Interview w/ Jonathan Marks from ‘HEY CHAMP’

Posted by hugo - January - 22 - 2009

I first picked up on HEY CHAMP while searching aimlessly on youtube. I came across the Hey Champ – “Cold Dust Girl” video and immediately was dragged into it (which is hard for me since I’m always skeptical about music videos on youtube. Which mostly are just garbage.) A few weeks later I noticed that they were surfacing in Blogs and remixes were appearing left and right and I knew I HAD to get an interview with these guys (Saam Hagshenas – vox, guitar, keys/Jon Marks – rhythm, vox, keys/Pete Dougherty – keys, synths.) Luckily for me and you, Jon happily agreed to do this interview with us.

“Rockford, Illinois… not exactly a hotbed of talent, although it has produced rock legends Cheap Trick, and (allegedly) the older brother from the TV hit “Blossom.” Two boys, Saam, age 16 and Jonathan, 13, become heavily influenced by both Blossom and Cheap Trick. Naturally, they form a band.” – Hey Champ

SMILE: So Jonathan, are you and Saam born and raised in Rockford, Illinois?

Jon Marks: Yes, indeed. Born and raised in the same city whose inhabitants voted Taco Bell the #1 Mexican restaurant in a city paper poll. Rockford was so proud that they constructed a giant billboard as if the results weren’t already bad enough. At least we still have more golf courses and churches per capita than any other city in the nation…proud to be a Rockfordian!

SMILE: Now, you are 3 years younger than Saam, when and how did you two meet up and what were your influences at the age of 13 when you met Saam who was 16 at the time? Seems like a big age gap especially in your teens.

JM: At that age, 13 and 16 was a world of difference. Saam was busy getting drunk for the first time and thinking about his prom date, and I was solely concerned with mastering all the Fatality moves in Mortal Kombat. Yet, we were both obsessed with music, which naturally, is a tie that binds even the unlikely. In terms of how we met, we both had the typical teenage drive to start a band and a mutual bass-playing friend brought it all together. The band we formed was called Mantra, and the influences ranged from Rage Against the Machine to 311 to early Metallica to the Wu-Tang Clan…what do you expect, it was the 90′s.

SMILE: Do you think you still have the same influences (Blossom and cheap trick)? Haha.

JM: We have grown out of Blossom, but not necessarily Six who Saam continues to have a crush on to this day. Cheap Trick, however, will always be an influence. They are not only Rockford’s claim to fame, but Rick Nielsen (the guitarist) sold his house to my parents in the 80′s. The band has been friends of the family ever since. I have probably been to 200 Cheap Trick concerts, and you should see how hard each of them continues to rock even after 30+ years as a band. Rick was also partially responsible in getting me my first drumset when I was 5 years old.

SMILE: How long after when you and Saam met did you form the band?

JM: We formed the band immediately after meeting. It was an arranged musical marriage.

SMILE: After graduating High School, you went onto Princeton where you met up with your now keyboardist/synthesis, Pete Dougherty? What were you majoring in College and did you and Saam still continue with the band or did you go on a hiatus?

JM: Mantra was sadly disbanded when Saam left for college..I was glad to get back to Mortal Kombat anyway. A few years later, I went to Princeton where both Pete and I majored in Music Theory and Composition. We spent countless hours writing sonatas and jazz melodies, analyzing Bach and Beethoven, and singing 16th-Century sacred concert music…I’d say it’s nice to be back in the world of rock n’ roll with Hey Champ.

SMILE Were you two trouble makers while in Princeton, you and Pete?

JM: Oh the good ol’ days of Princeton trouble-making… Summering in the Hamptons, sporting game hens, dirtying our penny-loafers in the mud while on our way to tea.. No, but really, I’d say we did our fair share of bingeing and purging.

SMILE: Any good stories from college?

JM: Drunkenly streaking the largest lecture hall at Princeton wearing a Santa hat while my friend stood at the entrance bumping Ram Jam’ s “Black Betty” was a highlight. Pete WAS a walking good story in college….you can ask him for details.

SMILE:I’ve been to Illinois once, sadly only at the Chicago airport, but I remember the awesome neon lights they have above the moving walkway. What’s another great thing to check out or must have while in the Chicago or Rockford or Illinois area (food and/or sights)?

JM: There is no way I can name just one, as this city (Chicago) is far too kick ass. You have to go to Hot Doug’s, the encased meat emporium, and indulge in an alligator or wild boar dog. Smart Bar has the best DJ’s and soundsytem in Chicago, Kstarke Records is a must for all those into disco, funk, italo, and house, and Belmont Army/Navy is the spot for clothes and kicks.

SMILE: ON with the band! Recently being signed under Lupe Fiasco’s label (the 1st and the 15th), how’s that treating you? Not a bad name to have along side. Tell me more about that? How you found out, what you did when you found out? Shopping sprees and limousines? Haha.

