BiB: Chris Kelly (Hillhaven) - How Lindsay Lohan Inspired My Rock Career!

0:00 What is going on? It is Adam. Welcome back to Bringin It Backwards, a podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with Chris of the band Hillhaven over Zoom Video. Chris was born and raised outside of Philly in Pennsylvania and talks about how he got into music. Started playing guitar at a very early age. Actually, you'll never guess the movie that got him into guitar. I'll give one hint. It stars Lindsay Lohan. He then ended up attending like the first School of Rock. His mom had to let him know, you know, Jack Black isn't going to be there, but you can go to School of Rock.

0:40 He did that from 10 or 11 on through high school. He talked about the first bands he was in, what it was like starting Hillhaven and going from guitar player to just the front man. He's a really cool story about how he was seeing if anyone would like his voice. So he sent out a couple demos to people. They didn't know it was him and then he got some feedback that way. You can watch our interview with Chris on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at Bringin It Backwards. It'd be amazing if you subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok at BringinBackPOD. And if you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcasts, it would be incredible if you follow us there as well and hook us up with a five star review. We'd appreciate your support.

1:29 If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts. Wherever you listen to podcasts, we're Bringing. It Backwards with Hillhaven. Bringin it Backwards. Bringin it backwards. Bringin it backwards. Bringin it backwards. Bringin it backwards. Bringin it Backwards. Cool brother. Well, I'm Adam. So nice to meet you and this is about you and your journey in music. And we'll talk about obviously the, the project here you're, you're working on now.

2:09 So just always kind of start off with your origin story. Where were you born and raised? So born and raised in pa. Still live there. I came up in Bucks County. I now live in Bethlehem. So it's about an hour apart but like general kind of Philly suburbs was where I came from. Do you come from like a creative or like a musical family at all? Creative for sure. More on, more on my like grandparents and especially my, my dad's parents. His dad was like an artist, like a painter, like watercolor and stuff. And my dad was always, you know, good at. Drawing and like, designing stuff and like, you know, any, any like, you know, entertainment center or like, you know, even all the way to the deck on the back of our house. Like, my dad would always be the one to build that stuff. And he did play guitar a little bit.

3:07 He just had an acoustic laying around that he would just kind of jangle some chords on every now and again. But he, he never, he never got too deep into the creative side of things. And I think, I think he probably would have, you know, if. I mean, he was, he was born in 59, so like back then, you know, kind of like working class stuff, like, I don't really think they encouraged creative. Right. It's very much going to go to. Your parents and be like, I'm going to be in a band. They're like, yeah, you know. Sure you are. Yeah. So, yeah, it was just kind of. I don't know. I don't know if he ever had that conversation with his parents. But also like, you know, the, the parent child role was like, way different back then. You know what I mean? So you probably didn't really have conversations like that with your parents. Your parents are just like, this is what life is going to look like for you. Do you understand? Deal with it.

4:06 Yeah. But yeah, he definitely always had that kind of creative bone in him. And. My, his sister, Tera Lisicky, she also, like, she worked in a bunch of. Honestly, I'm not even still super clear on everything that, that she did, but I know that she worked on. I know that she worked on like, like television and like advertising and. Things in that area of like, the entertainment industry and stuff like that. I think it was more on the advertising side. But like, you. I know she spent a lot of time, you know, in recording studios and things like that for, you know, making commercials and stuff. So, like. Stuff. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah. And.

4:54 And I mean, like, she knew Buddy Rich and stuff. Like, you know, like, she was. She, like, she, she was just like always in New York City for like, the majority of her career. So I think she just kind of always had her finger on the pulse of like, what was going on around there. But I also come from an Irish Catholic family, so I get very few details. But I also come from an Irish Catholic family, so I get very few details. On like, people's. People's like, personal lives and like, the lives before I came into the world. You know what I mean? So, like, every. Everything seems like weirdly nebulous around that stuff. But yeah, there definitely was like, there definitely was a creative, like, interest, like a common thread kind of through everybody. And I think that. I think that in a way, me sort of being the one to like, actually start trying to make it my career was both, like, really terrifying for them, but also, like, I think there was. I think there was some.

6:00 Remnants of like a finally. You know what I mean? Like, somebody made it, you know. You know, early on, I'm sure there was a lot of like. Like, you know, he could really ruin his life trying to do this. You know what I mean? But. But, you know, luckily things seem to have worked out so awesome. Dude. Well, how do you do you start off on guitar and, like, was that something that you were able to play just because you said your dad had an acoustic lying around? Yeah, so I never really had much of an interest in the acoustic guitar, but he, like, obviously he was on my radar, you know, and. It'S. It's a.

