INTERVIEW

Can you start out by introducing yourself?
Jason: Absolutely. Hello voice recorder! My name is Jason Dunn. J-A-S-O-N space D-U-N-N. I’m from the band Hawk Nelson.

How do you like Oregon so far?
I’m tired. I think it’s this rain. It’s weird. I don’t know. I just went shopping. I’m not a big shopper.
Where did you go?
American Apparel…I didn’t go by choice, let’s put it that way. I had to get stuff for a photo thing Friday and I’m not a big shopper. It drains me, you know? *laughs*

So where did you and the other Hawk boys all meet?
Well, we already knew each other, kind of. We were all in different bands at one point. My band would occasionally play with Jon or Daniel’s band. We’d all play shows together in our little “scene” in Canada. And uh, high school was ending. The bands were splitting up ‘cause we were going off to college and getting jobs, and those of us who couldn’t find real jobs kept with music. Them being the three of us: me, Daniel and Jon. We just went for it. And Justin, he’s been with us since the New Year. He’s a really great addition. I love the guy. He’s from Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s been playing with other bands, so we’ve been on the road with him in the past. So here we are, five years later, the four of us together in one band.

How did you decide on a name?
Hawk Nelson came from a video game character I created when I was 14. I’m not even kidding. It was a snowboarding game where, before you could play, you had to create a player. I was like “Hmmm…Hawk Nelson’s a cool name.” so I made it a character. Why it’s the band’s name? I don’t know. It seems to work. I could think of a name now. “Brian Smith.” It’ll be the next big thing.

Has music always been what you wanted to do?
You know, I think with everyone, it changes. One week you want to be a doctor, then a psychiatrist, then a medic, a cop, hockey player, and then you want to be in a band. I told my parents I wanted to do music and they were like “Oh, good for you honey!” you know, like last week I told them I wanted to be a doctor and then it’ll switch again in another week. I don’t think they really took me serious and I don’t think I took myself serious. Athletics were kind of our focus, and I was the only kid in my family that did music. I played guitar when I was 12, piano when I was young... I was the only one to mess around with it. But here I am. 25 years old and still doing it! And I like it. I still like it.

Is there anything about being from Canada that makes it harder to succeed down here in the U.S.?
Well, we all live down here now because international travel is just a headache, you know? You have to get there 3 to 4 hours early, especially in Toronto, were we’re all from. Its crazy. 2 hours early, and you’ll still miss your flight. You have to be there at least 3 hours early. It’s hard being away from home, family, and friends. It makes it tricky.

Do any of your friends tour with you?
Usually it’s just us. I mean, Dan’s wife is here with us for a few days, but that’s not a very common thing.

How often are you touring?
More or less…all year. We’ll have a few days or a week here and there to rejuvenate and stuff. But we live out of a bus most of the year.

What’s the best and worst part about touring?
I think we have a really great bond. The four of us and our crew, like Travis there, who does the lights. We’re just one big happy family. That makes it easier. Like, some bands have a lot of inner issues and stuff, and that can be really frustrating. We have a really good team, we all get along really great. That’s fun. And just playing shows, and getting to wake up every day and play music..it’s a dream come true.

Favorite song to perform?
Hello’s fun to play live! Usually everything’s set out. We know what we’re playing and what to say before each song and stuff, but Hello has that kazoo part. Its different every night. Sometimes we’ll pull someone out of the audience and they’ll either know exactly what to do, or they won’t, and they’ll stand up there and freak out. its pretty interesting.

Do you try to change your sound from album to album? Like, on one track to you want to sound more pop or hard rock, etc?
A lot of that depends on who produces the record. A lot of our sound, like..before production it’ll sound totally different, but yeah, I think we know in our heads if we want it to be rockier or popier. I think it depends on the song. On this new record, some songs are more rockier. We worked with a rock producer. He went to town on it, and it’s awesome.

