Val Hollie

New Orleans-based artist Peter Campanelli, aka Val Hollie, shreds with the kind of fuzziness that marks fellow psych rockers like Ty Segall and King Gizzard, but strips down the grime and reconstitutes his sound with keys and synths. Unlike much garage psych of recent years, Val Hollie’s self-titled EP glistens with clarity and a tranquil, night-time charm. Campanelli’s quavery guitar and vocal melodies bring to mind surfy ’60s pop, while starry-eyed synths punctuate his songs with softness. Listen below. - Stereogum

Ahead of their set at the historic Jazz Fest in their hometown New Orleans, the soul/rock seven-piece shares a playlist of Big Easy favorites with USA TODAY.

Listen along here:

Dr. John - Qualified

"Your socialite ain't no better than my hot dog stand. Your edu-ma-cation ain't no hipper than what you understand." This is why we love the doctor.

Beck - Dreams

After releasing a slow, relaxing, rainy day record, Beck reminded us he can still make a chart-topping hit whenever he feels like it. Only a handful made it into his last club show in New Orleans, and have been raving about it for the last year. If his past performances are any indication, you won’t want to miss his set this year.

Galactic, Juvenile - From the Corner to the Block (ft. Juvie & the Soul Rebels)
Brass Bands and Rapper are two connecting vertebrae in the musical backbone of the city. Gregory D and Mannie Fresh were pioneering new sounds that were lightyears ahead of the nation in 1989, and Galactic and Juvenile may have perfected the sound on From the Corner to the Block. These types of collaborations are uniquely New Orleans and often developed from street parade, second-lines, and onstage at Jazz Fest.

Naughty Professor - Prune Juice
Naughty Professor is one of my absolute favorite up-and-coming New Orleans acts. They're a stunning group of musicians with bold arrangements that have a tendency to turn on a dime from crisp, syncopated, funk into thick, nightmarish breakdown grooves. This song perfectly encapsulates why I'm a fan.

Val Hollie - Be A Man

New Orleans is home to a lot of different kinds of creative music beyond what traditionally comes to mind. One of the best things about Jazz Fest is the ability to find different kinds of music at the fair grounds and in the extracurricular shows that last all night.

Dr. John - Me Minus You Equals Loneliness

One of our favorite songs from one of the most iconic New Orleans artists of all time. I can’t listen to this song without it giving me goosebumps.

My Morning Jacket - Victory Dance

The slow burning freight train of a track is bigger and better live. My Morning Jacket might be the original Indie Rock Jam Band.

Rebirth Brass Band - Why You Worried 'Bout Me?

No Jazz Fest playlist is complete without a song by the Rebirth Brass Band. For over 30 years they've pushed the edges of a tradition that dates back to the early days of New Orleans. This track captures the infectious energy of their raucous Tuesday night residency at the Maple Leaf Bar.

The Neville Brothers - Yellow Moon

Widely considered the first family of funk and New Orleans music royalty, The Neville family exudes the pure essence of Jazz Fest. Rightfully so, The Neville Brothers band would traditionally close out the Acura main stage every year.

Maze, Frankie Beverly - Joy and Pain

It’s a Congo Square tradition to close out Jazz Fest with Maze and Frankie Beverly. Just practice your Electric Slide, because you’ll need it whenever they get to this track in the set. Don’t be surprised if all of Congo Square joins in. - USA Today

Here’s the playlist from today’s My Old Kentucky Blog Radio on SIRIUS XMU, Channel 35! Also, available via OnDemand.

Grimes – Flesh Without Blood
Wet – Weak (Clams Casino remix)
Brett – Street Cleaning
Airbird & Napolian – Go To The Sun
Cool Uncle (Bobby Caldwell & Jack Splash) – Break Away (feat. Jessie Ware)
Max Pope – Less Than Nothing
CTM – Cezanne
Nao – Bad Blood
Junior Boys – Big Black Coat
TOPS – Hollow Sounds Of The Morning Chimes
TALA & Banks – Wolfpack
St. Lucia – Dancing On Glass
YOGI – SIRI ft. Elliphant & Pusha T
Cameron A.G. – Lost Direction
Walter – Just Do It
jennylee – Never
Francis Lung – Oh My Love
Lois – I’m Not Going Down
William Austin CLay – Less Than A Fracture
Kita Alexander – Like You Want To
Mizan – Looking For
Ohslo – Where’s My Money
VAZ – Sunshine
Losernovas – New Balcony
Val Hollie – Siberian Summer
Long Beard – Dream
Lontalius – All I Wanna Say
Christine Denamur – Emptiness - My Old Kentucky Blog on Sirius XMU

