The Lincoln Log

Rock bands are stereotyped as people who party hard and drink often. Though this is not always true, local San Jose band Heavy Heavy Low Low epitomes this stereotype. From trashing hotel rooms to giving themselves and their fans homemade tattoos, HHLL knows how to party. On their unintentional rise to underground fame, HHLL has recently just come back from touring overseas in Europe. They have been busy touring and are finally home.

“I’ve only been home for a week at a time the last three years,” said guitarist, Danny Rankin.

Their latest album, “Everything’s Watched, Every-body’s Watching,” gained them international success within the underground Metalcore/Math-core music scene. Being famous in the underground scene was never a goal for this band. I got a chance to ask guitarist Danny Rankin a few questions. He became so explicit, we had to clean up the interview drastically. We talked about their music, the life of a rockstar, and much more.

Maria: What is the inspiration for your songs?

Danny: The lyrics are based on events that have happened to us. Some are stories, some are ideas, and some are about substances for recreational usage and girls. Some songs are about crazy trips (both physically and metaphysically).

Maria: How do band practices go?

Danny: When we practice, we just write random stuff and mix everything we like. Robbie writes the lyrics and I just throw in some stuff. I add to the vibe, I throw tantrums and I rip my shirt off.

Maria: What about girls?

Danny: Europe was nuts, we didn’t get many girls, but they were hot and their accents were too bomb. But maybe we did touring in Germany.

Maria: What’s the story behind starting your band?

Danny: We started as a joke band with a joke name never expecting to leave the city, let alone the state. And now, we just got back from Europe and the experience is getting unreal sometimes. We started as a joke and now we just went overseas, it’s really crazy. We didn’t expect to get anything at the time, I wouldn’t consider us big at all, but getting any recognition is badass.

Maria: Does there exist a non-drugged, more sterile, non-explicit side of the band?

Danny: No, I don’t care about anything, really. I just like being a kid, partying and running around. We [the band] are all the same. We just want to get wasted and party with homies.