Rob Freeman
Encyclopedia
Robert Andrew Freeman is the former guitarist
, backing vocalist
and primary songwriter
for the pop punk
/post-hardcore
group Hidden in Plain View
. Presently, he has his own solo recording project titled The Pilot and is a record producer
, mainly for up-and-coming New Jersey
rock band
s.
in northern New Jersey
. He began playing the drums
when he was five years old, picked up the guitar
about ten years later, and played both instruments in various local garage band
s. In 1998, Freeman began his first serious musical endeavor with his future Hidden in Plain View
bandmate Joe Reo, whom he had met while attending high school
in Stanhope, New Jersey
. Fronting the ska punk
band 8 Over Par — Reo as the lead vocalist/trumpeter, Freeman as the backing vocalist
/guitarist
— they discovered their shared passion for music, so that when 8 Over Par split in April 2000, the two continued writing songs together. At first, Freeman also joined the band Face First as a drummer
, however, he quit shortly after to devote himself fully to Reo's and his newly formed band Hidden in Plain View.
Find
(2001) independently and their sophomore EP Operation: Cut-Throat
(2002) on Note to Self Records, while the number of fans attending their shows increased steadily.
Following several line-up changes, Drive-Thru Records
signed the band in June 2003 and released their four-song sampler EP Hidden in Plain View
on November 11 2003. In spite of being criticized for its lack of variety, the EP was a perfect showcase of the band's continuous development of both musicianship and songwriting. With more sophisticated lyrics, a heavier undertone in the instrumentation and a discreet nod to contemporary screamo
in the vocals, it served as a promising prelude to their following full-length album.
In mid-2004, Hidden in Plain View went into the studio with producer Jim Wirt to record their full-length debut Life in Dreaming
. Song structures were far more diverse on this effort — featuring riff heavy anthem
s as well as melancholy ballad
s — as were the lyrical topics, dealing with the pressure of growing up ("American Classic"), the experience of losing a close friend ("In Memory") and the controversial subject of date rape
("Bleed for You"). Life in Dreaming was also the first of the band's records that integrated Freeman as a full vocalist with almost as many parts as lead vocalist Reo in certain songs, such as "A Minor Detail", "Garden Statement" and "Top 5 Addictions".
The follow-up album to Life in Dreaming was recorded in 2006 and planned for a release somewhen in 2007. On January 29 2007, it was announced via the label's website that the band had broken up.
Later in 2007 when Hidden In Plain View disbanded Freeman took to Record Production Full time. First Opening his first professional Recording Studio in Landing, NJ. A year later he Relocated to Boonton, NJ to expand production. In the years passed Freeman has produced and Co-wrote with Hundreds of artists, achieving national and international commercial success.
and MySpace
profiles ("This So Called Life", "Miss Mirage", "The Distance I Know", "Good Enough", "Home Away from Home", "Day In and Day Out", "5 Years in the Making", "You Verse Me Verse the World", "White Noise", and "Believe What You Will"), though it is unknown whether they will ever be issued on a CD, or if he will continue making them available for free download.
Musically, Freeman's solo project does not differ drastically from his work with Hidden in Plain View. It is safe to say that The Pilot songs are far less punk influenced, featuring more sensitive lyrics and acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitars, the piano
and even strings
. Often accompanied by drum machine
s, his songs are synthesized — yet not to an extent as predominant in power pop
, let alone electronica
songs — and at times bear close resemblance to some of Jimmy Eat World
's more mellow songs.
Accompanied by Thomas J. Chipmen on guitar, Freeman played his first acoustic concert under the The Pilot moniker on October 28, 2006 at Bloomfield Ave Cafe in Montclair, New Jersey
. Shortly afterwards, guitarist/bassist
Jason Jaksetic was announced as the first official member of The Pilot, besides Freeman. An East Coast
tour supporting Houston Calls is scheduled for December 2006.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, backing vocalist
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
and primary songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
for the pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
/post-hardcore
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
group Hidden in Plain View
Hidden in Plain View
Hidden in Plain View was a five-piece Pop Punk band from northern New Jersey. They formed in 2000 and disbanded in 2007. During their six and a half year run, the group released records with four different record labels , including two full-length albums and three EPs...
