Hawthorne Heights

Hawthorne Heights is an American rock ^{rock music} band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2001. Their line-up currently consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist JT Woodruff, lead guitarist and unclean vocalist Micah Carli, bassist and backing vocalist Matt Ridenour, and drummer Eron Bucciarelli. On November 24, 2007, guitarist and unclean vocalist Casey Calvert died of accidental causes, leaving the band as a four-piece. after it peaked at #1 on the Billboard ^{Billboard (magazine)}

 
Formation, The Silence in Black and White and If Only You Were Lonely (2001-2006)

Originally known as A Day in the Life ^{A Day in the Life (band)} , Toxicology and autopsy reports state Calvert died of combined drug intoxication. The official statement issued by the band says that Calvert died in his sleep and that his body was discovered before the band was to do a sound check prior to a show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. The band was devastated. They spent a few days mourning, reflecting, and writing a song about the incident. The song eventually became "Four Become One" on their album Fragile Future.

According to the results of an autopsy performed by the office of the chief medical examiner in Washington, D.C, and released in December 2007, Calvert's death was accidental. Dr. John Mendelson, a pharmacologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, told MTV News that "Cases like Calvert's are so rare that they're almost nonexistent. It's so rare that you can't even put a number on it," and that "It's exceedingly rare that 26-year-olds die of anything medical. This kind of death is one in several million." Both citalopram (also known by the brand name Celexa) and clonazepam (also known by the brand names Klonopin and Rivotril) are prescription drugs, the former an antidepressant and the latter used to treat seizure disorders and panic attacks.

Drummer Eron Bucciarelli issued the following statement:



From the time of the incident we suspected a possible drug interaction as the cause. Casey wrestled with depression for as long as we knew him. He saw numerous doctors and took an ever-changing array of medicines to get better. He finally had his depression under control. According to the toxicology report, the cause of death was due to a fatal interaction between depression meds, anxiety meds and an opiate. Opiates being mentioned along with the term 'substance abuse', coupled with 'rockstar' stereotypes immediately conjure up images of hard drug use and addiction, which simply couldn't be further from the truth in Casey's instance. What the toxicology report doesn't show is that prior to us leaving for tour, Casey had a root canal, and was prescribed Vicodin (an opiate) for the pain. Once again, Casey was not involved in anything illegal nor was he a substance abuser.



JT Woodruff has stated that "We won't add another guitar player or add another screamer", and that "In our albums, it'll always say 'Casey Calvert: guitar/vocals.'" Bucciarelli stated in another interview that, "We don't need another screamer...If the fans want screaming, they can provide it themselves."


Fragile Future (2008-2009)

Hawthorne Heights released a demo for their new song "Come Back Home" on their MySpace page in 2007. A reprised version of the song became one of the twelve tracks that were selected for the band's third studio album. A second song was released on their Myspace, a cover ^{cover version} of the Smashing Pumpkins song "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", which was contributed to MySpace Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins. This cover song, however, did not become a track on the album.

Hawthorne Heights and Victory Records patched up their relationship and the band's third album, Fragile Future, was released with the label on 5 August 2008. While on tour, Hawthorne Heights announced that Micah Carli would now be providing unclean vocals for the band.

As the album was being recorded, lead singer JT Woodruff and drummer Eron Bucciarelli named two songs from the record on several occasions, leading many to believe that they would be released as singles. Acoustic versions of the two songs were also said to have been recorded. The songs are entitled "Here I Am" and "Nervous Breakdown". On October 2, 2009, both Woodruff and Buicarelli posted updates on their Twitter pages saying that they had just finished gang vocals for the record. Woodruff stated "Just finished up doing gang vocals on a few songs. Return to hardcore!"

On October 14, an e-mail was sent out to the official mailing list telling fans that the new album would be titled Skeletons ^{Skeletons (Hawthorne Heights album)} and would be released in early 2010. The e-mail stated:


"Lots of big HH news for you today folks!

For starters, we will release our new album, titled SKELETONS, in early 2010! Secondly, as you should know already, we're kicking off Never Sleep Again '09 with Just Surrender, Monty Are I, Punchline ^{Punchline (band)} , Anarbor, and Nightbeast on November 2nd! Get your tickets here and get them today because we will be giving away a limited amount of collectible download cards at each show which include one of our new songs, "Unforgivable" along with some other goodies.

This is your first chance to hear some of our new music, so make sure you get your tickets early and get to the shows early, because once they're gone, you'll have to wait until the album comes out! We'll see you this Fall!"

As promised, download cards for the song "Unforgivable" were distributed while on tour. In addition, a song entitled "End of the Underground" has been performed live.