6:42 People think it's hilarious and it is, but it wasn't until. You remember that Freaky Friday movie that Lindsay Lohan did? Oh, yeah. Where she had. She had like, her garage band, like her little punk band with her friends. Literally, like, when that movie came on in my house and she. And you know, her character walks into the garage and picks up the Telecaster and starts hitting some power chords, it was like that, you know, like, that's what I want. I want to be like Lindsay Lohan. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, Lindsay Lohan is my origin story. And. Yeah, so it was that movie. And then the movie School of Rock with Jack Black, I think came out shortly after that. It might have been that year or the year after. So. Yeah, that was like the year I saw Freaky Friday was the year I got my first guitar. And it was. It was pretty much kind of tunnel vision from that point forward. That's funny. Do you have siblings or anything? I have one sister. Yeah. She's. She's not. She's not involved in music or anything like that. Yeah.

7:48 So you get. You see this, you know, you see this film and you're like, okay, I want to. I want to do that. I want to play guitar. You get a guitar? What, for your birthday? Christmas. You save Christmas? Yeah, Christmas. Okay. And then do you start taking lessons or are you trying to learn it by yourself? Definitely lessons. Yeah. We originally, it started just with, like, a local shop, and we had to kind of bounce between a few of them before I. Before we found somebody that, like, was kind of, like, minded because, like, I wanted to. I wanted to play guitar with distortion. You know what I mean? Right, right. And the first guitar teacher that they that they brought me to was a guy that played classical guitar, had the long fingernails. And I was like, this ain't going to work. You know, Gross. You know, I mean, like, you know. Now, like now perfect picture, you know. Like now, you know, seeing people who can play that kind of guitar, like, I'm mesmerized by it. But that's.

8:47 I, that's after, you know, 22 years of like playing the instrument and like being able to recognize like, how insanely, like talented those people are. But like back, back when I'm a 10 year old, I'm like, what is this? You know? Yeah, you're like, I just want to play some power chords. Like whatever you were listening to at the time. Time, I'm sure, right? Like this guy, he's. He's pushing books at me that look like math. He's not even holding a pick. There's no amp in this. Like, what, what are we doing here? Like. And so I had, I had a. We. We finally found a place nearby that I was, I was. Honestly, it was probably only for a few months. Like, you know, when I think, when I think back to my youth, like every, every.

9:33 You know, whatever the chunk of time is, it always feels way longer in my memory than it probably actually was. You know what I mean? Like, not even music related. Like, I'll think of like, you know, this thing that happened in high school and this thing that happened in high school. And to me it feels like they were like six years apart, but that's impossible. You know what I mean? Like, so, but. So it probably wasn't for that long that I was there, but then, you know, I mentioned the, the movie School of Rock being kind of a formative thing for me. And my mom came home one day and was like, hey, so Jack Black's not there, but like, there is a School of Rock. Like there is a, like an actual one. Yeah, that was cool that those started. Popping up like later. Yeah. And so, so. And actually, if I.

10:23 If I remember correctly, if I remember correctly, there actually was some type of lawsuit between the actual School of Rock and the writer of the movie School of Rock. Cause I guess the writing team had like. Cause at the time it was only a school in Philly. It was just one thing. And I guess the team for the movie or somebody involved with the movie had visited it at one point and didn't provide any sort of credit or whatever. They just started popping up all over the place. Because I, I live in Nashville. I mean, San Diego. They were all over you know, they just. Yeah, that, that was, that was a little. Yeah, that was a little later on. So when I, when I joined, they had just opened up a second franchise that was. Oh, so it started there in Philly, what the movie did.

11:12 Oh, I didn't know. Yeah, the. Yeah, no, so the, the, the school came first and then the movie took that idea and like made it. And, and that's where the lawsuit came from was because, like, because the, because the owner of the school, the original like founder of the whole thing was like, yo, you just like totally like made a movie out of my idea and didn't like, didn't even say anything about your source. I'm pretty sure that happened, but I don't know. Like, I was hearing things about that, but again, I was 10 years old, so I don't totally know what the details may or may not have been, but I, um. But yeah, so it was just, it was originally just a school in Philly and they actually did do. There was like a documentary made about it that was called Rock School where, where it was just about this guy, Paul Green, who. He was the, the founder and the owner and he was the lead music director. And it was a pretty like kind of polarizing thing that, that documentary because he was like. I mean, he was a real like, like hard ass, like kind of drill sergeant, you know, screaming and cursing at like 11 year olds, you know, like, and everyone. And everyone's like, this guy's a psychopath. But the thing is like, that was, it was almost, almost like that movie Whiplash, you know, or.

