Hurt (band)

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Hurt

Background information
Origin Virginia
Genre(s) Art metal
Alternative metal
Post-grunge
Hard rock
Years active 2000–Present
Label(s) Capitol Records
Currently unsigned
Website Official site
Members
J. Loren Wince
Evan Johns
Paul Spatola
Rek Mohr
Former members
Wil Quaintance
Steven Fletcher
Joshua Ansley

Hurt (sometimes typeset as HURT) is an alternative metal band formed in 2000 in Virginia but that is now located out of Los Angeles, California, United States. Signed to Capitol Records, the band has put out two major label albums. The group consists of lead singer J. Loren Wince, guitarist Paul Spatola, and drummer Evan Johns. Bassist Josh Ansley left the band in April 2008 for personal reasons,[1] and was replaced by Rek Mohr (former bassist for the band Leo) in May 2008.

The band first released the independent albums Hurt in 2000 and The Consumation in 2003. Many of the songs from these albums found their way onto their first two major label releases, and The Consumation was re-mastered as The Re-Consumation in 2008. The band received critical (though not commercial) success with their major label debut album, Vol. 1, released on March 21, 2006. However, their singles "Rapture" and "Falls Apart" did gain minor radio airplay on rock stations in the United States. Their second album was the critically-acclaimed Vol. II, released on September 25, 2007, and they gained their largest radio rock hit yet with "Ten Ton Brick".

Contents

[edit] Origins

J. Loren Wince is the lead singer of the band HURT.
J. Loren Wince is the lead singer of the band HURT.

[edit] J. Loren Wince

Lead singer J. Loren Wince was born in Baltimore, Maryland on August 25, 1981. Soon moving to Virginia, he lived in the remote regions of Halifax, Virginia and later relocated to Culpeper, enrolling at Germanna Community College at the age of 14. His parents exposed him to gospel and classical music, and rock and roll was banned from the household. Wince studied to be a classical violinist and began playing at an early age. Wince cites Antonio Vivaldi as his idol and greatest influence, but also cites Schubert, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Bach, Verdi, Handel, both Haydns, Grieg, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Ravel and others as influences in his music. Rock music was "the only feasible method of getting honest compositions to the public without being an "A" list writer" according to J.[2]

His first composition was a march written for brass and strings inspired by the poem "Charge Of the Light Brigade," which he wrote when he was 10. He then wrote the song "Cold Inside" at the age of 13. His first large public show was at 12 as a violinist accompanying a contemporary band.[2]

Evan Johns is the drummer of the band HURT.
Evan Johns is the drummer of the band HURT.

[edit] Evan Johns

Evan Johns, the drummer of HURT, is the son of acclaimed rock producer Andy Johns, who is most notable for his associations with Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and Van Halen. Evan Johns was raised in the Los Angeles area and began playing drums at an early age. Alongside his famous father, Evan is also the nephew of music producer Glyn Johns (The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin et al.) and cousin of music producer Ethan Johns (Glyn's son) (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon et al.)

Paul Spatola is the lead guitarist of the band HURT.
Paul Spatola is the lead guitarist of the band HURT.

[edit] Paul Spatola

Paul Spatola, the lead guitarist for HURT, was born in Brooklyn, NY, and moved to Old Bridge, New Jersey. He has been playing piano since he was 5 years old. He played in a band in high school called Social Butterfly with former HURT bassist Josh Ansley.

[edit] Rek Mohr

Rek Mohr, formerly of the band Leo, joined Hurt in May, 2008, replacing previous Hurt bassist Josh Ansley. Mohr's first performance with the band was held on May 2, 2008 in Johnson City, Tennessee.

[edit] Forming the Band

The band was originally comprised of J. Loren Wince, age 15, and Wil Quaintance. They sought players for years until picking up Steven Fletcher to play the bass. The band was named upon conception of the "Self Titled" cd when J. Loren was approximately 17. There have been 9 bassists, 5 of which were permanent members. There have been 2 lead guitarists and 2 drummers including the current Evan Johns.[2]

[edit] The First Albums

[edit] "Self-Titled"

This album was written and performed by only J. Loren, with programming on "Confession" by Jonathan Minis. It was made in 2000 and approximately 1,200 copies of it where issued to the public. While not much is known about this album, the recorded version of the song "Yearn" has been played live. However due to lack of familiarity with the song, it has not been performed to the public. The songs Unkind, U-Bleed, Better, Summers Lost, and Abuse of SID have appeared on other albums. At this time, there are no details as to whether any of the other tracks will be released in the future. There are also no intentions of re-releasing this album, much like what was done with "The Consumation/Re-Consumation." As J. Loren states, "It was poorly done and actually diminishes from the intentions behind the songs."[2]

