ArnHao

so much music, so little time. that's certainly how i've been feeling the last couple of weeks. it's the summertime, people. who wants to work? not i. i'd rather spend my days enjoying the sunshine -- this is all hypothetical since sunshine in san francisco during july is pretty much non-existant -- and relaxing while listening to great music. but life gets in the way, so i haven't been able to post some of the great songs that have passed through my inbox. such is the case with atlanta-based electropop outfit arnhao. their label, denmark records, is releasing their first record denmark one in september. it features arnhao's dark, moody, and soulful track "oh?! (intangible fantasy)" as well as a track from holygrailers, plus additional songs, remixes and the video for "oh?!" you can pre-order it here. and take a listen to the song below. - The Pop Sucker

What started out as just an idea between two friends from high school, quickly earned ArnHao top honors at the March 20 Duke vs. UNC Battle of the Bands.

Comprised only of keyboardist and vocalist Arturo Holmes II and guitarist Andrew Hamlet, ArnHao not only slammed the competition at the battle of the bands, it also made its live debut there.

“The competition came up, so I called Arturo and said, ‘Hey man, you wanna give it a try,’” Hamlet explained with a laugh, still overwhelmed by the heights to which his and Holmes’ project has climbed so quickly.

The band beat out UNC’s My Boy Rascal and Allen Mask as well as Duke’s Tauri Wind and KC Steedle, which landed ArnHao a spot on the Sessions at Studio B schedule not to mention an opportunity to perform at Duke’s annual LDOC celebration.

So with a single show and a coveted title already behind them, the duo will make its second appearance together in front of a live audience as the opening act for Toro y Moi at the Duke Coffeehouse. And for its third: playing ahead of Big D and the Kids Table, Jay Sean, Rooney, and Flogging Molly.

Not too band for a couple guys with an idea.

You can check out photos from this performance and others at the Music.MyNC Facebook Fan page. And while you’re there, become a fan to get the latest updates on up-coming Studio B performances.
- Music.MyNC

The two band members mounted the stage with a casual clumsiness—laughing, almost, at the nature of the setting. The singer wore a sparkling silver cape that aimed its reference at Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes, or Sun Ra, but more closely recalled a child playing glam superhero. He set up one keyboard for each of his hands, and the t-shirt and jeans guitarist set up his amp—reverb all the way up—behind himself. A sound check proceeded thus, and it flowed directly into the actual set with no announcement. This is Chapel Hill’s ArnHao.

It always seems nice to mention that an audience was caught unawares by a performance, and I feel in this case—this battle of the bands rife with Beatles t-shirts and Christmas present guitars—it really was true. A backing beat began, new wave synths soaring above it, and when the guitarist smacked his instrument for the first time—the sound like a booming echo of shattered glass—I felt a wave of eyebrows flex with surprise and confusion.

The singer’s vocals glided over the music like smooth, soulful frosting. His voice was dynamic. Within each song, he played the tender crooner, the screeching, desirous spaceman, the falsetto 80s dance sexpot, as his fingers skillfully coordinated themselves on the bass and soprano keyboards. The synth voices were cheesy in a way that was coolly ironic. I am not at all deriding them—they were a backbone of the sound. Also supporting this aesthetic were the lyrics, accented by bizarre images—riding bicycles to outer space, meeting women in lairs. The songs are playful, modern love narratives that twist pop and dance music themes of self-indulgence and casual attraction—like an indie rock take on Prince.

Keeping this sound in mind, the most joyfully surprising part of the performance was in fact the harsh electric guitar. Iconoclast of the genre, slashing away at the synth, the guitarist made an experimental critique of his band’s own performance. Indeed, ArnHao’s recordings proclaim a much smoother and streamlined electronic dance sound than does the raucous live set. This duality of the band’s sound is sure to make ArnHao palatable to both cursory and discerning music listeners. It’s this originality that impressed the judges and made ArnHao the ultimate winner of the Battle of the Bands—of course, not without some audience objection.