12:34 The Jazz Director. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just being like, like this the most like insane abusive guy, but like bred, you know, greatness in some of these kids, you know. And, and so when I joined, they had just announced that they were opening a new franchise that was closer to my house. And so I was the first kid to sign up and I was there. I did, I did change schools at one point to. I did switch like franchises like late, like late stage of high school. But I was in that program from 10 years old until I graduated high school. Oh, wow. And that was basically the format was you have a three hour rehearsal once a week and a 45 minute lesson once a week and at the end of each quarter. So that's like every three months or so. It was a weekend of shows and it was always like cover shows. So the first show that I did was Pink Floyd's the Wall. The second show that I did was AC dc. The third one was Kiss. Like, and so it was just like. I was on stage like all the time and in a band environment all the time.

13:47 And. Also they had this section of it that they would call the best of where, you know, because at the time it was a bunch of schools in pa, so at the end of every season, the directors would pick the best songs from each show that their school had put on. And so it was like the best, like one or two songs and, and they would, and then all of the schools would meet somewhere in Philly and all of these songs would be played by the kids who played them in the shows. And so like it was usually done at the Trocadero in Philly, which is like a, you know, for a long time one of the know, premier venues in Philly. So you know, it was like a 1200 cap room and it was always packed because it was all of the kids and all of their parents and whatever, you know what I mean?

14:43 So, you know, by the time I was 14 and they would do all kinds of events like this. So by the time I was 14, apart from like the arena and stadium stages, like I had done every major venue in Philly. Wow. So it became a very comfortable kind of environment for me. And that's, that's. I mean, I think I, I credit my job mostly to that because I got really good at learning songs, you know, so that kind of kind of primed me for the, the hired gun role that I've had for the last, you know, probably 10 years or so. Geez. So yeah, that was like, that was definitely the. And I mean, you know, I, I learned how to play drums there. That's how I learned to start singing and, and you know, it was a very like immersive kind of thing. And that's, I mean it was, it was the only thing I gave a about for like a decade, you know what I mean? Did you, did you play in other bands aside from the, the School of Rock stuff or was that basically a full time gig while you were in high school? Yeah, like I, I eventually, you know, started trying to start my own bands and that. What up? I eventually tried like starting starting my own bands or whatever, but you know, like everybody, everybody in high school and, and like middle school and stuff like that, you start a million bands that just fall apart. Nobody ever plays a show, like, whatever. So you know, the first like band band that I started didn't really like, you

16:15 know, start doing much of anything until like 16, 17 around there, you know. But yeah, for, for the most like until that point, like, pretty much every live performance that I did was like a cover show for Rock School Stuff. Wow. And were you. Did you just do. You said you played other instruments there, but like, was your main gig guitar? Mm, yeah, for sure. And then you. But you learn to sing and stuff there. Is this the first band you're in now that you're the vocalist? Or were you. Yeah, yeah, this is definitely. Yeah, this is, this is the first. Well, I. Well, okay, technically not, I guess, because that. That band that I started at like 16 originally, like the very first form of it I was guitar and vocals, but it was a. It, it. It started as like a metal core kind of thing and then eventually like shifted into like, like the form that it is now is like this very technical progressive death metal thing. So.

17:16 I realized pretty early on that those types of vocals weren't really my thing and we were starting to write more complicated music and stuff and I really wanted to just be able to focus on guitar. So we wound up getting an actual vocalist. But yeah, it was. This, this project for sure is definitely the first, the first like real attempt at being a front man and also the first time that like in the, you know, I, I'm, I, I'm playing a lot of the guitars on the material and stuff, but, but like as far as on stage is concerned and on camera and whatever, I'm not holding anything but a microphone. So that's definitely a new thing. Okay. And when did you start Hellhaven? Was this like a pretty recent endeavor?

18:05 Yeah, I mean we, we launched the band in April and so about, you know, I knew about a year. Yeah, all your stuff is from like this this year, so I would imagine. Yeah, yeah. So it's just been, it's just been a single like every four to six weeks. All like since April, all year. So. But yeah, I, I started writing for it. Maybe a little over a year prior to that. I had written one song that was originally intended to be used by another band that I was working with and producing at the time. And they didn't wind up using the song. And I had sent it to our drummer Matty, who obviously I wasn't in a band with at the time. He's in a band called From Ashes to New. And I had done some co writes with them, like on the record that they put out. Was it last year? I think maybe the year before. I had written a couple of like instrumentals that, that wound up on that record. And so I sent it to him, just kind of like, hey, like you're in this space, like, is this thing any good? You know? And. And he was like, yo. Like, are you like. Like, did you write this? Like, are you doing something with this? Because if you need a drummer for it, like, let me know. This is kind of rad, you know? And. And I was like, oh, word. Okay. But the thing is, I still had the band's. The other band's singer on it, so I was like, well, I don't. I don't really think that guy's gonna be trying to, like, jump ship to start another band, you know? Yeah.

