Hobart W Fink

Jayk Gallagher and Lauren Lakis, both a onetime romantic couple as well as fairly accomplished actors, comprise L.A.-based indie-pop band Hobart W. Fink. Today, MAGNET is honored to premiere their new video for “The Fight/We Lie,” from Back And Forth Forever. The clip is a rather sad story about a couple fighting and being unhappy. Scattered animations make the video a little brighter, and the end definitely gets messy. Check out the video below. - Magnet Magazine

...Those that wanted to close out the Make Music festival with a bang headed to Old Towne Pub, which by 11 p.m. had a line around the corner to get in. At Old Towne, indie punkers Hobart W. Fink played lots of mosh-worthy licks that weren’t getting the the circle pit action they deserved. ... - CMJ

Today, we Take Aim with Hobart W. Fink's Jayk Gallagher. Hobart W. Fink -- it's a band, not a dude. Ok?

Jayk Gallagher, who is the principal songwriter and co-front person, chatted and Finked with us.

Twitter-size your bio -- your choice of 140 words or characters, if you want to get technical-- and tell us everything we need to know! GO!

Hobart W. Fink is indie grunge rock with a disaffected punk aesthetic. Two lead singers, male and female, create crystalline vocal harmonies that emerge from gutsy, cutting garage rock."

If you were not doing music, you would be...

Acting. Our two lead singers, Lauren Lakis and myself, are both of the acting persuasion. I was in the film The Social Network and the show CSI: NY and other fun stuff. Lauren's in a totally secret big deal upcoming feature... plus she played a crackhead on that Tyler, The Creator show, Loiter Squad, And fell in love with a vampire witch hybrid in a film with Paul Sorvino! When not acting, Lauren is strangling litter bugs in the name of the environment, and I'm helping her hide the bodies.

Any non-music hobbies, talents or skills?

I wrote a screenplay called Synching that's in the process of being turned into a film... And I host a radio show on AM1630 KCHUNG and book shows all over L.A. with my promotion group All Scene Eye. Lauren swims every single morning and would probably be the only survivor if we all got flooded. She's also sort of a food quality activist. GMOs = bad. I don't know if you can tell, but we are super Los Angeles. Our bass player Noe is skilled at being an excellent father, and our drummer AJ is an incredibly honest and upstanding yet sexy fitness trainer.

Pick ONE song on your record and share a writing or recording story. Something intimate, that you haven't told anyone else (or at least a bunch of writers or journalists) and that which puts us in the moment with you. Let's get intimate, shall we?

Our new album Back and Forth Forever has that name for two reasons. One is funny, and you can probably figure it out by Googling. The other refers to the on-and-off relationship between Lauren and me. Our record is breaking up and getting back together 10 times in nine months. A lot of the songs on the album are about this pattern and its fallout. Some of the songs are a little creepy because they were actually written before what they are about happened - are we psychic?

Our song 'The Fight,' which was written a few breakups ago, and has quickly become all of our new favorite song, features the line 'There was no need to yell...You don't even know me.' Everything in the song made sense to us except the "You don't even know me" part, the spirit of which made sense at the time, but we never had actually said it. Oddly enough, this last time we broke up, both of us said it to the other on separate days, completely in earnest to convey a point. It's like the song knew what would happen!

Finish this sentence: Hobart W. Fink is the artist that...

...loves kitty cats.

And who the HELL is Hobart W. Fink? What is HIS story?

Hobart W. Fink doesn't exist! He is a nerdy name I used to call myself in my head before the band got started. I could tell you we're named after 'Hobart,' the street in L.A., or the kitchen appliance company, but those'd be lies! We will say the name has nothing to do with Barton Fink. Hobart W. Fink... is a man yet to be born, currently in gestation, waiting to emerge from the womb and belt out a hook over some power chords.

Got it.

Are you feeling the Fink?

—Amy Sciarretto
Read more at http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/take-aim-amy-sciarretto-vs-hobart-w-fink/11085671#DwvrralhCgkdc4Cb.99 - Artist Direct

Hobart W. Fink’s music can be described with two conflicting, yet fitting words: raw and sophisticated. The punk-grunge group’s tunes feel like a trip back to the 90’s, with simple drumbeats, guitar-heavy tracks and angsty lyrics belched out in passion. The Los Angeles-based quartet is fronted by lead vocalists Jayk Gallagher and Lauren Lakis, who also have active careers in acting. In some songs, their voices work together flawlessly in harmony while other times, their vocals counter each other, almost as if in competition, which is ironically symbolic of the duo’s on-again, off-again romantic relationship.

