By:
Greekbastard
Critically
acclaimed doom/sludge metal band HOLLOW LEG returned with their new two track
EP “Murder”, released via Argonauta
Records on March 3 2017. The
EP, which consists of the band's strongest material to date featured new
drummer John Stewart (Bloodlet/Caribou King) and would be reissued
alongside their Argonauta
Records
debut album, to form the Crown “Murder
Edition” on June 30th . An
enormously toned groove engine hailing from the highways between Deland and Jacksonville , Florida
Establishing
themselves as firm favourites here at THE SLUDGELORD, and following their announcement to
play at this year’s Psycho Las Vegas in August, the band agreed
to not only take over our instagram page, but our man Greekbastard hooked up
with the band in Las Vegas to get the band’s impressions of the festival, how
their announcement came about and what the future holds for this most awesome
of bands. Check out the interview in
full below.
So how did you guys end up on the festival?
Brent: I believe I had some correspondents with
the promoter previously from some of the California
Cool.
In addition to playing the festival, what are some of the bands you're looking
forward to seeing?
Brent: Definitely Melvins, Sleep, Royal Thunder. Seeing Dark Castle
Basically
every band. (laughs)
Brent: Scott toured with Neurosis back in the day, but I
haven't seen Neurosis
in 20 years so I'm excited. Sumac, yep. Who else? King Diamond, of course. Yeah, it's a really sick show. Unfortunately
we missed Conan
last night. I really wanted to see them. And we're going to miss Slomatics
and I wanted to see Corrosion of Conformity too.
So
what's Hollow Leg up to right now?
Brent: This. (laughs). We just finished one and a
half touring cycles. We did a record and an EP. We've done some touring for
both of those releases. Most recently in June we did the East Coast for the
Maryland Doom Fest. And then we're doing this, and we have some Florida
Scott: Just for the friends coming down.
Brent: Yeah, we have some friends coming down and
there's going to be another festival in Jacksonville
Scott: We're already a few songs into it.
Brent: Yeah.
Scott: At least a few.
Brent: Probably like eight in the works, so it's
happening.
Cool.
So you guys released your Murder EP
and then re-released Crown with the Murder EP on Argonauta Records?
Brent: Mm-hmm.
So
how has Argonauta treated you guys so far?
Brent: Great. He's never said no to us so that's
like the biggest thing, you know?
Scott: (laughs)
Brent: If we have someone that wants to put out
our shit and is just agreeable for pretty much ... If he's up for doing it,
then it's awesome. He's been really easy to work with.
Scott: Supportive.
Brent: Supportive. Gets us press and ear up, which
is great. It's been good. Like I said, it's more friendly than anything. It
doesn't feel so much like business all the time, so that's an important thing
for us. It's got to be ... Not casual, we do take this very seriously, but it's
got to be kind of casual in a sense just because we all have family life too
and we can't really put as much time and energy as a lot of other bands, so for
him to understand that and go with us and support us knowing we can only tour
so much is really cool. But he knows we want to do more too, so I think that's
a big thing.
So
when you guys aren't living the dream in Hollow Leg, what do you guys do to
earn keep?
Brent: You want to explain Scott?
Scott: I work for a scenery company. We make sets
for corporate shows or theaters or theme parks, stuff like that. Theme parks
are a big deal in Atlanta
(laughs)
Brent: And I'm a chef for a country club. Our bass
player Tom is a paralegal. And our drummer John works for the city of Orlando
Brent: Yeah.
Alright.
I noticed you guys have done some short regional tours in the past, but are
there any plans in the works of ever touring states - a full blown tour - or Europe ?
Brent: Yeah. We're waiting on the right
opportunity, I guess, on those things. It's a lot of time and dedication to do
those type of tours and we want to make sure it's a good one. Doing a DIY full
US or Europe at this point of our lives slash
careers is not really a thing we want to do. We can do ...