[edit] The Consumation

"The Consumation" album was written and performed by J. Loren Wince, with Wil Quaintance on drums, Shawn Sawyer on bass and given credits on the song "Unclean," with Brian Winshell on Engineering for "House of Cards" and "Velvet Rolls Royce." This album was released in 2003 in J. Loren's home state of Virginia, with approximately 2000 sold, and around 3000 promos and full albums distributed for free. There is a noted mistake on the back of the original album sleeve, where it is missing the song "Cold Inside." This was not intentional. Due to a lack of sleep over the course of a 6-month period, the track listing was the last thing to be done on the album and was simply overlooked.[2]

Later, someone who was trying to help promote the band asked if he could print additional copies of The Consumation for sale in his stores. J.Loren agreed to this. The second edition printing differed from the original version with a simplified color scheme and amateur mastering done at the duplication plants studio. It was not a concern to the band that he was making money off of their album, considering he took a risk himself on printing albums for their up and coming band, until later when these copies started turning up on eBay. The band found out that their fans were bidding an average of $170 for each copy as they were auctioned off one at a time.[2]

A passage of poetry was removed from a song which was then entitled "Way It Was." The song was renamed Somnambulist by Wil Quaintance until the album could be finished and the poem, entitled "The Consumation Premise," could be appropriately re-inserted. The song was changed back to "Way It Was.".[2]

[edit] Discovery

The band (with the original line-up) was discovered by Tom Lewis, an ex-Universal Records A&R who quit his position to manage the band somewhere around 2005. The show was at a The Continental in New York, where a friend of Tom's, Jay Silverman, passed the band's CD on to him..[2]

After the initial contact with lead singer J. Loren, it was another 8 months until they heard from Tom again. They met up with Tom and his company (Metropolitan Hybrid) and the journey began.[3]

The band went to record its demo to help find a record label. After undisclosed issues with the current drummer for the band, session drummer Evan Johns asked if he could be a part of the recording, which J. agreed to.[4]

In the process of trying to shop around for a major label, the bass player at the time decided it would be best if he quit the band, at which time they began to seek out his replacement, former Streetlight Manifesto bassist Josh Ansley.[4]

When asked about how he became part of the band, Paul Spatola has been quoted as saying that he received a phone call from Josh Ansley, saying he should fly to New York and try out for the band, as they where looking for guitarists. Paul states, "A month later I didn’t hear anything and I said 'I just gotta fly out there.'" His first performance with the band was at a night club called 'The Mint,' at which time, Paul intended on being with the band for a few days but ended up staying for two weeks. The first day he tried out for the band, and with a little help from Tom Lewis, J. Loren was convinced to bring Paul into the band as the lead guitarist.[3]

The next day, the band played a showcase in New York, at which time they had spoken with several record companies including Columbia, Interscope, Island, Universal, Virgin and Atlantic, but nothing came of these conversations.[3]

Initially, Capitol Records had purchased the album, Vol. I, from the band at cost which was approximately 100k. No other apparent changes other than signing the recordings rights to them took place.[2]

[edit] Major Label Albums

[edit] Vol. I and Vol. II

Both Vol. I and Vol. II were recorded together, and the plan initially was to have them come out immediately, but at the time they had just been signed to Capitol and that was too much of an investment for a major label to put out a dual-CD and the touring to support it. Instead, they took the time to re-record Vol. II and improved upon it.[5]

Vol. I was released on March 21, 2006, and can be found on Capitol Records. The album was Produced by Eric Greedy, with Executive Producer Janelle Lewis. Lyrics by J. Loren Wince. Musical performances by J. Loren Wince (vocals, guitar, violin), Evan Johns (drums, piano), Josh Ansley (bass, backing vocals) and Paul Spatola (guitar, backing vocals). This album has produced three singles including "Rapture," "Falls Apart" and "Danse Russe."

Vol. II was released on September 25, 2007, and can be found on Capitol Records. The album was Produced by Eric Greedy with J. Loren Wince (vocals, guitar, violin, banjo), Evan Johns (drums), Josh Ansley (bass) and Paul Spatola (guitar, dobro, piano). The album has seen two singles, "Ten Ton Brick" and "Loded," a popular selection from a poll taken on the band's forums.