With multiple lineup changes since Hobart W. Fink’s formation in 2012, the band has managed to develop their own sound with influences from groups such as Nirvana, Interpol and Green Day. Their debut album, Back and Forth Forever, which will be released August 26th, was recorded and mixed by Chris Kasych, who has worked with P!nk, Phantogram, Vampire Weekend, and more. In anticipation of the album release, the band will be playing a residency at Harvard and Stone in L.A. every Tuesday in August so swing by and get ready to headbang to their high-energy performance before they head out on tour in September.

Moxipop caught up with Lauren and Jayk to get some more insight on the inner-workings of their band and their upcoming release.

Mxp: What is your music writing process like?

Lauren: Jayk brings in almost all of our melodies and hooks. As far as lyrics go, sometimes I write them and sometimes he writes them.

Jayk: Sometimes I have a dream, and I wake up and hum into a recorder. Some of my best songs are songs that I just dreamt, and then I woke up and recorded it. Later, when I’m around musical instruments I’ll sort of figure out how it goes. Other times, I’ll just be rocking out on my guitar and I’ll make something that sounds really good and I bring it to the band and we figure it out as a group.

Mxp: Where do you guys get inspiration for the themes of your songs?

Jayk: A lot of the inspiration comes from our on-again, off-again relationship with each other. A lot of the songs on the album are about either breaking up or getting back together or love or hate.

Lauren: It is interesting though because about half of the songs were already made before I was even in the picture but some of the lyrics –even to those old songs– are just kind of premonitions of stuff to come between our relationship.

Jayk: Yeah there’s this song called “Queer” about how I can’t stay in a relationship and that was written before she even joined the band. The verse that she sings is about autonomy and it’s funny because when she sings that, it’s as if she’s singing what I’d be saying to her. One of our songs, “Dreamies,” has a bunch of specific stuff from our relationship and it’s a love song, so if we’re broken up and playing it, it’d be more difficult to perform.

Lauren: Yeah, I’ve cried playing “Dreamies” before.

Jayk: But then a month later we’re back together and the song is like a celebration.

Mxp: Have either of you considered leaving the band to avoid having to painfully perform happy love songs during tough times?

Lauren: I love being in the band. I think it helps to be able to step outside of yourself and know that in the future it’s not going to be that painful. It might feel a little intense at first but I think we’re going to be okay.

Jayk: We’ve had other singers in the band but Lauren is the most on the same page as everyone. It really means a lot when everyone in the band is on the same wavelength. It really comes across in our sound. Without her it wouldn’t be the same band at all.

Mxp: You guys both have a pretty solid career in acting in addition to music. What is like balancing these two passions?

Lauren: Sometimes acting is very limiting creatively because you’re working within someone else’s parameters, but with music, it’s like an explosion of creativity in a whole different way. I think that music lends itself to the acting and vice versa.

Jayk: Music is acting in a way. Acting is all about getting onstage and expressing yourself and being really honest. For me, music helps me be more honest because the only character is me. It all goes hand in hand.

Mxp: What was it like working on your album with Chris Kasych who has recorded with a lot of big names in the past?

Lauren: He’s so cool. This was my first time recording in a studio so he was very patient and accommodating and helpful. He made me feel like I was in an environment that was safe to learn and make mistakes.

Jayk: He really knows what he’s doing, but he’s not overbearing. He’s a collaborator rather than a controller, so it didn’t feel like we were conforming to someone else’s vision. It felt like he was helping us reach our vision. He actually went out of his comfort zone to help us get what we wanted. For example, I like to hear a lot of white noise on my guitars and he was very willing to work with us to get the sound that we wanted.

Mxp: Since Back and Forth Forever will be your debut release, do you feel a lot of pressure as it being a defining album?

Lauren: It’s so exciting. I know how our songs sound because we play them live all the time, but it’s a whole different experience to have a physical copy in your hand. I’m so excited to share it with the world.

Jayk: I wouldn’t say it was a defining moment because I’d hate to be boxed in by the one thing, but when we put out our single “So Many Losers” in April, it got a lot more attention than the other singles we put out in the past that was recorded with different people. I think the quality of the recording really was reflected in the amount of attention we got. It’s a good feeling to know that our ideas and our thoughts and our efforts are getting out there in a package that people will take seriously.

Lauren: I’d say we put a lot of care in it. It’s like our baby.

Mxp: What can fans expect from your live shows?

Jayk: We love it when the audience gets into it.

