The band that plays together...
No more nighttime dreams; 24 Days turns love of music, band
into professional career
Story by Angie Chang
skiff staff
Justin Hodges grew up in a family of musicians, but it wasn’t until recently that he decided he wanted to pursue a career in music.
“I’ve always been around music but I used to ignore it,” the senior advertising and public relations major said. “I’ve always enjoyed listening to music, and I’d listen to Paul Simon and sing along and I’d think about what it would be like to be like him.”
Justin Hodges, lead singer for the band 24 Days, said he found his desire to follow a career in music a few years ago and has now been practicing music for the past two years.Less than a year old, 24 Days first performed live at TCU’s Battle of the Bands in March 1999. Although they didn’t win, they did learn what it was like to perform live.
“It was such a nerve-wracking experience,” said lead guitarist Sam Raver. “I was scared and shaking the whole time.”
 |
|
Sarah Kirschberg/CO_PHOTO EDITOR
|
Jeremy Hull, the band’s bass player, said the band has grown since then and has used Fat Harry’s Daiquiris and Tavern as a training ground to perfect their performance skills.
“I had never played in a band before and performing was a real learning process,” Hull, a junior music Education major, said. “Performing is really a lot different from recording an album. Playing live is my favorite part. It’s just so much fun when everything clicks. There’s nothing quite like performing music that you wrote.”
Justin Hodges said the band now has more confidence and can work with each other better.
“We now have the confidence to play our songs and have fun,” he said. “We’re comfortable with exploring new concepts or playing a song differently; maybe even going into a jam.”
This was evident as they played the opening act for Bowling for Soup at TCU’s Homecoming pre-show. Although the skies threatened rain, the band members smiled throughout the set, sometimes breaking into light laughter.
Kim Holleman, who sings background, said she enjoys the music and the friendship that has developed in the band.
“We really have fun out there,” Holleman, a senior music and management major, said. “It’s not a front. We are becoming better friends and the music benefits from that. We have a blast together.”
Eric Dodson, drummer, confesses a love for Pantera and said the band brings many influences to the table that range from Dream Theater to Paul Simon, and even Stevie Ray Vaughn. Dodson, a senior music education major, described the band’s music as an eclectic collection of pop-rock.
“We do Latin-style songs, heavy songs (and) funk songs,” Dodson said. “It’s diverse feel-good music, but it has thought behind it too. And Justin is an amazing songwriter.”
Justin Hodges, who the writes music and lyrics, said his lyrics tell stories people can relate to.
“I write about different situations that I’ve encountered in my young adult years,” Justin Hodges said. “I bring that situation forward and people listen because it’s about something they are familiar with.”
24 Days picked their moniker after spending 24 days recording their first album “No More Windows,” which was released six months ago on the Indigenous Records label.
Their effort, “Not Your Average Joe,” will be released Nov. 15.
Raver, a senior marketing major, said the band has already written more than 40 songs since they have been together and they are constantly writing more.
“Not just one of us is a songwriter, three of us are,” he said. “When you get three guys writing, lots of stuff just starts rolling. There’s a lot of feeding off each other and bouncing back of ideas. It’s really a collaborative effort.”
And as 24 Days continues to play shows, sometimes four to six times a month, they notice the crowds are now including people other than friends and family.
Justin Hodges said 24 Days has received widespread exposure through involvement in an internal ad campaign for a Microsoft product. The band also played for an annual international conference Microsoft had for 7,500 marketers in Las Colinas, he said.
“Even though it was an internal ad campaign, we still got worldwide exposure because people would listen to us and tell their friends,” Justin Hodges said. “We’ve had (compact disc) orders come in from all parts of the nation.”
Hull said 24 Days will be featured Sunday on the Local Access Show on KKMR (93.3 FM) which is hosted by TCU alumnus Chip Adams.
The band members said they owe their success to Justin Hodges’ father, producer Jim Hodges.
“He’s our producer, our financier and our mentor and we owe everything to him,” Raver said.
Jim Hodges, who is owner of Indigenous Records, said he is heavily involved with 24 Days because he feels the band is unique and talented and also because of his son.
“I am lending my studio, time, knowledge and expertise and giving them a Grammy award-winning engineer (Tim Kimsey),” Jim Hodges said. “I would not be doing that if I didn’t think they were very talented.”
Jim Hodges said he enjoys working with his son and the band.
“This is Justin’s dream,” he said. “But as a producer, mentor and confidante, I am careful not to be stifling. I’m careful not to overpower them and who they really are. I just try to make their music communicate better.”
Dodson said 24 Days will be traveling to a studio in El Paso to record their third album. The band will record the songs live instead of by individual parts in order to provide a spontaneous feel, he said.
Hull said the band plans to do a national tour after they finish recording their third album. Hull, who said he is the baby of the group, will have to make a decision on whether to join them or to stay at TCU because the other members will be graduating in December.
“I am definitely not giving up my college degree,” Hull said. “I will finish it somehow. But it is all of our dreams to do a tour.”
Angie Chang
a_o_chang@yahoo.com