. Presently, he has his own solo recording project titled The Pilot and is a record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mainly for up-and-coming New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
s.
Early life
Rob Freeman was born on March 26 1981 in the small town of AndoverAndover, New Jersey
Andover is a Borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 606.Andover was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 25, 1904, from portions of Andover Township.-Geography:Andover is located at ...
in northern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He began playing the drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
when he was five years old, picked up the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
about ten years later, and played both instruments in various local garage band
Garage band
The term garage band can refer to:* A band that performs garage rock* GarageBand, audio production software published by Apple Inc.* GarageBand.com, a website that helps publicize emerging bands...
s. In 1998, Freeman began his first serious musical endeavor with his future Hidden in Plain View
Hidden in Plain View
Hidden in Plain View was a five-piece Pop Punk band from northern New Jersey. They formed in 2000 and disbanded in 2007. During their six and a half year run, the group released records with four different record labels , including two full-length albums and three EPs...
bandmate Joe Reo, whom he had met while attending high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Stanhope, New Jersey
Stanhope, New Jersey
-Transportation:Route 183 is the main access road that serves the borough. U.S. Route 206 also passes through in the western section and is partially a limited access road which connects to I-80 in neighboring Mount Olive.-Demographics:...
. Fronting the ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
band 8 Over Par — Reo as the lead vocalist/trumpeter, Freeman as the backing vocalist
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
/guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
— they discovered their shared passion for music, so that when 8 Over Par split in April 2000, the two continued writing songs together. At first, Freeman also joined the band Face First as a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, however, he quit shortly after to devote himself fully to Reo's and his newly formed band Hidden in Plain View.
Hidden in Plain View
Upon forming in August 2000, Hidden in Plain View began playing concerts somewhat frequently, in hopes of being able to make a living out of their music. After graduating high school, the band released their debut EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Find
Find (EP)
Find is Hidden in Plain View's debut EP. It was released by the now defunct independent record label DAB Records on March 24, 2001.-Track listing:# "Burned" – 2:30# "Traffic Jams and Train Cars" – 3:17# "Find" – 2:22...
(2001) independently and their sophomore EP Operation: Cut-Throat
Operation: Cut-Throat
Operation: Cut-Throat is Hidden in Plain View's second EP. It was originally released on Note to Self Records in 2002 and re-issued by LLR Recordings in 2003.-Track listing:# "An American Classic" – 3:26...
(2002) on Note to Self Records, while the number of fans attending their shows increased steadily.
Following several line-up changes, Drive-Thru Records
Drive-Thru Records
Drive-Thru Records, established in 1996, was a California-based record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. It has produced various pop punk bands, many with a distinct SoCal sound....
signed the band in June 2003 and released their four-song sampler EP Hidden in Plain View
Hidden in Plain View (EP)
Hidden in Plain View is Hidden in Plain View's eponymous Drive-Thru Records debut. The CD was issued on November 11, 2003 and marks the band's third release, after their first two EPs Find and Operation: Cut-Throat .-Track listing:...
on November 11 2003. In spite of being criticized for its lack of variety, the EP was a perfect showcase of the band's continuous development of both musicianship and songwriting. With more sophisticated lyrics, a heavier undertone in the instrumentation and a discreet nod to contemporary screamo
Screamo
Screamo, though used loosely to generally describe music that features screamed vocals, is actually a musical subgenre of hardcore punk which predominantly evolved from emo, among other genres, in the early 1990s...
in the vocals, it served as a promising prelude to their following full-length album.
In mid-2004, Hidden in Plain View went into the studio with producer Jim Wirt to record their full-length debut Life in Dreaming
Life in Dreaming
Life in Dreaming is Hidden in Plain View's first full-length album, released on February 22, 2005 by Drive-Thru Records. It was originally scheduled for an August 2004 release, but postponed to gain time for promotion...
. Song structures were far more diverse on this effort — featuring riff heavy anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
s as well as melancholy ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s — as were the lyrical topics, dealing with the pressure of growing up ("American Classic"), the experience of losing a close friend ("In Memory") and the controversial subject of date rape
Date rape
"Date rape", often referred to as acquaintance rape, is an assault or attempted assault usually committed by a new acquaintance involving sexual intercourse without mutual consent....