19:38 So then it was like a. It was a thing of, like, do. I. Like, do I try to find another singer for it and, like, be the guitar player? But, like, I don't know the first thing about trying to find a singer. And. Like, it's. I. I kind of. I guess I had this vibe that, like, finding a singer would be more difficult than finding other players because it's like. I don't know. It's just. I think it's a. Just. I feel like I would be having to, like, certain, like, weed through a bunch of strangers. You know what I mean? Like, I can. I can find. I can find you anybody who can play any instrument, because I know a million of them, but when it comes to, like, just standalone singers, I'm like, I don't know how to do that. So. Right. You'd have to, probably just because you've been in the industry and you've been in other bands that have had success, like, you would almost, like you said, you could grab other guys from other. That, you know are good. Right. And you're not like, poaching the. The main. Like, the singer of the band. Right. The voice of the. Of a band. Right. Like, right, I'm gonna go to this band. I know. I know so. And so I know he sings for this band, but maybe he'll want to sing on this. It's. I. I could see how they could. Get a little weird. Yeah. And. And, you know, like, if you're. If you're trying to find, you know, a singer from a prominent band, then that's inherently difficult. And if you're trying to just, you know, find people on the Internet, you have no idea what the personality you're gonna run into is gonna be and whatever.

21:09 So. So I just. I. I decided to just try my hand at it and redo the. The vocals on my own. And then I just sent the two files to Matty and then a bunch of other people just, like, I Didn't say who was who. It was just like singer one and singer two and. Oh, interesting. And I was just like, hey, just tell me which one you like better. And surprisingly, most of the feedback that I got, because I had, like, the whole time, like, I liked the original singer just. Cause I was. Like, I just thought he sounded really great on the song. I always loved the timbre of his voice and whatever. And I was like, there's no way. There's no way that people are gonna pick. But most of the feedback that I got was picking mine, oddly enough, so that's cool. And you didn't tell them that it was you. You just said these. No, because I didn't. I didn't want. Because it was. It was all friends, like, whether it was somebody in the industry or just like casual listeners or whatever. Like, I didn't want anybody thinking, like, going into it, like, they're voting for or against me, you know? Right. I just want. I wanted like 100% objectivity of just like, tell me which singer sounds better. You know what I mean? Wow, that must have felt pretty good, though, to get those back and be like, oh, people want me. It. I mean, it. It did, but it was also like, I'm pretty terrible at taking compliments. So, like, I. I was like, there was definitely like a lot of like.

22:31 Like my brain was sort of rejecting of, like, all these people must be stupid. You know what I mean? Yeah. They all know it's me and they just don't want to hurt my feelings. Right. Right. So. But yeah, but like, the one good thing about that was, like, I had just, you know, before that I had never really considered myself very adept when it came to writing lyrics or top lining anything. So I always kind of stayed away from that. But I think the fact that I didn't originally write it for me to sing kind of helped that, like, I didn't have those usual insecurities of, like, oh, this is gonna sound stupid with me saying it or whatever. You know what I mean? The kind of, like, self conscious that comes with that. So I think that. Having. Having done it that way is like, was. Was a good thing because then it was like, okay, well, now I know how, like, now I know, like, the headspace that I need to put myself in. And more importantly, now I know that, like, I can build a song from start to finish with nobody if I want to. You know what I mean? Like, I don't. I don't need to bring anybody else in if I, you know, if. If I Don't if I don't want to or need to. So at that point, it was, you know, then I told Matty, I was like, okay, well, hey, that was me.

23:47 So I think. I think. I think we figured that out. That's easy enough, I guess. Yeah. So then it was just a conversation of, like, who else to hit up. And, you know, Matty and I have been touring for a long time, so, like, nobody was really interested in, like, just finding, like, completely new people because it's kind of scary to start something new when you're in your 30s and you have a career and, like. Right, right. You know, it's so. It. It feels. It would feel kind of pointless to do it with a group of people where you had to, like, hold somebody's hand, like, you know, somebody who didn't really know, like, how things worked or whatever. You just kind of wanted to be able to, like. Like bring some people in and everyone's kind of on the same page, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, they're. They're.

