| Hurt | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Virginia |
| Genres | Alternative metal, alternative rock, post-grunge |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Current: Carved Records Capitol |
| Associated acts | Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, Leo, Arco's Angel |
| Website | www.hurtband.com |
| Members | |
| J. Loren Wince Rek Mohr Michael Roberts Victor Ribas |
|
| Past members | |
| Wilson Quaintance IV Shawn Sawyer Steven Fletcher Joshua Ansley Evan Johns Louie Sciancalepore Paul Spatola |
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Hurt (sometimes typeset as HURT) is a rock band formed in 2000 in Virginia, now located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Currently in partnership with their manager's independent record label, Amusement, the band has put out three major label albums. The group consists of lead singer J. Loren Wince, guitarist Michael Roberts, bassist Rek Mohr, and drummer Victor Ribas.
The band first released the independent albums Hurt in 2000 and The Consumation in 2003. Many of the songs from these albums found their way onto their first two major label releases, and The Consumation was re-mastered as The Re-Consumation in 2008. The band received critical (though not commercial) success with their major label debut album, Vol. 1, released on March 21, 2006. Their singles "Rapture" and "Falls Apart" gained minor radio airplay on rock stations throughout United States. Their second album was the critically acclaimed Vol. II, released on September 25, 2007, and they gained their largest radio rock hit yet with the single "Ten Ton Brick."
HURT released their fifth studio album on April 7, 2009, titled Goodbye to the Machine.
On November 5, 2009 Rek Mohr posted on Hurt's Twitter that the band had started writing again, presumably on their sixth studio album. A Facebook update in November 2010 hinted that the band has entered the studio to begin recording.[1]
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Lead singer J. Loren Wince was born in Baltimore, Maryland on August 25, 1981. Soon moving to Virginia, he lived in the remote regions of Halifax, Virginia and later relocated to Culpeper, enrolling at Germanna Community College at the age of 14. His parents exposed him to gospel and classical music, and rock and roll was banned from the household. Wince studied to be a classical violinist and began playing at an early age. Wince cites Antonio Vivaldi as his idol and greatest influence, but also cites Schubert, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Bach, Verdi, Handel, both Joseph and John Haydn, Grieg, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Ravel and others as influences in his music. Rock music was "the only feasible method of getting honest compositions to the public without being an "'A' list writer" according to J. Loren[2]
His first composition was a march written for brass and strings inspired by the poem "Charge Of the Light Brigade," which he wrote when he was 10. He then wrote the song "Cold Inside" at the age of 13. His first large public show was at age 12 as a violinist accompanying a contemporary band.[2]
Rek Ryan Mohr, bassist for the band HURT, grew up in St. Louis, MO. Rek cites Colin Greenwood (Radiohead), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), and Adam Clayton (U2) as his musical inspirations. Mohr started playing bass at age 16, and was his first and only choice of instruments, saying that playing the bass is a different way of thinking than playing the guitar, which was a major draw for him.[3]
Mohr has been part of two bands prior to joining HURT; Semidivine for 3 years, and Leo for 4 years. He left the first two bands because he didn't feel everyone was as dedicated to the music and performing as he was, saying that "When you're putting everything on the line, you want the other guys to do so, as well. I've always been very, very driven. And when I feel something is holding me back, I don't have a problem letting it go."[3]
During the time that Leo toured with HURT, he decided to step down as Leo's Bassist. Josh announced his decision to leave Hurt to pursue his acting career. After the tour, Mohr booked a one way ticket to L.A. to audition for the band. Mohr states the fact that HURT's music has such depth, and that guys were genuine as being his main motivation for wanting to join the band. In May 2008, HURT announced that Rek Mohr would be replacing previous bassist Josh Ansley[3] and was confirmed that he would be joining HURT as the permanent bassist.[4] Mohr's first performance with the band was held on May 2, 2008 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
On November 10, 2009 a message on the band's Twitter was given by the band which gave the impression that a new member would join the band and it would be Michael Roberts. The following day a comment by Tom Lewis, the band's manager, was written on the band's official forum, that said: "Fear not! The entire band is in St Louis (J. Loren, Paul, Rek, Louis and Michael).... " Roberts was the former guitar player of the band Leo, and he was the co- producer of the band's album "Goodbye To The Machine". He has performed several times with the band playing rhythm guitar, during different tours.
Victor Manuel Ribas, drummer for the band HURT, grew up in Seattle, WA. His first musical encounter was at the age of 5, beginning private piano lessons with local instructors. He continued to study piano until picking up his first set of drum sticks at the age of 13 and continued performing both Jazz and Marching music all the way through college. Ribas cites Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Danny Carey (Tool), Jon Theodore (The Mars Volta), Matt Mcdunough (Mudvayne), and Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) as some of his biggest musical inspirations.
