Despite the fact that their debut album "instinct" has been released almost one year ago, I just got recently into HOLLOW LEG but since then I must reckon that there's not a day where I don't listen at least twice this incredible masterpiece.
It's maybe a bit subjective sometimes to put labels on a band's music and can even lead to little contradictions, but this time believe me we got here a band that has really took the best from SLUDGE, STONER and DOOM to concoct an explosive mixture of sheer heaviness and grooving power with some of the most insane vocals that can be heard actually in the scene. The beast is raging, powerful and extremely sleek, menacing but beautifully aesthetic... If you haven't got yet "instinct" in your sick collection, I conjure you with the highest solemnity to catch this mistake right now !
It soon became obvious and urgent to ask Brent and Tim a few questions about the album and all the good shit that happened to HOLLOW LEG this year :
*About a year after its release, what’s your look now on « instinct » ? How has been the response to this debut ? What would you say to people who spite on digital purchase via bandcamp ?
WE STILL REALLY LIKE THE SONGS AS WELL AS THE RECORDING. AS FAR AS FIRST RECORDS GO, WE'RE VERY PROUD. THE RECORD IS AVAILABLE ON BANDCAMP SO THAT ANYONE WHO'S INTERESTED IN THE MUSIC CAN GET THE RECORD, IF YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE WHO'VE PURCHASED THE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, THANK YOU. WE JUST WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE MUSIC.
* The band has been during quite some time a duo and the album was recorded this way, did you feel it was necessary to have a full steady line-up when you started to have more and more gigs early this year? Could you please present both new members ? Did their arrival impose new operating or behavior rules ?!
WE WERE ALWAYS COMFORTABLE AS A 2 PIECE, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY CAME UPON US TO JOIN FORCES WITH OUR NEW VOCALIST-SCOTT ANGELACOS AND BASS PLAYER-TOM CROWTHER (ALSO MEMBERS OF JUNIOR BRUCE) AND WE (ALL 4 OF OF US) JUMPED ON IT...NO NEW RULES REALLY, WE JUST HAD TO ADAPT TO ACCOMMODATING MORE PERSONNEL AND LEARN HOW TO MAKE MORE PHONE CALLS.WE WERE FRIENDS FIRST AND STILL ARE. THAT IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT TO US FOR MAKING GOOD MUSIC.
*Why did you choose a bison for the cover of the album ? does this animal represent something special for you ? Do you consider it as the best animal to represent HOLLOW LEG (beautiful, powerful, wild… and intelligent ! this is indeed one of the most intelligent animals with orcas and dolphins) ?
THE BISON IMAGE JUST KIND OF MATERIALIZED OVER TIME...THROUGH WRITING THAT BATCH OF MUSIC, AND ESPECIALLY THE LYRICS TO "INSTINCT," THE SYMBOL OF THE BISON JUST SEEMED FITTING. WE HAD THIS KIND OF NEOLITHIC VIBE HAPPENING BECAUSE IT WAS OUR FIRST EFFORT AND WE WANTED TO INCORPORATE THAT VIBE IN THE ARTWORK. THE BISON WAS A MAJOR SYMBOL IN NEOLITHIC LIFE AND ART, SO IT BECAME A MASCOT OF SORTS FOR "INSTINCT." AND, YES, IT'S ALSO A HUGE BADASS ANIMAL!
*Your song “the return” will be soon appearing in a movie called “veer!”, how did you get this opportunity and do you know some other songs that will be included too ?
IT'S ACTUALLY A TRACK CALLED "THE RETURN" THAT WILL BE APPEARING IN THE FILM...TO MY UNDERSTANDING, SOMEONE WORKING ON THE FILM IS A FAN AND SUGGESTED US FOR A SCENE WHERE THEY NEEDED A HEAVY TRACK...THE FILM IS A STORY ABOUT A SKATEBOARDER FROM JACKSONVILLE, AND MOST (IF NOT ALL) THE FILM WAS SHOT HERE, SO I BELIEVE THE FILM FEATURES A LOT OF LOCAL NORTH FLORIDA BANDS.
