"Retro Series": Blowin' Up a Storm - Hurricane Party Interview from 2004

As part of a retro series, Pure Rawk looks back to the times before Pure Rawk and laughs over old stuff and sees how much has changed ...

Some critics say that the whole ‘rock’ scene is making a come back, whilst others believe that it never really left in the first place. Hurricane Party are a group of ‘twenty-somethings’ and are a mixture of Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, a pinch of Guns n’ Roses and a bit of Bon Jovi (all put into one room, could be quite amusing ... or a very noisy party!). Having played with the likes of Nickelback, Skid Row and Status Quo as a support act, they already have grabbed a hardcore fan base and a pretty good CV. They’ve just released their debut EP called “Get This” on the Sanctuary Records label with producer John Kalodner (responsible for kick-starting Aerosmith again and for having influences on AC/DC and Bon Jovi) and Kevin Shirley (who’s worked with Iron Maiden and Black Crowes). I saw Hurricane Party for the first time at a Nickelback gig the tail end of last year and after they had finished their last song, I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one thinking ‘how come I haven’t heard of these guys before - I’ve gotta buy their album’. With their debut album in the pipeline, Hurricane Party have a lot going for them and despite their mercurial rise being compared to ‘The Darkness’ (countless times!) these guys are the real deal and knock the socks (and furry trousers) off of Justin and Co.

On a ‘semi-promotional pub crawl’, Nicola (Nix) Crichton speaks to Richie Hevanz (Lead vocal) and Jonny Rocker (Rhythm guitar and backing vocals) about their dreams and realities ... and big rocking horses!

N: How did you come up with the name ‘Hurricane Party’?

J: There was a TV programme on about ‘Hurricane Parties’ and it happens all the time in America. Groups of kids go to a house or a place that they know a hurricane is going to hit. They all congregate - all get absolutely f***in’ wasted, wait for the hurricane to hit, the roof f***in’ goes off - they all fly out of the roof - go flying or do whatever the f*** - that is a hurricane party. That’s our thesis when we walk into a venue - its just to blow the roof off and ... f*** everyone up!.

N: How were you guys formed?

J: Its been quite a slow process. It was about three or four years ago and we’d been through a few different band members since. About nine months ago, we settled on this lineup. That’s when it all kicked off and its started from there.

N: How did the introduction to the show come about?

J: We played with Status Quo and they were doing a tour called ‘Heavy Traffic’ and their intro started with the traffic report and I was like ‘that’s what we need to do!’ - the ‘Hurricane Party’. We went straight on the internet and found about three or four different radio stations, downloaded their old radio reports. When there is a hurricane going to happen, there’s news reports (puts on semi Texan accent) ‘Hurricane is gonna hit blah di blah di blah - stay out the f***in way - watch out’. So we downloaded a few of them and put them over a bit of thunder and rain.

N: Who would you say are your favourite musicians and bands?

R: Right, easy!. As a singer I grew up listening to obviously Robert Plant. My old man used to sit in the bath after coming home from rugby training and ask me “Rich!, put on Robert Plant!”. So Robert Plant, David Coverdale of Whitesnake and a lot of Jon Bon Jovi, which I’m kind of embarrassed about but its true.

N: What would you say would be your main aspirations in life if you hadn’t of been where you are now?

J: I’d probably be a porn star.
R: I’d of failed miserably. Mine is quite cheesy but its actually true ... and its gonna make everyone cringe. I’d of wanted to have died miserably in a car crash - nah, I actually wouldn’t give a s*** what I’d do, as long as I’m happy. I don’t know, whatever would have made me happy, I’d have given acting a go!

N: Have you ever had a different look from the one that you have now?

J: I used to have short hair.
R: You used to look remarkably different ... so did I actually. Me and him both used to have ridiculously short hair.

N: What would you say is your reaction about being compared to the Darkness?

J: Oh my God! (Sarcastically). Its perfectly understandable, we both worked along the same lines but we don’t sound anything like each other - without a doubt. But there is not many bands these days that operate on the thesis of ‘lets put on a wicked show’. I can’t think of another band apart from the Darkness that do it apart from us.
R: I’d say if you are on about a show or about something that’s good - I’d be flattered to be compared to the Darkness because I do think they put on a good show. If you are on about a look, we are still going through a metamorphosis at the moment, we are still trying to decide what is right for us. Still just trying out different s***. So people will continue to say to us, ‘are you like the Darkness?’ ... ‘yes but we’re not because we are just what we are’.

N: Have you got any other jobs, like stuff you are doing at the moment away from the band?

