Forgive the young men of Hat Trick Heroes if they come off as cocky, aloof, spoiled and precocious. The band's youthful disregard for propriety and political correctness is refreshing. So is their old-school machismo and calculated cock-strutting. And perhaps now's a good time to mention that they're a damn fine band.
Few postures are more annoying than false humility. Hat Trick Heroes proudly acknowledge their skills: on stage, in the studio and, in the case of the drummer at least, with the ladies.
Hat Trick Heroes are singer/bassist Michaelangelo Rumore, 18, and his brother Santino Rumore, the band's 15-year-old guitar wunderkind. Their best friend, 18-year-old Christian Peters, joins the siblings on drums. Michael and Santino's dad is Dickie Rumore, a former professional saxophone player who for his sons' entire lifetime has owned and operated Paragon Music Center in Tampa.
That's why Chris' drum kit once belonged to Tower of Power's David Garibaldi. Hat Trick Heroes were born with silver guitars in their cribs and have built the chops to go with the inherited connections. The trio toured the East Coast in an RV, opening for Robin Trower before their guitarist was even old enough to apply for his driver's license. Next month, HTH opens for Seven Mary Three. In the past, the teenage threesome has, according to their website, played South By Southwest, St. Pete Times Forum, Ford Amphitheatre, House of Blues and Jannus Landing. The guys opened for Ted Nugent at a gig in Des Moines. Their median age is 17, and they have a publishing/development deal with Combustion Music (Kings of Leon) that pays $2,000 a month, they admit not-so-sheepishly.
I listen to them bitch about playing record-label showcases in Los Angeles for the wrong people and the high cost of paying an entertainment lawyer.
So, reader, perhaps you've been in the trenches, paid your dues for decades only to end up hosting open-jam nights to make ends meet? Then you are going to want to chop these kids' fingers off and feed them to a pack of alligators. Especially after you hear this power trio perform.
Hat Trick Heroes have crafted a potent fusion of classic rock and grunge that's at once radio-friendly and ballsy. It's gnat's-ass tight, even polished, yet forceful and full of teen angst. In other words, it's the antithesis of the kind of music being made by most of their peers.
"Distraught with the current trends of modern music, Hat Trick Heroes came together to kill the whiny, half-baked emo music that's parading itself around as modern rock," reads the band's website. "Declaring 'war on emo,' they've set out to bring back the real rock 'n' roll attitude of the 1960s and '70s, when free love reigned and music had some balls, while still pushing the evolution of music forward into our very new century."
We're seated at the SoHo Starbucks on a recent Wednesday, and I ask why the beef with emo?
Chris: "Emo sucks."
Michael: "We want to bait and annoy emo fans."
Santino: "Emo's over."
Chris: "What's there to be so sad about? Music is supposed to be a good time. My experiences with emo [he shakes his head], there's just so much of that crap here in Tampa."
I ask the band how promoting the whole "free love" thing is going. They look back at me blankly and then Michael turns to Chris and says, "Yeah, that was the part you wanted put in there."
So, Chris, how's promoting the whole free love thing going?
"It's good," he says with a Cheshire Cat grin. "It's doing real well as a matter of fact."
I ask the same question of the 15-going-on-25 Santino and then feel kind of bad; his face turns bright red, and for the first time during the interview he's silent.
"You know, Santino, I'm going to have to mention that you blushed at that one," I inform him.
"Blushed?" Chris says, laughing. "His face turned bright red. Write that."
And then, as if on cue, an extremely sexy woman in her mid-20s taps Chris on the arm and inquires about how to get her laptop online. Mind you, the four of us are like the only people in the whole damn place without laptops, and she's asking him, this 18-year-old kid with bloodshot eyes and a T-shirt festooned with a rooster crowing "rock out." Michael and Santino give me a look that says this happens all the time.
And he'll be happening even more if Hat Trick Heroes' new album — recorded in Nashville and produced by Roger Nichols (who's mastered discs by everyone from the Beach Boys to Frank Zappa and produced a disc for John Denver) — gets the major-label distribution deal Combustion is seeking. For the time being, HTH has issued a fierce new single titled "Chasing My Tail."
"It's our 'fuck you' to the man," Michael explains.
The irony of that statement is lost on Hat Trick Heroes, but forgive them. They're young.
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2008.