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Hellogoodbye Biography

hellogoodbye

A group of quirky, fun-loving emo-rockers from California, Hellogoodbye seem to take as much influence from modern pop-punk as they do from the original Nintendo sound bleeps that held children captive in the late '80s. Formed by high-school friends in 2002, the group infused its playful brand of indie power pop with sugary sweetness, catchy dance beats, and enough energy to tire a group of five-year-olds. Hellogoodbye, named after a quote from Saved by the Bell's Screech Powers, is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Forrest Kline, bassist Marcus Cole, keyboardist Jesse Kurvink, and drummer Chris Profeta. Hellogoodbye first released their self-titled EP for free download on their label's website, and the physical album hit stores with an additional track in November 2004 on Drive-Thru (where Kline used to intern). The move worked to the band's advantage and its music quickly spread; the single "Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn" made minor waves on MTV and garnered the band a pretty notable following for having only a handful of songs to its name. Extensive touring commenced, joining up for gigs (which often included water guns, confetti, and costumes) with bands like the Format and the All-American Rejects. The music video/live DVD OMG HGB DVD ROTFL appeared in the fall of 2005, and by the year's end the band had won the on-air MTV Dew Circuit Breakout contest, beating Over It and Tub Ring in the end. Early 2006 was spent playing sold-out nationwide dates as openers for the Academy Is... before hooking up with Motion City Soundtrack and Straylight Run in the spring for the MTVU Campus Invasion Tour. A spot on May's Bamboozle festival preceded a summer spent on the Warped Tour. All this activity ultimately led up to the release of their highly anticipated full-length Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, which finally hit stores that August. The album was a chart success and the single "Here (In Your Arms)" raced up the singles chart. After more touring, the band began to run into some problems. First came the departure of Jesse Kurvink, then more lineup shuffles and a protracted lawsuit led to a lack of product from the band until a self-released single ("When We First Met") arrived in late 2009. By then the band had shifted musical direction away from emo-pop and toward a lush indie pop sound free of Auto-Tune and novelty songs. By the time they released their 2010 album, Would It Kill You?, the band consisted of Kline (who played nearly everything on the album himself), drummer Mike Nielsen, bassist Travis Head, keyboardist Joseph Marro, and guitarist Andrew Richards. ~ Corey Apar, Rovi

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