Shining Brighter

happyendings has changed its name to The Whitest Light. Here's why.

Remember happyendings? You know the group—the positive, catchy, regionally popular Springfield pop-rockers from the early ’00s who signed a big-label deal and, for all intents and purposes, dropped of the face of the earth. Well, you’re never going to hear happyendings ever again. So sorry.

What you will hear—and soon—is The Whitest Light, the new name the group recently adopted. The guys plan to release their Bob Rock-produced album, Losing Generation, which they grappled away from J Records, sometime in early 2008 under the new moniker. The name, according to guitarist Micky Hardy, who we reached in L.A. (at the Apple Store, no less), is a tribute to Jason Poe, formerly of The Special Americans. Poe is one of Hardy and lead vocalist Brannon Powers’s favorite artists, and The Whitest Light is one of his most notable songs.

Before the full album—which already has a video, for the single “Miracle”—is released, the group will release a new EP featuring reworked songs from Losing Generation. The full album (Hardy says they haven’t decided whether to change the title or not), will likely feature acoustic versions of a couple of the tracks. And even though The Whitest Light is moving forward with plans for an independent release, Hardy says another major-label deal could be in the works. Their former A&R rep at JRecords left that company to run another major New York label. Hardy says the band is in talks with that studio (though he wouldn’t say which one it is). The band also has a new manager, New York-based Debbie Wilson, who Hardy says found Gavin McGraw.

But live shows are where The Whitest Light made its (old) name; but they haven’t played a show in almost a full year. To get back in the swing of things, The Whitest Light is cranking it up on December 6 at Randy Bacon Studio & Gallery. “We’re chomping at the bit to get back to it,” Hardy says. “It’s pretty crazy—we’ve pretty much gone through a mid-life crisis as a band. We’re finally getting off the ground.”

The name change, Hardy says, was an attempt to sever ties with the recent “negative past.”

“We kind of wanted a fresh start. We didn’t want people [in the industry] to say ‘I remember these guys,’ and have a misconception,” Hardy says. “It’s extremely difficult because we’d built seven years on a name, and especially in the Midwest it became a good thing for us. Having to start over is tough. But if fans like [the music], the name isn’t going to be a big deal.”