With most of the previous bands and friends of the band in the crowd; Hollows take to the stage and blast through punk fueled set of high octane hardcore. There's a stage presence you can really feel emanating from front-man Kieran and the rest of the band members all compliment this in their own way. Even with drummer Zach Cummings having to sit out the latest performances (Transit Gloria guitarist Nick Sayers filled in) the band still delivered.
Having formed back in 2011, the lineup originally consisted of Cian Marogos - bass, Lucas Cronin - guitar, Kieran Bowkett - vocals; they took a break to study during year 12. In the summer of 2012/13 they started practicing again, a show that took place in Cians backyard was the first performance in quite a while and this time Lucas and Cian had the idea to swap instruments, Kieran stepped up to play guitar and a new Hollows was born. The guitar thing did, however, turn out to be a short stint as former Frontline guitarist and current Void of Vision lead vocalist (you can you read our interview with Frontline here:
) Jack Bergin stepped in to umm, fill the void.
A few days after the performance we got the chance to catch up with the guys for a chat.
Are you guys ready?
Cian Marangos: Whenever you're ready boss.
Jack Bergin: Hold on, i'm not ready yet.
Cian Marangos; Okay sailor, are you wearing socks? make sure you're wearing socks.
First off, how did this band form and
where did the name come from?
Jack: I'll give this one to Kieran, take
it sailor!
Cian: I got dis.
Lucas Cronin: Yeah, go on Kieran.
Cian: Kieran and Cronswag started I believe, or came up with the first idea,
then i was asked to do a join of band and we asked Jack to do a playing
this year. I think we had a list of names we liked and we just went for this
one, and probably because we're all heartless beasts, empty and void on the
inside.
Would you say Jack's vision is a bit void?
Cian: He's clinically blind yes… I think that's where their name (check out Jack’s other band Void of Vision on Facebook) comes from.. But that's another story (smiles with a crazy grin).
That must make moving around on stage rather awkward.. but yes, moving on. How would you describe the music the
band plays and who are your main inspirations/influences?
Cian: Ye Jack’s weird. We play hardcore/rock/punk vibes with
aspects of Motown. As for influences probably letlive, defeater, heights and
danzig. But we all have different influences that come up when we write, like
in KYD theres some jazzy and mathy influences coming through. Our genre of
music though i'd have to say is Medio-core.
What do you think of the local scene right
now?
Cian: Local scene is rad,
plenty of grouse bands out there and each of them getting the recognition they
deserve!
Do you think popularity of hardcore is
peaking, or is it continuing to grow?
Cian: Hardcore’s still popular, more kids
are getting into heavier music these days i reckon and then from there they're
taking a bigger interest in local hardcore which is good stuff because it means
more shows!
What are some of your favorite
shows/places you’ve performed at?
Cian: Favourite
place would be Bang and my house for sure.
And what is the worst venue you’ve played?
Cian: We haven't played anywhere bad, every
shows been stacks of fun, having said that we haven't played in many different
places yet.
Lucas: Just that, we're always trying to get
on more shows so hit us up if you like our sounds.
Cian: Yeeeeee.
Does the band like to add interesting
intros to shows for a bit of tongue and cheek? I noticed you played the opening
part of Eye of the Tiger at Saturday's show. Would you say humor is a key
ingredient into what makes Hollows?
Cian: I think we like to make jokes and not
take ourselves too seriously. Jokes are fun and we like fun.
That's a good attitude, some bands
seem to take themselves way too seriously these days.
Kieran Bowkett: There is a pretty fine line between
taking the piss out of everything and taking things too seriously. We're all
good mates and enjoy having a laugh especially in that sense. But our music and
lyrics are totally serious so having a sense of humor helps make us not look
like a bunch of super serious dudes that write sad/emotional songs.
Jack: Bonox.
Is there anything you’d like to add
since you just got here Keiran?
Kieran: All answers are bonox
Okay! (laughs)
What songs do you like to put into the
set most often and what do you think about bands playing covers during their
show?
Cian: Covers are rad, but cover bands aren’t
Jack: We play a bit of a different set
everytime really, we have a bunch of songs, so we try to mix it up.
Kieran: My favorite is Visions, and I wish we
could play Respite every show for Godwin but time doesn't always allow for it.
Cian: I really like to play Reflect/Revolt
Isn’t that a Void of Vision song?
Kieran: We've started playing a cover of
October 27 by Break Even and that's heaps of fun. But Searching by Frontline is
my fave.
