Houston Calls: Rising High

Houston Calls are still finding their way in the music world. The five-piece power pop act began in New Jersey and now find themselves on Rushmore Records, the sister label of pop punk flagbearers Drive Thru

Houston Calls are still finding their way in the music world. The five-piece power pop act began in New Jersey and now find themselves on Rushmore Records, the sister label of pop punk flagbearers Drive Thru. The band has grown day by day; and now they’ve got their Ed Rose produced debut full-length album, A Collection of Short Stories to show for. Bassist Jarrett Seltzer recently took some time to talk to Sound The Sirens about how the deal went down with Drive Thru duo Richard and Stefanie Reines, the negative feedback the label gets, and what he misses most about New Jersey.

You guys have an interesting story as to how you were signed.

Seltzer: I have known Richard and Stefanie since I was 16. I am 23 now. We always tried to be on Drive Thru Records. We would send Richard demos and such through all our old bands. Tom and I flew out to California right when we had recorded our first sampler for Houston Calls. We played it for Richard and Stefanie who seemed to like it but knew that we needed to grow. We continued to write songs and play shows and such. We booked the Purevolume/Absolutepunk tour back last summer and it had a stop off in New Jersey that Richard and Stefanie came out to see. We gave them the new sampler that night thinking nothing of it. A few days later on our drive from Chicago back home I was on my laptop with some fancy wireless internet and Richard told me that they wanted to sign us to the new label Rushmore they were starting. Four months later we flew to California to sign the record deal in person.

Drive-Thru seems to get a lot of negative feedback, Richard and Stefanie especially. What has your relationship with the two been like?

Seltzer: The music industry is full of negative comments. Most of it sparks from jealousy. You never hear of a huge band talking shit on a smaller band, or a huge label talking shit on a little label. It is almost always the other way which just shows the jealousy. As I said, previously I met them when I was 16. They were working out of their living room with one shitty little Apple computer and home made River Fenix posters. But anyway I saw the label grow to such a size and then I saw Geffen take all their bands. They had made something huge and had almost all of it taken away. That's when we really stepped into the picture. We had seen all of the past but really did not know what the future was going to hold for Drive Thru. Our relationship with them has been nothing short of fucking awesome. We have been able to work great with them as a band and a label and we can still all play poker, hang out. One memory that really sticks in my mind is one week after our van and trailer were stolen, we were in Guitar Center on credit being fronted by the label getting all new equipment. Not too many labels would do that for a band that didn't even have a record out.

You were able to record with Ed Rose for your debut full-length. Was the band intimidated at all about working with Ed?

Seltzer: For the first three hours I was scared shitless of Ed Rose. I just kept thinking over and over in my head what a bad mistake this was. About four hours into it, the dick and fart jokes came out and all was good. I ended up really digging Mr. Rose and having quite a lot of fun with him as well. He really worked with us. Personally Ed and I sat together for two days writing awesome bass lines for the record. Ed was not a cut and paste kind of guy. If you hit the first verse perfectly and the second wasn’t the same, he wouldn't cut and paste it. Even if you were messing up left and right you would sit there until you nailed it. You would often think “damn, that sounds exactly the same as the first one,” but Ed knows what he's doing. Ed is the man.

Being that your album is titled A Collection of Short Stories, are the stories all related to the band and your lives?

Seltzer: Tom and Okie [Ryohei Okamoto] write all the lyrics. Everything relates to things they have been through and such.

Now that the album is out, how does the band feel about it?

Seltzer: I think we are all really stoked about the album finally being out. I think it is an album that will grow with our band. We’re not a big band at all and I think as we tour more and get out there more, kids will start really picking up the record. It is a fun growing process.

Being that your album is the debut release for Rushmore, did you feel that you were setting the standard for the label?

Seltzer: Somewhat I guess. With all that the label has already done for us we really wanted to be able to help the label out by being a big release for them. Hopefully that will happen. 

Ryohei Okamoto [keyboards] seems to add an interesting dynamic.

Seltzer: Hmmm. Well, he played a previous instrument that did not fit with this band. So we said “Okie, how about a keyboard?” He said, “Ok.”

You guys have spent a ton of time on the road touring. What do you miss most about your hometown of New Jersey when you’re away from home?

Seltzer: I personally miss my girlfriend Erin when I am gone. It is not easy to be with someone for two years and then leave all the time, sometimes for two or three months at a time. I also miss decent food when I’m gone. Qdoba is one of the best places ever and not easy to find on tour. Starbucks however is always there for me.

---

Houston Calls' A Collection of Short Stories is available now.