Scott: We can do regional stuff. Ten day stuff in
a row. If we could run all the way out to West Coast in ten days, great. If we
could find a way to fly out here and play with our friends using their gear for
ten days and ride in their van, great. That's the kind of stuff we can do right
now. It would have to be an opportunity, chasing the bus around. We've eaten
scraps and ... Being able to play in front of a bunch of people and sell some
of our merch and actually meet some new people, that would be the kind of
opportunity that would give us a ...
Brent: If there's a bigger band that wants to take
us to Europe or take us on a full US-
Scott: We will chase the bus around.
Brent: We will definitely jump at that
opportunity.
Scott: Yeah, yeah. For sure.
Brent: It just hasn't been presented to us yet, or
hasn't-
Scott: Materialized. It hasn't materialized.
Brent: The right one hasn't been presented to us.
So
do you think this sludge metal scene has kind of slowed up because of
unoriginality, or it being too redundant? Or do you think it's evolving into
something better right now?
Brent: I definitely see it evolving into something
better. I don't see it ... I mean, sludge ... When I think of sludge I think
of...
I
mean like the stoner metal that's going on.
Brent: Okay. All the stoner...
Yeah.
I'm kind of encompassing all that stuff.
Brent: Okay. Yeah. I think it's coming into
something else. If you're going to just stick to a pure sludge or a pure stoner
or a pure doom-
Scott: It's going to get stale.
Brent: It's going to deteriorate. It's going to
become like ... You know, you have the A bands and then you're going to have
the B bands and then you're going to have the C bands and the D bands and so
on. But if all those sounds kind of morph into something different, and then
you're also taking from other outside stuff, like an old school British metal,
or more hard rock sound, or even I heard more country stoner, country doom-y
bands, it's like ... That's what's going to make it into something a little
different. I think bands now are starting to cross-pollinate a little bit more.
I know certainly that's not what we try to do, but we definitely fit in that
because we have so many different things. But at the end of the day it's all
fucking Sabbath
worshipers. It really is. It's all based on those riffs. And that's what you
always go back to. It's like, what would Iommi do?
Scott: Yeah.
Brent: You know what I mean? It always goes back
to that. If it doesn't sound like something Sabbath would do, fucking scrap
it.
Scott: (laughs)
(laughs)
Brent: It's really not worth it.
With
Hollow Leg being based out of Florida , what do
you like about Florida
Brent: We're really divided about this. Good
question though. As a Florida native, you want to...
Scott: I like and hate that it's isolated from the
rest of the world. A lot of tours won't even come down. They'll get to Atlanta
and just shoot over to New Orleans, and I totally understand that, being from
there as well. But I like that it's isolated in that it has its own sense of
community and we can come up with some really cool shit that's not really
necessarily attached to anything else because it doesn't always come down that
far. It's really regional - in my mind, anyway. Stuff can come out of there, a
place that's isolated in that way. That's what I like and dislike about it. But
I think we have a really good ... Nowadays it feels to me - and I don't know if
it's just how I'm engaged in it right now, but it seems that I've seen in
Florida is driving. Wouldn't you say?
Brent: There's a lot of really good bands down
there. And I agree with the community thing. Having been in bands in Chicago
and Massachusetts, Florida's way cooler of a music community for heavy bands.
Scott: Everybody knows everybody.
Brent: Yep. And because it is isolated and we
don't get maybe as a many national tours as other places, we do a lot of shows
together.
Scott: Mm-hmm.
Brent: And it's like let's put five of the best
bands in the area on one bill together and get some heads out and just have
some fun. And there's a really cool vibe like that. A lot of DIY venues have
popped up over the years, people just wanting to put on shows. And now it's
grown into a fest situation, where every city and promoter have their own
festivals now. And all the bands are doing that, so that's become kind of a
cool thing. It's super incestuous. Everybody's been there with other bands.
Scott: (laughs) There's only so many people that
can fit down there.
Brent: Yeah. This guy's putting out everybody
else's records.
Scott: Yeah, yeah.
