Rob Freeman
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Robert Andrew Freeman (born March 26, 1981) is the former guitarist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter for the pop punk/post-hardcore group Hidden in Plain View. Presently, he has his own solo recording project titled The Pilot and is a record producer, mainly for up-and-coming New Jersey rock bands.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Rob Freeman was born on March 26, 1981 in the small town of Andover in northern New Jersey. He began playing the drums when he was five years old, picked up the guitar about ten years later, and played both instruments in various local garage bands (such as The Fantastics, Dirty Pebbles, and Spastic Cradle). In 1998, Freeman began his first serious musical endeavor with his future Hidden in Plain View bandmate Joe Reo, whom he had met while attending high school in Stanhope, New Jersey. Fronting the ska punk band 8 Over Par — Reo as the lead vocalist/trumpeter, Freeman as the backing vocalist/guitarist — they discovered their shared passion for music, so that when 8 Over Par split in April 2000, the two continued writing songs together. At first, Freeman also joined the band Face First as a drummer, however, he quit shortly after to devote himself fully to Reo's and his newly formed band Hidden in Plain View.
[edit] Hidden in Plain View
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For more details on this topic, see Hidden in Plain View.
Upon forming in August 2000, Hidden in Plain View began playing concerts somewhat frequently, in hopes of being able to make a living out of their music. After graduating high school, the band released their debut EP Find (2001) independently and their second EP Operation: Cut-Throat (2002) on Note to Self Records, while the number of fans attending their shows increased steadily.
Following several line-up changes, Drive-Thru Records signed the band in June 2003 and released their four-song sampler EP Hidden in Plain View on November 11, 2003. In spite of being criticized for its lack of variety, the EP was a perfect showcase of the band's continuous development of both musicianship and songwriting. With more sophisticated lyrics, a heavier undertone in the instrumentation and a discreet nod to contemporary screamo in the vocals, it served as a promising prelude to their following full-length album.
In mid-2004, Hidden in Plain View went into the studio with producer Jim Wirt to record their full-length debut Life in Dreaming. Song structures were far more diverse on this effort — featuring riff heavy anthems as well as melancholy ballads — as were the lyrical topics, dealing with the pressure of growing up ("American Classic"), the experience of losing a close friend ("In Memory") and the controversial subject of date rape ("Bleed for You"). Life in Dreaming was also the first of the band's records that integrated Freeman as a full vocalist with almost as many parts as lead vocalist Reo in certain songs, such as "A Minor Detail", "Garden Statement" and "Top 5 Addictions".
The follow-up album to Life in Dreaming was recorded in 2006 and planned for a release somewhere in 2007. On January 29, 2007, it was announced via the label's website that the band had broken up, yet the Album "Resoulution" was still released on drive through records on July 24th, 2007 after the break up.
[edit] Record production
In 2002, Freeman started setting up a recording studio inside his house in Byram, New Jersey, where he would produce semi-professional home recordings for himself, Hidden in Plain View and other local bands. The RAF Studios (receiving its name from his initials) were inaugurated in the summer of 2002, with the recording of a three-song demo for Boonton, New Jersey's Foster, the aptly titled The Demo (containing the songs "The Pushovers", "Inches and Yards" and "Boxing Day"). In early 2003, Freeman produced a 4 Song Sampler for Houston Calls, a pop punk band from Rockaway, New Jersey consisting mostly of former bandmates of his, from both Face First and Hidden in Plain View.
In 2004 the studio took on the name The Pilot Studio and saw the releases of three EPs, as well as several Hidden in Plain View songs for compilation albums, produced by Freeman ("Mr. Jones" for Dead and Dreaming: An Indie Tribute to the Counting Crows and "I Ran" for Punk Goes 80's). The EPs included Sleepwell's independently released Coin Operated Entertainment (featuring "Symphony in Red", "Firing Line (All Targets Down)" and "Center City"), Royden's Best Friends Our Worst Enemies (featuring "Carrabella", "Ghosthouse 1922", "Murder of an Albatrose", "Doolittle Raids" and "Made in Lies") issued by Genco Records, and Maverick's Caught in the Negatives (featuring "The Annexation", "An Epic at Sea", "A Day at The Fehr", "A Basement Calls", "Vulnerable" and "Deadly Morphing Beauty") on Over and Out Records.