*You did a cool video clip for the song “the source”, did you had any special help for this ? Did you try to make it played elsewhere than on the net, maybe on local TV or … ?
"THE SOURCE" VIDEO WAS JUST SOMETHING WE PUT TOGETHER FROM FOOTAGE WE HAD COLLECTED OVER THE YEAR OR SO WHILE WE WERE WORKING ON "INSTINCT." IT'S A LOT OF LIVE CLIPS AS WELL AS STUDIO CLIPS AND JUST RANDOM SHOTS OF US. WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE ANY ASPIRATIONS FOR THE VIDEO, JUST MORE FOR FUN AND TO GIVE PEOPLE THAT ARE INTERESTED SOMETHING TO CHECK OUT.
*You played numerous shows this year, is there any club from Florida left that hasn’t been infected yet by HOLLOW LEG’s sound ? Were the tours with SHROUD EATER and OMEAN self-organized ? Which parts of the States would you like to play in “in priority” next ?
THERE ARE SO MANY LITTLE SHACKS TO PLAY IN HERE IN FLORIDA IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO HIT ALL OF THEM, BUT WE'VE MADE A DENT IN OUR HOME STATE FOR SURE, A FEW TIMES OVER ACTUALLY! YES, WE SELF-ORGANIZED THOSE TOURS, WITH SOME HELP FROM LOCAL AREA BANDS/PROMOTERS. WE WOULD LOVE
TO PLAY THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, AND SINCE TIM (DRUMS) AND I ARE BOTH ORIGINALLY FROM NEW ENGLAND, PLAYING THAT AREA WOULD BE GREAT TOO. WE'VE MADE MOVES TO GET UP THERE, BUT HAVEN'T YET GOTTEN THAT FAR NORTH YET.
*You recently played more important gigs with YOB and DARK CASTLE, also last month with KEN MODE and THE ATLAS MOTH, did you feel more pressure than usually for these gigs ? How did you enjoy them ?
ALL GIGS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT THOSE WERE CERTAINLY MORE FUN SHOWS. WE'VE KNOWN DARK CASTLE AND THE ATLAS MOTH FOR A WHILE NOW AND ALWAYS LOVE SEEING THOSE BANDS, AND YOB AND KEN MODE WERE REALLY GREAT GUYS TO MEET AND GREAT BANDS TO SEE LIVE. IT WAS A GREAT TIME SHARING A STAGE WITH BANDS LIKE THAT. ANYTIME THE COLLECTIVE VIBE IS LOUD, HEAVY, AND FUN,WE FIT RIGHT IN.
* Could you speak about some new songs please ? Did the addition of two new musicians change anything in your way of composition ?
ADDING SCOTT AND TOM TO THE MIX HAS DEFINITELY OPENED NEW DOORS FOR US AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO PLAY A BIT MORE WITH DYNAMICS AND DIFFERENT STYLES OF WRITING THAT WE MAY HAVE STEERED AWAY FROM IN THE PAST DUE TO OUR ONLY BEING 2, BUT IT'S STILL VERY HOLLOW LEG. WE'RE NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU A DIFFERENT BAND ANYTIME SOON, JUST A LOUDER ONE!
*Your sound is pretty original, I mean this is for me one of the most perfect blend of sludge, stoner and doom one can ever expect; I know nothing is premeditated, but how do you manage to mix all that so tightly and from which type of these musics would you feel the more close ?
