| History |
| The first Hundred Reasons show proper was at my birthday party in Kingston, January 2000. They were unsigned, had temperamental equipment, and bank balances in the red. Everyone had jobs they weren�t that bothered about, basically as a means of paying the rent and covering rehearsal costs. Prior to the end of 1999, HR members had existed in two different guises, namely Jetpak and Floor. Both were managed by us at Gravity DIP and played their local scenes, gaining a bit of notoriety amongst local gig-goers. Jetpak managed half a national tour supporting �A� and Understand and a decent review of the seven inch we put out ourselves in Steve Lamacq�s column. Floor played with the likes of Pitchshifter and Earthone 9. Both bands eventually crumbled and Hundred Reasons was our �dream band line-up� outcome. The name was inspired by a poster at the extreme sports company where drummer Andy Bews was working - "We thought 'Hundred something' or 'something Hundred' was cool and the poster was "2000 Reasons To Ride Burton Snowboards", so we stuck the two together." In February 2000 I�d organised the first UK tour for Rival Schools. At their gig in Kingston, we gave three copies of the first and only HR demo to Ashley Bird and some other nice people from Kerrang! Three weeks later the band played their third ever show - supporting flavour-of-the-moment Canadian girl rockers Kittie at a Kerrang-sponsored event in London, March 2000. Simon Williams from Fierce Panda Records was at the gig and was so impressed he offered to release their first EP on the spot. It was duly recorded with long time cohort John Hannon, formerly of UK hardcore legends Understand. Shortly afterwards the first ever piece of HR press appeared � a one page �Introducing�� feature in Kerrang! written by Mr Bird. Following on from a near-legendary three shows in one night in London at the end of May 2000 and a self-organised jaunt round the UK with Miocene, the EP, cunningly entitled "epONE" and featuring �Cerebra�, appeared at the end of July 2000, along with a collection of press that heralded HR as the new kids to watch - HR headlined London�s Camden Barfly as a single launch. The summer flew past with the band continuing to play as much as possible, their popularity growing among both kids and press with every show. Following on from an �Evening Session� for Steve Lamacq came the Kerrang! Awards 2000 where they were nominated for �Best New British Band�, less than 8 months after Kerrang! had been alerted to their existence. They shared the category with more established names like My Vitriol, Raging Speedhorn and Muse. Singer Colin recalls, �We all thought Muse or My Vitriol would walk it. We really didn�t think we stood a chance of winning and it was more than enough to be nominated and get to go to the awards.� Hundred Reasons were announced as winners to looks of utter shock and disbelief from everyone at our table. "We'd been working together, one way or another, for about 6 years by the time we won that award. It totally made all the hard work worthwhile. It meant a hell of a lot to everyone involved." says guitarist Larry. With that accolade firmly under their belts, the band got on with the work that would justify the win. A support slot with Idlewild in October 2000 kept them in the eye of the rock media and witnessed them cross into the mainstream music press, with an NME 'On Tour' feature tipping them as leaders of the �new� UK rock scene. The band also had their first live broadcast on national radio from "One Live in Cardiff" for Radio One. November 2000 saw HR undertake a headline tour of Scotland sponsored by Radio One�s Session In Scotland. Add that to support slots already undertaken with as diverse a collection of bands as A, Boy Sets Fire, Earthtone 9, Garrison, Rachel Stamp and Rival Schools and the band's profile within the rock fraternity was riding high. They finished 2000 winning in the influential Kerrang! Readers Poll, where they scooped Best Unsigned Band. HR had established themselves in the UK press as �ones to watch�, collecting a healthy fanbase along the way. Still unsigned but having demoed an arsenal of strong new songs, a collection of offers was waiting for them as 2001 started. Columbia were the only real contenders, with MD Blair McDonald being pivotal in the band�s decision to sign. Longtime Gravity mentor Tank was also roped into the team as �crucial consultant�. With the deal being finalised, Hundred Reasons scooped the main support slot at one of the most anticipated shows of the year so far - multi-million-selling US rock sensations Papa Roach at Brixton Academy, as part of Radio One�s �One Live'. Finally able to quit the day jobs, HR kicked off their new �careers� back out on the road with Douglas for the whole of May 2001 on what was to be their first �proper� headline tour. They managed to fit in a couple of days recording their debut single for Columbia (�epTWO� featuring "Remmus") and shooting the video for it along the way at Exeter�s legendary Cavern Club. They then joined US