Interviews: HollowKin

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Modern Metal/Metalcore band Hollowkin from the UK. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or did it just come out like that?

When I first joined the band there was a list of potential band names that the others had been playing with and this one stuck out from the rest. It had something a bit different to it, and it rolled off the tongue. We have found out since that we now share our name with a fan-made Pokemon, it's a little pumpkin bug thing, it’s our little adopted mascot.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Because we all hate our own necks and want to grind them to dust headbanging all the time. Also, we grew up with and have been entrenched in the heavy music scene our whole lives. It’s not so much a case of what we wanted to do, it just IS what we do.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

We all had local ties to each other, we crossed paths playing in other bands together or shows together in different bands. It’s a small scene where we are from and most people will at least know of each other if we haven’t crossed paths before.

4. Each band member's favourite band?

James - Converge

DJ - Machine Head

Beau - John Williams

Dan - Killswitch Engage

Hodds - Dream Theatre

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

From my perspective as a vocalist, it's about catharsis and expression. I’m a quiet person outside of making music and getting to scream about stuff on stage is the best outlet I have for whatever I want to let out. Whether it’s political or societal frustration or introspective self-reflection and mental health struggles. DJ writes that he does this because he needs to get the noises from his head out into reality. It starts with the drums usually from a rhythm that will get stuck in his head and the groove dictates the form of the riff and everything else is built on top of it. That’s what gives his stuff such a nice groovy feel.

6. Where was your last gig?

Our last show was actually our debut show in a venue called The Gryphon in Bristol. It’s a really cool little space and John who runs it puts a lot of himself into putting shows on there. It’s a rare venue and super important for the alternative/heavy scene for cultivating new music and just keeping underground music alive.

7. Where would you like to play?

I think we all have our hearts set on Download Festival, but then Hellfest, Bloodstock or anything along those lines would be sick! But other than festivals, any of the O2 Academy’s would be amazing. We’ve seen so many of our favourite bands in those venues.

8. Who would you like to support?

Gosh! Where do you start? Obviously playing with our heroes like Machine Head, Lamb of God or anything Max Cavalera is involved in would be amazing. Two of us have tattoos from Max’s various bands! But then like, the modern metal bands we love like While She Sleeps or Spiritbox would be amazing.

9. Who not?

I mean, the only reason to not want to play with someone is for ethical reasons. There are some obvious ones we could mention but yeah, we wouldn’t want to share the stage with anyone who promotes hateful rhetoric. Call it soft liberal nonsense if you want but if we don’t respect what a band stands for we don’t want our name tied to theirs.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

I still get what I guess you could call stage fright, but it’s all about turning that nervous energy into something you can use on stage. At the end of the day, if you love making the music you do and it means something to you, getting on stage and expressing that is all that matters.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Sepultura was my first proper step into heavy music, and Max’s work with so many varied projects has always been an inspiration for me. He’s never stopped but he’s also never sold out, he’s always been looking for people to work with who he finds creatively interesting. DJ has always been inspired by Robb from Machine Head. He’s been through so much in his career and never given up, he’s also never settled on a sound and has always been willing to play around and experiment. 

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

So far the weirdest was signing a plectrum at Download Festival whilst drunk as hell and sticking a HK sticker on a trash can! Not the most “out there” thing that’s ever happened but I’m sure we will get plenty of people outdoing that soon enough. We will happily lay down the gauntlet here for people to do more!

13. What do you think of your fans?

It’s a cliche, but obviously, we think they’re great! We are only just in the first steps of getting our music out into the world, and hearing from anyone that it has had an impact on them is amazing! We just can’t wait to get out and play more live shows and tours.

14. What do you think of our site?

It’s so vital to the scene to have sites like this that give fans and bands a platform. It is so hard to rise above the noise on social media and please the almighty algorithms, which have somehow both democratised and homogenised artistic creativity. Underground scenes need curated platforms that allow fans to discover the music that would otherwise stay under their radar.

15. Something to add?

Just a big thank you to yourselves and anyone who has checked us out. We have a load of new music in the pipeline, this is just the start for us. We can’t wait to get it all out there and see where this goes!