The Triangle music scene, mired in its share of conventional rock and punk bands, will be greatly enriched by ArnHao’s sound—an easing of experimentation and innovation into accessible dance music. - Jacki Huntington

New Video!
ArnHao: "Oh?! (Intangible Fantasy)" - Performer Magazine

Poule’s good friends Andrew and Trizz aka ArnHao finished their first video..yaayy! It has the glamorousts capes and some really slick moves…dive in: - Poule d'or

As he glides across the rink, backward the entire way, he basks in the envy of the other kids. This is his night. He moves to the center of the rink and begins to bust some moves. And the floor is gone. And he is gone. Now air is gone and we are gone. Suddenly vines are whipping about pavement islands that float around each other, never quite making contact. Cities are built upon them with some even permanently bridged. A new home is ours and here we will make do. - Get Off the Coast

When you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing maybe it’s time to stop for a moment and reassess: was that comment about salmon poaching inflammatory? Was the choice of the plaid jacket with the striped t-shirt disorienting on the eye, and the cause of the friend of the friends’ epileptic fit in the cab? And is it possible that I absent mindedly gave the post office the flight reference number and the airliner a post-code? By way of simple assimilation, it’s possible to converge all these tiny questions into a larger, much more potent question: Am I in the drivers’ seat of this vehicle? As the resounding “no” registers from within your cargo you will discover yourself watching from the side an amused spectator.
- Don't Die Wondering

ArnHao is Andrew Hamlet and Arturo E. Holmes II at work on some very synthy dance-o-tronic nonsense, reminiscent at times of the Chemical Brothers and Bloc Party, though our boys fall comfortably between them as far as the number of bells and whistles goes. Despite showing that bit of restraint, their debut track is internally varied and very catchy (without being redundant), beautifully produced, and painfully danceable.

“Oh?! (Intangible Fantasy)!” is the first single of a Love Trilogy we would like to eventually release. The single follows our protagonist as he meets the enigmatic Saturn, who captives him greatly. However, as he is drawn closer, he comes to realize Saturn is not who he thought she was, and he moves on. Overall, the song is a critique on young romance and warns against the temptation to lose oneself in intangible fantasies.

Expect ArnHao’s debut 7? this September on Raleigh, NC’s Denmark Records. - Royal Rhino Flying Records

Electro fiends of the world, The Get Downnn would like to introduce you to Raleigh, NC-based label Denmark Records. It’s a boutique record label focused on letting the world know about the “Southeasts burgeoning electronic music community” and although it just launched, they already have a number of great artists waiting to break out of the starting gates.

Denmark Records‘ freshman album, Denmark ONE is a split 7? featuring Atlanta-based electropopsters ArnHao and beats from Raleigh’s very own Holygrailers. The record doesn’t drop until September 3rd, and we’ve got our hands on a preview copy of it!

First things first though…we need a proper introduction, eh? Nikhil Shah aka Holygrailers is known for his blending of jazz samples and soul music into woozy, sleepy [self described] “ambien-fueled-extravaganzas.” Check out his first official single, “Rosa” below. Pulsating synths, loungy vibes and plenty of finger snaps. Enjoy.

And now, an intro to producer duo Arnhao: Andrew Hamlet and Arturo “Trizz” Holmes aka: Arnhao are known for their electro pop sound. From poppy synths and a driving bass lines to MGMT reminiscent falsettos, this song has it all. - The Get Dowwwn

Trizz and Andrew are ARNHAO. I heard their song Oh?! on ‘dontdiewondering’ and was curious to find out more about them. Their MySpace page didn’t tell me much, so I inquired if they’d be interested in doing a little interview. They were, so we virtually met and a delightful conversation took its course…

Hen: When did you start making music as ArnHao?

Trizz: Well, Andrew and I go way back. We have been making music together since high school although we just recently started this project earlier this year.

Hen: So, you are kind of childhood friends then?

Trizz: Yupz, that is a definite.

Andrew: High school friends.

Trizz: lol.

Hen: What did you do after high school?

Andrew: Well I went to school at the University of North Carolina and Arturo has gone to a few schools but we are both still in college. I study Psychology and Music.

Trizz: Yea, I had a full wrestling scholarship to Delaware State University but didn’t stay there too long. Now I’m at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. I’m a Biology major. I’m thinking about minoring in Spanish.

Hen: Have you ever been to Europe?

Trizz: I haven’t but Andrew has. I might head that way next summer.

Andrew: Yeah I have been a few times. Where in Germany are you?

Hen: Hamburg, the very north. Which countries or cities have you been to?

Andrew: I haven’t been to Hamburg, but I have been around most of Western Europe. London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Italy .. I love Amsterdam, ha!

Trizz: lol

Andrew: and Barcelona. Barcelona is killer. Yeah I love Europe. Kind of jealous, but I’m getting by in the States..