Here to help contribute to the festive harvest season of gifts and offerings, we bring you the world premiere of “Stepping Outside” from Val Hollie that sparkles with the AM radio frequency glow that makes autumn exciting again. Comprised of New Orleans’ Peter Campanelli who recorded the album with Ross Farbe in a house they converted into a studio of their own devising. With their self-titled EP making it’s way out into the world on cassette and digital November 13; the two transcend the cliches of strictly garage scuzz for the makings of a genuine analog sound that resonates in tones reminiscent of listening to the radio, 8-track, or old cassettes in an equally antiquated vehicle with a blown out sound system. The result is a mesh of 60s pop kernels that pop in time to peppy guitars, Peter’s upbeat delivery, and unexpected outbursts of old school synth-squeals.

“Stepping Outside” is a smart track that steps out of time, and out of the contemporary mind for a bouquet of catchy chords and synth keys soaked in the hue of happiness. Songs of insecurities, questions of feelings, and discourse are described in Peter’s lyrics while the arrangement keeps the mood high with every rhythm and note bouncing and bubbling like a shaken-up liter of ultra-carbonated soda. The old independent schools and classes from the sound of young Scotland (circa the post-punk era) and 70s pop adventurers can be heard here in fanatic spirit where Peter, Ross and friends combine all the instant-hitting pop action they can muster in one minute forty-five seconds running time. Right after the following debut listen to “Stepping Outside”, check out our conversation with Val Hollie’s own Peter Campanelli.

What prompted you to start Val Hollie?

In early 2014 NOLA homie Chris Rehm and I found this ratty house in Pigeon Town that had been completely gutted. It was one humongous room covered floor to ceiling with spray foam insulation, and at the time it was basically being used as an indoor junkyard. We eventually talked to the owner and hashed out a squatter’s agreement, and with lots of help from Ross we cleared the space and slowly began moving in studio equipment. I guess you could say that’s when Val began.

Tell us about the making of the Val Hollie EP with Video Age’s Ross Farbe in Pigeon Town, New Orleans.

Ross and I have collaborated off and on over the past six or seven years, so after an older project fizzled out I asked him if he’d be into recording some new shit I’d been working on. At the time I was really into the way Eno created Here Come The Warm Jets; he basically just invited his favorite musicians to the studio and without much direction they would record a bunch of wild shit. Nonsense, really. But he cut the tape together and formed the songs almost completely in post. This is pretty much the same approach we took with the EP. It’s not the most efficient way to record—we spent a stupid amount of time mixing and trashed maybe of the half songs that were tracked—but we ended up coming out with this chorus-heavy guitar pop sound that I’m quite pleased with.

What sorts of stepping out influences and the sort inspired the DIY pop of “Stepping Outside”?

I had Dirty Mind on repeat around that time, and was also way into Postcard Records and that Glasgow post-punk scene. I think artists in that era and of that mindset—specifically Prince and Orange Juice—and Paul Quinn’s solo stuff—are so good at not taking themselves too seriously; they’re creating truly great pop music that is very tongue in cheek, these finger-waggy, upbeat songs that are thematically very cynical, morose, and kind of defeatist about life and human relationships. That ‘Everything’s fucked up, isn’t it funny?’ kind of feelings is something very familiar to me, and that’s the feeling I was trying to convey with “Stepping”. I’m making fun of myself for being depressed. A lot of this EP is very sarcastic in that way, me making fun of myself for being dramatic and emotional about something that doesn’t matter. I think constantly taking personal inventory and shitting on yourself is an important part of being self-aware.

How did Val Hollie expand to be a quintet?

At the beginning Val was purely a recording project. We really weren’t considering how the songs would translate live. It was actually something Ross and I would consciously try not to think about. But when it came time to put together the live lineup I had a pretty good idea of who should be involved. Andrew Landry (Glish, Shuvuuia) is one of my favorite musicians, and also happens to be one of my oldest friends in the city. He had just bought a bari guitar and an Oberheim DX, earning him the open invite to all Val sessions, and those instruments are certainly present throughout the EP. From there the band developed kind of naturally, adding previous Glish members Evan Citanovic and Dexter Gilmore, as well as Tyler Scurlock (Shark’s Teeth) who is a mad genius circuit bender/synth shredder. Playing with these dudes is unreal. I get to be in a band with all of my favorite musicians.

What can you tell us about the forthcoming Val Hollie album?

