Just four guys who like to play music

The guys of Hoobastank are discussing fashion — specifically, who has the greatest collection of shoes.

It’s a strange conversation for the Southern California rockers known more for their song stylings than their fashion sense of T-shirts, baggy pants and over-the-top haircuts.

But it was Fashion Week in New York, a twice-yearly event where the biggest designers marry the latest in music and fashion on the runways. And Hoobastank was in town to participate in “Fashion Rocks,” a television special airing tonight at 8 on Fox that highlights the influence of music on fashion.

So the conversation makes sense. Well, at least to Hoobastank.

“I have probably more shoes than anybody I ever met,” said drummer Chris Hesse. Well, maybe not as many as lead singer Doug Robb, he says. Or as many as guitarist Dan Estrin. Maybe as many as bassist Markku Lappalainen.

Boxes and boxes of footwear, all handed out freely by manufacturers who want to see their kicks on the band members.

That’s apparently what comes with being the band with the multiplatinum album “The Reason,” plus a single by the same name that has become the rock ballad of the year.

“I can clothe my friends and family in shoes for the rest of my life,” said Estrin, 28. “It’s crazy.”

It’s been a crazy year for the band that has seen “The Reason,” its sophomore album released in December 2003, eclipse its multiplatinum debut.

The first single, “Out of Control,” rocketed up the modern rock charts. But it was “The Reason,” a soulful, lyrical ballad, that launched the album into the rock ‘n’ roll stratosphere. Their third single, “Same Direction,” released last month, is also climbing the charts.

The band had its beginnings in the early 1990s with Estrin and Robb, 29, who went to high school together in suburban Los Angeles. At first they played for fun, writing humorous songs about questionable, unprintable topics. They got serious about music in 1994 after taking out an ad in a Los Angeles-area music magazine and were joined by Hesse, 30, and Lappalainen, 31.

They spent five years toiling in the Los Angeles music scene, building a following and being “passed on by every label out there.”

They eventually caught Island’s attention. But it wasn’t until they hit the road as the opening act for Incubus (Estrin grew up with a couple of that group’s members) that the band gained national attention.

By all accounts, Hoobastank is not your typical rock band. It has managed to avoid bad publicity and rock ‘n’ roll excesses — from drug use to infighting — that have derailed others.

As the frontman, Robb has gained most of the media attention. While some bands might be upset or resentful of it, Hoobastank embraces it.

“We understand that people look to the singer the most,” Hesse said.

Robb describes the band as just four guys who like to play music first and foremost.

“We don’t have a five-year plan. It’s not like we said we started here and by this time we want to be here,” Robb says. “I don’t want to be those guys.”

Says Steve Bartels, head of Island Records: “They are smart. They’ve done the right things along the way. They’ve matured as artists, as songwriters.”

While the band’s members may be serious about music, they appear to be having a good time with just about everything else.

All recently bought homes in Southern California (giant storage units, Lappalainen quips). Ask about fame, and they talk about a fan who regularly e-mails them religious letters. Ask about their biggest rock star moments, and Estrin jokes about girls.

Finally, ask how the band came up with its off-the-wall name and they all tell different stories.

“We’ve been asked that question so many times, we got sick of it,” Estrin said. “Now it’s a big joke. Now, nobody would believe us anyway.”

So for now, at least, they are fine with just being known as the band with the funny name that makes serious music.