Lauren: It’s always good when the audience is giving you some energy back because so much energy is given by us every time we put on a show. It’s fun when fans jump around to our music and dance and mosh. - Moxipop

"How can you not adore ... Hobart W Fink" - LA RECORD

The video for Hobart W Fink’s new single is smashing, if the song itself isn’t. The L.A. quartet of singer-guitarist Jayk Gallagher, singer Lauren Lakis, bassist Noe Santiago and drummer AJ Brown is cut from ’90s indie cloth, with a heavy stitching of irony, and “So Many Losers” sounds like something X and the B-52’s might’ve hammered out over coffee. The song comes out of a recording session Hobart W Fink did with engineer/mixer Chris Kasych (Haim, Wavves, Santigold, Rye Rye) as it works on “Back and Forth Forever,” the full-length debut planned for August. Meanwhile, Hobart W Fink and friends get their ya ya’s out in the video, mugging, moshing and wrecking television sets, as well as missing an opportunity to actually say something. What if those TV sets were cell phones?

||| Download: “So Many Losers” at Bandcamp.

||| Live: Hobart W Fink play the Silverlake Lounge on Friday and the Old Towne Pub Stage at Make Music Pasadena on Saturday. - Buzzbands LA

Listening to Hobart W Fink’s debut full-length “Back and Forth Forever” can be like being a fly on the wall while your coupled friends duke it out over how the laundry was folded. The relationship tensions on the aptly named album run much deeper than that, though, as principals Jayk Gallagher and Lauren Lakis trade off vocals and harmonize in some of rock’s fine traditions (think X, Sonic Youth and the Pixies, or lesser-known but nonetheless intelligent agitators like Eleventh Dream Day and Sons & Daughters). That Gallagher and Lakis (with bandmates Noe Santiago and AJ Brown) set their makeup/breakup to tasty indie/punk/’90s alternative licks make the audio voyeurism even better. Which brings us to the quartet’s new video for “The Fight/We Lie.” How is a fractious couple like a children’s party? We’ll suck our thumb on that question for a bit, while we try to visualize the mythical character that is Hobart W Fink. Meanwhile, fight on. - Buzzbands LA

Hobart W Fink – the quartet of singer-guitarist Jayk Gallagher, singer Lauren Lakis, bassist Noe Santiago and AJ Brown – had a robust 2013. Their hard-driving indie-rock, spiked with ’90s-style riffage, tempo changes and twining boy/girl vocals, was on full display on their “Four Eyes, Five Tails” EP, and they followed it up in November with the single “Final Fantasy 7″ as they continued work on a full-length. The video for song makes for one heck of a travelogue; it was filmed at various locations in Peru and in New Orleans, as if the song isn’t escapist enough. Our favorite snippet: The graffiti that reads “Heartbreak makes me horny.”

||| Download: “Final Fantasy 7″ via Bandcamp on a name-your-price basis.

||| Live: Hobart W Fink plays Saturday at Casey’s downtown. - Buzzbands LA

New Monday residencies are starting up this week but I would head over to Good Times at Davey Wayne's for an All Scene Eye show with Hobart W. Fink and Solar Sons. - Radio Free Silverlake

Lake Lounge

DECISION:

Some nice choices for a Friday night starting with Kera & The Lesbians, bringing newcomers Winter, back to the stage at The Echo along with Isaac Rother & The Phantoms and Sad Girl. Silver Lake Lounge has Nacosta, Vinylgraph, Hobart W. Fink and Dreaming Bull, while Kitten moves up to The Troubadour for two nights beginning tonight. - Radio Free Silverlake

Hobart W Fink are no strangers to this blog. Their unpretentious, straight forward approach to indie rock keeps us coming back for more. Not to mention they're consistently playing shows and creating content for us to enjoy. Their latest video for "So Many Losers," features the band's newest addition, Lauren Lakis, more prominently as co-lead vocalist. In the vein of 90s ironic rock with a slightly grungy edge, this new tune is hard-hitting and fun at the same time. Recorded Chris Kasych (Wavves, Vampire Weekend, Haim) on a vintage Neve board, this song is a promising start to the group's forthcoming full length expected this August in conjunction with a Tuesday night Residency at Harvard & Stone. - Jacqueline Caruso - The Deli Magazine

Video: Hobart W Fink, "Final Fantasy 7"

The perfect music video to liven up the last hours of your Friday afternoon is brought to you by Hobart W Fink. The gritty indie rockers with dueling vocalists and bombastic energy are ready to melt your faces off with their latest single, "Final Fantasy 7." If you are into beautiful vistas, humping llamas and New Orleans street performers, you gotta watch this video. Filmed in Peru and Louisiana by frontman, Jayk Gallagher, the video clocks in at 5 minutes, but there is not a dull moment in sight. Gracefully managing the transition from lead singer Marie Bollinger to Lauren Lakis, the video features both blonde beauties, but don't get too attached to Bollinger (who sings on the recording), for she has moved on to different pastures - perhaps ones filled with grazing llamas. The new line-up are continuing their jam-packed live show schedule in the new year, with upcoming performances at The Mint on January 27, and The Chinese New Year's Festival on February 1. - Jacqueline Caruso - The Deli Magazine

Hobart W Fink is an alt-indie band from the USA who were first introduced a couple of years ago.

