| House of Heroes | |
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House of Heroes performing at Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Florida on Skillet and TobyMac's Awake Tonight Tour in March 2010 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Columbus, Ohio, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock, Christian rock |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Four Door Entertainment, Vanishing Point, Mono Vs Stereo, Gotee |
| Website | www.thehouseofheroes.com |
| Members | |
| Tim Skipper Colin Rigsby Jared Rigsby A.J. Babcock Eric Newcomer Josh Dun |
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House of Heroes is an alternative rock band from Columbus, Ohio. They were also known by the name No Tagbacks. They are generally considered to be Christian rock, though their lyrics are not always transparently Christian.[1] They have released four albums: "Ten Months" (2001 as No Tagbacks), What You Want Is Now (2003), House of Heroes (2005), The End Is Not the End (2008), and Suburba (2010). The band also re-released their self titled record under the name of Say No More. The band consists of brothers Colin Rigsby and Jared Rigsby, Tim Skipper, and A.J. Babcock (who does not tour).
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The band got started in 1996 at Hilliard Davidson High School (Hilliard, OH), originally as a punk band called Plan B, with Tim Skipper, A.J. Babcock, and Nate Rothacker on drums. In 1998, Colin Rigsby replaced Nate Rothacker on drums and they changed their name to No Tagbacks, then later to House of Heroes. The band recorded early demos at Chris Lundquist's home studio LundquistAudio (formerly Lunkhead Studio). In 2003 they released their first album What You Want Is Now under the name House of Heroes.[2]
Jared Rigsby replaced A.J. Babcock as the band's live bassist in December 2005, as Babcock had married and focused on a side project with his wife called "FlowerDagger". Babcock eventually rejoined the band as the live bassist and Jared Rigsby became an official member as the band's second guitarist. In 2009, Babcock stopped touring for the second time and has been replaced by a live bassist whose name is (according to one of their Vlogs) Eric "Do The Dew" Newcomer. He appeared playing the bass in the band's new video for "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Babcock continues to be a part of the band, involved with songwriting and recording.
In March 2010 Colin Rigsby was replaced by Josh Dun on drums as Rigsby felt he needed to spend more time with his family. As of October 2010 Colin has resumed drumming duty.[3]
According to drummer, Colin Rigsby, some of House of Heroes influences are: The Beatles, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, and The Clash. Tim Skipper also said that Muse is a source of influence.[4] In his free time, Rigsby works on Art, and has his own website.[5] He is currently working with Jon Schneck of Relient K on a graphic novel titled "En Carne."
The band has discussed their part in Christian music. They mentioned that they did not exactly set out to be a Christian band and at the same time, they did not set out to not associate themselves with Christians. They also mentioned that, "The idea is that, if we just express ourselves and we have, you know, a real connection with Jesus, that things we express will be, you know, Him, hopefully."[6] In their latest album Suburba, they embrace this idea, with songs such as "Salt in the Sea" and "Constant", which both can be seen as songs with Christian allusions and ideas.
Ten Months is the only album released under the name No Tagbacks. It was released by Four Door Entertainment.
Being their first album, House of Heroes released this debut in 2003 under the label Vanishing Point Records, owned by Scott Stilletta formerly of Plankeye. It includes 13 tracks, two of which were later composed differently and released on their self-titled record. It was recorded in Columbus, Ohio.
After the release of this album, the band was signed to Gotee Records by its owner and founder, Toby McKeehan. They now release their albums on that label.
This is their first album released under Gotee Records. It was released on April 26, 2005 and includes 11 tracks. During the same year, the group toured with several other bands such as Relient K, Rufio, and MxPx. The band made a music video around this time for their song "Serial Sleepers."
Say No More, was released on May 2, 2006. It was a re-release of their self-titled debut album, and includes two bonus tracks ("The Invisible Hook," and "You Are the Judas of the Cheerleading Squad").[7]
In 2008, before the release of their next album, the band launched FreeHOH.com, a website where "In the Valley of the Dying Sun", "Sooner or Later", and "By Your Side" were offered as free downloads. The End Is Not the End was subsequently released on September 23, 2008.
The band said that this album was actually finished in 2007, but did not release until September of '08. They also had distribution issues when the album was first released. It was only available at live shows and online, but not in stores. It is NOW available in most retailers, but it must be bought through the stores' website, still because of distribution issues.
