Hellogoodbye Biography

Hellogoodbye is a power pop band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001 by singer Forrest Kline. 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.

History

Early career (2001–2005)

Hellogoodbye started in 2001 as a recording project by Huntington Beach High School students Forrest Kline and Jesse Kurvink. The band started as a ska band and slowly turned pop. With the interest only to entertain friends and woo crushes, Kline and friend Jesse Kurvink recorded some songs on Forrest’s home computer. The first Hellogoodbye song ever written was Kurvink’s “Bonnie Taylor Shakedown (2006)” which later appeared on their debut self-titled EP. With Perk’s interest in web and graphic design, the unofficial group got a working title and a website and posted songs on MP3.com. As interest in the music grew, Kline the Swine and Kurvink recruited friends and chanced upon some opening slots at local shows.

In the first two years the group played local shows in Orange County at venues like Chain Reaction (Anaheim, California), The Hub (Fullerton, California), and Koo’s Cafe (Santa Ana, California), made a few trips to play in Arizona, and did one mini-tour through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas with the band Peachcake. During this time they kept busy burning demos, screen printing tee-shirts and promoting via their website before signing to Drive-Thru Records in 2003.

The lineup went through a few changes before signing to Drive-Thru. Parker Case, now of Say Anything, started out playing drums, but was replaced in 2001 by Aaron Flora (of the band XThrowDownX). A high school friend named Paul White was the original bassist, but he quit and was replaced by Marcus Cole in 2002. After signing to Drive-Thru Records, Flora left to go to college and was replaced by current drummer Chris Profeta. In 2007, Cole left the band and was replaced by long-time buddy Travis Head.

After signing in 2003 Hellogoodbye released a self-titled EP on August 17, 2004, which has sold over 400,000 copies to date. The band began touring vigorously in support of this release in the United States and abroad. During 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 , 2004. None of the band’s members were injured. An archive of the bands touring history is maintained at and includes tours with The All-American Rejects, Motion City Soundtrack, and Panic at the Disco.

While participating in the 2005 South by Southwest (SXSW), a music festival in Austin, Texas, the band appeared on several episodes of MTV’s The Real World: Austin. The cast of the TV series produced a video documentary about three bands on the festival’s line-up (the other two were Halifax and Enon), including interviews and live footage. The appearance gave a boost to the band’s popularity.

On 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 featured on the third and fourth installments of the Drive-Thru Records DVD series. In December 2005, the band won MTV2’s Dew Circuit Breakout, competing as Los Angeles’ representative against the New York City and Chicago finalists Pete Miser and Tub Ring. The prize included $10,000, a set of Gibson equipment and an opening slot on an upcoming major U.S. tour.

Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! and Beyond (2006–present)

After two years of touring Hellogoodbye released its first full length record, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, on August 8, 2006 through Drive-Thru Records with a sound design by Jonathan De la peña in a local studio. In 2006, Hellogoodbye appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, did a full headlining tour with Reggie and The Full Effect, Cute Is What We Aim For and Ozma, visited the UK (with The Plain White T’s), Japan, and Europe. In 2007, they continued touring, doing a headlining tour with Boys Like Girls, a tour of Australia with Australian band The Lucksmiths, played the main stage of The Bamboozle in New Jersey, headlined the side stage at Give It a Name, played the Reading and Leeds Festivals as well as European festivals Pukklelpop, Rock en Sein, and the MySpace Music Tour (co-headlining with Say Anything).

In the January 2007 issue of Alternative Press, the group confirmed their new album will be released 2008. In January 2007, the single “Here (In Your Arms)” 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 platinum. In the same month, they also appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Last Call with Carson Daly. Their song “Oh, It is Love” became 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 September 2008 it was announced that keyboardist Jesse Kurvink would be leaving the band to finish college. Replacing him would be Joe Marro, former guitarist/keyboardist of The Early November. In addition to the lineup changes, the band has announced a fall tour throughout the United States. Accompanying them on the tour are Never Shout Never, Say No More, Ace Enders, and PlayRadioPlay!. In October 2008 it was announced on hellogoodbye’s blog that drummer Chris Profeta would be leaving the band, and will be replaced by former Hellogoodbye drummer Aaron Flora.

Tour and New Recordings (2009-Present)

On various websites, including their own, Hellogoodbye have said they’ve been working on a new record. The name of the new album has not been confirmed. They have released a single entitled “When We First Met”. During some shows they have been playing a new song entitled “You Sleep Alone”. An electric version of their song “Betrayed By Bones” from their Ukulele Recordings EP may be on their new record. The band paired up with Hanson starting on September 30 in Tulsa followed by dates in October and early November on what is called the “Use Your Sole Tour”. Other bands scheduled on the tour are Steel Train and Sherwood. On August 5 2009, Hellogoodbye did a live stream of their new song “When We First Met” on absolutepunk.net.

Hellogoodbye was selected to perform at Boston’s notorious CollegeFest event on September 26th, 2009.

Members
Current
Forrest Kline: vocals, guitar, ukulele, primary songwriter
Aaron Flora: drums (2001–2003, 2008-present)
Travis Head: bass
Joseph Marro: keyboard
Andrew Richards: Guitar
Danny: Trombone,Percussion
Former
Chris Profeta: drums, percussion (2003–2008)
Marcus Cole: bass (2002–2007)
Jesse Kurvink: keyboard, vocals, Guitar (2001–2008)
Parker Case: drums (2001)
Paul Michael White Jr: bass (2001)
Ryan Daly: Guitar

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellogoodbye