Editors note: The info maybe a little out of date. My dad passed away from COVID, so I was away from the site for some time. I feel imo, it is a really interesting genuine interview, so there should be something for everyone to relate with. The band chat about their recent EP 'Love Stories', life, music, film, TV, writing, touring, recording, and much more.
Thanks to Nick and Devin for providing an indepth interview and answering the questions. Much love, stay safe all. Gaz, Mosh Nerd.
Nick Dees – Guitar/Back-Up Vocals
Devin Holden – Drums
1. For readers and people unfamiliar with your music, how would you all describe what you play?Nick - We are a rock band, plain and simple. We don’t try to fit into fancy sub-genres or pigeonhole ourselves in any way. We just play whatever we think sounds good. Some songs have a pop-rock feel, bass driven, and other ones are straight up rock tunes, or more ballad-ish. It just depends. If you like music that makes you move, either physically or emotionally, then we are the band for you.
2. When did the band form and how did you come up with the name? Nick – December 28th, 2014 was when we officially formed. We got the line-up together and a name, and started towards writing some songs. The name is a mystery. Some say there must always be a Hold On Hollywood. It’s an entity from before time itself. Who really knows?
3. What is it that you all enjoy about writing and playing music? Nick – For me, it’s the magic of creating something from nothing. I think that’s so cool. And being on stage is one of those things you can’t beat. Playing to a good crowd of people who know and love your music, it’s a feeling unmatched by many, many things.
Devin – Seeing the emotions and the connection our music has brought into people’s lives. You can’t beat that.
4. Did you always want to be musicians?Devin – Not always, originally I wanted to be an athlete actually! A lot of my family is very athletic and so it was a perfect fit for me. But I have grown to love music a lot.
5. Do you all work on writing the lyrics together? Nick - These days, yeah, we definitely all put in when we can. It’s becoming more and more collaborative as time goes on, the more and more we learn each other as musicians and songwriters.
6. What was the most memorable quote you have ever read and did it influence your creative process with the band?
Devin – Bob Marley’s lyrics. “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing is gonna be alright.” That’s words to live your life by. It influences every aspect of my life for sure, including music.
7. How long did it take to shoot the video for Movies and did you work with the director throughout until you were all happy with final edit? Nick – It was a 2 night process for the shooting. One night over at Magik Recording Studios in North Houston for all the band “performance” shots as we call them in the infinity room. Then we had a day of shooting for all the narrative scenes over at The Wildcatter Saloon, a really cool and unique venue that is one of our favorites out in the Katy/West Houston area. The scenes of Ian driving around with Taylor were shot that same day between the bar scenes shot that morning, and the “home movie” scenes shot that evening, at an older looking neighborhood across the highway from Wildcatter.
Blake Ralston of Out Of Mind Imaginations is our boy, we’ve worked together since day one and he did this video for us. It’s a testament to how far our abilities have come together, us as a band, and him as a photographer/videographer. Editing took a few weeks to get things perfect, but we worked until the end and we were all proud of what we created.
8. “Movies” has a real film soundtrack vibe and feel, which flows with the title perfectly. Movies are a form of escapism for us, and the song itself is about reminding people of happy times. Is this something that has always been a core tenant for the band? Devin – Definitely. Our music has always been about connecting with people on an emotional level. This one is a bit different because it’s a nostalgic vibe for the past, whereas most of our music is usually about a more recent connection you may still be feeling, but overall they are about the same.
9. Related to the above, I was curious, which are some of the band’s favorite movies and TV series? Nick – Man, there are so many good shows these days, and I’m really excited for this summer as a few new seasons of shows I love are coming! On Netflix, there is Umbrella Academy, Dark, and Lucifer that I love and are all dropping new seasons. The Magicians just ended which I’m real sad about, but I loved that show. All-time favorite though is probably Supernatural. Big fan of all the comic book movies coming out these days too. I go see all of those. I just love movies in general, so I see anything that interests me, action, comedy, horror, thriller, you name it. Often times I go weekly to see a new movie in theaters if I can.
Devin – Friday is a classic, I love movies. Superbad is an awesome comedy. I’m not much of a TV show guy, but I did like Breaking Bad a lot.
10. What was it like stepping into Orb Studios for the first time? Were you all excited and nervous? Do those feelings quickly fade once you start recording your songs? Nick – Definitely for me it was both. Exciting because it was something bigger than anything else we had ever done to-date, and nervous because of that same reason. We had only a few days to do it all, and I was just hoping we could do everything we needed and didn’t seem like fools going into this big studio
for the first time.
After a few hours into the first day though, things just fell right into place. Matt Noveskey (Producer/Blue October Bassist/Co-Owner Orb Studios) and Matt Meli (Orb Studios Head Engineer/Mixer) were super cool and accommodating. 100% professional and helped make the process smooth and easy.