[edit] The Re-Consumation

The Re-Consumation album was released on February 19, 2008, as a means to complete the foretold story contained within "The Consumation" ...and also to save fans a bunch of money. This album was edited by J. Loren Wince, adding three files as a new recordings, while the other two edits had been recorded at the time of conception and intentionally withheld for the specific purpose of its re-release. The song "Somnambulist" was renamed to "Way it Was" simply because it was always to be named that since it was written. States J. Loren, "The song is a vignette into a moment from the past which could not be completed in the present. This is why Mr. Quaintance chose its temporary name for me. This is the only song in my repertoire which I did not name."[2]

[edit] The Re-Consumation to Present

On April 3, 2008, Hurt bassist Joshua Ansley announced via the band's forums & Myspace that he would be leaving the band to pursue his dreams in the field of Acting/Writing/Directing.[1]

On May 12, 2008, Capitol Records informed the band that they would be dropping Hurt from their label. Although no official reason was given, Loren suspects that it was for "purely financial" reasons. [6] Touring will continue as planned.

[edit] Discography

Album Date Label Peak Chart Position
Billboard 200 Top Heatseekers
Hurt (Self-Titled) 2000 (self released)
The Consumation 2003 (self released)
Vol. 1 March 21, 2006 [7] Capitol Records # 175 [8] # 7 [8]
The Blackmarket EP 2007 (self released)
Vol. II September 25, 2007 [9] Capitol Records # 101 [8] # 1 [8]
The Re-Consumation February 19, 2008 [10][11] Adrenaline Music

[edit] Singles

Artist Chart History data from Billboard.com[12]

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock
2006 "Rapture" - - #17 Vol. 1
2006 "Falls Apart" - - #16 Vol. 1
2007 "Ten Ton Brick" - #28 #6 Vol. II
2008 "Loded" - - #33 Vol. II

An Edited version of the song "Unkind" is featured on the EA Sports game NHL 07 soundtrack. Furthermore, a music video for "Forever" from Vol. I was made at the request of Capitol Records, but ultimately the video was never released. However, it was later released by the creators of the video on YouTube.

[edit] Unreleased Songs

CONNECTSets

  1. "Falls Apart"
  2. "Shallow"
  3. "Rapture"
  4. "Danse Russe" [Also Known As Danse Russe (Raw Mix)]

The CONNECTSets songs are part of a digital download from many of the online music stores such as Amazon. These songs were recorded in studio, and sound much like the versions that are performed at live shows.

OTHERS

  1. "Rapture" (Studio Acoustic)
  2. "Falls Apart" (Studio Acoustic)
  3. "Danse Russe" (Studio Acoustic)
  4. "Unkind" (Acoustic)
  5. "Better" (Demo)
  6. "Incomplete"
  7. "Yearn"

All the songs here, except for Incomplete, were put on HURT's official MySpace page at one point or another, with some able to be downloaded.

Acoustic versions of Ten Ton Brick, Alone With The Sea, Talking To God and Assurance have surfaced but none of them have been officially released.

The song titled "Incomplete" is an unreleased song that, to this point, has only been performed live. Several live versions of this song have been recorded by fans, but no official release of this song exists.

[edit] Members

[edit] Current

[edit] Former

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Josh Ansley's Letter of Resignation., April 3, 2008
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Interview with J. Loren by Michael Shoulders., March 30, 2008
  3. ^ a b c Interview with HURT by Scott Stratton.
  4. ^ a b Interview with J. Loren of HURT by Tim Nydell., December 29, 2007
  5. ^ Hurt Elevate Worn Road Of Hard Rock by Brett Hickman., Oct. 21, 2007
  6. ^ Music comes first - even without record label., May 15, 2008
  7. ^ Billboard Hurt Discography Vol. 1 (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  8. ^ a b c d Billboard Hurt Albums Chart History (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  9. ^ Billboard Hurt Discography Vol. II (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  10. ^ Hurt Re-Consumation CD
  11. ^ Billboard Hurt Discography The Re-Consumation (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  12. ^ Billboard Hurt Singles Chart History (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-07.

[edit] External links

[edit] Official

[edit] Interviews

  • J. Loren Interview on Crusher Magazine, Apr. 2008 link
  • Hurt acoustic performance on UGO.com, Apr. 2008 link
  • J. Loren Interview on the HURT Forums, Mar. 2008 link
  • J. Loren Interview on SHOUT! Music Webzine, Feb. 2008 link
  • J. Loren interview on Rock Bottom.org, Dec. 2007 link
  • Paul Spatola Interview on Ultimate Guitar.com, Nov. 2007 link
  • J. Loren Interview on Type 3 Media, Oct. 2007 link
  • Josh Ansley Interview on Type 3 Media, Oct. 2007 link
  • Paul Spatola Interview on Lancaster Online, Oct. 2007 link
  • J. Loren Interview on Rockin Music Reviews, Oct. 2007 link
  • J. Loren Interview on Vindy.com, Oct. 2007 link
  • J. Loren and Paul Spatola interview on Revenant Media, Sept. 2007 1 2
  • Hurt interview on All Access Magazine.com, 2006 link
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