Hobart Ocean

Hobart Ocean is an American rock band from Los Angeles comprising Travis Leonard (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Steven Hopkins (lead guitar, back-up vocals), Jaron Lancaster (bass guitar) and Mattias Hagstrom (drummer). On April 30, 2014, it was announced that the group had signed a recording deal with Swift Endeavor.1 The band's first single titled Another Heartbreak is currently featured on Pandora. 2

History

The Band’s Roots as Pop-Punk Band Vanattica

From 2006 to 2012, Travis Leonard, Steven Hopkins and Jaron Lancaster found local and regional success as the DIY pop-punk band Vanattica in the Champaign-Urbana, Illinois area. Leonard had been attending UC Santa Barbara and transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to compete on the school’s track team. Vanattica toured several times and participated in a Warped Tour.

In 2012, the three musicians moved to Los Angeles, where Leonard worked as an actor and model and Hopkins and Lancaster got day jobs while gigging at clubs, including The Viper Room and Amplify. Leonard appeared on CMT’s “Sweet Home Alabama” TV show. The three did an acoustic DIY tour up the West Coast. Seeking to expand beyond their all-acoustic sound, they put up a flyer at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, where drummer Hagstrom attended after moving to Los Angeles from a small town in Sweden.

Hagstrom was the first of six players who auditioned for the band via YouTube videos. He joined one of their rehearsal sessions in North Hollywood and was hired for the band’s show at Busby’s. He then joined as a full time. As Vanattica continued performing, Leonard began writing in an alt-pop style he thought might work for a side project. Having traveled to Australia and New Zealand, and having earned a Bachelor’s in Geography and an M.S. in Medical Geography, he came up with a new name for the band. Hobart Ocean is named for the capital of Australia’s island state of Tasmania, which was founded over 200 years ago as a penal colony. “It’s literally the end of the earth – sort of like a small town in Illinois,” Leonard said. His band mates loved the new material and agreed to change the style and concept of the band.

Emergence as Hobart Ocean and Performances at Universal CityWalk

Leonard was on a date at Universal CityWalk, a shopping and entertainment district in Universal City, California, when he saw a crowd gathered around a female singer performing an acoustic set. He asked the performer how she scored the gig and later went online to apply, sending a demo CD, bio and website link. Two weeks later, Leonard received an email from NBC Universal inviting Hobart Ocean to audition.

Kevin Lindsey and Stewart Irel, executives with NBC Universal asked the band to perform three songs to play outside on a Wednesday afternoon. They liked what they heard and Hobart Ocean played a total of ten songs. The band had a successful test show in December 2013 and started 2014 performing six to eight shows per month, playing for 5,000-10,000 people per night over four hours. Lindsey and Irel told them they beat out 150 other acts to secure the slot. Hobart Ocean’s original set list mixed original songs and covers of various bands, including Jimmy Eat World and OneRepublic. The band also opened on CityWalk’s Five Towers Stage for the band Heffron Drive which drew a crowd of over a thousand fans. 34

Signing with Swift Endeavor

Jay Hu, a former marketing manager at Jive Records, is currently the Managing Director of Swift Endeavor, a small boutique label with strong capital behind it. He was with colleagues at CityWalk when one of them walked over to hear Hobart Ocean as the band started playing Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.” Before the set was over, Hu walked over to Lancaster – who was not onstage at the time but was running the merchandise table and signing autographs – and asked if they were signed or had official representation. Hu dropped his business card on the table and told Lancaster (whom he didn’t realize was a band member) to tell the band to give him a call. Hu said, “There were many factors that excited me about the band and eventually led us to sign them. Travis was a nice looking, charismatic lead singer and they were able to wow a crowd playing acoustically. Their songs and presentation were captivating. Travis was capable of making me believe that he was already someone famous – and since he wasn’t yet, he and his band definitely deserved to be. We also loved the passion and drive they bring to everything. They’re the perfect combination of talent and spark.” The deal that Hobart Ocean signed with Swift Endeavor allows them full artistic integrity, control of its music and a better than average royalty rate.

“Another Heartbreak” and 2014 Fall Tour Dates with Aaron Carter

Hobart Ocean released its first single “Another Heartbreak” to Top 40 radio in the Fall of 2014. The track was written and recorded with a basic living room studio setup when Leonard, Lancaster and Hopkins were living together in a condo in Tarzana, California. They later brought the fully produced demo they created to a producer for mixing at a studio in Hollywood that once hosted sessions for Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. While continuing to perform at Universal CityWalk, they performed four dates (including The Gramercy Theatre in New York City) in November 2014 with pop/hip-hop icon and global teen idol Aaron Carter, who had recently completed his 50 date Wonderful World tour. In October 2014, Hobart Ocean performed a series of shows at high schools throughout Southern California.

Hobart Ocean App

Concurrent with the release of “Another Heartbreak,” Hobart Ocean released multi-faceted apps for iPhone and Google Play. The free apps featured news about the band, audio music tracks, performance and personal band photos, videos, schedule of upcoming live performances, a “Fan Wall” for fan postings and interaction and links to Hobart Ocean’s social media sites. Fans who subscribed to the mailer’s list in the app received details about Hobart Ocean’s Monthly App Rewards Program, in which the top three monthly App users determined by points earned had the opportunity to win a prize. The first App Rewards Program began November 1, 2014, with prizes awarded the first week of December 2014.

Travis Leonard’s Yeo's Promotional Campaign

In Fall 2014, Leonard headlined a U.S. based promotional campaign for Yeo’s, a globally renowned multi-national corporation and drink manufacturer based in Singapore and Malaysia. Leonard’s image was prominently featured on the company’s drinks in stores across North America and Asia, as well as on the U.S. Facebook page they launched in May as part of their New Look campaign to build awareness of their beverage products in the United States. The singer was also the spokesperson for ‘’’The Moment is Yeo’s’’’ contest, which allowed contestants to enter monthly by submitting a photo of themselves drinking a Yeo’s beverage product. In June 2014, Tourism Malaysia launched a sweepstakes in partnership with Yeo’s featuring a Grand Prize Trip to Malaysia; the contest ran through October 31. Leonard was featured in the only commercial produced for Travel to Malaysia 2014 with Yeo’s campaign; the video is available on the Hobart Ocean YouTube channel.

Band members

Current members

  • Travis Leonard – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2014)
  • Steven Hopkins – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014)
  • Jaron Lancaster – bass guitar (2014)
  • Mattias Hagstrom – drummer (2014)