Where the Wild Things Are

"Stay, don’t go. I’ll eat you up, I love you so.”

Quite a memorable line from Where Wild Things Are, so memorable it resonates. Resonates especially with Trenton Woodley, lead singer of Hands Like Houses.

In the song "The Definition of Not Leaving", Woodley quotes this particular line. And explains his connection in a recent interview with Sights of Sounds Magazine:

"I liked...the idea of the innocence of childhood which can be extended to anything. We are just human beings and while we learn different behaviors we’re still the same like, conscious soul. So I think I love the idea that this kid is just exploring what’s in front of him and he still wants to belong, he wants to rule, he wants to run, he wants to just experience everything. That idea of 'stay, don’t go, I’ll eat you up, I love you so' is just kind of reflective of not necessarily a negative side of humanity, but a side of us that is self-driven. You know we see the world through our own eyes and feel the world through our own senses? That’s kind of what it is. 'I’ll eat you up, I love you so,' is just me being who I am in my life. It means that it may have negative effects but I still want to love and be loved."

With this view on life, soon after signing with Rise Records, Woodley and the rest of Hands Like Houses approached a broader horizon of opportunity than just the city of Canberra, or even Australia. The horizon extended to America.

Jump starting themselves, they already had a fan base. Yet, credit goes to the 2012 American Warped Tour for solidifying the American fans. Not only is it a great place to launch a new album, according to Woodley, the lessons learned, the friendships gained and the fans interaction are the most rewarding part.

"It is a great way to interact and we like being out there and enjoying it on our own terms."

Rhythm guitarist, Alex Pearson adds:

"[This] was the first tour where we really got a chance to have “meet and greets” [air quotes]. Anyone can come up and talk to us but it just gave us the possibility for people to line up and just have some time to talk...We try to be as approachable as possible, and it’s the hardest thing to convey to people...When someone meets like either of us and they just sit there and don’t know what to say, but we are actually normal people."

After solidifying a fan base across the ocean, and a summer spent in our "foreign country", Hands Like Houses returned home. Capitalizing on their Australian Warped Tour, more fans recognized Hands Like Houses.

In 2015 the band hopes to return to the American Warped Tour. But who says you have to wait another year and a half to see them live?

No one!

Hands Like Houses were given the opportunity to headline an American Tour that begins May 6th.

And this is the song that hooked me...