Yellowcard guitarist responds to new level of success
By KELLY WILSON
Get Out

“There's all these crazy realizations about where Yellowcard has gone,’’ says guitarist Ben Harper (not to be confused with the singer/songwriter of the same name). “So much has happened.’’

He's not kidding. The Ventura, Calif.-based quintet — who mix pop-punk with a classically trained violinist — have watched their stars rise rapidly since the release of their debut album, “Ocean Avenue,” last year.
It spawned three singles: “Way Away,” “Ocean Avenue” and “Only One.” The latter is currently getting airplay on Valley radio stations KEDJ (103.9 FM) and KISS (104.7 FM).

And the boys scored an MTV2 trophy at the Video Music Awards in May, which brought lead singer Ryan Key to tears.

“Everybody was kind of in shock mode having an award (presented) from the Beastie Boys,’’ Harper says of his band which also includes violinist Sean Mackin, drummer Longineu Parsons III and bassist Pete Mosely. “We just knew we were on stage and millions of people were watching us. Our band has come a long way. It started in my bedroom when we were in high school. It's just come full circle. It's kind of like you've made it big.’’

Harper says winning the “Moonman” was undoubtedly the biggest recognition the band has received.

“It was quite huge and here we are months later and people are still talking about it,’’ he says. “It was the wildest party we've ever done. All of a sudden we're surrounded with all of these stars — P. Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira — and we're thinking we're completely out of our league. There's Will Smith and Bruce Willis around the corner and you're just going, ‘What the (expletive) am I doing here?’ It was kind of a trip, kind of a dream. It was very surreal. We lived it up as best as we could.’’

Naturally, the pop-punkers toasted their win later that night.

“We rode around in three different Escalades and went to all of these parties,’’ says Harper, who runs his own indie label, Takeover Records. “We ended up at this penthouse party and I met people like Michelle Branch, Paris Hilton, Christina Aguilera and Marilyn Manson.’’

Yellowcard are currently in the middle of their first headlining tour. They also recently released a DVD, “Beyond Ocean Avenue: Live at the Electric Factory,” to tide fans over until they put out their second album next summer. In addition to the live music, Harper says the DVD features a documentary.

“There's over three years worth of footage on there as well as some updated footage that we did specifically for the documentary,’’ he says. “You get to know Yellowcard very well and where we've come from.’’