The Hit: Straight Up To The Top

The Hit is here and their mission is to rock your socks off with their super infectious songs.  Whether it’s anthems such as I Like Girls or the rap and roll inflections of Driving Your Car, The Hit has something for just about everyone on their soon to be released CD.  We recently spoke with vocalist Kade Holloway and drummer Mark McCreight to find out more about this up and coming Dallas band headed straight up to the top…

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
Kade: The band is based out of Dallas, Texas, and it’s a pretty good music scene. There’s a lot of bands that are getting signed here lately. There’s a lot of good all ages shows, so I’d say it’s probably one of the best.

How long has the band been together and where did everyone meet?
Kade: I started the band probably two years ago. Basically I’ve been friends with Colin and Jorge, our two guitarists, since high school. Mark and Mike Ray, bass and drums – we kind of met later on. They’re a little bit older so we didn’t really go to school with them. Mike Ray our bass player is from Oklahoma City and then Mark is from a little bit South in between Austin and Dallas – he’s been in past bands and we kind of met him through his old band A Bird A Sparrow.
Mark: Yea, I was in a band called A Bird A Sparrow for about three years when I graduated college. We toured, and obviously being near the Dallas area, we played a lot with The Hit and I became really good friends with those guys. I made a career decision in October to join The Hit, and since then we’ve recorded a full length and have been doing a lot lately – trying to take it to the next level.

So Mark, tell me about your first show with The Hit, and were you nervous at all playing in front of 5000 people for your debut?
Mark: No, I wasn’t nervous and actually it was funny, because we had only practiced three times prior to the show. But I had already listened to most of the new songs – I learn from listening more than sitting down with stuff. It was great! The only thing I was nervous about was getting everything set up in time, because we were the first band. We were setting up as people were already coming in. They ran a little bit behind, so that was a little nerve wracking. But once we started playing, it was a great experience – other than during the last song, the sound completely cut out to the audience and it was awkward.

What was that show and where was it at?
Mark: It was October 31st, 2009 at Nokia Theater in Granbury, Texas.
Kade: I guess on that note, as far as being nervous for that show – like Mark said we practiced three times. But honestly, just knowing how Mark drums – it was probably the best sounding show we had played to date. So we weren’t really worried about it. That was real nice to have someone who knew the songs already.

So that was on Halloween. Did you guys wear any costumes for the show?
Kade: Our two guitarists wore Spiderman costumes. I just kind of wore like a pimp costume, like the general Afro and the chain – but I kind of took it off midway – it didn’t last. It was too hot!
Mark: I was Mark from A Bird A Sparrow.
Kade: You were Nicky Nine actually.
Mark: Oh yeah, Nicky Nine!

Tell me about the upcoming album. What’s the title and who recorded it?
Kade: It’s going to be self-titled – at least that’s what I think. It was recorded by Matt Grabe from Mesa, Arizona. He’s kind of a newer, up and coming producer – but he’s really, really good. He just helped us a lot. He wrote a lot of stuff on the album. He helped me use my voice a lot better. He’s a really talented guy and I think he’s going to be one of the top names within a couple of years at least.

There are two of your songs I’d like to talk about in particular. Where did you get the idea for your song titled Drugs?
Kade: That’s one of our older songs from the EP. Colin and I – it was basically about a girl that we knew. I kind of liked her for a while. I hadn’t seen her for a while, and the next time I did, she was just talking about some drug that puts you in a coma. I just thought it was real stupid, and the only thing I really knew to do was to write a song about it. So later that night, I just came up with the chorus. From our old album, that’s the one that people relate to the most I guess. There’s not really that many songs specifically about that – especially in our genre. It was cool and I’m glad it came out so well.

One of your newer songs I Like Girls sound like to could be a big hit for you guys. Now do you have girlfriends who listen to the song – hear the lyrics and go “Hmmmm…?”
Kade: (laughter) Yeah, we both have girlfriends. We just wanted something that was like a party song – just more of like the gimmick song that everyone could get into. If you listen to the lyrics in the bridge, we actually created a cool story to it. You like all of these fancy girls and you maybe have a short thing with these girls – but it’s about in the end finding something that means a little bit more than just that. My girlfriend is in a band too, so she definitely understands. And I know that Mark’s girlfriend is totally cool. It’s a catchy song. Every one will probably take different things from it, but everyone’s cool with it.

What band is your girlfriend in?
Kade: She’s in a band called Millionaires.

Have your bands ever thought about touring together?
Kade: That would definitely be cool, but it’s hard because they’re a pretty new band as well. And they’re also right now doing supporting stuff in the UK. But yeah, that would be the ideal situation for me obviously, but who knows.

