The Hoosiers' Trick to Life
Since etc. featured them last spring, the Hoosiers have hurtled through the pop-sphere with two chart-topping singles and a number one album. (Coincidence?) We catch up with lead singer, Irwin Sparkes, to chat about wizards, failed American tours and
the trick to life...
W hat is it about real, honest-to-god pop music and its devilish ability to burrow deep into our subconscious? Is it black magic or a simple case of science? We want to know, because three nanoseconds into the Hoosiers’ single, ‘Worried About Ray’, and we’re off humming until next Tuesday. So when we got to meet Irwin Sparkes, lead singer of the Hoosiers, we asked him to please shed some light on this phenomenon.
‘Our songs are like malignant egg-laying worms,’ he explains, matter-of-factly. ‘That’s the metaphor we’re most fond of.’
A pretty standard response from a band that dream of incorporating forest scenes, wizardry and puppets into their live shows. But beneath the quirky hooks and highjinks, the Hoosiers are a pretty serious group of blokes who have experienced more life than your typical pop star. In their debut album, The Trick to Life, hard-won tales of life are told through catchy songs about chasing rabbits and a guy named Ray. etc. wonders: who is this Ray character, anyway, and why are they so worried about him? Irwin laughs – do we want the short or long explanation? Ever nosy, we ask for both.
‘The short answer is [Ray] is a metaphor for anything you love. The long answer is that Ray is Al’s [drummer Alfonso Sharland’s] middle name, and at the time of writing the song, we were kind of worried because we were signing on benefit, and we didn’t know what the band was doing, and it was all getting a little bit desperate – so we were just a bit worried about that. Then we kind of took the thought to, well, if you love something, then you’re allowing yourself to be vulnerable. And if that gets hurt, you’ll get hurt – be it a band or another person. Or a goldfish,’ he adds.
Tricks of growing up
Hard to believe that such an upbeat tune is about fear and uncertainty, but the Hoosiers aren’t afraid to admit that both are very real parts of being young, especially when you’re pursuing a dream of making it in music. Take Irwin and Al’s failed tour of America, for instance.
‘It kind of failed because we forgot to book any gigs,’ says Irwin, on reflection. With dreams of rockstardom, the two friends flew to New York City and then hopped on a Greyhound bus down to Florida. But with no stadium gigs on the horizon, they decided to go to university instead, in the American midwestern state of Indiana (‘basically, it was an excuse to give three more years to the band,’ quips Irwin). They got sports scholarships to pay their way, but the newfound sporting commitments took the place of Irwin and Al’s band time. However, ‘the life experience was invaluable,’ says Irwin. ‘It was really important in terms of our songwriting.’
etc. wants to know what it was like for two boys from Reading to explore the vast cornfields of America’s Midwest. ‘It reminded me of a place where you grow up when you’re young and it can’t quite contain you – there’s just not enough to keep you interested. And then you’ve got the people who stay and don’t look beyond things and just accept the first thing that’s offered to them,’ says Irwin, consequently clueing us in to the meaning behind the band’s curious name – in Indiana, a ‘hoosier’ is a person who never leaves their hometown. (Originally, the band called themselves the Hoosier Complex.)
‘We kind of saw that while growing up in Reading, too,’ he continues. ‘It’s not necessarily a bad way of doing things, but there’s just so much more out there. The east and west coasts of America are a good example of places that are a bit more liberal, a bit more freethinking. Not a lot of hoosiers out there!’
Rising to fame
Having made their escape from Indiana and back to the UK, Irwin and the boys have proven to be anything but a bunch of typical hoosiers. With half a million records sold and the airwaves awash with their singles, the Hoosiers have arrived after ten years of effort. etc. not-so-secretly harbours dreams of one day becoming a rockstar, so we ask what to expect, if that ever happens.
‘Our whole lives as we know it have been tipped upside down – but in a good way,’ says Irwin. ‘It’s sort of all come, all of a sudden, and there’s no time to catch your breath. But it’s great – not a complaint!’ This is where we expect to hear tales of drunken hotel-trashings and mobs of screaming groupies, but the Hoosiers are a bit too level-headed for that.
‘Part of it is just being as realistic with it as possible. We wouldn’t say we were a big time band at all,’ says the all-too-modest Irwin. ‘We’ve got a direction to where we want to be and where we want to go, and that involves making a better second album, and being better live.’
