"...all we wanted to be was Hit The Lights": Interview with Nick Thompson, Hit The Lights

"I'll build a throne made from the bones. Of those who died searching for gold. Just to find it's found inside our hearts"

Hit the Lights have come a long way since I saw them last in Gainesville, Florida four years ago. Fast forward to 2010 and with two full length albums and two EPs under their belts, the boys from Lima, Ohio have exploded, completing stints on the Take Action, Alternative Press and Warped Tours over in the states they are now featuring on the Slam Dunk tour in the UK.

2007 saw them face the biggest challenge of their careers when vocalist Colin Ross decided to leave the band. Hit the Lights went on a break as they tried to find a new singer and nine months later Nick Thompson, their guitarist, embraced the role and they came back stronger than ever.

Whilst their vocalist might have changed, their anthemic pop punk tunes continue to ooze energy and their live shows are electric. Because of their rocky past the boys are particularly appreciative of their fans and extremely humble. With bands like Hit the Lights around pop-punk has a very bright future.

They're also refreshingly down to earth and I was honoured to catch up with Nick for a chat about the band's history and it's future...

It's been a long while since I saw you guys play in Gainesville back in 2006. How's that journey been and when did you start to realise things were picking up for you? 

I think things started picking up for us after we got on a couple tours with our friends in Cartel and we got on a tour called the Take Action tour for a little bit. But when we got on tours with bands like New Found Glory and we came over here for the first time with them that's when we really felt when that kids were coming for us too. We noticed more and more when we were playing with those other bands, like Paramore, that there would be a lot of kids coming and singing our stuff. Then we kind of got cut short because Colin quit the band. We took nine months off and pretty much almost faded away and ended up coming back and kind of having to rebuild things. But we were cool enough to have enough fans that stuck with us that made it easier.

Was there ever a time in that nine month period you thought of quitting?

There wasn't a time where we thought that but it was always in the back of our minds. We took 9 months off when we were trying to find a new singer. We'd talked about me singing before but it wasn't something that I really wanted to do. I really liked playing guitar and thought that we could probably find someone better. We got a lot of really cool people to try out and there were some people we really wanted but that just didn't work out. So we were just like "let's just make the record we want to and if we go out, at least we'll go out making a record we're really happy with". We ended up going in to the studio with our friend, Rob Freeman (ex Hidden in Plain View) and recorded Skip School Start Fights. Then just went out, the kids were awesome and picked it up and it's better than ever now.

It's such a big change for a band to get a new vocalist, were you surprised by the support from the fans?

Yeah! Especially for those who just listen and don't know us as a band. To a lot of people the singer is the voice, that's what you identify with. So for a band to change singers - thats a big deal! A lot of times you're better off just starting over but with us in Hit the Lights we had all put in so much work, and it wasn't fair on us to go back on everything we had and all we wanted to be was Hit The Lights.

A lot of bands these days play a couple of shows and get signed straight away. How does that make you guys feel because of all that hard work you've put in to get where you are?

We're in a funny position, because we're at that point now where we're considered a band that's been around for a while now, which is funny because I remember starting out thinking that about other bands. But what I've learnt from seeing other bands who have been in the scene for a while is that it's really important not to be bitter and not to focus on what other people are doing. You know that times will change and people will change and we definitely won't be someone's favourite band forever. We just try to go out and make sure we're having fun in doing what we wanna do and that the kids are getting that from us too. The kids can tell when you don't enjoy something or you do enjoy something. That's really all I want to worry about. Things are definitely different now. Myspace was just getting started when we were getting going and that was the start of something really fucking huge! Now there's Facebook and all kinds of different things and it's totally different now! Also the music industry's changed too. So, while things aren't necessarily getting easier for artists it's just something that happens - there'll always be people that get things they don't deserve and the people that deserve it who don't get it and there's gonna be people who deserve it and get it.

A lot of bands tend to be from the LA or NYC area, did you find that it was harder for you guys coming from a Midwest background?

Yeah, we came from a place in Ohio where there's nothing but cornfields around and it's very mundane and definitely not a place for music to thrive so that's really what fueled us to tour. We just wanted to get out of there and play to more people. It's what made us want to be a band. We wanted to get out and see the world and to go to California and stuff. So for Ohio kids that hadn't been outside the state before that was a big deal!

How did you get that very first tour off the ground? Did you all have jobs you had to quit?

We all had jobs. I joined Hit The Lights as a fifth member. They were originally a four piece and my band broke up and I entered into Hit The Lights. The guys had goals written up and Omar was booking all the tours. We'd go out on the weekend and play shows in Chicago and Michigan and stuff. Just like the outside states. Eventually Omar said we're gonna tour in the summer so we all quit our jobs and did that and came home and had to start again. It was a commitment but that's what drives you at those jobs because if you have something you're striving for then you can get through that week and know that you have something on the weekend to do. It makes it a lot easier.

'Tell Me Where You Are' was on the Skip School Start Fights CD, but there's also a newer version on the Coast to Coast EP. Who's the girl singing in the newer version?

Her name is Lacey Steinel. She was the producer, Rob's intern's girlfriend who came in. We knew we wanted a girl singer and Rob said we know this girl that can sing so she came in and started singing and we were like 'that was fucking awesome'. So if possible we'd love to get her on a song for the next record because she fucking killed it. And everyone always wants to know who that girl is. She was in a band in New Jersey called Best Week Ever and her voice is incredible.

Is there anyone else that you would wanna duet with or collaborate with?

I don't think anybody that would at this point! Haha! I'm a big fan of Imogen Heap, but I don't think she'd ever do anything. I don't know! That's a good question! I'd have to actually sit down and use my noodle for that one, I'm not good that that!

So, when's the new album out? Are you recording or writing it yet?

We're doing all the writing at the moment. We're doing tonnes and tonnes of writing. Right now we're on a new label and it's a big stepping stone for us. We know we'll have the record out – we want it out in Spring time. So we're just gonna take all the time and write all the songs we can from every different aspect. I think that the album will be our most different, and I think it will be our best. It's the most we've ever written for an album so we'll have a lot to choose from - which might make it harder but we'll see! I'd rather have so many songs to choose from.

You guys obviously spend a lot of time together touring, do you have any pet hates or anything?

We're pretty good. Everyone has things, for sure! We all get on together really well and we all make each other laugh a lot. I think that makes things a lot easier because we're all trying to say very offensive things to make each other laugh and try to get away with things! So I think that makes it easier. Also I think that we get along a lot better than other bands do. Especially for as long as we've been a band, but I think that also goes hand in hand with what we've been through as a band and that's brought us closer together. Is that sappy enough?!

Yeah, that's pretty emotional!

Skip School, Start Fights and Coast to Coast is out now on Triple Crown.

For more information on forthcoming tour dates etc check out their Myspace.

A huge thank you to Matt Watts of Red Light Management, Ben Hammond and all of Hit the Lights for collectively being super awesome and making this interview happen. Cheers guys! :)