Later in 2005, Freeman produced and co-wrote several songs for an EP by The Game Plan — due out in summer 2006, before producing The Letter You's six-song EP Free from Everything (released on November 6, 2005) and Sleepwell's self-titled debut EP under their new name Sound the Alarm (released on January 24, 2006). In early 2006, while Hidden in Plain View took a break from touring, Freeman was busy again working on EPs with bands such as Someday Never and Hometown Anthem. Later that year, he relocated The Pilot Studio to a 1300 square foot warehouse space in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey. His first projects in the new studio were a song for Cobra Starship, to be released on the original soundtrack to TMNT, a Full-Length for the band Veara, an EP for The Cross Town Rivalry, an EP for Parade The Day, an EP for Maverick.
[edit] The Pilot
Due to the considerable difference between the number of songs Hidden in Plain View's schedule allows them to record and the number of songs Freeman writes, he decided to put his recording studio to good use by starting a solo project under the name The Pilot. As of December 2006, The Pilot has released fourteen songs on his PureVolume and MySpace profiles ("This So Called Life", "Miss Mirage", "The Distance I Know", "Good Enough", "Home Away from Home", "Day In and Day Out", "5 Years in the Making", "You Verse Me Verse the World", "White Noise", "Believe What You Will", "The Sleeping Pattern", "Here and Now", "Fear of Heights" and "Twist and Toss and Turn"), though it is unknown whether they will ever be issued on a CD, or if he will continue making them available for free download.
Musically, Freeman's solo project does not differ drastically from his work with Hidden in Plain View. It is safe to say that The Pilot songs are far less punk influenced, featuring more sensitive lyrics and acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitars, the piano and even strings. Often accompanied by drum machines, his songs are synthesized — yet not to an extent as predominant in power pop, let alone electronica songs — and at times bear close resemblance to some of Jimmy Eat World's more mellow songs.
Accompanied by Thomas J. Chipmen on guitar, Freeman played his first acoustic concert under the The Pilot moniker on October 28, 2006 at Bloomfield Ave Cafe in Montclair, New Jersey. Shortly afterwards, guitarist/bassist Jason Jaksetic was announced as the first official member of The Pilot, besides Freeman. An East Coast tour supporting Houston Calls is scheduled for December 2006.
As of the summer of 2007, The Pilot's full-band line up is Rob Freeman (Vocals), Jason Jaksetic (Bass), Rocky Catanese (Guitar), Ross Dillon (Drums), & Josh Wiseman (Guitar). Ross Dillon is the current drummer of Morristown, New Jersey based rock band Inamere. Josh Wiseman was a former guitarist for Morris County-based rock band Maverick. Maverick broke up in May 2007 as posted on their MySpace profile. Rocky Catanese is credited with the New Jersey based bands Kick Over The Traces and The Showcase. Kick Over The Traces disbanded in 2005. The Showcase is on hiatus as of 2007, with other members currently in New Jersey based bands Socratic and Moraine.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Musician
- For Freeman's releases with Hidden in Plain View, see Hidden in Plain View's discography
[edit] Producer
- Foster – The Demo (2002)
- Houston Calls – 4 Song Sampler (2003)
- State Unfair –Demos (2003)
- Sleepwell – Coin Operated Entertainment (2003)
- Royden – Best Friends Our Worst Enemies (2004)
- Maverick – Caught in the Negatives (2004)
- The Letter You –Free from Everything (2005)
- Sound the Alarm – Sound the Alarm (2006)
- P.R.Y.D.E. – Drowning Between Life and Lies EP (2006)
- Someday Never – The Natural Trend of Breathing EP (2006)
- Hometown Anthem – If We Could Dream (2006)
- The Fallback – This City Story EP (2006)
- Hand Me Down Buick – The Greater the Risk (2006)
- Sayrelin – We've Come to the Conclusion (2006)
- SunSets North – Return To Sender (2007)
- Postmark Twain – Cause and Effect EP (2008)
