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Harvey Danger: Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ created and maintained with care and tenderness by Jeff J. Lin
The story and bio of the band are located elsewhere, but there's a few specific questions that we get over and over. If there's something that's not answered here, you should also check out our Letters page, where we respond to your e-mails.
Who's Harvey?
Um, there's nobody in the band named Harvey Danger. It is a band, not a person, though we have been told that there are several people who have that name. None of those people, however, are in this band. Our names are Aaron Huffman (bass), Jeff J. Lin (guitar), Sean Nelson (vocals), and Evan Sult (drums).How did you come up with the name Harvey Danger?
There have been many answers to this question. But the official answer is that it was taken from graffiti on the newsroom wall of the University of Washington Daily, the student newspaper where Jeff and Aaron met (and later formed the band).After many fruitless efforts to come up with a name, Aaron was drifting asleep during a staff meeting one afternoon and happened to see the writing on the wall, so to speak.
How old are you guys?
Jeff is the oldest, followed by Aaron, then Sean and then Evan. During part of every year Sean and Evan are the "same" age while Aaron is a year older than both, and at another part of every year Sean and Aaron are the "same" age, while Jeff is two years older than either. For a certain time of the year, all of the band members are exactly one year apart in age (e.g. 26, 25, 24, 23). Jeff and Sean are both Geminis. Evan was born in 1973. Now go figure it out.How long have you been playing together?
Aaron and Jeff started the band together and have been playing since 1992. The band's first show was a house party at their house on Halloween of 1992.What are your influences?
Many too numerous to mention and we're constantly adding to this list as time goes on, but here's a sampling (some groups more for certain band members than others, natch):The Beatles, The Kinks, Pavement, REM, The Smiths, The Cure, Sebadoh, The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Leonard Cohen, Radiohead, etc.
When will you be playing (insert place here)?
We're planning on touring throughout the U.S. and some of Europe through the rest of the year (1998). Our exact schedules are not known until less than a month before, though sometimes we have rough ideas. The best way to find out if we're coming to your area is to check the tour dates page and/or send an e-mail to info@harveydanger.com to join our mailing list for official announcements.Do you have any other albums?
Not yet. We are currently working on new material for our next album, and are planning to record the second album in early 1999, but Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone? is our first album. Check the discography for details. If you've seen a live show, you've heard some of the new songs.When will you be releasing the next album?
That is up in the air right now. We're hoping to start recording of the second album sometime in early 1999, with tentative release probably in mid-1999. As with a lot of things in this industry, nothing is for certain (like when the next My Bloody Valentine album is ever going to come out....).I have a copy of the album, but the inside is different from my friend's copy. Is there any difference in the songs?
No -- they're all exactly the same songs, same mix, same order. But there is a difference in the mastering. The difference is very slight (the release of the album bearing the Slash/London label sounds a little deeper and less trebly), and a lot of people can't tell the difference.The initial release of Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone? was packaged in hand-screened cardboard cases with a 4-pg black-and-white booklet. Only 1,700 copies were produced this way. If you have one of these, consider yourself one of the privileged few.
The next interim release bears the Arena Rock/Never Proper label on the back, this time in the plastic jewelbox with an 8-page booklet. As far as the recording goes, it's the exact same one as cardboard release.
The last release bears the Slash/London logo on the back as well as on the CD itself. This has the same packaging as the other jewelbox release, but has the new mastering job on the recording.
How did you guys go from playing clubs around Seattle for four years to being on a major label with a video on MTV?
Ah, the story of the band's life and its tortuous path to "success" can be found here, in the band bio.Who is Abby Grush?
Abby is a talented multi-instrumentalist and singer for a Seattle band called Pea Soup.Can you send me the lyrics to the album?
Yes. Just send us an SASE. Or better yet, get them off our website.It says to send an SASE for a copy of the lyrics! What's an SASE?
SASE means Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope. Meaning you send us a stamped envelope made out to yourself. That way we can just put the lyric sheet in the envelope you sent us and drop it in the mail, and it gets right back to you.Did you guys really live together in the house that's pictured on the front of the album?
Yes. That is the first house the band lived in together, from sometime in 1994 to 1995. The band built a practice space in the basement, where they would practice and alienate all our neighbors for blocks around. From 1995 to 1997 the members of the band lived together in a different house (which was only 10 blocks away from that house). The house is in the Ravenna area of Seattle. The view on the cover of the album is from the backyard.Who writes your songs?
We write collaboratively, with everyone making contributions about ideas for the music. Sean writes the lyrics. Unless otherwise credited, we do all our own arrangements.Have you guys been in other bands?
Not really. Aaron was in a band called Self-Help Seminar with HD's first drummer, Ken Hunt, at the beginning of HD's life. He left the band the next year, though, and SHS broke up later. Jeff played violin in the Seattle Youth Symphony and had a string quartet for a little bit (does that count?) during his high school years. Sean once tried out for a cover band at his high school, but wasn't picked.Who does your website?
Jeff created and maintains the website, which is why the words "we" and "I" pop up everywhere. He plans on actually finishing it (though at last count it's been 14 months that he's been saying that).Does the band read fan e-mails?
Yes, when time (and access) allows. Jeff tries to skim through all of them, but that task gets daunting sometimes. But we try, honest, we do.Do you reply to e-mail?
We used to try replying to all of them, but then the volume of e-mail got to a point where the amount of time it would take was mind-boggling. That's part of the reason we decided that the time might be better served by putting up a reasonably in-depth website ourselves. That way we can hopefully answer any questions people have.We also have a new area where we answer certain e-mails, kind of like a "letters to the editor" page. It's here.
SPECIAL QUESTIONS FOR RADIO DJs and MUSIC WRITERS!
You guys are from Seattle. Therefore, you are grunge?
No. There was once a time when "grunge" was used to describe a certain kind of music (e.g. Melvins, Mudhoney, early Soundgarden, etc.). Then, somehow, the popular media changed the term to mean "all bands hailing from Seattle with a heavy distorted guitar in their sound." (e.g. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains) Nowadays, the term has come to mean "any band with a singer trying to sound like Eddie Vedder or Layne Staley." We fit into none of these categories. Therefore, under three separate definitions, we are not grunge.Well, do you consider yourself grunge?
Um, no. Although "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" was recorded at John & Stu's Place, formerly Reciprocal Recording, which is where many authentic "grunge" albums were recorded (including Nirvana's Bleach and some early Soundgarden). Oh, and you can see Jeff in the audience during one of the segments (during a shot of a Coffin Break show) in the movie "Hype!" which chronicles the big Seattle explosion of the early 90s.How did the grunge movement affect you?
Most of the "grunge movement" happened before the band started. We make no pretense of being involved in any way in that scene -- we just weren't around. The band was started/born during the height of the Nevermind revolution, so in a way we are a direct product of that. And it also makes it so we always get questions about "grunge."