Melodic metal/hardcore band Hollow Bones, have been hard at work upon their debut full-length album entitled "Lionheart". That said, they are already in the process of writing material for future releases, including them set on touring and playing shows in the coming months. Guitarist Sharon and frontman vocalist Patrick discusses these matters and the band's future.
1. What role do you play in the band?
Sharon - Guitar/Vocals, Patrick - Vocals.
2. Hollow Bones is your namesake, but why is that? Does the name represent a meaning or is it just a name?
Sharon: We actually picked the name because of its versatility. Ideally, we would like for everyone to grab their own personal meanings from the name, just as we would like them to grab their own meanings about our music as well. But, personally, the reason we picked the name was because birds have hollow bones, which is ultimately the reason they are enabled to fly. It embodies the idea that while something may be fragile, it also has purpose and function.
Patrick: We also agreed that it is a good analogy when applied to life. Life is fragile, and simultaneously beautiful.
3. What has influenced your sound and style?
Sharon: All of our members draw influence from a number of different artists and bands. While I draw influence from bands like Coheed and Cambria and Underoath, Andrew draws more from the metal spectrum, such as Metallica, Fleshgod Apocalypse, etc. Each of us comes from a diverse musical background which contributes to our ever-evolving sound. If we had to pick one influence that the majority of our members have in common, it would be Misery Signals. When it comes to personal life experiences, we draw a lot of our lyrical content and emotions from that. All of us have been through different events or struggled with a lot of different things throughout our lives, and we like to take that experience and make it relatable through our musical content. Everyone suffers, and we want to show that we are just as human as the next person.
4. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
Sharon: Thematically, most of our songs on our debut album have a common motif. Our lyrics and sound are generally dark, somber, and honest. The overall theme is about loss, in any form really. We also write a lot about a disgust at the general state of humanity.
5. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Sharon: We write all original material, yes. Usually one person will come up with a series of ideas or concepts and shows it to the rest of the band. For a while, we were actually distributed in multiple states, so writing became a difficult task. But through the use of technology and heavily relying on our private social media group, we were able to record clips and send them back and forth for revisions and additions. It was definitely an experience and we are proud of what we ended up creating in the long term. Thankfully, we are all within close proximity of each other now, which makes the writing process a lot more organic through in person work sessions.
6. How do you describe your music to people?
Sharon: It’s dark, aggressive, and emotional. It has a lot of ebb and flow dynamics to it. We like to take the listeners on a journey through the concept of each song by utilizing not only our lyrics but our instrumental dynamics. While some songs are super in-your-face, every song is very melodic as well. We strive to stay heavy while also providing emotional variance.
7. What image do you think your music conveys?
Patrick: We aim to convey that emotions can be dealt with constructively, even if they feel destructive. Our songs are all very emotionally charged, and we think that all of them - are in some way - relatable. From self-loathing and personal failure, to frustration and anger at the state of the world around us, it is all an attempt to convey those feelings.
Sharon: Our debut album “Lionheart” will be released on May 27, 2016. We worked with our producer, and friend, Randy Pasquarella to make it happen. “Lionheart” has been almost two years in the making, so we are very excited to unleash it to the world in the coming weeks.
9. What is the concept behind the album and how did the idea come about?
Sharon: The album is very personal and speaks a lot about the concepts of loss, heartbreak, and humanity as a whole. Each member of the band was going through their own kinds of turmoil during the time that we were writing the album, and (coincidentally enough) it was all really bad stuff for each person. While we preach certain concepts in our lyrics, the way that we deliver each song musically is very unique to us and our personal experiences. The content is, however, extremely relatable.
10. What is your favorite title on the record and why?
Sharon: “I Watched the Snow Fall, and Bury Your Bones” is my favorite title and song on the album. The title is actually a direct quote from the “Game of Thrones” book series. We are a bunch of nerds, and we thought that line was awesome, so we decided to use it.
Patrick: My favorite title on the album is going to be "Wandering Sparrow" ...that song name comes from a book called "Escape From Camp 14" about a North Korean political prisoner, and in the book he explains that the orphaned children in the capital are called wandering sparrows. I thought that word adequately summed up a generation of kids who feel lost or like they don't have a place to fit in.
11. What can fans expect from the new Hollow Bones album?
Sharon: Expect to be surprised if you knew us as our old outfit (Edenborn). We’ve taken a new direction with this album entirely. It’s unique to the genre right now in its own way. There are a lot of dueling clean and unclean vocals, catchy choruses and melodies, heavy breakdowns, thrashy riffs, technical and in-the-pocket drum parts, etc. It’s a good hybrid between metalcore and melodic hardcore, for those who wish to label it with a genre.
12. What was the writing and recording process like for the album?
Sharon: Recording was a great experience. Randy is a wonderful producer and engineer. He has a great ear for high quality and post-production value, and he’s a very quick worker. He made the process seem easy, which it usually isn’t. Generally, we went into the studio and did a song here and there or a batch of songs here and there. We mostly had everything written before we went in to record as well. Randy contributed a number of post-production ideas as well as helping us polish our vocal placements and melodies. He’s a great guy to work with and we would suggest him to anyone in the sub-genres of metal.
13. Why do you think people should check out your new album once released?
Sharon: It’s a new take on things that have already been done before. The combination of clean and unclean vocals, and the male and female blend of them, really gives our sound a different flavor than most heavy bands out there. So we are just hoping to reach out to people in a positive way, to make sure people know they aren’t alone in their struggles. We understand, and we hope that our music helps you to heal.
14. How would you say you differ from other bands and artists on the scene?
Patrick: Well, for one, we have a female guitar player and vocalist. While this isn’t something that has never been done before, we think the way that we utilize our vocal blends is really interesting and unique to us. Additionally, our combination of vast influences from all different genres gives our sound a different flavor than most things that are out there now. Hopefully other people feel the same way!
15. What do you want to achieve as a band?Sharon: Most of all, we just want to reach out to people who are as passionate about music as we are about playing it. We want to make connections with people all around the world that have been in similar situations to us. And we hope to provide a healing outlet to those in need.
16. What does next year hold for Hollow Bones?
Patrick: Hopefully even bigger and better things. We are already writing new material, we may begin filming a music video (or two) very soon, and we are looking to do a small tour in October. But I guess we will have to wait to find out!
17. Describe Hollow Bones in three words.
Sharon: Aggressive, honest, and raw.
Patrick: I agree with Sharon’s answer, haha.
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