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deaconlight.com/hitthelights
Hit The Lights - Nick Thompson Interview
Q: What was the most influential band you listened to growing up?
A: I'm gonna say major influential band would have to be New Found Glory. Kind of a band that I latched onto and definitely influenced me in my writing.
Q: What is it about New Found Glory that you like?
A: Growing up I had a weird music scene. I lived in a small town so I had to drive to a town called Dayton [OH] where there was a lot of hardcore shows and stuff, so I grew up going to a lot of hardcore shows, but I like bands like Blink-182. When they came out, they were kind of like this hardcore band but they were playing these pop songs. I was just like, "yeah makes perfect sense! Perfect for me." So I guess it made me latch on. And I still love them. We got to tour with them.
Q: What tour was it?
A: It was the coming home tour. Cartel, Early November, New Found Glory. I got to sit on the side of the stage and sing along.
Q: What are some bands you're listening to right now?
A: I listen to Pantera, there's a band called Scare Tactic from LA that's really good. I listen to the new Usher. It's great. I'm into Tupac a little bit, and we listen to the new Coldplay record.
Q: How would you define your music taste/your music?
A: I would define our music as heavy pop. I think we like heavier music. Despite that I think all of us are suckers for poppy stuff. We like poppy melodies. I think that kind of defines my music taste because I love heavy music but I also like poppy music. Especially 80s melodies. I love all the poppy corny melodies and stuff.
Q: What about this hip hop? Is there a little of that in there?
A: I guess so, I think there'll probably be a little more in the future. I think the next record will bring in more influences.
Q: Tell us about the first Hit The Lights record and how it's different from your new one, Skip School Start Fights?
A: [Our first] was a fun record to make. It was also a learning experience too. It's called This Is Stickup, Don't Make It A Murder. We did it with Matt Squire who worked with a lot of bands like All Time Low, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Panic At The Disco. It was an awesome experience. I think that we were really young too, we were still learning what kind of band we were. There was like a lot of old songs. Our new record, Skip School Start Fights, was definitely more defining of what we do. All the songs are pretty much related and they all sort of intertwine.
Q: So it's more like an album than a collection of songs?
A: Exactly.
Q: When did Skip School Start Fights come out?
A: Last Tuesday [July 8]. You should pick it up!
Q: What are Hit The Lights' plans for the immediate future?
A: We're going to be touring all the way up until Christmas. We have a headlining tour after this, we're going to be on tour with Motion City Soundtrack, and then following that, Chiodos in the fall. Then also we're going to be on the Cobra Starship/Forever The Sickest Kids/Sing It Loud tour. So yeah, we have some awesome stuff coming up.
Q: Who are some bands Hit The Lights would like to tour with?
A: Set Your Goals. I love watching that band. We got to tour with that band. I love their music. Four Year Strong, we haven't done anything with Four Year Strong. All American Rejects would be cool. Blink-182 reunion tour would be nice. Always tour with New Found Glory. There's a lot of bands...I'm down. Saves The Day would be a good one. I bet kids would hate us! Chris Connolly's the man.
Q: Do you have any interesting tour stories?
A: Whenever you're put on the spot you can never think of one! What's a good one? We'll tell you next time!
Q: How did you guys meet?
A: Actually my old band played with our bassist and guitarist Omar's old band. Each band broke up, they started Hit The Lights, they asked me to join. I did, but we lost our drummer. We're friends with a band called Hawthorne Heights that said they had an awesome drumtech, which is Nate [Van Dame - Hit the Lights's drummer]. Nate came, Colin, our old vocalist, left and I moved up to lead vocals. We won a new guitarist. He knew Kevin [Mahoney], our guitarist from Rochester, so we had two Rochester guitarists. That's kind of how it happened.
This page was updated August 10, 2008.
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