heavyweights Incubus as the only support band on a sold out UK and European tour throughout June, which included the first ever HR overseas forays. �epTWO� had a mid-week chart position of 37 and finally charted in the Top 50. The summer saw Hundred Reasons realise yet another lifelong ambition when they played the Carling Festival in Reading and Leeds, in the Radio One Evening Session tent. The majority of the summer of 2001, though, was spent recording their debut album in New York with legendary knob-twiddler Dave Sardy (who�s worked with Marilyn Manson, System Of A Down, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soulwax, Far). HR were then special guests of Muse on their European Tour in October and November 2001, before hitting the road immediately afterwards for their own headline shows, which culminated at a sold out Mean Fiddler in London on December 13th (if only it�d been Friday 13th � the wheel came off our splitter van and we almost died on the way to the show. Turning up about fifteen minutes after the doors should�ve opened was interesting anyway�). �epTHREE� featuring �I�ll Find You� was released on November 26th and marked the band�s first foray into the Top 40 at number 37. Early 2002 saw Hundred Reasons heading out on the �Co-Operation Tour� in February, co-headlining with the mighty Capdown. The first single proper, �If I Could�, was released on March 4th. It charted at number 19 and resulted in the band�s first appearance on Top Of The Pops. One of those surreal �it doesn�t look like this on the TV� moments. HR then headed off to Germany to support Rival Schools, before hitting Scandinavia. HR�s debut album �Ideas Above Our Station� was released on May 27th and entered the UK Album Charts at number 6, garnering excellent reviews in the UK rock and mainstream press. �Silver�, the single that preceded it, achieved the band�s highest singles chart placing to date at 15, instigating a repeat Top Of The Pops appearance. The UK tour, which followed, culminated in a sold out show at London�s Astoria. Between May and August 2002, HR played twenty-three festivals in ten different countries. This included their first trip to Japan to play at the legendary Fujirock festival, followed by Kerrang! for a cover feature. Hundred Reasons also graced the cover of the NME during the summer. When the Kerrang! Awards came around at the end of August, �Ideas Above Our Station� was nestled among the Best Album nominations, alongside System Of A Down, Sum 41, Nickleback and Puddle of Mudd . Having also been nominated for Best British Band and Best British Live Act and seen both awards go to other bands (�A� and Muse respectively), HR were even more stunned when IAOS was announced as winner of Best Album 2002. "The other bands are a hell of a lot bigger than us because they�re more internationally established, so when we beat them it was unbelievable," Larry said. 2002 and the hard work surrounding their debut album were rounded off with Hundred Reasons� biggest headline tour to date, the highlight of which was London�s Brixton Academy � just two years on from them headlining the 200-capacity Camden Barfly in the same city. Despite an undeniably amazing couple of years, there�s still no big �rock� attitudes, arrogant views or pretentious behaviour, just great songs, loads of emotion and limitless energy. Hundred Reasons are, quite simply, five very normal, hardworking guys with one hell of a day job - and that�s the way they want it to stay. Hundred Reasons are: Andy Bews (drums), Colin Doran (vocals), Andy Gilmour (bass), Larry Hibbitt (guitar/vocals) and Paul Townsend (guitar/vocals). Courtesy of Jane Gravity |
| Pictures |
| Discography |
| 2000 - Original Floor Demo <Gravity DIP> July 2000 - One <Fierce Panda> August 2001 - epTWO <Columbia> 2001 - Singles Club One <Columbia> August 2001 - Garrison Split <Simba> December 2001 - epTHREE <Columbia> March 2002 - If I Could [single] <Columbia> 2002 - Singles Club Two <Columbia> May 2002 - Silver [single] <Columbia> May 2002 - Ideas Above Our Station LP <Columbia> 2002 - Ideas Above Our Station [Japan Only] LP <Sony International> September 2002 - Falter [single] <Columbia> 2002 - Reasons To Return [Japan Only] <Sony International> |
| Recommended Tracks |
| Remmus If I Could Falter I'll Find You Silver Gone Too Far Rush-In No. 5 Introduction To Pop |
| My Comments |
| These guys rock! Defently my favourite band hands down! Everything from grinding hardcore masterpieces (see earlier stuff) to rock ballads (Falter, Avalanche) H*R just rule! Can't wait to see them in October and I really wanna get hold of their new album apparantly titled 'Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge'. H*R recommended for anyone! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| (Bottom pic) Hundred Reasons are (l-r): Andy Bews - Drums Paul Townsend - Guitar/Vocals Larry Hibbitt - Guitar/Vocals Andy Gilmour - Bass Colin Doran - Lead Vocals |
| Check Out Hundred Reasons If You Like: |
| A Hell Is For Heros Instruction. Garrison Funeral For A Friend |