("Bleed for You"). Life in Dreaming was also the first of the band's records that integrated Freeman as a full vocalist with almost as many parts as lead vocalist Reo in certain songs, such as "A Minor Detail", "Garden Statement" and "Top 5 Addictions".
The follow-up album to Life in Dreaming was recorded in 2006 and planned for a release somewhen in 2007. On January 29 2007, it was announced via the label's website that the band had broken up.
Record production
In 2004 Freeman's studio took on the name The Pilot Studio when he began producing a variety of projects between and sometimes during a busy touring schedule.Later in 2007 when Hidden In Plain View disbanded Freeman took to Record Production Full time. First Opening his first professional Recording Studio in Landing, NJ. A year later he Relocated to Boonton, NJ to expand production. In the years passed Freeman has produced and Co-wrote with Hundreds of artists, achieving national and international commercial success.
The Pilot
Due to the considerable difference between the number of songs Hidden in Plain View's schedule allows them to record and the number of songs Freeman writes, he decided to put his recording studio to good use by starting a solo project under the name The Pilot. As of December 2006, The Pilot has released ten songs on his PureVolumePureVolume
PureVolume was the first independently run website of its type, allowing for the upload and stream of music files. It was created in 2003 by Jennifer Welch , in conjunction with the Unborn Media team; Brett Woitunski, Nate Hudson, and Mitchell Pavao; all from the University of...
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profiles ("This So Called Life", "Miss Mirage", "The Distance I Know", "Good Enough", "Home Away from Home", "Day In and Day Out", "5 Years in the Making", "You Verse Me Verse the World", "White Noise", and "Believe What You Will"), though it is unknown whether they will ever be issued on a CD, or if he will continue making them available for free download.
Musically, Freeman's solo project does not differ drastically from his work with Hidden in Plain View. It is safe to say that The Pilot songs are far less punk influenced, featuring more sensitive lyrics and acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitars, the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and even strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
. Often accompanied by drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
s, his songs are synthesized — yet not to an extent as predominant in power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
, let alone electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
songs — and at times bear close resemblance to some of Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
's more mellow songs.
Accompanied by Thomas J. Chipmen on guitar, Freeman played his first acoustic concert under the The Pilot moniker on October 28, 2006 at Bloomfield Ave Cafe in Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
. Shortly afterwards, guitarist/bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Jason Jaksetic was announced as the first official member of The Pilot, besides Freeman. An East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
tour supporting Houston Calls is scheduled for December 2006.
Musician
- For Freeman's releases with Hidden in Plain View, see Hidden in Plain View's discography
Producer
- Foster – The Demo (2002)
- Houston CallsHouston CallsHouston Calls was an American power pop/punk band, based in Rockaway, New Jersey. They formed in 2003 and were signed to Drive-Thru Records. On June 9, 2009 they announced their official breakup.-Formation :...
– 4 Song Sampler (2003) - State Unfair –Demos (2003)
- Sleepwell – Coin Operated Entertainment (2003)
- Royden – Best Friends Our Worst Enemies (2004)
- Maverick – Caught in the Negatives (2004)
- The Letter You –Free from Everything (2005)
- Sound the Alarm – Sound the Alarm (2006)
- P.R.Y.D.E. – Drowning Between Life and Lies EP (2006)
- Someday Never – The Natural Trend of Breathing EP (2006)
- Hometown Anthem – If We Could Dream (2006)
- The Fallback – This City Story EP (2006)
- Hand Me Down Buick – The Greater the Risk (2006)
- Sayrelin – We've Come to the Conclusion (2006)
- SunSets North – Return To Sender (2007)
- Parade The Day – 'To Keep Us Moving (2007)
- Late Night Habit – 'The Single Life' (2009)
- Hit The Lights – 'Skip School Start Fights' (2009)
- Armor For Sleep – 'EP' (2009)
- Royal – Royal EP (2010)
External links
- Hidden in Plain View's official website
- The Pilot's profile at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- The Pilot's profile at PureVolumePureVolumePureVolume was the first independently run website of its type, allowing for the upload and stream of music files. It was created in 2003 by Jennifer Welch , in conjunction with the Unborn Media team; Brett Woitunski, Nate Hudson, and Mitchell Pavao; all from the University of...
- 8 Over Par's official website