FROM THE ORIGIN OF HOLLOW LEG, THE FOCUS FOR THE MUSIC HAS BEEN ON THE RIFFS AND GROOVE OF THE RIFFS. WE ALL LISTEN TO A TON OF DIFFERENT MUSIC, AND I DON'T KNOW OR THINK ANY ONE STYLE IS MORE CLOSE THAN ANY OTHER. WELL, MAYBE BLACK SABBATH, BUT THEY ALSO INCORPORATE ALL THOSE SOUNDS YOU MENTIONED, OR RATHER ALL THOSE SOUNDS DERIVE FROM SABBATH IN SOME WAY, BUT WE COME FROM OUR ROOTS IN EARLY METAL (SABBATH,METALLICA, SLAYER, MOTORHEAD, PRIEST, AC/DC, MAIDEN). THEN AS ,WE GOT INTO OUR TEENS THE HARDCORE PUNK CAME CREEPING IN BECAUSE IT IS SO ACCESSIBLE AT THAT AGE. THEN CAME MORE EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC AND THEN WE STARTED TO DISCOVER A BUNCH OF OTHER GENRES AND STYLES. BUT IT ALL COMES BACK AROUND, IT'S ALL A PART OF US, AND WE JUST REALLY LOVE MUSIC IN GENERAL. FOR WHAT WE CHOOSE TO PLAY, WE JUST LOVE HEAVY MUSIC, HEAVY RIFFS, AND HEAVY RYHTHMS, AND DO NOT CARE HOW PEOPLE LABEL US.
* While remaining always extremely heavy, your music eyes sometimes on some groovy psychedelic fields, can we imagine a development on that waywith…. some clean vocals ?!
IT'LL BE HOLLOW LEG BUT VOCALS WILL BE DIFFERENT BECAUSE WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT NEW VOCALIST. IT'LL BE AS HEAVY AND RIFFY AS "INSTINCT" FOR CERTAIN!
DEATH METAL AND ITS SUBGENRES ARE STILL VERY POPULAR HERE IN FLORIDA. THERE'S NOT A HUGE DOWNTEMPO METAL SCENE IN FLORIDA, ALTHOUGH NEW BANDS ARE SPROUTING UP ALL THE TIME, BUT CERTAINLY DARK CASTLE ARE LEADING THE WAY FOR THE DOOMIER FLORIDA BANDS, AS WELL AS JUNIOR
BRUCE, SHROUD EATER, SIX DEAD HORSES, FIRE IN THE CAVE, ETHER, DEMONS, FLYINGSNAKES, TOWER, SHITDANG, AND A FEW OTHERS. ORLANDOOOM PUT ON GREAT SHOWS IN THE ORLANDO AREA-THEY'RE STANDUP DUDES AND REALLY TAKE CARE OF BANDS-THEY'RE GOOD FRIENDS, WE APPRECIATE THEM, AND THEY'VE BEEN A HUGE HELP TO HOLLOW LEG IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS. PEOPLE FORGET HOW HUGE THE STATE OF FLORIDA IS, AND THERE IS CONTINUALLY GREAT MUSIC HERE BUT THERE IS NO ONE DEFINED SCENE LIKE "DEATH METAL" OR "STONER METAL" TO CURRENTLY OR ACCURATELY LABELTHE ENTIRE STATE. ONE FACT IS CERTAIN: FLORIDA, AND THE SOUTH FOR THAT MATTER, CERTAINLY LIKES ITS MUSIC HEAVY AND DIRTY.
WE'RE ABOUT 3/4 THROUGH THE WRITING PROCESS FOR A NEW RECORD. WE'VE GOT A DATE TO START DEMOING TRACKS IN EARLY DECEMBER, IF WE KEEP WORKING AT THE CURRENT PACE, I'D SAY WE CAN BEGIN LAYING DOWN TRACKS FOR THE NEXT RECORD AS EARLY AS APRIL. IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GOING TO BE PLAYING SOME SHOWS IN JANUARY AND AGAIN IN MARCH, SO PROBABLY AFTER THE MARCH RUN WE CAN BEGIN TRACKING. IF ALL GOES WELL THE NEXT RECORD WILL MOST LIKELY NOT BE SELF-RELEASED.
THANKS TO YOU AS WELL, AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE READING THIS AND THEN LISTENING TO US FOR THE FIRST TIME... AND IF YOU WERE ALREADY LISTENING, THANK YOU, AND KEEP LISTENING, BECAUSE IT IS ONLY GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER.
(note : all those nice photos have been taken by Niuvis Martin)
Please credit me, the photographer: Niuvis Martin. Thank You.
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