The Hollow

Last night James from Newcastle's 'The Hollow' was kind enough to answer a couple of questions for me. It was a really great interview. They aren't doing much at the moment but when they visit your city, check 'em. Cause they are pretty damn cool.

To begin with, what is your name, position within the band and have you heard I Exist's new album yet?!

James, Bass, yeah I have, I'm digging it. As Shaun put it, it's "heaps weedy".

Your debut EP was released last year through Martin Kirby's Dead Souls Records. Were you guys excited when he approached you to put it?

Yeah we were. I know we were all pretty excited that someone from a label had shown interest at all, let alone Marty. Personally it suprised me as well, I didn't think anyone would show interest in the band so early on. It was definitely a great opportunity and Marty has been really good to us.

I am going to take a guess and assume that Dead Souls are going to be putting out your next record(purely because you haven't announced that you will be going with another label). Is Marty a good guy to work with when it comes to releasing records and is this your reason for sticking with him?

I actually haven't talked to him about it personally, but I'm sure of the other guys have mentioned to him we're in the process of writing and looking to record a 7" and album. It would definitely be cool to release something else with him, but I guess we'd just have to organise something, Marty's usually pretty busy with Carpathian and other stuff obviously. He was pretty good to work with because he gave us alot of feedback on the songs and advice on recording, and then hooked us up with Jack The Bear who did the mastering. It was a new experience for me and most of the band, I'd have to say it was a positive one.

When I saw you last at the Jam Factory show it sounded like you had re-written some of the guitar parts to your old songs/squeezed in some solos. Is there a plan with your new record to move in a new direction or to progress from what you achieved previously?

Those older songs with new stuff re-written is just Shaun adding stuff to the songs we wrote before he joined the band. Plus it's nice to add something a little interesting and fresh to the songs we've been playing for a year or so now. The new songs are hopefully a step up from what we've released previously, but I wouldn't say it's a new direction or anything. We're just trying to progress and write better music.

You guys must no doubt get a lot of people saying 'You know you guys sound heaps like Rise And Fall'. Does this ever get to you and just make you think 'Fuck, I just want write a completely new set of songs'.

Yeah it's eased off a bit but when we first started out we got it alot. It doesn't really get to us mainly because we know our demo songs had a huge Rise and Fall influence, and we were cool with that because we still feel that we're not a total Rise and Fall rip-off band. The songs of the EP and our newer songs will hopefully create a greater distinction between us and them, we're trying to establish our own sort of sound while still taking alot of influence from bands like that.

Aside from sounding like Rise And Fall, what was it like to tour with them?!

Yeah it was a really great tour, the shows were amazing, Rise and Fall are extremely loud live, haha. They were really nice guys and pretty easy to get along with. It was our first really big tour and to do it with a band we admire alot was really cool.

I read in an interview you guys did a while back where Shaun said that he would be down to tour with Metallica. They are coming! Finally. Is there going to be an attempt by you guys to get a local touring spot with them? Or even jump on a show maybe?

Haha, I doubt it. I'll definitely be at the Sydney show though.

With your last release you guys recorded locally in Newcastle and had it mastered in Melbourne. Are you going to stick to that method or move onto bigger and better studios/production?

We've thrown the idea of recording elsewhere around but haven't really decided on anything yet. Matt who we recorded the EP and demo with is a good friend and knows what he's doing so there's the option to just stick with him and get it mastered elsewhere if we have the cash.

Do you think its really necessary for bands to go over seas and spend huge amounts of money to get the best possible record? Or is Australia doing ok?

It definitely helps, but I guess it just depends on the band and who you go to record with. Dropsaw's new album came out sounding great, I'm sure they are all happy with the decision to go overseas and record because it really suited them and they did it right. There's still alot of good places to go to record in Australia, it's just a matter of picking the right place to go.

Other than recording coming up this winter, do you guys have anything big planned for later in the year?

Nothing big planned as of yet, we would obviously like to record and tour to promote a release but all the guys in the band are pretty busy. I'm in the last year of my degree and three of the other four guys work full-time so it's pretty hard. We'll work something out though, haha.

Some shorties to finish up:

Who is the party animal/booze hound in the band?

Kyle aka Biggie aka Boof. Great dude to party with especially on tour. Aaron just blue-tubes girls.

Best way to pass time in the tour bus?

Put on 'Painkiller' and wait for Shaun's reaction. Anyone that has witnessed him during this song will vouch for that.
Biggie's favourite way to pass time is buy stick-mags and do the crosswords.

Favourite new band you have discovered?

The Weight were really cool when we played with them in Adelaide.

Last words?

\m/

THE HOLLOW:
www.myspace.com/thehollownc
hollowband@live.com.au

The Hollows debut release last year, was easily my favourite local record for 09. If you havent got it yet, head over to their Myspace or the Dead Souls webstore. Its amazing. Their demo is also available for download off the Myspace too. Get that too.

http://thehollownc.bigcartel.com/

http://www.myspace.com/deadsoulsrecords