thOn Sunday, October 7, 2007, the State

    University of New York College at Brockport (SUNY Brockport) held an event for area

    colleges called “Brocktober Fest.” This festival held on the SUNY Brockport campus’

    Alumni Walk, featured Augustana, Mat Kearney, Black Violin, and the Hoodies from

    Rochester, NY.

The following interview was conducted by WBSU 89.1 The Point:

Q: You’re site says that you guys were high school band mates. Could you elaborate a

     little bit more on how your band got started?

A: They started out as a 3 piece band, with Brandon, Dan, and Paul. They played Blink

    182 covers and Jimmy Eat World music. They were all in the high school music

    program together, and when they felt the band had developed enough, they grabbed

    Joey as a second guitarist, solidifying and completing their lineup. Joey quotes, “I

    think the fact that we all went to high school together helped. We all basically have

    the same outlook.” The most important way that their band changed, is that they all

    changed their view on the band from a hobby to a professional career. In the

    beginning it was very experimental, eventually they figured out what their sound is.

    They also said that their maturity was important. Said they have different things to

    say musically at the age of 17 than they do now at the age of 22.

Q: How did you guys come up with your band name?

A: They were in the mall wearing hoodies, and someone walked up to them and asked

    them, “What are you guys, the All American Hoodies?” They responded “yeah,

    alright sounds good.” Eventually they said it was more that people called them the

    Hoodies than that is what they called themselves. After the story at the mall, that is

    just how people came to know them and they associated their music with the name.

Q: You guys have done some considerable touring in the past few years, playing

    alongside groups like the Gym Class Heroes and Hellogoodbye, and you just recently

    finished your own independent tour. Could you tell me a little bit about what it is like

    to be a traveling rock group?

A: Dan quotes, “It’s basically the greatest thing in the world, you never know who you

    will meet, where you will sleep. I think we slept in the van for 2 nights out of the

    whole month that we toured.” The best thing about touring was the spontaneous

    lifestyle; the worst thing was gas money. You never know what is going to happen.

Q: Which groups do you think influenced you guys the most creatively?

A: Dan quotes, “Blink 182 is basically the reason that I started playing the guitar.”

    Overall they said that they all had very different likes and dislikes, favorite bands

    range from The Foo Fighters to Jimmy Eat World to Save the Day.

Q: If you had to pick one song off of the album “A Place on Solid Ground” for someone

     who has never before heard you’re music to listen to, what would it be?

A: The band felt that “Surface” is the best track musically on the album, but they decided

    that “A Former Glory” is the track that they would want someone to hear. Brandon

    quotes, “Surface is the one track that we are all the most proud of.” Dan says “I feel

    like A Former Glory is the song that makes people want to keep listening. As one

    song, A Former Glory is the best, but within the album Surface is the best.” Surface

    best represents the album and their musical talent, but A Former Glory is what they

    feel like would make fans want to hear their music.

The Hoodies said that they are continuing to write new music all the time, but they wish

    to continue pushing “A Place on Solid Ground,” and touring for that album. They all said

    they are very excited to get back into the studio eventually.

“A Place on Solid Ground” hit stores in Japan on October 17

    th and a release date in the United States is unknown.

Visit WBSU 89.1 The Point at www.891thepoint.com

Visit The Hoodies at www.TheHoodies.com