Draft:Doug Robb

Early life and career

Douglas Sean Robb was born on January 2, 1975 in Agoura Hills, California to Donald Robb and Eiko Kitaguchi. Growing up as a "shy" kid in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills, he often found comfort in listening to music through his headphones. His father is of diverse European and Puerto Rican ancestry, while his mother is Japanese.^[1] He developed an early interest in music, citing Van Halen during the David Lee Roth era as one of his first major influences.^[2] Robb received his first guitar at age fourteen while visiting his grandmother in Japan, and he began teaching himself to play by learning songs.^[1]

Robb first met guitarist Dan Estrin when Robb was a junior and Estrin was a sophomore, as they were enrolled in the same auto shop class. They were both in separate high school bands at the time, but Robb noted that their shared interest in music was evident through the band and guitar-string stickers on their school notebooks. Their musical relationship formally began in 1993, during Robb's senior year, when their respective high school bands competed against each other in a battle of the bands.^[3]

Hoobastank

In 1994, Robb and Estrin officially formed a band called "Hoobustank", which later changed its name to "Hoobastank" in 2001. They later recruited bassist Markku Lappalainen and drummer Chris Hesse to complete the original lineup.^[4] The band began performing at local high school competitions and backyard shows, gradually gaining recognition. Their first public performance took place in Robb’s parents’ backyard in 1995.^[5]

The band's growing reputation in Southern California attracted the interest of Island Records, which signed them in 2000. In 2001, Robb released the band's self-titled debut album, which was a breakthrough success featuring the singles he wrote, "Crawling in the Dark" and "Running Away".^[6]

Hoobastank achieved massive mainstream success with their second album, The Reason (2003), which reached No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album included hits such as "The Reason" and "Disappear" both co-written by Robb.^[7] "The Reason" became an international hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[8] Robb reflected that, unlike the debut album which contained mostly "rocking" tracks with only one mellow song, the inclusion of slower tracks on The Reason was influenced by the balanced style of rock and metal bands he grew up listening to.^[9]

Robb led the band through subsequent album releases, including Every Man for Himself (2006) and For(N)ever (2009). He addressed a rumored public feud with Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland through the lyrics of the single "If I Were You" from the 2006 album.^[10]

Robb continued to front the band for their later releases. In 2012, after parting ways with their long-time label, Island/Def Jam, they released their fifth studio album Fight or Flight. Robb described this album as a "comeback" and a continuation of their presence in the modern rock scene. They followed this with Push Pull (2018).^[11]

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Reason, the band issued a vinyl reissue of the album. The digital version included a bonus cover of the Rod Stewart song "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", a track Robb noted had been nearly 25 years in the making. He explained that the band was first approached to record the song for the 1999 film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, but the demo "didn't work out", with the idea being revisited during the subsequent The Reason recording sessions.^[12]

Collaborations and other works

In 2011, Robb collaborated with the Finnish symphonic metal band Apocalyptica for their single, "Not Strong Enough".^[11] The song originally featured Brent Smith of Shinedown on lead vocals, released internationally on November 1, 2010. However, Apocalyptica was unable to secure the rights to Smith's vocals for the US release from his label, Atlantic Records. To resolve this issue, the band re-recorded the track with Robb on vocals. This version was released to US radio stations on January 18, 2011, and was included on the US edition of the album, making Robb the song's alternate vocalist.^[13]

In 2017, Robb provided vocals for "Fist Bump", the theme song of the video game Sonic Forces.^[14]

With Hoobastank

• They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To (1998; Independent release)
• Hoobastank (2001)
• The Reason (2003)
• Every Man for Himself (2006)
• For(N)ever (2009)
• Fight or Flight (2012)
• Push Pull (2018)

Collaborations and other work

• "Not Strong Enough" (2011) – Vocals on the US single version by Apocalyptica.^[15]

• "Fist Bump" (2017) – Main theme song for the video game Sonic Forces.^[14]