After the Never Sleep Again 2009 tour, frontman JT began performing several solo acoustic shows with songs he had written outside of Hawthorne Heights.

The track listing for the album was announced on February 5, 2010. According to JT Woodruff's February SayNow voice message (also uploaded on the band's Twitter ^{Twitter (website)} ), Micah Carli plays ukulele, mandolin, and various other "weird instruments" in the lute family for many of the bonus tracks on Skeletons.Hawthorne Heights success comes from the sheer variety of genres it represents. The band has been referred to as post-hardcore and screamo due to their harder guitar riffs and occasional use of screamed vocals. and pop punk because of calm melodies and pop-like rhythm present in their music.

Eron Bucciarelli, the band's drummer, noted that the band's sound has "always been pigeon holed as emo or screamo" (although the later genre receives more controversy). In the same interview he stated, however, that the band prefers to be referred to simply as "a rock band". Regardless, ever since being known as A Day in the Life ^{A Day in the Life (band)} , the band has been categorized as emo. This is primarily due to the emotional topics found in the lyrics of prominent Hawthorne Heights songs (such as "Ohio Is for Lovers", and "The Transition ^{The Transition (song)} "). In addition, their songs fit the stylistic definitions of emo music.

While commenting on the band's first album, The Silence in Black and White, Eron said that the "triple guitar attack" allows them to "add a lot of layering effects and intricacies to our music along with legitimately pulling in different musical styles."
Hawthorne Heights began to be recognized as melodic hardcore due to the release of If Only You Were Lonely. After "softening their lyrical stance, incorporating melancholy keyboards and adding upbeat melodies that were a perfect counterbalance to their screaming backup chants" their unique sound became more recognized.

Even after the death of one of the guitarists, the band continued to allow its sound to evolve. With the release of Fragile Future, the band continued to elaborate on the pop style they were already recognized for. Although no unclean vocals are used, the album "carries on their tradition of simple hooks and big pop-punk choruses."
Incident with Ne-Yo

In February 2006, as the band was readying the release of If Only You Were Lonely, Victory Records issued two statements to fans through the band's mailing lists as well as their MySpace profile, stating that "ROCK music needs your support" and that "the #1 slot that belongs to us." They also pleaded with fans to go into chain stores and make sure Hawthorne Heights CDs are in stock and to sabotage the sales count of Ne-Yo's record In My Own Words, which was being released the same day. The statement said:



They ended their rallying cry by quoting Winston Churchill: "Victory at all costs, Victory in spite of all terror, Victory however long and hard the road may be; for without Victory, there is no survival."
Later, group members claimed that the statements were issued by their record label, Victory Records, without their consent.
On August 7, 2006, the band announced they would be leaving Victory Records, and sued the label for breach of contract, copyright and trademark infringement, fraud and abuse ^{Legal abuse} .
Victory Records then countersued for breach of contract and libel in September 2006.
In October 2006, a Chicago judge dismissed two of the three main claims in the band's suit, ruling that the trademark and copyright violation allegations were unsound.
On March 5, 2007 a federal judge in Chicago ruled that Victory Records does not hold exclusive rights for the band's recording services and that the band can record for any label. Specifically, the Judge stated: "The agreement contains no exclusivity provision, nor does any of its language appear to prevent [the band] from recording elsewhere during the life of the agreement".
The judge later reaffirmed this ruling on May 17, 2007, stating that Hawthorne Heights is still contractually bound to deliver two albums to Victory, but may record albums which are released elsewhere.


Wild Justice Records lawsuit

On October 16, 2007, Wild Justice Records sued Hawthorne Heights for breach of a verbal contract, stemming from a dispute over the management company's share of the band's revenues.
Albums




Singles




Tribute albums

*Arteries Untold: The String Quartet Tribute to Hawthorne Heights


Videography

*This Is Who We Are (DVD):For line-up changes that occurred before the band became known as Hawthorne Heights, see A Day in the Life (band).
;Current
*JT Woodruff - lead vocals ^{lead vocalist} , rhythm guitar, piano (2001–Present)>
*Micah Carli - lead guitar (2001–Present)>, unclean vocals ^{Death growl} (2009–Present)>
*Matt Ridenour - bass guitar, backing vocals ^{backing vocalist} (2003–Present)>
*Eron Bucciarelli - drums ^{drum kit} , percussion (2001–Present)>
;Former
*Casey Calvert (deceased)> - guitars, unclean vocals ^{Death growl} (2002–2007)>A Day in the Life ^{A Day in the Life (band)}