Doc Holiday (Hardcore)

Doc Holiday
Posted Sep 1, 2006.


Josh Heyman - Guitar
Chris Hejazi - Bass
Eric Esparaza - Vocals
Kevin Cash - Guitar
Nick Derosa - Drums

What got you into playing the music you play today?
Chris: I grew up on more of a punk influence, more into heaver things. I grew up on Metallica and Pantara, and though we might not listen to those kind of bands now, they are definitely influences as far as metal goes. The punk reaches more of the hardcore scene. We got into, just the clashes of the influence that we both listen to music in the past. We’ve just gone from there.

Have you been in any other bands?
Kevin: I was in a little punk rock band with Josh. I played bass then; we were called The Over Minds. Nothing big, just sop#res in high school, having fun.

How did you come up with the name Doc Holiday?
It was based on a movie Tombstone, doc holiday, yeah, and there was the badest cowboy in that movie. So we cant really go wrong with that name.

What venue has been the best to play?
Knitting Factory, the sound was awesome, good turn out, but mostly sound. They actually cared about how it sounded.

What inspires you to keep playing every night?
It can be stressful at times, but when you go on stage and start feeding off the crowed, the energy you get, it all kind of happens. It’s just all worth it.

When and where was your first show?
Good old Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA. It went really, really good. Of course, all your friends are going to go to your first show, but honestly, we weren’t the headlining band but we had the best turnout.

Who writes the lyrics for the band?
Our singer Eric is the one who writes the songs.

What does he write about?
A lot of his lyrics, we are not a sissy band, we definitely have a couple of songs about his dad that passed away of cancer a couple of years ago. They are just kind of life based oriented things like girls, heart breaks, losses, ect.

If you guys could open for anybody, who would it be?
Converge, Jon Bon Jovi and if African Nightmare ever got back together, I definitely would want to open for them too. I don’t know the possibility of that.

Do you have any advice to any starting bands?
Play as many shows as you can, because that will get your name out there. Stick with it even if there are people that don’t like you, there will always be people that don’t like you, there are always going to people that think this or that. For the most part, I’d be in a band to just make music that pleases you and that’s definitely not a selfish thing whatso-ever. If people dig your music that’s definitely a plus. Just have fun with it take it as far as you can. Be sure not to talk bad. Have respect and good band etiquette is key.

What is "good band etiquette?"
Good band etiquette would be, play as many diverse shows as possible, if you get offered to play a show with a genre that doesn’t really fit your bill or you would listen to on your free time, don’t turn that show down just because you think your too good or whatever. Also, if your ever hear of a band talking bad about you "good band etiquette" would be not saying anything back, just to show your the bigger person.

What do you guys want to see happen in the future?
Keep playing bigger shows for more people. Show progress, the first stuff we’ve written until now, our stuff has really progressed a lot. We are hopping that will continue as times goes on. Kick it up a notch. With everything as far as the fan base, the name, and music goes, just taking everything as far as it can.

What are your guys‘ stance on UFOs?
Chris: I read this book called "Behold a Pail Horse," everyone needs to read this book. Aliens exist; they are out there. They are going to eat us one day. The government is corrupt, it’s kind of shady now a days.

Josh: It’s like that Blink 182 song, "Aliens Exist."

What do you guys do for work?
Chris: The band hasn’t really become a full time thing yet, we still have jobs on the side. Erik works at Sam Ash. Josh and I are kind of on and off with our jobs; working a lot of odd jobs lately, telemarketing.

Do your parents like you playing music?
Our parents might not like the music that we play, but they definitely support us in what were doing. Kevin: Except for my dad.

What were some of your favorite bands growing up?
Jon BonJovi, Iron Maiden, The Scorpions, Boston, Foreigner, Journey, Led Zeplin, Depesh Mode, a Palm Death, The Killers, Blink 182, 2Poc, Notorious BIG, Rage Against the Machine, skater punk stuff, NOFX, Bad Religion, and definitely Public Enemy.

What are some of your guys’ hobbies?
Josh: I don’t really do anything. I just hang out with these guys and play my guitar.

Chris: My free time, lately I’ve spent a lot of time hang out with friends, work, bum around, go to shows, occasionally when we find time and money. Kevin: I drink a lot. There is a lot of drinking going on in our free time. Sometimes it gets out of hand.

Do you have any funny stories?
Chris: Recently I kind of swing my bass around, and Erik got kind of close. I did my thing and it hit him in the face. He started bleeding, I thought it was eye shadow. We’re not to fond of the whole eye shadow thing, so that was not makeup, it was definitely blood, from my bass. BECAUSE WE PLAY FOR BLOOD. I also managed to break all my equipment on stage. By the last song I was out. I thought there was a decent amount of people in front of the stage. I decided to do a front flip and I thought that they were totally going to catch me. I did the front flip. I think everyone saw me coming and moved. I landed on my back. Our singer, being the gentleman that he is, came and picked me up and brought me back on stage. We finished our set. Late one Thursday night I was going to be a nice guy and get my friends some ice cold water from the vending machines. I had to climb over a fence. I got the water. Little did I know that my pant leg was caught while I was trying to climb back over. I ended up getting 10 stitches. I had to miss 2 shows. Our goal, as a band, is to one day buy a short bus and go on tour in the bus and we would eat a lot of DelTaco. Another band story, we were really hungry and we went to DelTaco; DelTaco is our second home. We had like $25 worth; I think that night Josh overdosed on DelTaco. I think there was like 3 quesadillas he consumed, 2 burritos, a taco, 2 cheese burgers, fries, and not just a small or medium drink, but the large drink. He didn’t sleep to good that night.

Which DelTaco do you guys usually tend to go to?
Chris: We have our own DelTaco, it is on Gathard and Center Drive, in Huntington Beach. If you go to Golden West College, kind of in the back parking lot. Most likely you can find us there 7 out of 7 days a week. We don’t drink Pepsi; we’re die hard Coca Cola drinkers. If there is a venue that serves Pepsi, chances are that we are not going to play that venue.

Josh: but Chain Reaction serves Pepsi.

Chris: I retract that last statement.

Is there anything you would like to say to your fans reading this?
Thanks for supporting us. The last show we played at chain was super good. Thanks everyone that came out to that show. Thanks.