It's that time again! For this month's Three Stars -- our monthly feature that highlights three local bands -- we'll start off today with The Hint, take a look at The Apparitions tomorrow, and finish things up on Thursday with Shortstack.

The Hint

Experiencing The Hint, is like tossing back that late night Jager shot just as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” streams through the bar sending a new wave of energy and passion through the crowd. The Baltimore/DC based band even sports 80’s hairstyles. And while highly danceable tracks such as “Kiss Kiss” and the rock ballad “Hope Street” remind us of great music that has been done before, these guys add their own element of originality to the lyrics and live performances that make them stand out as a band to watch in the coming months. They’ve already attracted the attention of Taking Back Sunday producer, Sal Villaneuva, and will embark on both a US tour that includes a stop at the SXSW music festival in Austin and trip to the UK in March.

DCist caught up with them for their last show in the DC area and The Hint’s first performance at the 9:30 Club on February 3rd. A very full audience was gathered to revel in the 4 band lineup, and though some in the mixed crowd may have originally come out for one of the other acts, the view from the balcony of the swaying/dancing masses below demonstrated their charm and ability to win over the audience. With only singles and EPs under their belt, hopefully this is all just a “hint” of what’s to come for the band with such ambition and appeal.

Visit them at: http://TheHint.com

See them next: U.S. Tour Begins
February 24 - March 22
All Tour Dates @ Myspace
Includes SXSW 2006 - Maggie Maes (venue),
BMI Stage, March 15, 8PM

Questions for The Hint:

What brought each of you to DC, and how did The Hint find each other? Was it the hair?

Joe: We started to rehearse in a space outside of the City, and afterwards, we’d visit our friends at shows together downtown. Since then, we’ve had a lot of support from friends in DC and NoVA.

Jeff: After getting things together, we went right to the road, and then after a month of touring we came home to demo and build.

Geoff: We have since moved to Baltimore where Jeff and Tim grew up and got to be part of a great scene up there. Our first sold out show was in Baltimore, and getting to play the Black Cat and 9:30 makes us feel like we are part of two powerhouse scenes, both homes.

Jeff: The music came first, of course, but when we started touring we stopped cutting our hair…and now it’s a thing that people always ask us about and girls threaten to kill us if we cut it.

Joe: One day we may just come out on stage with crew cuts and everyone will realize that it’s about the music first, either way.

In 2005 you played in the Warped Tour, and now you’ve been invited to participate in this year’s SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX. How does it feel to share the stage with so many talented bands?

Joe: For us, music is like Battleship: you get better by playing with better bands.

Tim: It’s gratifying… it’s nice when hard work pays off.

Joe: Really, it’s just humbling when you pull up in your 8-passenger van in between Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance’s mega-tour buses. It makes you realize what it means to be independent. But then you hit the stage and realize that everyone is on the same level.

GB: You sunk my battleship.

Could you talk a little about your upcoming UK Tour? What motivated you guys to reach out to the international audience? Did you see yourselves growing as fast as you have in the past few years?

Geoff: The short answer is that we were invited to do it, and it was an amazing opportunity we couldn’t pass up. I was born in England, and we have all been fascinated with British music and songwriting.

Tim: On tour in the van we listen to a lot of American and English bands.

Joe: We have always wanted to bridge the gap between the two. As soon as we announced we were going to the UK (and we had no idea how difficult that would be as independents) everyone has been telling us that they will love our music over there.

Tim: We are excited to see London, hedgehogs and sheep…

Jeff: It can be kind of scary going somewhere where you can’t do the legwork and promote, so it’s great to have something like MySpace to get instant feedback about the trip. The English scene seems to have taken to our music, and the demand for American indie rock seems bigger than ever. The web has helped us reach out. Also, British girls: I love them already!

Joe: Growing as a band has felt very organic, and that’s the only way it makes sense.

What is it about your music that makes you stand out from the rest of the local indie rock world, placing you consistently in the top 10 on MySpace.com and featured on XM Radio's "Most Played List"?

Joe: We focus on the song and not the genre, with the hope of trying to write the best songs that we can. In the writing process we completely refuse to settle into an existing genre. Originality is paramount. A lot of people say this is a risky way to establish a band sound, but the album format is dying and the Beatlesque approach of focusing on songs rather than trends is something we’re happy with.

Tim: We are absolutely obsessed with sounds and tones. Every one of us takes that seriously.

Geoff: The other thing that sets us apart is our live show. We want people to have as much fun as we do onstage. Spending time with our friends and fans is very important to us. We put a lot of effort in to every single show.

Jeff: We are the type of band that sticks around two hours after the show to talk to everybody.

Your latest EP, The Story of a Boy, was produced by Sal Villaneuva of Thursday and Taking Back Sunday fame. How did you guys get hooked up and what was it like to work with him?

Joe: We put some demos online, and Sal heard them. When we started talking and he invited us to NJ, we were flattered, because we had liked a bunch of albums he had produced. We debated pretty hard on producers because we like to self-produce, but thought that Sal would help us keep the live edge that had been missing in demos.

Before you set off on your 2 months of touring, you’ve scheduled a few weeks of studio time in the District. Have you finally found the full length album that you’ve been searching for amidst the demos and EPs?

Geoff: Yeah, all the live shows have helped to prep for that, and have inspired a lot of new songs. We have some big plans that we just haven’t announced yet. We do love putting out singles though.

Tim: It makes a huge difference when people respond to certain songs. That helps a lot. We put out only songs we love, and we work off of an audience’s reaction. We’ll work harder at a song if our fans don’t react.

Even with no full length album you’ve drawn quite fan base from a multi-faceted approach to self-promotion (DC101, XM Radio, college radio, several band websites, MySpace, photo contests, etc...). Has any one method worked especially well to spread the word?

Jeff: Putting out singles on a regular basis has kept things fresh, and although people don’t know all the words to every song yet, the singles keep people coming back for more at shows, MySpace and Purevolume. MySpace definitely helps connect everyone and PV is great for indie rock.

Joe: We put a lot of emphasis on personal promotion and being a part of the scene. Hang-time, sharing music…why wouldn’t you want that? I think people forget that the web isn’t everything, though it helps a lot.

Geoff: Also, being out at the shows has made us a bit more recognizable.

Tim: There are actual bands that have scavenger hunts, and one of the things to find is a member of the band out flyering. More and more people are getting involved with helping us do that now.

Geoff: Touring especially. The live show is a big part!

What is your opinion of DC’s local music scene?

Joe: It feels like the DC and Baltimore scenes are growing and I feel something really big happening, and I think it will be great for everyone involved.

Any favorite local acts to whom you’d like to give a shout out?

Geoff: We would rather not specify any one local act, instead, anyone reading this interview should go out to a show, support local music and have fun.

THE HINT:

Jeff Hurn - drums
Tim Foltyn - guitar / vocals
Geoffrey Blake - bass / vocals
Joe Jayson - vocals / guitar

Top photo by J Furlow