How long does it take to record a CD?
It varies. This one took three months. Well, I was there for three months. We all record separately. We were just getting off tour and then, right away. Actually, our drummer had left the tour early to start recording the drums. Drums took a week. Bass took a week and a half. Guitars and vocals take the longest. We need the most help *laughs*. Then there’s all the stuff after, like keyboards and stuff like that. We add that when we’re all finished with our individual parts. Unless it’s a piano song, then you kind of need the piano for it.

Do you have any “rituals” before a show?
Right now me and our drummer Justin, and our merch guy Adam are obsessed with this Playstation game called NHL Hitz 02, and it’s the best hockey game ever. It’s three on three hockey. Its so arcade, and we play it nonstop. Usually before the show we’ll play for an hour, and then after a show, after we’re all packed up and everything, we’ll play for…we were up until 3:30 in the morning last night. It’s taken over our lives. It’s great.

If you could get any message out to your fans, what would it be?
For this record, it was like a “thank you” for supporting us. We’ve been doing this for five years and our fans have been so supportive. I know bands that go do shows, and sometimes people show up and sometimes they don’t. We’re really blessed to have such dedicated fans.

Do you still see yourself doing this in 5 years?
Yes I do! We said our last show would be May 30, 2013. So, yeah, that’s five years! Then we’ll regroup and see what happens.

Do you have plans for after you’re done with Hawk Nelson? Do you still want to be involved in music?
Oh yeah, I don’t think I could do anything else. I feel like I have to do this, weather it’s writing, or producing, I don’t know. I’d like to do that..writing or producing. We’ll have to see what I think in five years.

What are your goals in Hawk Nelson right now? Is there anything as a band you would like to achieve?
Our goal right now, for Hawk Nelson, is to get through the year, you know? Take it one year at a time, you know? It’s our first headlining tour, and it’s awesome! I didn’t expect it to be this great. It’s awesome touring with Run Kid Run and Capital Lights, they’re just such awesome guys. I love being on the road with them, and uh, its just been good. So we’ll get through this tour and then do another one, and another one. We’ll see what happens. Keep going for it, you know?

How do you have time for a life? With touring and rehearsing and everything, do you ever have time just to yourself to just chill?
That’s a good question! I know I have no life. No, uh, its different than high school, of course, you know? Cause we’re on the road all the time. You just have to go for it. This is my life and I gotta cope with it. I get to go home on Monday. And I’m going bowling with my friends, just hang out and try to catch up. This is my life- life on the road.

When you go back home, do you still have the same friends?
Well, I live in Minneapolis now, all my friends back in Canada, its crazy. They’re all married and have kids and stuff. In all honesty, I keep in touch with like.. 2 or 3 friends from high school. You drift apart, they’re all grown up. I’m still stuck like I’m seventeen or something. They think I’m an idiot *laughs*. Life on the road is so different. It makes you grow up slower, you just kind of just, I don’t know. I play playstation, they read books. *laughs* there it is! *phone rings* my mommy’s calling. I’ll just hang up. *laughs* I just talked to her not too long ago.

Is that really weird, seeing all your friends so grown up?
Yeah! Like, I just found out the other day that one of my friends is having his second kid. That’s crazy.

Does that make you ever want to settle down?
I think about it occasionally. I’m 25 now. I come from a big family…I’ve got 5 brothers and sisters..i think I’m still young, I’m not in a huge rush. I’ll do it eventually.

What is your favorite part about doing a show?
I like the reaction of the crowd. Most of the time, sometimes its awkward. Its always fun to see kids faces.

What does your typical day look like?
We stay up pretty late, but we wake up by 12 or 12:30, load in our gear and set it up, grab some lunch, hang out with people like you, do a couple things, sound check, and on this tour. At 4:30 we do a meet and greet. Then we grab dinner, do a little vocal warm up, and we’re ready to rock!

Well, you’re getting dragged to sound check, so we’ll let you go. It was awesome talking to you!
Yeah! Right back at you! I hope you guys end up staying for the show!

To learn more information on HAWK NELSON check out their official website at: www.hawknelson.com

(Thanks so much to our contributor Megan for doing this interview with Jason of Hawk Nelson!)