which can be purchased at the iTunes Store, as well as the band's MySpace page.
In January 2007, the single "Here " saw a resurgence on Top 40 radio and entered the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at #14) and the Pop 100 (peaking at #9). The single is now certified Gold. In the same month, they also appeared on
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and began a headlining tour of Japan and the United Kingdom, supported by Houston Calls and Plain White T's. Also one of their songs ("Oh, It is Love") is the theme song on MTV's Engaged and Underage". On March 13, 2007, they released an iTunes exclusive three song EP, which features three different remixes of the song "All of Your Love". In April, they headlined the side stage at Give It a Name 2007. In April 2007, they did a North American tour with Boys Like Girls, called "Two Months of Spring Break Tour '99". Hellogoodbye played the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2007 and also a headline show at the London Astoria on August 21. On May 5 2007, the band played the main stage of The Bamboozle in New Jersey. The band released the song "Baby, It's Fact" from their album
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! in the UK on the 10th September. On their Myspace tour, and in the January 2007 issue of Alternative Press magazine, they confirmed their new record will come out in 2009.
Members
- Forrest Kline ? Vocals, guitar
- Jesse Kurvink ? Keyboards, vocals
- Marcus Cole ? Bass guitar, vocals
- Chris Profeta ? Drums, percussion
Former members
- Aaron Flora ? Drums, percussion
Discography
Albums
- Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! (2006) #13 US, #17 UK
EPs
- Hellogoodbye (2004)
- Remixes! (2006)
- The 'All Of Your Love' Remixes EP (2007) (iTunes exclusive)
DVDs
Singles
Non-album tracks
- "Winter Wonderland" – released on Happy Holidays from Drive-Thru Records (2004)
- "Weird Science" – released on A Tribute to Oingo Boingo (2005)
- "Asking Jessica To Be Official ft. Ryan Wilson"
- "Jesse Buy Corsage"
- "Oh Angie"
- "If You Wanna...I Might"
- "Oh Karissa How I Miss Ya"
- "Lindsay Pai Aia Mode (I Just Think She's The Best)"
- "Welcome To The Record"
- "Trevor Roolz (A lot)"
- "Two Gay German Clubbers Who Are in a Club"
- "Secret Song aka Ethan's Song"
- "One Armed Scissor", which is actually a phone message forrest received and turned into a song.
Covers
- "Fly Me To The Moon" Frank Sinatra
- "1999" Prince
- "La La" Ashlee Simpson
- A variety of Blink 182 songs
- "Escape" Enrique Iglesias
- "The Way I Feel Inside" The Zombies