Heffron Drive’s Willing to Make Happy Mistakes

Heffron Drive’s feature on the Beyond The Stage Cover originally was published in April 2016. 

There are few bands with social followings like Heffron Drive. Their incredibly devoted fans created dozens of fansites, fan clubs and active street teams. When users do a simple Twitter search for Heffron Drive, hundreds of accounts appear. These fans have sites that are dedicated to the band and every move they make. With fan clubs in Russia, Italy, Mexico, and at least one in every state in the United States, Heffron Drive makes a huge impact on social media.

Started as a collaborative project between Kendall Schmidt (vocals, guitar, co-producer) and Dustin Belt (guitar, co-producer) in 2008, Heffron Drive has grown from having a small MySpace fan base to landing themselves articles on Billboard and recently, a performance slot at an iHeartRadio event.

“We are both originally from Wichita, Kansas, but met at an event in Hollywood, California. When we both left to go home that night, we discovered we lived on the same street, Heffron Drive, just a few minutes away in Burbank. The rest is history!” said the band about their beginnings. Both Belt and Schmidt also claim their influences to pop-punk and now, indie and electronic music.

While Schmidt is a huge self-proclaimed super-fan of Incubus (many of his followers on social media are now Incubus fans as well), Belt focuses a little more on the indie scene. Both are notable for attending shows by bands of genres all over the map, including bands like AC/DC, Parade of Lights, Chromeo and even more recently, Coachella.

When asked about their influences, both Belt and Schmidt agree on what they are listening to, especially what’s currently playing through their headphones or speakers.

“Early on, when we began in 2008, we were listening to a lot of pop-punk music. Metro Station, Forever The Sickest Kids, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, things like that. Now it’s very different stuff that’s all over the map (literally). [Dustin has] been listening to Broods a lot, who are from New Zealand. Atlas Genius is great too. They’re from Australia,” remarked Schmidt and Belt.

But when asked about the songs that Heffron Drive might be embarrassed to listen to, both Schmidt and Belt laugh before answering.

“‘Come On Let Me Ride’ By Skylar Grey & Eminem,” said Belt.

“‘All My Exes Live In Texas’,” laughed Schmidt.

Switching gears from what they’re listening to and instead focusing on their own music, we began asking the duo about their musical journey. Dedicated fans of the band know songs that have those pop-punk influences including “Quiet Please,” “Love Letter” and “Time Wasting,” which were all recorded and released on their MySpace page.

But when a huge opportunity came up, the band briefly declared a hiatus. Schmidt auditioned to be a part of Nickelodeon and Columbia Records’ project Big Time Rush and was given the role. This proved to be a huge connection for both Schmidt and Belt, Schmidt landing a role in one of the biggest boy bands of the 2000s, and Belt was asked to be the touring guitarist for the band. After touring internationally and winning awards in Australia, Mexico and the United States, Schmidt returned to Heffron Drive.

Read the rest of our feature with Heffron Drive here.

Purchase a print copy here.