Hen: Yea, you should totally come to Hamburg! But back to your project. How many songs did you record so far? I only know the one on MySpace, Oh?!.

Trizz: There is a second in the works. It’s entitled Subways.

Andrew: It will be the B-side for Oh?!. Our friends are releasing a 7? with Oh?! on it in September. And Subways is going to be on the digital EP that comes with the 7?.

Hen: Cool can’t wait to hear more!

Andrew: Yeah it is much more raw, almost a live take with some edits. It features electric guitar too. Something that isn’t on the recorded version of Oh?!.

Trizz: We steam-lined this track.

Andrew: Yeah Oh?! took forever to finish. We had so many versions and finally we were just like “we have to get this done”. So, it is done, ha!

Trizz: We wanted to compact the process as a whole and see what happens.

Hen: So you use actual instruments then, or is it just digital sounds?

Andrew: For Oh?! both, but for Subways it is all real instruments with a drum sampler.

Trizz: Most everything is live.

Andrew: I have a feeling our B-sides are going to be much more stream lined/stripped down and the singles will be more polished sounding. We want to release three singles as a package and eventually call it the Love trilogy. We want a balanced recording presence. Oh?! will be part one of the trilogy.

Trizz: The 2nd in the trilogy is the mating season…. it is going to be….. Scarlet.

Hen: Does that trilogy involve your label Denmark Records?

Andrew: Ha, well, Denmark is going to be releasing Oh?! as 7?. I don’t know about the Love trilogy because this will be further down the line.

Hen: Ok.

Andrew: Yeah Denmark Records though. It is two of my friends from school. They have based themselves in Raleigh, North Carolina, and have signed us and this other electronic act: Holygrailer. They have stared a blog too. http://www.piecedout.com. They are still getting things together.

Trizz: We’ll start posting in the near future.

Andrew: But yeah, they will be up and running in September.

Hen: Sounds very promising. Did you play any shows yet?

Andrew: Yeah we have played 4 shows thus far. All the shows have been in North Carolina where I go to school. But my favorite was when we opened for Toro Y Moi. That was fun.

Hen: Oh wow he’s cool!

Trizz: I can second that.

Andrew: Yeah, Chaz is a really nice guy. He seemed to dig our sound too, so that was a plus.

Trizz: Yea, we crossed paths a second time at his show at The Earl in Atlanta.

Andrew: Yeah played with a full band for that show. It was cool. No Laptop, ha!

Trizz: lol. Yea, he was opening for Caribou. Very nice show.

Hen: Okay, so how about touring plans for the summer?

Trizz: This September we are going to play out more frequently and follow up the increased number of September dates with a compressed fall tour ranging from Southern Georgia to North Carolina. We’re very excited about it.

Hen: That’s quite cool. With Holygrailer or as support act for someone?

Trizz: We haven’t finalized the other acts for the tour, but he is a possibility.

Andrew: Yeah. We might have a different act to play with each night but we definitely want to do a few shows with Holygrailer.

Hen: Cool you should totally take that tour to Europe someday.

Trizz: If Europe will have us, we will come, lol.

Hen: Haha sure! What kind of equipment do you use on stage?

Andrew: I play guitar when we perform live.

Trizz: As of right now im doing keys, bass on keys.

Andrew: Yeah, we use a KORG Prophecy for bass and a Roland Phantom of lead synths.

Trizz: Drum loops occasionally.

Andrew: And I play a Jazzmaster and run it through a Memory Man and a Blues Junior

Hen: Nice.

Andrew: Yeah it is a nice sound for just two people. We are still figuring it out but we are happy with the sound thus far. Oh yeah I use a Loop Pedals too to create atmosphere ha.

Trizz: We intend to mix it more in the future.

Hen: Cool sounds good. I assume you are familiar with the ‘Chillwave’ genre? Do you consider yourselves to be Chillwave artists?

Trizz: Ha, not at all. We support the Chillwave scene like the artists and encourage the music but we see ourselves and as a more.

Andrew: We just produce our music much differently. We are going for cleaner sound, I think. Almost a dance pop sound. We like reverb and samples though.

Trizz: Dance that’s what we’re about.

Hen: So, what would be the ideal environment to listen to your music? A club?

Andrew: Yeah I think our singles would sound great cranked up in a club but it is an interesting thing because I feel like our music has a lot to offer besides for a beat I think there is a message there that might not just come through if you listened to it in a dance club.