Living in Seattle, Victor played in numerous bands while working in various local studios in the Washington and Oregon area. In 2010, he heard that the band HURT was auditioning drummers. Ribas contacted the band and was flown from Seattle, WA for an audition. Soon after he was announced as HURTs new drummer. The band is currently completing their 4th album, "The Crux" expected to be released in March 2012. Victor will be performing all drum and percussion arrangements for the upcoming album.
The band originally composed of J. Loren, age 15, and Wil Quaintance. They sought players for years until picking up Steven Fletcher to play the bass. The band was named upon conception of the "Self-Titled" cd when J. Loren was approximately 17. There have been 9 bassists, 5 of which were permanent members. There have been 2 lead guitarists and 4 drummers including the current Victor Ribas. Bassist Joshua David Ansley, better known as Josh Ansley, left the band in April 2008 for personal reasons, and was replaced by Rek Mohr (former bassist for the band Leo) in May 2008.
This bands self-titled first studio album was written and performed by J. Loren and Wil Quiantance on drums, with programming credits given to Brian Winshell on the entire album, except "Confession" by Jonathan Minis. It was made in 2000 and approximately 1,200 copies of it were issued to the public. The songs Unkind, U-Bleed, Better, Summers Lost and Abuse of SID have appeared on other albums. At this time, there are no details as to whether any of the other tracks will be released in the future. There are also no intentions of re-releasing this album, such as what was done with "The Consumation/Re-Consumation." As J. Loren states, "It was poorly done and actually diminishes from the intentions behind the songs."[2]
"The Consumation" album was written and performed by J. Loren Wince, with Wil Quaintance on drums, Shawn Sawyer on bass and given credits on the song "Unclean," with Brian Winshell on Engineering for "House of Cards" and "Velvet Rolls Royce." This album was released in 2003 in J. Loren's home state of Virginia, with approximately 2000 sold, and around 3000 promos and full albums distributed for free. There is a noted mistake on the back of the original album sleeve, where it is missing the song "Cold Inside." This was not intentional. Due to a lack of sleep over the course of a 6-month period, the track listing was the last thing to be done on the album and was simply overlooked.[2]
Later, a fan asked if he could print additional copies of "The Consumation" for sale in his stores in order to help promote the band. J. Loren agreed to this. The second edition printing differed from the original version with a simplified color scheme and amateur mastering done at the duplication plants studio. It was not a concern to the band that he was making money off their album, considering he took a risk himself on printing albums for their up and coming band, until later when these copies started turning up on eBay. The band found out that their fans were bidding an average of $170 for each copy as they were auctioned off one at a time.[2] This was one of the reasons Loren decided to re-release the album, as The Re-Consumation.
A passage of poetry was removed from a song which was then entitled "Way It Was." The song was renamed "Somnabulist" by Wil Quaintance until the album could be finished and the poem, entitled "The Consumation Premise," could be appropriately re-inserted. For The Re-Consumation, the song was called "The Way It Was".[2]
The band (with the original line-up) was discovered by Tom Lewis, an ex-Universal Records A&R who quit his position to manage the band somewhere around 2005. The show was at a The Continental in New York, where a friend of Lewis, Jay Silverman, passed the band's CD on to him.[2] After the initial contact with lead singer J. Loren, it was another 8 months until they heard from Lewis again. The band met up with Lewis and his company (Metropolitan Hybrid).[5] The band went to record its demo to help find a record label. After undisclosed issues with the current drummer for the band, session drummer Evan Johns was asked if he could be a part of the recording, which Loren agreed to.[6]
In the process of trying to find a major label, the bass player at the time decided it would be best if he quit the band, at which time they began to seek out his replacement, former Streetlight Manifesto bassist Josh Ansley.[6] Lewis helped HURT to get signed to capitol records.
When asked about how he became part of the band, Paul Spatola has been quoted in saying that he received a phone call from Josh Ansley, saying he should fly to New York and try out for the band, as they were looking for guitarists. Spatola states, "A month later I didn’t hear anything and I said 'I just gotta fly out there.'" His first performance with the band was at a night club called 'The Mint,' at which time, Spatola intended on being with the band for a few days but ended up staying for two weeks. The first day he tried out for the band, and with a little help from Tom Lewis, J. Loren was convinced to bring Paul into the band as the guitarist.[5]
The next day, the band played a showcase in New York, at which time they had spoken with several record companies including Columbia, Interscope, Island, Universal, Virgin and Atlantic, but nothing came of these conversations.[5]
Initially, Capitol Records had purchased the album, Vol. 1, from the band at cost which was approximately 100k. No other apparent changes other than signing the recordings rights to them took place.[2]
Both Vol. 1 and Vol. II were recorded and produced together by Eric Greedy, and the plan initially was to have them come out immediately, but at the time they had just been signed to Capitol and that was too much of an investment for a major label to put out a dual-CD and the touring to support it. Instead, they took the time to re-record Vol. II and improved upon it.[7]
Vol. 1 was released on March 21, 2006, and can be found on Capitol Records. The album was Produced by Eric Greedy, with Executive Producer Janelle Lewis. Lyrics by J. Loren Wince. Musical performances by J. Loren Wince (vocals, guitar, violin), Evan Johns (drums, piano), Josh Ansley (bass, backing vocals) and Paul Spatola (guitar, backing vocals). This album has produced three singles including "Rapture," "Falls Apart" and "Danse Russe."