24:37 Yeah. You don't have to, like. Right. Teach, like. Yeah. Teach them the ropes of touring or what? Like, everyone's kind of is a veteran and knows what's going on in these moments. Exactly. Show up to a show or whatever it may be. Right, right. So. Yeah, because. And also, you know, we knew it was going to be kind of difficult, at least even just for the two of us to be able to, like, get our schedules to match up to get together. So, like, if it was going to be difficult already, we might as well get people who are, you know, like, you know, to the best of our ability professionals. And. And, like, then just know that we're not going to have it. Have to have any of those kind of annoying preliminary conversations of, like, this is how this goes. This is how this.

25:18 Yes. You know, kind of thing. So did you ever think of it as. Or doing it because you're like, oh, wow, well, he likes my voice or my voice got voted or whatever, and I know I can build the song from start to finish. Did you ever think of it, like, maybe doing it just as, like, a solo project of maybe having Maddie as just the drummer or. Or this. Yeah. Something you wanted as a band that you're like, let's tour and do the whole thing with it. Yeah. The. The goal from. From the Drop was to, like, at least have something that had the ability to, like, tour and be a band and, you know, whatever. I mean, from, you know, just out of necessity because of everybody's schedules being Crazy all the time. Like, it was kind of unrealistic to think that we could all get ourselves in a room together, like, even. Even once, let alone multiple times to, like, write all of this stuff together. So the writing largely came down to me, but. But as far as, like, you know, the esthetic and the sort of group environment and stuff, like, we all wanted to feel like.

26:25 Like an actual band, like a unit. You know what I mean? So. Definitely didn't. And I, you know, I don't. Like I said, I'm, you know, the frontman thing is very new for me and still kind of uncomfortable. So the. The idea of calling it, like a solo project was like, that was a. No. No. Okay. You know, it's like. It's like this is. This is gonna be difficult enough for me to wrap my head around. You know what I mean? This being just me. Yeah, yeah. Without and without just calling it Chris Kelly. You know what I mean? I was like that, like, name and, you know. Yeah. Did you have. Because I know you've put out. You said you're putting out songs every couple few weeks or whatever. Do you have a full album that you're gonna. You guys are gonna put out or are you just playing, like, you just releasing the songs as singles as they come? Yeah. So, I mean, the original. The original intent was to have it be a record, you know, release. Release singles for a few months and then announce a record and do the whole thing. But I think a lot there, like, this whole year has just been kind of like trying to. Trying to make proof of concept, you know, and, you know, do it. We're doing it all independently, so you want to try to keep budgets low and stuff like that. And when you announce a record, you want to have, like, merch bundles and marketing in place, and you kind of want to have a lot of, like, infrastructure ready to go. And so by the time it, like right around, like, October, ish, would have been maybe the ideal time to announce, like, okay, now it's going to be a record.

27:56 It was like, we don't have enough in place to, like, really support that, so there is enough material written for, you know, between all the singles that have come out now and then what. What still hasn't been released, like, there is enough to make it a record. It's just we have to have the conversation of, like, what it's going to look like. Right on, man. Well, that's exciting. That's really awesome. Well, I appreciate your time, Chris. Thank you so much for doing this. Yeah, likewise, man. I have one more question for you before I let you get back to hitting the road or. I want to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists. I mean, that's, you know, that's a pretty. That's a difficult one to answer because it's hard to.

28:40 It's hard to consider myself as somebody who's worthy of giving advice. But the. Well, you've. Yeah, okay, never mind. You've done it. No, well, yeah, no, I, I recognize, I recognize I have a career in this, so. Yeah. But honestly, I think the only thing that I can say is like, I think everybody that gets into music sort of assumes that their path to like making it or whatever is like they're going to start a band and that band's going to get signed and then it's going to get big and that's it. And that would be sick. But it doesn't necessarily always work out that way. So being open to different, like my first touring gig, I was in a Darth Vader costume. You know what I mean?

29:30 I definitely wouldn't have thought that's what would have happened. So just kind of being as open as you can to whatever opportunity might come your way is probably the best advice that I can give because I think a lot of people can get, especially when you're younger, you can be pretty tunnel vision, kind of closed minded to like. No, it's just going to be my thing that gets me to where I need to be. But like. And so you can kind of not even notice like another potential opportunity popping up. Bringin it Backwards. Bringin it Backwards, Bringin it Backwards, Bringin it Backwards, Bringin it Backwards, Bringin it back.