Hopewell's previous album, The Curved Glass, had good reviews from major music magazines such as NME, CMJ, Magnet Magazine, Wire and they got a good reception for their first European tour supporting this album… They built their reputation, in addition to their style, slowly but steadily and what emerges is a dreamy psychedelic, floating sound, replete with dark romanticism and a wholly cinematic atmosphere. Compared with their first album, Contact, The Curved Glass is conceived on a much larger scale. Particularly absorbing is track #7, "Safe As Milk". The scope of it is, for lack of a better word, simply magnificent...
		photo: Ofer Zimchi
		Hopewell finished mixing on a new album with Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road Studio in upstate New York. Jason Russo, the singer/guitarist in the band, said Hopewell has become wilder and is notching a few extra grooves worth of Rock into their sound. I was seeking this new Hopewell, so I went and did a mini mail interview with Jason Russo. Let's take a peek, shall we?

			PUKKA: You said that the new Hopewell was going to be pretty wild and everyone was going to be surprised. Could you tell us about the style of new Hopewell? Jason Russo: That's just it. We have completely disregarded the concept of style. It used to be such that there was enormous internal pressure within the indie rock community to sound like indie rock. We love Queen. This new record has songs that will make Celine Dion cry and Eminem blush.
			●Well, did you have any particular Classic Rock albums to play on when you were making the new album? Yep. Let it Bleed, The White Album, Jesus Christ Superstar, John Denver and the Muppets, Magical mystery tour, Berlin, Aladdin Sane, The Cure, Jane's Addiction, Atom Heart Mother, Houses of the Holy, Black Sabbath's paranoid, Queen's Greatest hits, The Velvet Underground etc. Same thing on most adolescent's minds in the seventies and early eighties. A lot of bands like to cite obscure references but they are mostly lying. All modern rock music apes the above albums.
			●What can we expect from your new album? Could you give us some clues? I find it next to impossible to describe our music. We used a lot of bird sounds, there is bird theme running threw the songs. Also a lot of horns - which, if you think about it - are kind of the musical instrument equivalent of birds. When we were writing and developing this stuff we ran into our own prejudices about what it was that was expected of us - so we decided to ignore our own minds and really go for the Jesus Christ Superstar we knew we had in us.
			●What do you focus on most in your new album? Tambourines, singing, classic rock motifs, bird noises. ●I'm really curious about your vocal style for the new album. Is that very new to you? Did you practice something special for singing? Yes singing is new. I used to treat singing like it was something to hide. To bury. It felt right - now, it feels right to actually come out and let people know what we are saying. It's like we have found a whole new instrument. I practice chants with the local Yoga community. Kirtan it's called.
			●Are birds really symbolic of the new album? What are you particularly impressed by birds? Last album it was fish I was obsessed with, this album it's birds. My dad is a shrink - he would have a thing or two to say about it all. ●How is the recording with Mr. Fridmann going on? Do you enjoy recording there? The studio is surrounded by the beautiful nature and I think you could feel so refreshed. I live in the foothills of the Catskill mountains so I am very accustomed to the woods. Justin and I both felt that Fredonia looked like Hopewell Junction (our home town) did when we were kids. So in that sense it was very inspiring. Justin kept writing songs about snow, for obvious reasons I guess. We were thrilled to be there - it is a perfect studio for the music we are inclined to make...
			●How many songs does the album include? There are approx 13 songs recorded. At this point we are not sure if they will all make the official album, but it will all be released in some form or another - be it b-sides or whatever. ●Why did you sigh to Zeal Records? Could you tell us about the whole story of that? We signed to Zeal because it is the new company made by our friend Geert who was the A&R for our previous album and label. He makes us feel comfortable by somehow blending business and authentic musical taste. Also his Belgian accent is so thick that I was unaware that we were signing anything at all, I just nod and smile at him most of the time.
			●This music label has two sections, Rock and Electronic, which sounds very interesting to me. Who is your favorite band in the label? My favorite band on the label is Timesbold. Though in different moods I really enjoy the electronica - its music that I can enjoy without having to worry about how it's made. ●Hopewell tries to do a live regularly in NYC. What is the meaning of live performance for you? What do you want to express through your music on stage? Hopewell, for the 1st time in it's life, played most of these songs live before we recorded them. This was a significant step. We normally build the project in the studio, this new record has the feel of a live band - at times - and while it may be normal for most bands to start there, it was entirely weird to us. NYC has a great energy and the only sane response to it is really loud rock and roll music. It felt right.
			●You often play at Mercury Lounge in NYC and what kind of music venue is it? The Mercury Lounge is just a mid-sized club with a dirty floor and a bar, but it's the center of Manhattan as far as decent music is concerned. ●Could you tell us about your plan / schedule from now on? Are you going to play any music festivals this summer? There is talk about doing the festivals, I imagine that it depends on if a single is put out quick enough. I have learned not to set my watch by music industry timetables.
			●This is the last question. What are you personally interested in right now? I am interested in Thomas Merton, D.T Suzuki and Alan Watts. I am interested in the potential of the new surround sound media, I am interested in the motifs of the film world being fetishized in the music world, I am interested in figuring out how George Martin got the sounds recorded the way he did. I am interested in riding motorcycles with my dad, and am interested in my friends lives and I am interested in you, Utayo, you the interviewer.

■http://www.hopewell.tv ■http://www.zealrecords.com

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