Cian: Good covers get the crowd amped and
its always cool to see involvement from people, rather than just wall huggers.
Any pre-show rituals?
Kieran: For pre-show rituals I drink/eat heaps of honey… and Bonox.
Kieran: For pre-show rituals I drink/eat heaps of honey… and Bonox.
Cian: Bonox showers are a pre-show must
Jack: We call him Kieran Bee-kett. Coz we're
funny
Cian: (laughs) lolhehehe
The real question is do you mix the
honey and the bonox?
Jack: With my…
... Moving on. Who writes the songs
and what kind of topics do they like to explore in the lyrics?
Kieran: We all write the songs, some
individually and others as a band. But in every song there's generally an input
from each member in one way or another. Lyrically it's all just speaking from
experience, and representing situations in our lives through song. Aka Bonox.
What comes first? Music or lyrics and
which is more important to the band?
Kieran: Oh and on a serious note, music and
lyrics are definitely equally important in our songs.
So you all write the lyrics, or is
that mainly up to you as the singer?
Cian: nah we all have inputs for lyrics. I
know when i write im trying to do it as a way of expressing how im feeling at
that moment and im sure thats the same with the other dudes. We try to make all
the lyrics have some kind of important meaning and for me theres always some
emotional attachment to what i write.
Kieran: Half the songs I've written then kind
of brought to the band for revision or to add to, but the other half either
Cian or Jack have written them. Lyrics are usually fairly personal so it's hard
to have 5 dudes sit in a room and pour their hearts out... As Cian said we all
have an input. It's generally just a bit more personal than writing songs
musically
Yeah I get what you mean; lyrics are
probably one of the hardest things to really collaborate on.
Kieran: Yeah exactly.
What’s an average band practice like
for Hollows?
Cian: FUN! Band pracs always a laugh and
usually involves Dr Peppers and babs.
Kieran: …and sometimes music… But only
sometimes.
Cian: Yee.
I heard Dr Pepper wasn’t very good?
Maybe I'm missing out on something there.
Cian: Put it with a bab and band prac and
you’re having a good time.
Jack: Dr Pepper is milked from God's tenderloins,
it's is incredible
Don't want to sound like a fool here,
but what exactly is a bab?
Cian: GARLIC ZAUSE. Kebabs!
Jack: GARLIC ZAUSSSSSSSSSS
Ohh... (laughs) ..What’s the big goal
for the band? Fame, gold plated Hummers, fortune or just recognition?
Cian: I just want Garlic Zause showers
Kieran: Fame, gold plated Hummers and fortune
would be nice… Nah fuck that, I just want some friends to sing along with
really. That'd be the best thing ever, to have people to know the songs that we
wrote.
Cian: Yeee definitely.
Kieran: And enjoy them for whatever strange
reason. But we enjoy playing them, so hopefully people will catch on soon.
That'd be all I want.
Circle pits?
Kieran: (laughs) whatever, as long as people are
having fun. But for people sing along is what I'm hoping for. ..I'm not sure, I
kind of become fairly oblivious to my surroundings while I'm on stage. Anyone
else know?
Cian: Not as yet, but any type of
involvement is always appreciated! I'd like to see more mic grabs, those are
fun.. We had a dude throwing down the other night which was fun to see!
What has been one of the biggest
challenges for the band so far?
Cian: But real talk, biggest challenge has
been trying to get our music out there and getting bmth toanz ..And as for band
goals, I think we all just wanna play as many shows as possible and get some
tunes released.. Playing interstate would be stacks of fun too, i think that's
something i'd want to do.
Ok, we're almost done here guys, any
advice for people who want to start their own band?
Jack: Use a noise gate on your amp for fuck
sake!
Cian: Do it. Have fun with it and make sure
you're happy with what you're doing, fuck everyone else, just please yourself.
Where can fans find your music?
Cian: http://www.facebook.com/Hollowsband or http://hollows-aus.bandcamp.com
Any last words?
Cian: Hopefully we'll have some more tunes
out real soon and more gigs coming up in the near future. So get down to a show
and chuck a mosh cause we really appreciate it. And also if Dr Pepper or Jumbo
Kebabs wanna give us an endorsement hit us up please.
Jack: HYPEHYPEHYPEHYPE
Zach Cummings: I like to play.
Cian: (laughs vigoruously)You can catch Hollows at a gig for Emergenza in October, but they're always looking to play as many shows as they can so you may very well see them around before then (like their Facebook page for more info). Also some new music might be out soon so keep an eye out.
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