by Lexi Bissonnette
Summer means different things to different music lovers- concerts, festivals, free shows in a park, blasting a favorite song with your car’s top down. But to bands it all means very similar things- summer tours and sometimes new albums. For Hawthorne Heights this summer means both. The band’s drummer, Eron Bucciarelli, loves it but can’t wait to get home to relax a little. Hawthorne Heights recently released their fifth studio album, Zero, and has spent the summer traveling the country with Warped Tour.
“[I’m] looking forward to being able to take a shower in my own shower, sleep in my own bed that isn’t moving; the little things in life that everyone usually takes for granted.”
This isn’t the band’s first time at Warped Tour, they were there in 2005 and 2007. But Bucciarelli feels that while the bands have changed over the past seven years the tour itself hasn’t. “I think it really hasn’t changed too much and I think it’s because of how well Warped Tour actually [runs].”
Though this is their third time attending for Bucciarelli, it has not been the most memorable. The band’s drummer looks back on their debut at the tour in 2005 as his favorite. Not because of the lineup but because of what it meant to Hawthorne Heights as a band. “We had grown up going to the tour as a band and to finally be apart of it was something really special for us.”
Warped Tour is certainly not the only tour Hawthrone Heights has done but it certainly is one the busiest. Bucciarelli states that everyone from band to crew is busy all day. But he also says that business in a tour is great for fans. “it’s a lot different (Warped Tour) because you have people come from all walks of life who might not normally come out for your tours.”
This summer hasn’t just been about Warped Tour. Their newest and first concept album, Zero, was released in June and it was something a little different for the band. This album featured a theme- no matter how difficult things are, you always get a second chance.
“Who knows how many more we will get to release so we want to go all out on this one- try stuff we haven’t in the past,” says Bucciarelli.
This was also the first album where they worked with producer Brian Virtue, something that Bucciarelli felt was a great experience. Working with Virtue helped give the band fresh ideas and concepts for the recording of an album. Bucciarelli felt that it couldn’t have gone better and the album has been his most rewarding, “everything felt right about it.”
Recording Zero was a fun experience for him, one that took him back to the way he felt when the band was just starting. “We were just in a really good place creatively. It’s probably the best we’ve been since our first record when there was absolutely no pressure on us what so ever.”
With the summer winding down and Warped Tour almost over, Hawthorne Heights still has a fall tour for their album, but not until after that well earned rest Bucciarelli is waiting for.