Vol. II was released on September 25, 2007, and can be found on Capitol Records. The album was Produced by Eric Greedy with J. Loren Wince (vocals, guitar, violin, banjo), Evan Johns (drums), Josh Ansley (bass) and Paul Spatola (guitar, dobro, piano). The album has seen two singles, "Ten Ton Brick" and "Loaded," the latter a popular selection from a poll taken on the band's forums.
On May 12, 2009, Hurt received an award for the song "Ten Ton Brick" during SESAC’s 13th annual New York Music Awards.[8]
The Re-Consumation album was released on February 19, 2008, as a means to complete the foretold story contained within "The Consumation" and to prevent fans from having to spend upwards of $100 online in order to obtain the album. This album was edited by J. Loren Wince, adding three files as a new recordings, while the other two edits had been recorded at the time of conception and intentionally withheld for the specific purpose of its re-release. The song "Somnabulist" was renamed to "The Way It Was" simply because it was always to be named that since it was written. States J. Loren, "The song is a vignette into a moment from the past which could not be completed in the present. This is why Mr. Quaintance chose its temporary name for me. This is the only song in my repertoire which I did not name."[2]
On April 3, 2008, Hurt bassist Joshua Ansley announced via the band's forums & Myspace that he would be leaving the band to pursue his dreams in the field of Acting/Writing/Directing.
In interviews given in promotion for the new album, "Goodbye to the Machine" Wince expressed his disgust in the overall handling of the band by their label. From the mislabeling of the band as "metal" to Capitol's refusal to reprint the albums despite having sold 58,000 out of 60,000, the quartet decided to move in a new direction. Combined, both albums have sold almost 900,000 copies.
It was announced on the band's official message boards that a new album entitled Goodbye To The Machine would be released in 2009 through the Amusement record label. On January 14 it was announced that the albums release date would be on April 7, 2009.[9] On Christmas Day a preview of the track 'Wars' was posted on the band's MySpace for several hours. Similarly the track 'Fighting Tao' was posted on New Year's Eve.
On January 5, 2009 Rock station WFXH in Savannah, GA/Hilton Head, SC World Premiered the single 'Wars' on their afternoon drive-time program with Boomer (a long time friend and supporter of the band). The single was released to stations nation-wide on January 12, 2009. On February 3, 2009, 'Wars' was made available for purchase through iTunes and Amazon. 'World Ain't Right' featuring Shaun Morgan of Seether, 'Wars', and 'Dreams Away' were released to be heard on the band's MySpace.
The album has peaked so far at No.100 on the Billboard 200.
On August 6, 2010, Louie Sciancalepore announced via his Facebook page and the band's message board that he was no longer part of Hurt "due to irreconcilable differences with management."
According to Hurt's Twitter page, the band is currently working on new material, presumably for their upcoming sixth studio album. On February 5 the new tune "Numbers" made its debut radio play on 94.1 WJJO in Madison, WI. It was released on iTunes on March 9, 2010. The artwork design for the single was designed by HURT guitarist Paul Spatola.[10] On March 21, 2011, a post on the bands official Facebook page stated "ALL TRACKING HAS BEEN COMPLETED".[11]. On August 28, 2011 J Loren posted a letter on Facebook indicating the band had signed with Carved Records to release their yet to be titled 6th album in early 2012, and also announced that lead guitarist Paul Spatola had departed the band due to personal issues. On September 27, 2011, on Hurt's Facebook page, the band said that the new album would be a return to both the "Volume" albums, in sound and style. It was announced that the album would be called "The Crux" and will be released on March 27, 2012. The first single, "How We End Up Alone", was released through iTunes on January 3, 2012.
Brett Hickman of Static Multimedia states that “There's a feeling that anything can happen in Hurt's music, that this is a band intent on turning people's expectations on their collective ear and making them do what they command. J. Loren and company are making strides towards something truly special in the future. The mere fact that they elevate the rather tired and cliched hard rock genre as much as they do here would indicate that great things are in store for the band as well as for their fans.”[12]
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