'Feelin' Mighty Good!'

Los Angeles based-band The 88 (http://www.the88.net) recently appeared on the hit CBS sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother' as themselves in an episode entitled “Best Prom Ever.” Series executive producers/creators, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays sought out The 88 for this episode because they are fans of the unsigned band.

In “Best Prom Ever,” Marshall (JASON SEGEL) wants The 88 to perform at his wedding reception but his fiancé, Lily (ALYSON HANNIGAN), insists on seeing the band perform live before considering them. As a result, Marshall and Lily’s only option is to crash a high school prom where The 88 is performing.

The 88 (Keith Slettedahl, vocals/guitar; Adam Merrin, piano; Brandon Jay, guitar; Carlos Torres, bass; and Anthony Zimmitti, drums) ultimately secure the wedding booking after playing a cover of couple’s favorite song, “Good Feeling” by the Violent Femmes. This episode also showcases the tracks “Hide Another Mistake” and “Jesus is Good” from The 88’s sophomore album OVER AND OVER.

As they continue adding TV and film credits to their resume, The 88 are celebrating their newfound success by hitting the road with singer/songwriter Matt Costa for a three-week national tour beginning April 30 in Phoenix, AZ at The Rhythm Room.

Chatting recently with Adam Merrin, and having just seen them featured on the hit CBS sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother,' I first wondered how long all the filming took and did they have to learn the key song 'Good Feeling' especially for the show? "We were asked to record the song 'Good Feeling' for the show and we learned it at the studio. The filming didn't take long at all. We were there from about 9-5pm. We had the music playing in our ear monitors and played to that. We also got to play 2 songs from our new record, 'Hide Another Mistake' and 'Jesus is Good' which was used in that episode. The best part of the day was when we got to play a live set for the cast and crew during lunchtime. They were all great to work with."

For the Average Joe who may not have heard of you and was thinking of buying your new CD, how would you yourself describe your sound? "We have a lot of influences. Everyone in the band listens to a wide variety of music so it comes out in different ways in the songs. Keith and I started this band because of our love for The Beatles, David Bowie, The Who, etc..."

Does your album title 'Over And Over' perhaps originate from a more personal standpoint for you? "'Over and Over' is the first lyric to the first song on the album which is 'Hide Another Mistake." We thought it would work well because people would listen to it 'Over and Over'."

And, for the record, just where does the interesting band name originate? "Brandon came up with it. It is the name of a French Kicks song and there are also 88 keys on a piano which is an important part of the sound of our band."

If there was one track on 'Over And Over' that truly encapsulated The 88 at their musical and lyrical finest, which one would it be? "I don't think there's one song in particular. We wanted the whole album to flow like a story that had a beginning, a middle, and an end. 'Over and Over' has a lot of variety within it so it's difficult to pick just one since they all have a different feel to them. That's one of the things that makes playing in this band enjoyable for me is that the songs do sound so different from each other."

Noting that you recently recorded a cover of the Queen hit 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' (for the film 'Failure To Launch'), I'm wondering if you are a fan of the band which might have helped with the recording of it? "We are huge Queen fans so it was a lot of fun for us to do our version of this song. We recorded it with Ethan Allen who produced our latest record and he had a lot of great input in the making of this. He has been amazing to work with."

If I came across a signed copy of your debut album and put it up on Ebay, how much do you think I would get for it?! "If I ever go broke, I think I'll sign a bunch of copies to make some extra money."

Just for fun, and taking the titles of a few of your album tracks, please let us know:
'Hide Another Mistake' - OK, what was the last mistake you made ... and have you rectified it in any way yet? "I put too many carrot peels down the garbage disposal which blew up the pipes underneath the sink. There were carrot peels all over the kitchen! It took forever to clean up."

'Battle Scar' - Do you have any scars that have interesting stories attached to them? "I was scarred by the movie 'Poltergeist.' I saw it when I was a kid and I couldn't sleep for a month after that."

'Haunt You' - OK, so when you die and are allowed to haunt anyone, who would it be and why? "I'll come back and haunt all the evil people in the world."

Who's the model featured on the front and back of your cover art ... and what is she listening to?! "She is a friend of Mike Reich, who directed our music videos, 'Hide Another Mistake' and 'Elbow Blues.' She is in the last scene of the 'Hide Another Mistake' video and Mike wanted her to be on our album cover as well. She was listening to a Ray Davies solo album."

What '80s (and possibly cheesy!) pop/rock song would you love to cover today if asked ... and why?! "There's a song by the Thompson Twins that I want to do. Ethan sang it for me with just acoustic guitar and it was really beautiful. I'll keep the title a secret and surprise you with it one day."

Lastly, I like Penguins ... do you?! "I loved the documentary 'March of The Penguins.' The cinematography and the story of that movie is incredible."

Interviewed by Russell A. Trunk

If you would like to win an AUTOGRAPHED copy of The 88's brand new CD, just answer this easy question: The 88s also recently posted three tracks on the site MySpace (www.myspace.com/the88) and recorded over 20,000 requests for the single 'Hide Another Mistake' in a matter of seven short days. They did all that with the post-recording addition of which band member?!

Send me your answers and if you're correct you'll be in the running to win one of these great new AUTOGRAPHED CDs! Just send us an e:mail here before June 15th with your answer and the subject title 'THE 88 SIGNED CDs' to: exclusivemagazine@flash.net

www.the88.net