Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
November 28, 2003 7:18 PM
Hollow solid musical sensation
By CHAD V
Q-C Underground columnist
Hello, Quad-Cities. The hectic pace of the holidays are finally upon us and here's hoping you survived the first blast of family togetherness on Thanksgiving.
::Hollow::
Local hard-rock band Hollow will soon release its debut 10-song CD. It's pretty impressive, since the band only formed in April and did its first show on June 13 with Officer 27, but the guys seem to be able to string good things together.
The band, featuring former Spatterdash drummer, Dan Hillyer, bassist Brian Holmlund, guitarist Tony Reeves, and singer Jose Urquiza, spent the summer competing in the Band-a-monium contest sponsored by 93Rock and West Music, taking second place behind Return to Zero. Then they headed into the studio in October with Billy Pfeiffer at River Cities Studios.
"Billy did a really good job," Mr. Hillyer said. "He's a very diplomatic guy and keeps things moving. If something didn't work, he had us move on and come back to it or change it."
With a blend of heavy riffing and surprisingly melodic vocals, the task of nailing down the band's influences is difficult. That's especially the case when asked to name influences and Mr. Hillyer throws a curve by mentioning Breaking Benjamin, a obscure band on Hollywood Records. "Yeah, that's a very well-recorded CD."
Still, the blend works for Hollow. "People say we don't really sound like anyone but that we still sound good," Mr. Hillyer said. And in a couple of strokes of good luck for Hollow, the traditional six degrees of separation between people ring especially true, although in their case, it's actually more like one or two.
Another break for the band came in terms of booking shows. Mr. Hillyer and Mr. Holmlund both work in IT at John Deere and hooked up with Jeramy Duffee (brother of Josh) who is working there while taking a break from being the tour manager of the national band, The Blank Theory.
"Jeramy normally doesn't work with local bands," Mr. Hillyer said, "but a friend put us in touch with him, and we invited him to a practice session. He liked what he saw and decided to help us out with booking shows."
Mr. Duffee was impressed by the band's dedication. "The guys in Hollow have lots of talent, which is hard to come by in this area," he said. "They are stepping out into a whole new realm and are ready to work. It's pretty exciting to work with them." - Q-C Underground
Song: "Grimace"
Reviewed 10.MAR.2004 by "Zip"
Music: (score 9)
Edgy, crisp, and phatt, a 100% rockin' venture into the dark and heavy side of love, this track speaks widely of today's youthful plight in life. You guys are the real thing... and current enough, hip enough, and polished enough to take over the world. Great job.
Lyrics: (score 8)
Sung in basic layman's terms, yet in a very vague way, these
words reflect on the trials and tribulations of relationship and or love gone awry. The best thing about them is the way they deliver, flow, and phrase perfectly in the form of the song.
Arrangement & Production: (score 10)
A perfectly economical arrangement, these chunky and fat guitar, bass, and drums sounds lead their way to unusual rhythms, melody's, and lead lines. Having been recorded wonderfully, all
tones and sounds compliment one another, and occupy their own place within the sonic spectrum. Great mix and master too. Well done.
Lead Vocal: (score 10)
Again, you are the real thing. Your pitch, attitude/character, delivery, and phrasing are not only right on, but appear to be
a genuine and natural performance as well. In other words, no auto tune devices are detectable, as with everything else on the market these days. Doesn't sound like you need one. Great job.
Musicianship: (score 9)
Instrumental virtuosity isn't a must in this genre. However,
competence, vibe, feel, and an attitude are definite must in order to pull it off respectively. All parts written, produced, and performed are a tightly woven wall of sound, and are seemlessly delivered. Impeccable.
Originality: (score 7)
While most of your influences are apparant, there are many
elements of your music that are inherently yours. Namely the way the drumfills play with the time and introduce certain sections of the arrangement, as well as the interaction between the various melodies and counter melodies in play.
Marketability: (score 10)
This song is destined to infiltrate the marketplace or I'm going to law school. And should at very least do extremely well with your internet and live fan base. I would advise that you shop
your music to every A&R, TV film music supervisor, publisher, and online music database.
General Comments:
(overall Score 9)
Spread the word. I'll even say it again... YOU GUYS ARE THE REAL THING, don't let anyone tell you anything other than that. Solidify a solid team of indistry professionals to aid you in your climb to the top. Of course we here at Makeastar.com will do our part to help break you to the masses.
- Industry Review Board (makeastar.com)
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
3YH BIO ::.
Jose Urquiza – Vocals, Guitar
Tony Reeves – Guitar
Luke Sears – Guitar, Vocals
Brian Holmlund – Bass
Vern Silver – Drums
The story of 3YH consists of three worlds fused together by what some would call inevitability. Nobody will ever know why things happen the way they do; but 3YH decided not to ask questions and run with what they made.
In 2002, Jose Urquiza (vocals) met Tony Reeves (guitar) while posting fliers in a local music shop. The two musicians, after talking for quite some time, saw potential in each other's creativity and decided to start a band. For about a year, Jose and Tony struggled to find the right combination of band members, and in the end, found themselves with no one to turn to. They had almost lost hope, but their interest in music was too strong to give up.
Approximately 1 year later, in the same music shop that he met Tony, Jose stumbled across a flier, "Singer Wanted". He decided to look the guys up and see what they had to offer. Jose drove to Davenport, Iowa where he met up with Brian Holmlund (bass) and Vern Silver (drums). After one practice, jamming out to songs they all knew, they knew they had something. The energy in the room was more than any of them had felt before. The three invited Tony to join them at their next practice, the lineup was set, and the writing began.
Within the next 3 months, 3YH went on a rampage; playing and writing as much as they could. Still unsure of the style or genre they wanted their music to go, they decided to take what they had and hit the studio anyway. After hooking up with local studio engineer, Bill Peiffer of "River City Sound", the group had their first E.P. entitled "Mesh". Within the next year, 3YH would go on to sell 2000 copies of "Mesh" in the Quad Cities alone. The band knew it was time to think on a bigger scale.
After a year of touring in support of their freshman release; the guys began writing new material that would eventually become their second album. 3YH knew they had what it took and perfected what would be their signature sound. In the back of their minds, they knew that they needed one final piece to truly complete the puzzle. During 3YH's first year together, they met a guitarist by the name of Luke Sears. "Luke was always in a competing band. He was always that guy you wished you could steal away. So finally, we decided to go for it. He hadn't seen us live for a while, so we decided to pay his way into one of our shows. He joined 3YH the next day. The rest is history." - Jose
"We're only going to go up from here, how far will depend on us." - Brian
"Present Day" – "We feel like we’ve come a long way. We’ve perfected our sound, and really honed in on what we want to bring musically to this world. We now believe we’re ready to reach further than ever before with our music. When preparing for our sophomore CD, we wanted to let the world know that weren't the same band as 3 years ago. We went through the difficult task of changing our name after being known as HOLLOW for 3 years. Unfortutely, there was already a signed band named HOLLOW. We saw THREE YEARS HOLLOW as the perfect name for us. It spells out exactly who we are. We've matured with our writing and style and ended up jumping into a different genre; into the heavier side of alternative rock. We worked with studio engineer Rob Cimmarusti, of Real Trax, to record our sophomore E.P. As always, we grew and matured even more from the recording experience. We hope that in about 6 months, our sophmore CD, "The End of Demise" will be complete. The title of the new CD has a lot of meaning for us as a band. “The End of Demise”, to us, denotes the end of loss or failure. It signifies our turning point as a band. We feel like this is it. It’s finally our time." - Jose
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