The new songs we’ve been writing are a little darker sounding, somewhat of a departure from the über pop you’ll find on Val Hollie EP. Evan has been putting me on to a lot of different music over the past few years, getting me into more internet genres like vapor wave and PC Music, and we’ve been combining those aesthetics with the sounds we’re already working with. I’m definitely looking forward to collaborating with Ross on a full length. Don’t want to get into too many specifics regarding a release date, but we’ve been actively working on new material and we plan to follow this EP closely with another release. I’ll keep you posted.

The Val Hollie self-titled EP will be available November 13. - Impose Magazine

Peter Campanelli and Ross Farbe create deeply engaging psychedelic pop as Val Hollie.

“Siberian Summer”, premiering today, is one of six tracks the pair recorded in their New Orleans home studio for the upcoming Val Hollie EP, due for digital and cassette release on 13 November.

The song delights in its own dazed revelry as it harkens back to post-punk sounds of the 1980s. Campanelli’s pleasingly groggy vocals loll though the mix before surrendering entirely to the noisy soundscape: easy-going guitar fuzz sprawled over a bed of roaring distortion.

Val Hollie appear live as a quintet, rounded out by Tyler Scurlock (synth) of Sharks' Teeth, Andrew Landry (guitar), Dexter Gilmore (bass), and Evan Citanovic (drums) of Glish. - www.thelineofbestfit.com

Val Hollie aka Peter Campanelli is carrying the torch for New Orleans’ experimental psych pop sound, blending post-punk, warm fuzzy noise pop, 60’s garage rock, and surf pop and turning it into something breezy and immediately infectious. The new project, a solo “band” led by Campanelli, is set to release his self titled debut EP, Val Hollie, on November 13th via the band’s website (digital) and Hellhole Supermarket (cassettes).

IMPOSE premiered the EP’s latest single, “Stepping Outside,” describing Val Hollie’s debut as, “a mesh of 60s pop kernels that pop in time to peppy guitars, Peter’s upbeat delivery, and unexpected outbursts of old school synth-squeals.” They further elaborated on “Stepping Outside” calling it, “a smart track that steps out of time, and out of the contemporary mind for a bouquet of catchy chords and synth keys soaked in the hue of happiness. Songs of insecurities, questions of feelings, and discourse are described in Peter’s lyrics while the arrangement keeps the mood high with every rhythm and note bouncing and bubbling like a shaken-up liter of ultra-carbonated soda.”

Speaking to Impose (read the full interview), Campanelli shared his thoughts on the single:

“I had Dirty Mind on repeat around that time, and was also way into Postcard Records and that Glasgow post-punk scene. I think artists in that era and of that mindset—specifically Prince and Orange Juice—and Paul Quinn’s solo stuff—are so good at not taking themselves too seriously; they’re creating truly great pop music that is very tongue in cheek, these finger-waggy, upbeat songs that are thematically very cynical, morose, and kind of defeatist about life and human relationships. That ‘everything’s fucked up, isn’t it funny?’ kind of feelings is something very familiar to me, and that’s the feeling I was trying to convey with “Stepping Out”. I’m making fun of myself for being depressed.”

Engineered by Ross Farbe (Native America, Caddywhompus, Woozy) in the Pigeon Town neighborhood of New Orleans, the EP wanders through galaxies of swirling psych with focused dynamics that explode like fireworks. Throughout the six song set, Campanelli drifts between breezy hypnotic balladry, hazy surf rock, jangly garage pop, and the occasional bursts of noise pop that blend together seamlessly with a shimmering and relaxed aura.

“The song [“Siberian Summer”] delights in its own dazed revelry as it harkens back to post-punk sounds of the 1980s. Campanelli’s pleasingly groggy vocals loll though the mix before surrendering entirely to the noisy soundscape: easy-going guitar fuzz sprawled over a bed of roaring distortion.” – The Line of Best Fit

More about Val Hollie:
Val Hollie is the alter ego of New Orleans psych-popper Peter Campanelli. His debut release Val Hollie EP is the result of an ongoing recording project engineered by Ross Farbe (Video Age). After moving into a large gutted house in the Pigeon Town neighborhood of New Orleans, Farbe and Campanelli set about constructing a studio and commenced test recording sessions using Val Hollie songs as the subject. During these sessions the pair explored the limits of their home studio, coming away with six warbley songs that combine psychedelic rock and roll with lo-fi tones and post-punk aesthetics. Following the completion of Val Hollie EP, Campanelli set about forming a live band to bring the recordings to life; now a five-piece, Val Hollie is currently writing for their debut full length record.
UPCOMING SHOWS:

11/13 – New Orleans, LA @ Saturn Barn (EP Release Show) w/ Bottomfeeders & Trance Farmers - Circuit Sweet