JM: Our recent signing has been a milestone for the band, and it couldn’t be a better situation. Lupe is a badass performer with an eclectic taste in music and a great vision for the future of 1st and 15th. Being signed means a healthy budget to record the album we have always wanted to record, so we are thrilled to be awarded that opportunity. On top of that, we had the privilege of touring with him and his band, which was a real eye-opener for us. We really had to step up our game as a live act. It’s interesting because it all came so quickly. We were all doing our day-to-day and plugging away with promoting Hey Champ ourselves when all of a sudden a Lupe’s engineer (who is a mutual friend) told us that Lupe heard our stuff and really dug it. We had no idea he had been listening to it at all. A month later we were signed, on tour, and recording a full length. I guess that’s just how it works…things happen in these situations when you least expect it.

SMILE: So when do you think you’re gonna go on another full fledged tour? Last year you were on the road with Lupe Fiasco who is also from Illinois, what crazy things happened?

JM:The tour with Lupe was an incredible experience for the band, as we found ourselves going from local sensation to nationally-touring act performing for thousands of people each night as Lupe’s main support. The pressure was on each night as the majority of the crowd had no idea who we were. In that kind of situation,crowds are quick to judge, but we came through every night. It really helped build our confidence and stage presence as a live act. In terms of “crazy things” that happened, let’s just say it was primarily a college tour, and a few of us took advantage of being back after a couple years out of school.

SMILE: I see you’re doing it up at SXSW in March, pretty awesome. You must be excited!

JM:These last few months have been amazing for the band with the signing to Lupe’s label, the subsequent tour, and our positive feedback from our first CMJ experience. SXSW is another one of those rites of passage that every up-and-coming band needs to experience, so to finally be a part of it is really exciting.

SMILE:Yello Fever remixed “Cold Dust Girl” and are from Chicago. I haven’t been able to find any other remixes by them and that’s a shame, I thought they did a superb job. Did you two know each other before or just mere coincidence that they remixed one of your songs? Being from the same state and how often you and the band are in Chicago.

JM: Hey Champ is actually always in Chicago..all three of us live in the city. Yello Fever is a great DJ/remixing trio that lives in Chicago as well, so we all know each other from the local music/club scene. They are buddies of ours who we party and spin music with quite often. They approached in regards to remixing “Cold Dust Girl” and we were more than happy to have them do so. Make sure to check out the 80kidz remix as well. They are a kick ass electro group out of Japan who did a Todd Edwards-esque remix of “Cold Dust Girl,” which we love as well.

SMILE: Tell me about the “COLD DUST GIRL” video. The cinematography is absolutely amazing which is how I ended up knowing about you as a band. I was surprised I never heard of you before because the video’s well produced and it’s such an awesome song. It’s one of my favorites, especially when the champagne bottle is corked near the end. PERFECT! What was that like having finished the video and looking back at it?

JM: We were more than happy with the end product. I mean everything looks better in slow-mo, but to have a bunch of cute girls dancing and partying around us while our song is playing makes us look way cooler than we really are. It’s funny because the actual filming was a lot lamer than the video actually looks. Each of the shots was only 5 seconds or so in real time, so it was a lot of starting and stopping…nothing glamorous there. Once edited and watched in slow motion, the footage truly shines. The champagne-bottle popping scene was just us trying to get our hip-hop on, I mean we are signed to Lupe’s label aren’t we? (Editors note: Good point.)

SMILE: What did you guys end up doing for NYE? I saw you and the band had a “REVOLUTION”. Justice did a DJ set, did you open up for them? How was the show and party?

JM: We spent NYE with Justice, So me, Peanut Butter Wolf, and a slew of great local DJ talent at the Congress theater where we rocked for 4,000+ people. We were the opening band on the main stage for the ‘So Me/Justice’ DJ extravaganza, which was a party to say the least. It was pretty hilarious watching people crowd surf to electro-pop, not to say Hey Champ doesn’t bring it hard. It was also rewarding to get such great feedback in our hometown on such a night as NYE…the post-rocking debauchery was quite fun for us as well.

SMILE: What do you have coming out in the future? Albums, more videos, Shoe line…the whole nine!

JM: We are working on our first full-length album, which should be finished in the very near future. Tours, more merchandise, new videos, and world domination will follow shortly thereafter.

SMILE: Because SmileforCamera loves to take things over the edge a little, here’s an awesome questionnaire!

Reebok, Nike, Puma, or Adidas: Nike sportswear and Dunk SB’s. ’nuff said.

Big Mac or Whopper: Two patties are better than one!

Guilty Pleasures: Project Runway.

Favorite song at-the-moment? “Invisible Touch” by Genesis. Just picked up the vinyl recently and can’t stop listening (this could also probably go into the “guilty pleasure” category).

First album ever bought? Guns n’ Roses “Appetite for Destruction.”

Favorite Movie? Spinal Tap.

Did O.J. Simpson do it? Win the Heisman Trophy? Heck yes he did and what a feat!…Oh, you mean the whole cold-blooded murder thing? Yeah, that too.