Hawthorne Heights: Breaking Through Midwestern Ohio’s MySpace Scene

HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS are one of the lucky few to have established a career over the past two decades that hasn’t withered away or stormed into a generic gargle. The band established themselves in the early 2000s with their heart-wrenching emo anthems and have kept afloat by maintaining a refreshing, vivacious and lyrically honest sound that their fans can connect with. Their latest album, Lost Frequencies, testifies that statement by showing the band’s versatility and talents that still stay true to their beloved emotional sound but does everything it can to be as creative as possible. Mark McMillon looks into the album’s influences and draws back the almost 20 years of playing shows that have brought them to where they are today.

Lost Frequencies is the band’s latest offering, a collection of rarities and B-sides that didn’t make the cut with their 2018 Bad Frequencies. The album has become a beloved addition for fans, especially in its invigorating covers that put the band’s talents on display as they tackle covers from music titans like THE RAMONES and WEEZER. “We had songs that we recorded when we recorded Bad Frequencies that we still loved,” says McMillon. “But you can only put so many songs on a record because a vinyl can only hold so many songs and what not. It was hard decision but we had to leave some of those songs behind when we finalised what was going to be on Bad Frequencies. We were talking with our label Pure Noise and they suggested we just do something to release those songs.” Whilst it may not seem like it, this album calls back to one of the band’s major throwbacks, with covers featured on this album originally being created for the band’s self-released Ohio Is For Covers EP. “We had the Ohio Is For Covers stuff that never had a proper release and for fun we had went in and recorded a Billie Eilish cover which was way out there for us. It was kind of a challenge, we were trying to think of something we could do differently that would take us out of our normal headspace. So, we had all this material that we put together and it strangely worked.”

Ohio has been hailed by many as the birthplace for all things emo and alternative. We’re not sure if it’s something in the water or the soil that’s had this Midwestern city birthing the likes of TWENTY-ONE PILOTS, BEARTOOTH, CITIZEN, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and of course, HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS who’s stomping grounds trace back to the homely Dayton. McMillon recalls the early years of touring, accrediting the towns easy access to both the western and eastern sides of the United States to their capabilities of creating a fanbase with a broader space to tour. “Where we are we’re not on the east or west coast, we’re kinda like east of the central of the United States so we could get to Chicago or New York in a few hours, we can get down to Florida in a day’s drive. Like if you’re on the West Coast you would play shows up and down there, but America’s so big that it takes day to drive from one side so if you’re gonna tour the east coast you’re committed to like a three-week tour. It worked out really well for the pockets of touring early on and building a fanbase.”

Reflecting on those timely years, HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS have been pounding out anthems from the first few years of the 2000s but were launched into the stratosphere of success when MySpace’s world of emo fame found them. The band soared through the MySpace ‘era’ of music that became the backbone for Warped Tour and revolutionised the music industry for a whole new billing of bands, fan culture and the first window into what has now become the multi-million-dollar industry of online streaming services. “It was kind of the first peak into that world of like ‘oh, you can really build a fanbase online’,” says McMillon, drawing a contrast between launching a career in his previous years vs the climate for streaming services now. “When we started the only way to really get out there and build a fanbase was to go on tour, then MySpace happened and it kinda boomed. We’ve talked about it before like you used to go on tour, you’d sell your CDs you know $5 CDs just to get anyone to buy it. Now if you’re a new band you can tell the audience ‘open your phone, open Spotify’ you already have our album. It’s just a way different way of thinking about it, it’s wild. I don’t even know how to approach it.”

You can see a full-length interview with some more questions about THE RAMONES, Stephen King and what comes next below:

Lost Frequencies is out now via Pure Noise Records.

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