Hen: Okay, explain

Andrew: Well I mean Oh?! is a narrative..

Trizz: There are spontaneous but well placed nuances of reoccurring sounds, ideas and themes throughout the music.

Andrew: Haha… I just think that if people really listened to our song, they could enjoy it just sitting back in their room thinking about the story and the message. I think Hot Chip does the same sort of thing. They give your easily digestible dance music but put some good messages to it that you will only pick up if you really absorb it.

Hen: Yea, true, there is some ‘Hot Chip’ in it..

Andrew: Yeah ha, we like them.

Trizz: Yup, primal grooves with elevated content littered throughout. It’s like the place where the sky meets the sea.

Hen: More of a beach party then..

Trizz: lol that’s one very valid interpretation!

Hen: Horizon, sunset, ..

Trizz: I see it as almost. Yea. An exchange of elements, a meshing of ideas that normally don’t diffuse. Definitely the fulcrum of a see saw.

Hen: Yea, that’s almost lyrical, poetical. By the way, who of you is singing?

Trizz: lol thanks. I sing. However, Andrew and I collaborate on the lyrics. We feel that with the group being like it is, it’s best to use all conduits available and not restrict ourselves to mediums of a certain class, distinction, or familiarity. Btw the video for oh?! will be out soon.

Hen: Rad! Do you wear cool outfits when you perform?

Trizz: lol I wear capes.

Andrew: Ha, I wear normal clothes.

Hen: Haha you can’t go wrong with a cape.

Trizz: lol I agree. I wear whatever I consider to be normal. After all, normal is relative. At least in my mind it is, lol.

Hen: Haha definitely. Are you into fashion or is it just a genuine love for wearing capes?

Trizz: A little of both. My bother is a visual artist and my father is more than a little into fashionable presentation. I guess you could say that has rubbed off on me a little. My brother and I brain storm on cape and outfit designs that we find ?but not polarizing. Guess that is a little contingent on.. if the cape has an assigned duty, lol, or is intended for heavy rotation.

Hen: lol.

Trizz: But there are several designs in the works. Its going to be divine!

Hen: Haha! Do u like French Horn Rebellion? They kind of remind me of you…

Trizz: Yea they are cool.

Andrew: Yeah they have a nice groove.

Hen: I saw them live a few months ago. I kind of imagine your show to be similar. And they brought an actual French horn..

Trizz: lol sounds like I’ll have to be pulling out the violin soon!

Andrew: Haha

Hen: lol

Andrew: That is hilarious. Electronic music and French horns.

Hen: You should seriously consider that haha.

Trizz: We will take it into consideration.

Hen: Anyway, how did you come up with the name ArnHao?

Trizz: Although I go by Trizz, my name is Arturo E. ?Holmes II.

Andrew: And my name is Andrew Hamlet. So Ar An Ha Ho shortens to ArnHao.

Trizz: ArnHao is a hybridization of our names

Hen: I see, pronounced ar an ha ho?

Trizz: Nope.. ar-n ?ha-owww

Andrew: Yeah like that ha

Hen: lol okay. The obligatory question for your favorite album released this year?

Trizz: oh….

Andrew: Caribou Swim. Dan Snaith is a genius.

Hen: Yea good choice.

Trizz: I will not decide until the year is over.. ha!

Andrew: what?! ha…don’t let him off the hook..

Hen: lol. Which release are you most looking forward to then?

Trizz: Oh! That’s not fair! That was very, very sly of you. Ok, I’ll answer. I hear that Radiohead is working on some new material. I’m not sure of its exact release date but whenever it is, I will be listening for it. Yea yea and I know Radiohead is only slightly outside of dance music but I like them. Yay.

Hen: Haha not exactly an underdog, but I’ll count that as an answer.

Andrew: Ha.

Trizz: lol hey there were not stipulations.. I reviewed all the facts first just like ?a good Biology major.

Hen: Haha lol.

Andrew: Using his microscope!

Trizz: lol.

Hen: lol. Well, that’s it.. thank you for taking time! It’s been so much fun!

Andrew: Well thanks for doing this!

Trizz: I appreciate it as well. I appreciate it the most actually..

—

Two cape-loving dance-poppers: It doesn’t get much better than that!

They were kind enough to give you Oh?! for free, yaaaay!! - Poule d'or