Pick two songs from the new record and tell me what inspired you to write the lyrics.
Kade: A cool one I’ll do – its working title is Let Go. Musically it’s kind of a Cobra Starship type – more of a pop dance, rap type song. There’s some rapping parts in it. Lyrically we came up with it on the spot, because we had to write a song literally that day or else we were going to have to fly back and record more. It’s a lot more personal that any other song. It’s not just a generic love song. It’s about separating with someone. It’s just the one thing I could get really personal about. I even used the lyrics on it that I wrote like three years ago, so it was cool to bring back that. And Colin, our guitarist, had a lot of cool lyrics for it. So that was the most personal one to me probably.
Mark: We do another song that’s actually along the same lines as far as sound goes. It’s a poppy dancy song called Driving Your Car. It’s more of a fantasy fun type of song. We were thinking what’s something interesting that has a little bit of a twist that we could write about. It’s basically about – in a nutshell – being in a band, we’re guys that currently don’t have a lot of money. It’s not in direct relation to any of us – it’s just a story we created about a girl who basically you’d imagine her having all this nice stuff – a nice house and a nice car. She’s very controlling and she goes kind of crazy. You, from the guy’s standpoint – you’re trying to get away from it, so you’re keeping her around until you find someone else. But there’s a lyric in it, “The best part, I’m driving your car.” So you’re on a joy ride basically getting away from the situation and looking for a rebound.
Kade: Yeah, and that’s the way we generally write the best – when it’s kind of a story like that, because we could all chime in. That has a really cool story, and I’m excited for people to hear it.

Do you have any strange or unusual Myspace stories you’d care to share?
Mark: Me and my girlfriend met on Myspace, right around the time that I joined The Hit. I don’t know if that’s interesting, but that’s pretty amazing.
Kade: I guess nothing too abnormal as far as bands, but I get a lot of friend requests from my girlfriend – but it’s not actually her. (Much laughter) You know, the role-play thing. And I’ve run into myself before, which is weird. That’s kind of odd, accepting a friend request from yourself. It’s just trouble too, because they’ll have my pictures up and they’ll have “Relationship Status: Single.”

How does that feel when you have someone out there using your pictures and claiming to be you?
Kade: I mean, I guess it’s a good thing, but it’s kind of weird. Right now we’re a new developing band, but even when the band just started, I found like a Live Journal, which is a blog site. I was trying to make one for myself, but Kade Holloway was already taken. I was stressed out. I went to try and report it, but apparently you can’t – because they have a disclaimer on it saying it’s like a “role play” thing. But I guess it feels good, because more people see your name – even if it’s not you.

What was the experience like playing the Warped Tour, and how many dates did you play?
Kade: We only played one date. It was kind of an online thing where you have people vote for you. It was really cool, but it was really, really extremely hot. Obviously we live in Texas, so we played a Texas date. It was good! I was kind of worried that when I got to the stage for our set time, there wouldn’t be that many people there. But it was packed. I was excited to see that we had that many fans in our hometown.

What could one expect from a live The Hit show?
Kade: We don’t just stand there and play our songs. We’re very, very into our performance. Colin and Jorge – our guitarists – they were in a metal band together for quite a while, so they’re very synchronized. We always say it’s like a metal show. You just have to see it. It’s very high energy. It’s not like any band of our genre would perform live. I generally get into the crowd and kind of go crazy – and then they’re always head banging. It’s fun.
Mark: We put a lot of care into our set.
Kade: Yeah, we care deeply about our live set.

Do you have any questions for people reading this who might want to check your band out?
Kade: Yes, definitely check it out. For fans of All Time Low, Boys Like Girls – anyone that likes good, real music. Come see a show! Like I said, we’re very high energy. At every show, we’re always hanging out and talking with our fans. We’ll go out to eat with them and hang out. We’re real personable people, so come check us out. And be in touch on Twitter and all that stuff.
Mark: And another good thing – on the album that’s going to be coming out – it definitely has something for everyone of every genre. It’s very diverse. There’s not really a common theme, other than “The Hit.” That’s really the best way to describe it.
Kade: Definitely something for everyone – there’s breakdowns, there’s ballad type songs, there’s rap songs. There’s songs that will remind you of Limp Biskit (Mark laughs) and there’s songs that remind you of Taylor Swift. And make sure to let them know that we care about them deeply.
Mark: That’s something that we all say – that “we care about you.” That’s something we all started doing and the fans doing. We’re going to have shirts and bracelets that say, “I care about The Hit.” We definitely care about our fans.
Kade: It kind of started as a joke, because it’s kind of a really uncomfortable thing to say to another guy. But we’ve been saying it so much and it’s just such a good positive thing to say. So make sure you let anyone reading know that we care about them…

The Hit is Kade Holloway on vocals, Mark McCreight on drums,  Colin Stevic on lead guitar, Jorge Garcia on rhythm guitar, and Mike Ray in bass.

(Interview by Kenneth Morton)

The Hit on Myspace