Jacob Hoggard never imagined he would be standing where he is today.
In three short years, the Abbotsford, B.C., native has garnered national
media attention, signed a major label contract and enjoyed success fronting rock
band Hedley.
But it hasn’t been easy for the 23-year-old to leave behind a normal life
— going to school, hanging with friends, going to the movies — to work long
hours with few days off touring and promoting his band.
“It’s probably the most stressful thing any 23-year-old should ever have
to undergo. It’s exciting by any standard. It’s like living the dream, but it’s
a lot of work,” Hoggard told Metro recently. “I don’t get to be a real
23-year-old like all my other buddies. I guess in one respect, I party way more
than them, but I don’t get to party with them.”
Even with a tight-knit unit of family and friends, Hoggard said it can be
tough being away from home. “There’s just so much work that goes into (being in
a band) and so many expectations,” he said.
Hedley, which also includes bassist Tommy Mac, drummer Chris Crippin and
guitarist Dave Rosin, released its latest album, Famous Last Words, late last
year and is now on tour across Canada.
With so much going on around them, the biggest challenge the band faced
when writing the new album was time. Hoggard, who finished in third place during
the 2005 season of Canadian Idol, said the band members had many good ideas, but
with a limited amount of time, certain ideas just had to be sacrificed.
“I’m really happy with how (singles) Never Too Late and For The Nights I
Can’t Remember turned out — just the craftsmanship of them, and the writing on
them is very strong, and I’m just very proud of them,” he said.
Hoggard, who has cultivated something of a bad-boy persona over the
years, says he has learned his actions often come with a price.
“There’s not a lot of room for you as an artist, for someone in the
public eye to be making fucking mistakes left, right and centre,” he said. “They
nail you to the wall for that kind of shit. It only took me a few really big
mistakes to kind of go ‘OK, I get it.’”