J: None of us have got part time jobs, had jobs but ...
R: We’re full time dreamers!
J: Part time lovers!

N: Where would you say is your favourite venue that you have played at?

R: Nottingham Rock City.
J: Nottingham Rock City without a doubt about three weeks ago (June) - I had the time of my life.
R: Absolutely fantastic, nice meal ...
J: Is that it? Nice f***in’ meal?
R: Nice meal, comfy seats - it was great (laughs).
J: Nice f***in’ meal? Is that your answer?! (laughs). We sounded really good?, the crowd were really wicked ... no, you say nice meal ... you big fat f*** (laughs).
R: I keep my first answer!

N: As a support act, where would you say has been your favourite venue?

J: The Manchester Apollo with Status Quo and Nickelback. It’s the best venue by far, its an amazing venue. It holds 5,000 people, it sounds amazing ...
R: The food was fantastic (laughs).
J: Yeah, the food was great (laughs). The food was second to none!

N: The worst venue that you’ve played at?

R: Dave’s house ... hmm, that’s hard because if we say one, they won’t let us back!.
J: The thing is that the worst venues are sometimes the best venues. There’s a place that we play called ‘The Crypt’ which is the dingiest, stinkiest cave of a venue that you could ever go to. Its underground and small. The stage is about 3ft by 3ft and we all sit on there like that (Johnny hunches shoulders as if in a tin of sardines). We play it and its rammed out with people and they go mental and it’s a wicked vibe in there. So sometimes what you think is the worst gig ... there’s no dressing room/changing room - you’ve got nowhere to chill out before you go on. You just hang about tuning your guitar by the side of the ‘stage’, walk on and do the thing. But I love that gig and that’s second to the Manchester Apollo.

N: What would you say is your favourite track on the EP?

R: Mine is ‘Crown of Thorns’.
J: ‘Killer’.

N: Who would you say has been your sounding board who you’ve gone to in bad times?

R: Our manager Laurie.

J: Laurie without a doubt, our Svengali.

N: Have you thought about music videos?

J: Yeah, often thought about. Often dreamt about it - had some wicked dreams about it.

N: What would you think your first video be like?

R: Everybody naked except me on top of a big rocking horse - that was my dream!

J: You know, I dreamt that exact same dream!

R: Man, me and you are made for each other!. Nah, mine would be like, something that looks good fun. Something that takes the p*** out of ourselves. Something tongue-in-cheek.

J: Rock and roll is tongue-in-cheek anyway whatever level you go. There’s no such thing as sitting with your guitar going like that (Johnny looks methodical as he strums an imaginary guitar). Whether your Slash or whether you’re f***in’ anyone, the whole thing is tongue-in-cheek.
R: Nobody is bigger than the thing itself.

N: Any funny stories or anecdotes so far?

J: On the way to the Download festival (2004) we broke down and our van blew up driving down the motorway. We’d pulled into the services, we were sitting in the services waiting for the AA thinking we ain’t going to get there - we’re about three hours away but we’ve got to get there. So we were like, ‘we’re gonna hitchhike’. So we walked around the services looking for people who might be going to Donnington. There were loads of people with Metallica T-shirts so we went up to a few of them saying ‘are you going to Donnington’ - ‘yes we are’ - ‘sorry, but have you got a spare space just for me and my guitar?’ so they were like ‘alright’. Basically we hitchhiked in separate cars - everyone in the whole band went up in separate cars. Like a convoy, we all turned up at the gates all in different cars, all met different people and that and it was all alright.

R: What made me laugh the most was that they guy that was in charge of the whole thing said ‘Hurricane Party?’, we were all like ‘yeah’ and we just all looked around and we were all on foot with our instruments in our hands and we were like ‘ah’. And they were like ‘we will send a car round for you now to carry all our equipment round’ and it was just the five of us, no van - nothing!

N: If you guys got quite famous quite quickly would you still play in the venues that you play in now?

R: Nah, we’d forget all about it (winks and laughs). I’d like to but I’m not sure. I wouldn’t know how much we’d be allowed to do. You’d have record companies and other interests and so you’d tend to do what was best for everybody.

J: We’d still play ‘The Crypt’ in 25 years time ...

R: And we’d still play Donnington!

Since then, Hurricane Party have changed their name to 'Roadstar' and have released their video single 'Roadstar' which was very prominent on Kerrang! and Scuzz. They've also released their debut album 'Grand Hotel' ... Words and images by Nicola (Nix) Crichton.

(c) Pure Rawk 2006