Genre:
Members: A.J. Babcock (bass, vocals), Colin Rigsby (drums, vocals), Tim Skipper (vocals, guitar)
For fans of: Lovedrug, Jimmy Eat World, Radiohead, Bleach, Jeff Buckley, Relient K
Label: Gotee Records

 1 of 3

Sometimes a severe setback can warrant the greatest evolutionary leap for a band, and in House of Heroes' case, an unannounced series of roadblocks led to members' most expressive and ambitious musical direction to date. As teenagers in the then titled band No Tagbacks, the trio was living the ideal artist's lifestyle- making records, touring constantly and building up a grassroots fan base. But when label troubles set in, vehicles started breaking down and punkish pop no longer conveyed the thoughts on members' mind, a change was certainly in order.

"I look back at our early days and see these wide eyed kids with dreams of being in a rock band just going for it," notes bassist A.J. Babcock, also the group's primary lyricist. "We were really naïve back then and I don't think we realized all that went into making this work, but getting out there and trying it for ourselves only brought us closer together and refined our vision of what we've become."

After a serious degree of soul searching, an investigation of other sonic opportunities and all out surrender of the situation to their Maker, the gang reconvened as House of Heroes (a name picked to avoid the childish contexts of its original incarnation) and basically started from scratch. What first started as a new batch of demos and then some road testing turned into the independent album What You Want Is Now in 2003. The embrace of that record by its faithful, plus the buzz circulating around the industry, eventually led to the courtship of the Gotee Records family.

Despite the interest, there would be an eight month stalemate due to previous record label red tape before HOH would officially dot the Gotee line. For a band that was used to the pace of touring and keeping tabs on their audience at all times, the wait was truly tortuous, but it also carved out the free time needed to wholeheartedly invest in the writing of its 2005 debut.

next page... |  1 of 3

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

FREE Newsletter Sign up now for the Christian Music Today weekly newsletter:    RSS Feed   RSS Help