A live version of an as yet unreleased track – Xanthan Gum. - Emerging Indie Bands

Hobart W. Fink has good punk pedigree. - LA Downtown News

Meet Hobart W. Fink. See them walk. Listen to them play. Watch them smash things with a sledgehammer. Now you say: “Nice to meet you Hobart!” – or else…….
“So Many Losers”, the first single off Hobart W Fink's debut LP due this August, is straight-forward, unabashed rock garnished with a hint of irony. It delivers a fun, no-frills brand of garage rock that crosses the divide between apathy and ecstasy. Celebrate with the band as they wield sledgehammers, baseball bats, and nonchalant fury. In a world where there are so many ways to look down on others who truly is the loser? - Hunnypot Unlimited

Hobart W Fink — gutsy, bluesy, indie-rock with a soupçon of grunge — is proud to announce the release of their new single “Final Fantasy 7″ to be released on November 12th with a special preview at their physical release show at Harvard and Stone on November 6th. For more info on the event click here. “Final Fantasy 7″ is a biplane over the Pacific bathed in an endless stream of sunshine. A haunting riff blends with undulating guitars over sun-streaked waves, as Jayk Gallagher and Marie Bollinger’s crooning tones carry the listener into a tranquil space that nonethless rocks. The breakdown is unabashed grunge, featuring guitar licks reminiscent of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins over rough, sparkling distortion, with voices intertwining in a crescendo of escapism. With lyrics that speak of letting go of control, and inhabiting the relief of the present moment, “Final Fantasy 7″ is a welcome respite from the doldrums of repetitive rock, a breath of ocean air that cuts right through the LA smog. The music video for the single, shot in Peru and New Orleans, will be released on December 10th at a live show with new singer Lauren Lakis at The Echo in LA. - Groundsounds

And photog Joe Cortez was there to shoot Sir Sly, Little Wolves, Tashaki Miyaki, GAL PALS, The End of Summer, Opus Orange, Nightjacket, Nacosta, Vanish Valley, Kat Myers and the Buzzards, and Hobart W Fink. - Free Bike Valet

Hobart W Fink brought more weirdness and tempo changes with crunchy guitars. tuned like Dinosaur Jr.’s, and shouted vocals. Did you ask for a grungy dirty sound for Christmas? Well you had it, with some 90’s violent and aggressive riffs and a funny looking actor frontman. - Rock NYC Liv N Recorded

Hobart W Fink (a band, not a person in the band) have cranked out an EP of five tracks that sound very much at home in 1993 or 2013 with the release of this summer’s Four Eyes, Five Tails.

The music is garage rock at its core; but with a keen sense of dynamics and melody Hobart W Fink have created a sound that slots in nicely with today’s alternative rock scene. What sets the band apart from their contemporaries, however, is their use of two lead singers in Gallagher Bollinger and Marie Bollinger. This dual lead vocal approach, with male/female strength is intriguing and generally works quite well. One act that springs to mind is the legendary punk band X, who mastered that style of male/female duality and surpassed the confines of their genre in doing so.

As for the rest of the lineup in the band there are: Brendan Kelley on bass, Luke Harvis on lead guitar, Byron Pagdilao on drums. All the players are doing what the music requires and create a somewhat dirty, grungy sound with the guitars taking the main focus.

“Hundred Dollar Bill” is the lead single, and proves to be a good choice for representing the band as it is clearly my favorite of the five tracks here. The song has more than enough grit musically, but the vocals are what carry the song to a higher level. This song rocks with four-chord spirit, and stands on its own with solid structure and vocal delivery. When the female vocals come in for the chorus it really has a sound like X. Open fills for bass and drums slide in and out of the chorus, and then dirty guitars sounding like Neil Young or Nirvana wash in to punch up the vocals. At times the playing comes off as sloppy, but this seems intentional and fits the song.

“Tiny Doors” is a very good song as well with a strong lyric and melodic verses that give away to a darker, grimy chorus that sounds in a Pearl Jam mode. This is another song along with “Hundred Dollar Bill” that could’ve been around in the 90’s but also manages to sound contemporary. Marie Bollinger’s vocals carry this song.

“Nebraska” has a swinging swagger and rocking attitude that is unlike the other cuts with some heavy single-note riffing that cuts to the bone. Fans of modern acts like Band Of Skulls might dig this one.

Not quite as memorable is “Radioactive Face,” which becomes very repetitive and overstays its welcome. “Carve” starts off slow, with bluesy sounds and then gets rather lively and ugly-sounding with some real attitude.

For anyone who enjoys acts like Nirvana, Queens Of The Stone Age, Band Of Skulls, etc. Hobart W Fink is a fine act to listen to, and they keep things simple and dirty like any fine band should do. - Indie Music

PHOTOS ONLY - of our concert - WESAWIT