11. Hopefully, when some normality returns. Any tours across Texas and other states to play the EP live? Nick – Hopefully, we would love that, but only time will tell!
12. I read on about the upcoming live streams that you are performing. Please could you share a little info with us for the readers. Devin – We returned for a second time to R&R Studios here in Houston this past Thursday. Roger Ramirez runs the place, and it’s really cool what he does. He streams tons of bands live for people to watch from the comfort of their own homes. We came and played for a while and just hung out, it was our first show we had played in months since this all started and so we just had fun with it. You can go back and watch it on Roger’s YouTube channel for R&R Studios!
13. From all the artists you have shared a stage and toured with. Which gave you solid memories as a band? Nick – We have been so blessed to play with so many artists we know and love, but Candlebox has to be way up there. We have played with them quite a few times now and done some runs together, and they are ALWAYS a class act and treat us like family. Ian and I even sang some on the upcoming new Candlebox record doing some back-ups/harmonies.
14. And, if not already, who would you like to tour with next or do a live stream with? Devin – I would love to hit the road with Blue October for a run. We’ve done two shows with them and it’s always a blast. Candlebox again would be cool too because they are always so good to us, as Nick was saying. Hard-working bands and good people. Can’t beat that.
15. Who designed the band’s clothing range from the merch store? Nick – My father has been doing merch for bands and businesses for a very long time, so I grew up around that. I’ve picked up the trade from him as well, so he and I work together a lot on doing all of HOH’s merch/promo materials as it’s basically the family business.
16. I also really like Can Koozies. Very eye catching. Actually has a little horror punk vibe to the look, which is cool. Nick – Thanks, we try to cover all of the bases! We think it’s cool to have a wide range of merch to select from with cool designs that we would actually want to wear. We care what goes out there from us.
15. How have you all coped during the lockdown and what in your opinion has been the best way to
get through this? Devin – I keep a dedicated routine to keep a sense of normalcy. I try to be very disciplined to that, keep things in the same windows every day and try to stay productive. When I am productive, I am happier and more content. I think this could apply to anyone. We’re so used to structure that it helps a lot to have some when life loses most of its normal structure.
16. Under normal circumstances, what do you enjoy outside of writing and recording music? Devin – I like to cut loose on some video games, streaming some occasionally. Passionate about working out and staying healthy, and just trying to learn more always. I like to listen to a lot of informational podcasts and such.
17. What other kinds of music do you all enjoy? Nick – I’m a big fan of early 2000’s Emo/Pop-Punk acts and the bands similar to them. That coupled with the 80’s bands like Crüe and GnR. That really makes up a lot of the core of my musical influence.
18. Would the band be interested in playing anything like the Summer and Winter X Games? Devin – Of course, I think our music style would fit in with that well too. High energy, good feeling music. And we’re always looking for new opportunities to spread the band to new fans.
19. Do any of you play in any other bands or have any independent businesses you would like to shout out for the readers to check? Nick – Recently, our singer Ian has been doing some stuff under the name Dizzy Mour to explore his more pop/R&B side he is a big fan of. I believe he has one song out on Spotify you can check out! It’s all self-produced and recorded by the other guys, particularly Devin and Ian. I know Corey throws in some beats and raps here and there too to spice it up. Just something for us to explore a different avenue in and learn how to record/produce better with different, more modern sounding Pop styles that are massively popular right now.
20. How long did it take to write the EP? Nick – We didn’t sit down and say, okay, we gotta write our next EP, let’s get it all done. These songs that ended up making the cut came to be over the course of our whole life as a band. Some songs like “Too Late” started off as just the intro riff, I came up with that thing like right around the time the band was starting over 5 years ago. It didn’t get finished until Ian brought it to life years later, I just couldn’t seem to do anything else past that one riff, but he was able to make a whole song off it. “Movies” came about in just a few quick writing sessions in the months right before we decided to hit the studio. So it spanned our whole life as a band for sure.
21. Has your music changed with this release or is it a continuation of your sound? Nick – I think those are kind of one in the same when it comes to us. It’s changed, but that change is a continuation of OUR sound so to speak, because our sound originally was never meant to be one specific thing. We think we have matured greatly as artists and songwriters, and it shows. We’re proud of what we made together.
22. What did you all enjoy about recording the EP? Devin – How professional the studio was and how motivating that whole week was as well. It was so inspiring to my career in general and gave me a taste of what the future could consist of more often. It was a good experience that I hope to have many more times in my life. I learned a lot there, and I love that.
23. Which song in your opinion would serve as the best introduction to Hold On Hollywood? Nick – Elliott from 94.5 the Buzz was someone we trusted to help us pick the songs that would make the cut on this EP. He described “Second Favorite Word” as our elevator pitch song. It had everything we were good at, and all these dynamics, wrapped up into a radio friendly length song. So, I think that’s a good one to check out first!
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