The band:

Forrest Kline: vocals and guitar

Jesse Kurvink: keyboard

Marcus Cole: bass

Chris Profeta: drums

Turn up the synthesizers and keyboards. It’s time for some geeky power-pop from Orange County’s Hellogoodbye! The band’s debut EP, released on Drive-Thru Records, provides some danceable, melodic, and just plain fun tunes that will take on Weezer or Reggie and the Full Effect in a chess match any day. Geek jokes aside, Hellogoodbye’s music is actually sophisticated and versatile, never letting up on the energy. The band plans on going on a national tour at the end of January, and a full-length album, which vocalist Forrest Kline is currently writing, is set to release in late May.

Jayplay writer chats with vocalist/guitarist Forrest Kline about Saved by the Bell and the prom:

The origin of your band name comes from three sources: the Beatles song, the abstract meaning of everyone coming and going, and Screech saying the phrase in the Hawaii episode of Saved by the Bell. What is your favorite Saved by the Bell episode?

Dude, every single one of them is so good. I recently bought the DVDs, and I had forgotten how bad the acting really was, yet that’s what makes it so beautiful. I think one episode that sticks out is the “Buddy Bands” episode, in which there’s a class project to start up a company, and Zack and the gang create and sell these friendship bracelets that become pretty popular at school. But the bracelets take a big hit when Mr. Belding, the principal, buys one because then they are not cool anymore.

“Jesse Buy Nothing. . . Go to Prom Anyways” is a truly insane song about asking a girl to prom.The song actually was made for keyboardist Jesse Kurvink so that he could ask a girl to prom. Did the girl say yes?

Of course. And the song was really created for that reason. It just happened to end up on the EP. We made a song for Jesse called “Jesse Buy A Corsage” for a girl to be asked to the homecoming dance.

Speaking of prom, did students at your high school take prom very seriously?

No, not really. It’s funny, because Jesse was the organizer of that prom. He was a member of the ASB(Assembled Student Body) and junior class president. This guy, Paul White, was senior class president, and he didn’t do a whole lot. The only reason why he ran for class president in the first place is because he thought it would be funny. So the prom really didn’t turn out that well. I didn’t even go. In fact, I went to one high school dance the entire time I was in high school, and that was some “medium” dance like homecoming or something. And I left early.

No two shows the band puts on are alike. You guys went onstage once in soccer uniformsand give out yellow cards for inappropriate use of the hands. What are some future theme showsyou have planned?

Well, I don’t know yet. The themes are mostly spur of the moment, like if we happened to go to a costume store that day or something. We just go with what we see. We are planning an acoustic show, which is not so fun, but will be fun because it’s not so fun. I will drag out some banjos and a bunch of crazy stuff. There’ll be a hoedown and maybe some storytime. We also want to have a song where everyone’s parents play. All of our dads, except mine, are musicians, and I think we are going to have them play a Frank Sinatra cover. Chris’s dad is also a drummer, and he used to actually play with Frank Sinatra, and his grandpa performed with him as well. Jesse’s dad also plays piano so maybe they could do a duet. Marcus’s dad plays guitar, so he could join him. My dad doesn’t play anything, though.

Which of the characters at Disneyland do you like the best?

Aladdin is definitely the best.

What’s a guilty pleasure of yours in terms of what kind of music you listen to?

Well, technically I don’t believe in the term “guilty pleasure,” but I suppose something that I sort of like that I would say kind of fits that category would be Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.” Baby Spice’s new album would fit that category. Maybe “Burn” by Usher or “Toxic” by Britney Spears.

What’s the most disgusing thing you’ve ever had to do?

Be on tour with Jesse.

What does Jesse do?

Well, he chews loudly when he eats, and white spit foams around his mouth. And he has zits on his butt. But girls really like him. Something else I did that was disgusting was I had to eat a big mix of random food, including ketchup, ranch dressing, marmalade jelly, hobo fries and some other stuff. Usually I can eat anything, but I physically could not eat this because there was also like a cup of table salt in the food. All I had to do was eat one spoonful to get $20, but my body would not let me swallow the stuff.

What kind of girl would you rather date, a girl who is obsessed with The OC or a girl who is obsessedwith Nascar racing?

That’s a tough one, but I would have to say a girl who watches The OC, even though I really don’t like it.