It’s refreshing to meet a band that takes their work so seriously, and we remind them that selling half a million records makes them a big time band in our books – and we sheepishly admit to being ever so slightly jealous. Though to be honest, it’s impossible to begrudge the fame and fortune of such nice blokes, especially after learning how hard they work.
‘For myself, I need to write, like, ten songs before I write a half-decent verse!’ confesses Irwin. ‘Because there’s three of us, we all have to be really into the song before it gets passed on, which is a helpful filtering process. The song is king, and the way the industry is these days, you’ve got one shot to kind of get your foot in the door. We’re signed to a major label, so no messing around!’
Future antics
While the Hoosiers’ songwriting process may have a no-messing-around policy, the policies of their live show are another story. Irwin tells us that the band has a million ideas for future stage antics, but at the moment, they don’t quite have the budget to do everything they want. etc. asks him if money wasn’t an object, what would they want onstage?
‘Madness! We want to have a whole live forest onstage, with trees, wizards, puppets and silliness.’ (What is the going rate for a good wizard, anyway?) From the quiver of Irwin’s voice, we can tell that he’s given this fantasy world quite a bit of thought. ‘At the moment, we want to get the audience in on the fun as much as possible, so this whole next tour is going to be a fancy dress party.’ etc. agrees that this is a great idea – we love a good dress up just as much as the next person. ‘And it really makes quite a memorable evening when you look out and there’s a sea of all these crazy, ridiculous get-ups,’ adds Irwin. ‘People feel free to let go and just have lots and lots of fun.’
He moves on to visions of dramatic stagings, elaborate sets, and the concept of turning their live show into a quasi-play. Here, his voice begins to trail off. He stops himself and says that he musn’t give too much away. Oh please, we beg – just one tiny little clue? Irwin considers it, then says: ‘Windows like eyes.’ (Hmm – about as helpful as the egg-laying worm answer.)
Well, bizarre windows aside, we can expect a lot from the Hoosiers this year. They’ll be busy with a globetrotting tour spanning the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, as well as gearing up for a second album. Over Christmas, they got down to some serious songwriting, and those lucky enough to catch their tour may get a preview of the album to come. With an eye to recording in late summer, their second effort should be on the shelves by early 2009. In the meantime, Irwin thinks they might record a few alternate versions of songs and post them on MySpace, just to show their fans that they haven’t gone anywhere.
The trick to life revealed
These days, teens and early twenty-somethings rule Britain’s pop scene. When Irwin says he is 26 years-old, we wonder (aloud) if that makes him a granddad in the young world of pop. ‘We like to think of ourselves as ‘elder statesmen of Pop,’ he laughs. That’s not much sexier than ‘granddad’, but the life experience behind the Hoosiers is impossible to ignore. The more etc. chats with Irwin, the more we realise that he is one wise fellow, who’s been around the block a few times. So what exactly is their album all about? What is the Trick to Life?
‘We were really committed to not just having a pop album about going out on a Saturday night or a romantic involvement, because I think pop is just oversaturated with that. We wanted to write about what we were going through, and, as guys in our early 20s then, it was lots of questions that didn’t seem to have any answers, and trying to find our place in the adult world. I guess “the trick to life” is coming to terms with the idea that there may not be any answers to those questions. In hindsight, I guess it was a coming of age album about things you’re thinking about as a young person.’ Just as things seem to be getting serious, Irwin adds: ‘It’s also quite funny – a debut band having such a pompous title for their debut album!’
So now we know that life is sometimes without answers – what is the trick to making it in a band? ‘It’s all about songwriting,’ says Irwin. ‘Really listening to good music, I think, is a good way of informing your songwriting. Good taste breeds good music!’
Our guess is that the Hoosiers have been listening to some really great music, for quite some time.
Comments
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| Author: Charlotte A | Date: 23rd, August 2008 |
| I love Irwin Sparkes he is so f*****g fit and adorable and gorgeous and I could go on for evr and evr... Is there any sane girl who doesn't agree that he is the cutest guy in the world???! And yes 'etc' i do agree he is one wise guy I have to look up every other word he says in interviews in the dictionary lol! N that makes him even more sweet... I running away with myself now into Irwin heaven so I'll stop here. LOVE YOU IRWIN SPARKES | |
| Author: charlotte | Date: 6th, June 2008 |
| I love the HOosIerS I think they are FAB. I love Irwin he is soooo fit and gorgeous and just so ahhhh. I could stare at him all day and listen to him sing 4 ever!!! :P LOL | |
| Author: Abi | Date: 10th, March 2008 |
| i love the hoosiers . (L] | |