"The End Is Not The End" is really considered the band's breakthrough album, and most epic so far. AbsolutePunk.net has given the band much credit and praise for the album. It charted on the Billboard at #19 for "Christian Albums" and #9 for "Heatseekers Albums." From this album, the song "In The Valley Of The Dying Sun" was turned into a music video, and was #10 on TVU's Most Wanted of 2008. The video was also nominated for a Dove Award in 2009 for SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO. It is a featured music video on YouTube. "In The Valley of The Dying Sun" (the song) was #1 on RadioU's "2008's Most Wanted."
In early June 2009, on Amazon.com, House of Heroes had the deal of the day. They made it to the second highest position (2nd place) on "Today's Top MP3 Artists" on June 17 with The End Is Not The End. Their ranking was higher than The Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthews Band, Green Day and other famous musical names.
This digital EP was released on iTunes (and now AmazonMp3) on April 7, 2009. and includes the songs: "Ghost", "New Moon," and "If (Acoustic)." ("If" is also on the "The End Is Not The End.")
The title The Acoustic End EP refers to their album title The End Is Not the End.
The songs: "Ghost", and "New Moon" are bonus tracks on the physical release of "The End Is Not The End."
During a show on March 20, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, the band announced that they would be releasing a digital EP of The Beatles cover songs.
The three song EP, with the Beatle reference, House of Heroes Meets The Beatles, (referring to the Beatles album "Meet The Beatles!") which was released on June 9, 2009, features "Can't Buy Me Love", "It Won't Be Long" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".[8]
The album artwork of this digital EP is set around The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night." House of Heroes are fans of the Beatles, and might have dropped a clue on their Myspace about this digital EP. They noted at the time they wrote a blog they were listening to "Meet The Beatles!, by The Beatles.
On November 10th, 2009, House of Heroes digitally released a three-song EP, for Christmas. The EP includes a cover of the Mariah Carey hit, "All I Want For Christmas Is You," and the classic Christmas hymns, "Silent Night," and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." The EP has been given a very positive review from Absolutepunk.net
The band entered Dark Horse Recording Studio on February 1, 2010 to record their 4th full length album.[9] The album is called Suburba, and was released on August 3, 2010 by Gotee Records.[10] Their first single is entitled "Elevator" and is currently playing on RadioU. They also released their song "God Save The Foolish Kings" on their Website and Youtube page. A second single, entitled "Constant" is currently playing on Air 1. On June 29, 2010, the band began offering the song "Independence Day for a Petty Thief" as a free download for Twitter users who posted a promotional message about the song.
House of Heroes have toured with many bands such as MxPx, Silverchair, Filter, Stryper, Phantom Planet, Family Force 5, Luna Halo, Relient K, Ludo, This Providence, Wavorly, Abandon Kansas, The Wedding, The Fold, Seabird and most recently, tobyMac and Skillet .
They headlined a tour titled "The Super Big Time All American Traveling Tour" from Fall-Winter of 2009, where they were supported by The Wedding and Abandon Kansas.
The band was on tour with Family Force 5, Remedy Drive, and All Left Out for the Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant Tour.
They joined tobyMac and Skillet in Spring 2010 on the Awake Tonight Tour.
They toured with tobyMac and Brandon Heath in January and February 2011 on the Winter Wonder Slam tour.[11]
Former
| Year | Title | Label(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Ten Months | Four Door Entertainment | As "No Tagbacks" |
| 2003 | What You Want Is Now | Vanishing Point Records | First full-length album |
| 2005 | House of Heroes | Gotee Records | Major label debut album |
| 2008 | The End Is Not the End | Gotee Records | Released as mp3s in 2008, released on CD in 2009 |
| 2010 | Suburba | Gotee Records |
| Year | Title | Label(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Say No More | Mono Vs Stereo | Re-release of self-titled album |
| 2009 | The Acoustic End EP | Gotee Records | Acoustic versions of "If", "New Moon", and "Ghost". |
| 2009 | House of Heroes Meets The Beatles EP | Gotee Records | Covers of "Can't Buy Me Love", "It Won't Be Long", and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" |
| 2009 | The Christmas Classics EP | Gotee Records | Covers of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" (Mariah Carey), "Silent Night" and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" |
An early version of the song "You Are the Judas of the Cheerleading Squad," was also featured on a compilation where 25 bands each had one hour to record and mix a song. The album was called 25 Hour Grand Prix.
The band was known as "No Tagbacks" before they were House of Heroes.
Members Tim Skipper - lead vocals, guitar AJ Babcock - bass guitar, backing vocals Colin Rigsby - drums, backing vocals
Discography Ten Months (2001)
Music Videos "Ten Months" (2001) "Vital Signs" (2001)
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