Brent: This guy does all the tee shirts. This guy
does all the art for the shows. Yeah,
it's a cool community. Oh, you have a studio...
Scott: It reminds me of New Orleans in that way
too. That place ... kind of likes living in that way too.
Brent: Mm-hmm.
So
what don't you like about Florida?
Brent: Oh.
Scott: (laughs)
Brent: Being a Northerner-
Scott: Oh, right there!
Brent: It's a little slow for my taste. It's a
slower pace, which probably effects why the music is the way it is. But just in
general, it's a slower pace, and I'm not the most patient person on the planet.
So the driving is fucking awful. The heat during the summer is just brutal. I
mean, June to September, you pretty much can't leave your house because it's so
humid and it rains all the damn time. And it's basically like Norway in the
winter - Florida in the summer. Same thing. High suicide rate. Can't leave your
fucking house. For me, I'm not used to it. I'm still not used to it. I've lived
in Florida for almost ten years. But I love the music community. I love the
people that I've met down there. Down to earth, real people. I dig that. You
don't get that in a lot of other places. People are very disingenuous in
general, especially in the music scene. "Oh, you guys are tiny. This band
looks tiny." You know, that type of bullshit.
Scott: "Really exciting. Can we borrow your
head?"
Brent: Yeah. That's not that type of vibe.
Everybody wears each other's shirts down there, and it's a real genuine love
for the other bands.
So
are you guys planning on gambling while you're here, and if so, what do you
guys play?
Scott: If
I did, I'd play Roulette or something where I could just sit for hours and
drink.
Brent: But no we probably won't gamble. We brought
money for weed.
Scott: Yeah, legal weed. That's right. I smoke
fucking weed and that's all, dude. No gambling.
Brent: Yeah.
Scott: Just shows, man. Just shows.
Alright.
Here's the big question right here.
Scott: Oh man.
Which
member of Hollow Leg do you predict is going to go all out Fear and Loathing in
Las Vegas, and why do you say that?
Brent: I don't know...
Scott: Don't look at me. It's Tommy.
Brent: (laughing) It's probably Tommy.
Scott: Tequila Toe Tom.
Brent: Yeah, I mean.
Scott: I don't know. What time is it right now?
We're all here to party. We're here to party.
Which
member's the wild card that, like, we're really keeping track on.
Scott: Tommy.
Brent: Probably our bass player Tom.
Scott: When he turns it on, dude, he turns it on.
Brent: This is like Disneyland for him.
Scott: (laughs)
Brent: Anywhere that's like legal weed...
Scott: Gambling too.
Brent: You see a smile ear to ear. He's the guy.
Scott: He woke up this morning, the first thing he
said was weed.
(laughs)
Weed.
Scott: Yeah, yeah. And then the second thing he
said was tequila, so.
(laughs)
Brent: But it's on. We came Thursday night to play
on Saturday afternoon, so it's on. We're here to party and enjoy some bands and
fucking hang out with people that we haven't see in a while - or see all the
time, but we're here to party with them. It's just a fun fucking environment.
What a great idea.
Scott: Yeah, right.
Brent: It's a real cool thing. Just from the shit
I've seen online too, it seems like there's a lot of repeat people from last
year who have come back to do the same thing, see their friends. It's almost
like a camp in a way.
Scott: Yeah, it is.
Brent: It's like a weekend metal camp for people
that like...
Scott: Tip this place over.
Brent: And now you're seeing it at other festivals
too. There's a lot of people here this weekend that we met at Maryland Doom
Fest either last year of the year before, that are like doing the festival
circuit, regardless of whether they work for some kind of media faction or not,
if they're here working a publication, or they're just fans. And a lot of the
bands are the same too. Our day at Maryland Doom Fest this year, we had Heavy Temple
and The
Skull on our day. They're playing the same day, same stage with us
here.
Scott: Yeah.
Brent: So it's cool. It's really cool. Stoked to
be a part of it. We're all going to party our faces off for sure.
Scott: Yeah. It's not going to stop.
The End
