In response to criticism of The Hard Lessons' blues- and rock 'n' roll-influenced sound, guitarist Agostino "Gin" Visocchi said he'd rather the band sound like music 30 years ago than two years ago.
"People say to us, 'You sound like The Stones,' but no one ever says that to Third Eye Blind, or 'You sound like matchbox twenty,'" Visocchi, an English senior, said. "We just want to play rock and we're not going to ignore that we love blues music; that's what we listen to."
While The Hard Lessons' sound might be familiar, the band only has been playing shows since September. In the world of successful rock bands, five months isn't a long time, but The Hard Lessons already has broken into the hard-to-conquer scenes of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing and Ypsilanti.
But the band isn't an overnight success. Playing around Detroit for about five years, the members have put in the time.
"We try to earn every part of the success we've gotten," Visocchi said. "It meant playing in crappy bands for a long time and learning how to record and get gigs. It's been a dream of all of ours for our whole lives."
The Hard Lessons will headline at Mac's Bar on Friday night with The Nice Device and Grande Nationals.
Korin Cox, also known as The Lessons' "Ko Ko Louise," who plays keys and sings, said all three band members have been working hard over the years and have put together pieces of what they've learned from attending and performing live shows.
The band is the more mature supergroup that emerged from years of practice and clocked mileage between Lansing and Detroit.
The band's drummer, known as "The Anvil," lives north of Detroit, so The Hard Lessons always have been part of two definite scenes. Visocchi and Cox drive to the Detroit area to practice about three times per week.
"It's really a full-time job," Cox said.
Cox, a history senior, and Visocchi have been attending shows at places such as Detroit's Lager House long before the venues became a hip place to go.
"We went there when there was no one there," Visocchi said. "We used to say how amazing it would be to play there. We played there recently, and it was wall-to-wall packed. To be on stage was almost surreal."
"Love Gone Cold" is a new single from The Hard Lessons, and it was the most requested song last week on WDBM (88.9 FM). Other songs, such as "All Over This Town," have a true blues feeling to them, accented by Visocchi's slide guitar.
Visocchi said opening for Detroit-based, garage-rock band The Von Bondies was a major step forward for the group. The Hard Lessons, Visocchi said, is part of the so-called brat pack of young bands in Detroit.
They will open for another brat-pack band, The Sights, at The Temple Club in April.
