Hey Monea! took a few minutes off in between tour stops to answer a few of our questions. If you haven’t caught one of their shows or skimmed through their collection of rock music yet, you’re missing out. These guys are quickly becoming one of the area’s hardest-working bands. Hey Monea! is Dan Monea on guitar, keys and vocals; Nate Monea on drums and vocals; Ryan Doyle doing guitar and vocals; and Adam Orin playing bass. JA: How the hell was Hard Rock Calling? Dan: Hard Rock Calling was probably the greatest experience we’ve ever had as a band; we will never forget it for so many reasons. Nate: It was really freaking crazy and nerveracking as well. No one slept a whole lot, especially the night before the performance. JA: What were some of the more standout moments? Dan: For me there was no moment greater than the point when we finished our first song. 60,000 people were clapping and cheering. Even though they really had zero clue who we were, or why we were there opening for their beloved Bruce, they liked what they heard enough to go crazy for us. That’s one of the first times I felt like, “Hey, we really deserve this. Let’s just go be who we are and enjoy the hell out of this.” I must admit before that moment I was nervous as hell. Nate: Meeting a lot of the other artists is always kind of amazing. Tom Morello was nice enough to come compliment our set and chat for a while, and we met a host of other household names that day, as well. Adam: First day of the concert was pretty insane, because my favorite band Soundgarden was playing. We had a chance to say hi to Chris Cornell backstage. Then we turned around and Jimmy Page is standing right there! He was just there hanging out! JA: Spill it, I know you guys got into it — do you have any crazy stories? Dan: Well, Day One we arrived in London, having stayed up all night, at 7 a.m. So by the time we got through customs and to our hotel it was 10:30a.m. The Hard Rock Crew was waiting there with a little bit of spending cash for us, so we decided to wander around and find a pub. By 4:30, and approximately 12 pubs later, I was fast asleep on top of a double-decker bus, circling past our hotel because everyone in our party was too sloshed to figure out where to get off. And when we finally did get back, I realized I had spent every bit of our weekend allowance on fancy cider and Bushmills. Nate: I signed a drunk man’s ass. Eeeesh. Adam: Well, the obvious story was the police shutting down the concert during Springsteen’s set with Paul McCartney on stage. That was pretty wild. Nate: We have played a lot of very interesting shows over the years, from a LGBQTA event, to a Sandy Beaver Canal Festival – sounds painful to me. JA: Sandy Beaver… interesting. Got any fantastic fan/groupie stories? Dan: One of my favorites is from two Halloweens ago. A group of our hometown friends/fans came dressed as us to the show, and they nailed the outfits, the hair, right down to the bare feet and accessories. Someone even went as our road manager, Showtime Muller. JA: What do you guys have coming up? Any tours, shows or records coming up? Dan: Right now, we’re really focusing on writing and playing locally. We plan on being in the studio by early fall, so we will keep hitting our regional spots and shows, and when the record comes out we shall see where we land. We are, however, opening for [SOMEONE HUGE AND CRAZY INSANE COOL] in Mexico in October, pretty strange and cool for us! Other than that, we have the Auricle on September 8, Rubber City Music Festival on September 15, and Woosterfest, September 29.