Hawthorne Heights's sophomore record, If Only You Were Lonely turned 10 this year. We have commentary on the album from JT Woodruff himself. Enjoy the read and let us know your thoughts on If Only You Were Lonely ten years later. You can also read our retrospective with JT about The Silence In Black and White. The band will be embarking on an anniversary tour for If Only You Were Lonely as well.

How did you feel when the album came out?



Every time an album comes out, it's like Christmas morning. They are still special to me. You get to see months, or sometimes years of hard work come to fruition. In this case, it was our 2nd album, which is always a tough one. After the success of our first album, fans will have some sort of expectation...and you don't want to disappoint. After being on tour for nearly 2 years straight, we were ready to write and stay in the same place for a bit. Hoboken NJ brought a new excitement, and helped provide some inspiration.



Where do you think the album fits in the band's legacy?



Even though SILENCE has technically sold more than LONELY, I think more people recognize LONELY as the most "popular" HH album. Maybe it's because the promotion and touring was absolutely cranked through the roof right now, so everyone remembers how the advertising was everywhere. Or...they like the songs better haha, I'm not sure. I think it's definitely on the list of important HH albums, but it's weird for me to choose.



How the band approach writing?



I think the basic approach was write music when you can, not when you want. We were constantly promoting and touring for SILENCE, so there was very little writing time. I mean actual dedication WRITING time. I had my notebook out constantly writing lyrics, taking notes. We would work through soundchecks. There was a point where we had writing rigs on the bus, because we weren't driving ourselves. Basically, it was a fit it in the best you could scenario. We didn't mind though, because we were busy for all the right reasons.



What inspired the lyrics?



A lot of those lyrics were inspired by isolation. You're around people every second of every day, to the point that you feel alone. We were never home, so we had to balance that sort of lifestyle. It would get frustrating to be offered opportunities, and be excited yet sad. I tend to write on a hypothetical basis as well, in one extreme or the other. Within every great song, there is a fair amount of truth and exaggeration. You want to create songs and stories, but ones that people can relate too, without being overly personal.



What were your hopes and expectations for If Only You Were Lonely during the writing and recording process?



We tried to leave personal hopes and expectations out of it. We just wanted to write a good record, that we were proud of, which is what I think we accomplished. In the small corner of the music scene that we belong to, you don't think about things like Singles and Radio. We just assume that it's never going to happen, so it's kinda liberating. You just write the songs you are feeling at the time, and live with them. Nobody was on our back telling us that these songs wouldn't make it, for better or for worse. The only pressure we put on ourselves was that we wanted to keep our momentum going, and get back out on tour.



When you were in the studio, how was the morale of the band?



Morale was great. We worked all day and night. The studio was right across from NYC, in Hoboken NJ...but we never left. We were less travelled back then, so I think we were a little more terrified of the big city than we are now. We played a lot of jokes on one another when we weren't tracking, and we tried to have each other's backs when in the booth. A lot of long days and long nights. We were tracking up until the exact second we had to leave for the airport. Nearly missed our flights. There was a lot of tension and relief on that wild ride to the airport.



When was the last time you listened to the record? Are there memories and emotions that come back?



I'm not really the type of person that listens to my own music in my spare time haha. But every once in awhile, you have to go back through and listen to something for cross references live versions with studio versions. That being said, one of my favorite parts of writing songs, is that it can help you dig up old ghosts. It can help you drag memories from the far reaches of your mind, and that is a very beautiful thing. Certain songs will help bring us back to the days of Hoboken, and those long days and nights.



What do you remember most about making the album?



I remember that we had just gotten off Warped Tour, then I got married Sept 5, and a few weeks later we were in the studio. No honeymoon...unless you count Hoboken NJ with my bandmates. Back then, it was all a whirlwind, because we were constantly trying to play catch up with ourselves. We still sit around on tour, drinking coffee in the mornings, and every once in awhile a conversation will take us back there. Life has a way of passing you by, if you let it.



What sort of place was your life in when the album came out?



I was living the dream. My band was able to tour the world, fans were buying our album, and I was newly married. Despite changes in the music industry, my life is very similar now. Same girl, same band, just a few new faces in the crowd here and there. I've always just wanted to be a professional music and songwriter. As long as I can continue to do that in one way or another, I will always be happy.



Did you ever expect the album to have the influence it did?



Not really, because we were too far in the middle of it. I still really have no concept of how influential it is, because it's ours. I love when fans tell us that it's helped them through bad times, because that's what it is there for. That means Mission Accomplished. But really, we are pretty humble midwestern guys, so it's always flattering to hear anything positive. 10 years later, people still know what that album is. Such a beautiful thing.



Do you remember what you were listening to at the time?

Jimmy Eat World - Futures for sure. Deathcab. Story of the Year. The Beatles. The Beach Boys. Def Leppard. Bon Jovi. Tons of stuff. Whether it was for inspiration, or recording techniques...we were cranking up the tunes. I still listen to all that stuff. Old Dog...no new tricks.



Is there anything about the album you'd change?

I would like to speed up a few songs, and add a few more rhythm guitars. Maybe change a line or two in the lyrics. But I don't live my life looking back. Do the best you can, when you can...then on to the next one.