Q&A: Hollyy
Photo by Michael Salisbury and Mike Sager
IT ONLY TAKE A FEW NOTES FOR THE SOULFUL TONE OF HOLLYY TO MAKE YOU MELT - and each note seems to grab your heart even more. So much more than a soul-funk group, Hollyy fuses the classic elements of soul, jazz and blues with a modern edge that captures the listener’s attention with just one listen. Consisting of Tanner Bednar (vocals), Brandon Couture (guitar), Peter Giere (keyboard), Rafe Soto (drums) and Dominic Zeier (bass), the Chicago based group has build up a strong name for themselves through their powerful perfomances around the country. With just two singles out, “Miss the Feeling” and “What a Shame”, the hype for their full length project out later this year continues to grow. Read below to learn more about the band’s new creative process, what we can expect from upcoming music and more.
LUNA: Though your music has a soulful and jazz undertone, there are so many more elements shaping your sound. Are there any key artists or eras that have played a role into that sound?
TANNER: Well we definitely draw from a lot of vintage and old school influences. Always have. But one thing we’ve been having a lot of fun when writing & creating music lately has been pulling from modern artists and tracks. Hip hop rhythm section for instance. Tasteful horn licks. Catchy melody lines. We really enjoy it when people scratch their heads trying to “genrenize” us.
Photo By by Tess Graham
LUNA: Sonically, what are some elements you’d like to explore with upcoming music?
BRANDON: We pull from so many artists it’s hard to pick just a few that have really influenced us the most. Leon Bridges and Amy Winehouse are good examples of modern artists we admire for their ability to pull modern influences and combine them with their roots. Over the last year we’ve been exploring different writing styles and how we can bring elements of hip-hop, funk, and even disco into our music.
LUNA: What’s been inspiring you guys lately?
RAFE: Oh man, I think we have new influences in our music every week to be honest. That’s what has been really fun in our latest writings though, has been piecing together elements borrowed from influences across the board. Everything from a vintage, soulful ballad that incorporates hip-hop drum patterns, wavy guitar and keyboard riffs that experiment a plethora of pedals and synth and groovy bass lines like those of Khruangbin.
PETE: I could probably write a senior thesis about all the music that inspires us. I think to add to Rafe’s point from above is that we are all super big music nerds. I think we use the music we listen to as our sort of songwriting language. We face a unique challenge with our style in balancing the traditional ideas of what soul music should be and adding in modern influences. I think we all have bonded over a shared love for Tame Impala. Trying to marry some of those sonic elements like synths and effect heavy guitars with the more traditional grooves and songwriting forms of soul music has been something we’ve strived for. As we’ve gotten deeper into writing this upcoming project I think we’ve all looked to great albums such as Abbey Road as how songs should flow from one to the next to give the listener the best possible experience.
LUNA: You guys take a pretty collaborative approach when it comes to your creative process, but how often are you thinking about the listener when making your music?
RAFE: I think we’re honestly trying our best to think about the listener at every point in the processing. Obviously when we’re coming up with the basic chord arrangement we want it to sound good to the listener, but when we start arranging all of the instruments together we are really doing is trying to find ways of making the listening experience more interesting to the listener. By having five people involved in the process it’s really easy to get something interesting brewing as everything is thinking of their own little syncopation and melodic structure. Something we’ve been trying a lot to incorporate a lot into our music lately is time signature changes, and more frequent tempo changes within a song, we think this is something that’s really fun/interesting to listen to if done right.
PETE: Honestly it’s the simple question of “would I want to listen to this again?” Whether or not this is a conscious thought during the writing process, there is definitely a certain point where we are all starting to feel it and really just have fun playing what we’ve come up with. That moment doesn’t just happen. It can take a few weeks of us hammering away at a song and listening to demos over and over again until things really fall into place, but when it does it’s damn near the closest thing to magic I’ve ever experienced.
Photo By by Tess Graham
LUNA: Do you find yourselves drawn to a common theme or narrative with your music lately?
PETE: To me our music is reminiscent, in the most bittersweet way. The main thread that ties all of the songs we’ve been working on is memory, both good and bad. I think a lot of songs have both a longing and disdain for the past while looking forward to the future. We’ve tried to evoke imagery of summer’s gone by, lonely car rides in the sunset, and sleepless nights of staring at the ceiling to really try to put listeners on a particular headspace.
TANNER: We tend to write a lot of music based on experience and for the most part stay in the realm of relationships, heartbreak and sort of coming-of-age themes when you’re in your mid-twenties. I can definitely tell you we’re working on becoming a lot more introspective with our lyrics and project themes however. Artists that can master lyricism and tie overarching themes into their albums are definitely some to be modeled after.
LUNA: So far you’ve released two singles of off your debut full length album coming late this year & those track have been great! What can we expect from the upcoming music in comparison to what’s already out?
BRANDON: That’s awesome of you to say, we really appreciate that! We’ve really grown together as a group over the last year and a half since we released our first project. We’ve all become much more involved in the songwriting process and focusing on the needs of the song. We’ve also started learning how each other plays and know where we each fit. I think what we’re putting out now shows the refined musical diversity of our group.
DOM: I think we’re all exploring different avenues that we can bring to the table. I really dig the natural elements of the band - instrumental wise, but would love to begin experimenting with electronic elements. I’ve been looking at getting a synth bass for some cool subby vibes. Other than that, maybe a song or two with a bit more sexy, baby-making vibes. haha
LUNA: Is there something you’d like listeners to take away from your music?
BRANDON: A lot of our writing lately has been about reflection and finding direction. How we can look back and learn lessons from painful experiences and how we move on and look forward. I think a lot of people can relate to these that, especially right now, we’re all just trying to find our way.
DOM: I’d like those who listen to our music to walk away dancing or at least moving to it. I know some of our songs can have somber messages and a lot of “what ifs”, but i love the balance we have of incorporating music with an upbeat rhythm. I know for me personally what’s helped me get through difficult times is the ability to literally “shake it off”, with music
LUNA: How have you been taking care of yourself lately? Any fun new quarantine hobbies?
DOM: The quarantine hasn’t been so bad for me. I’m a pretty strong introvert as it is, so being told to stay inside is pretty easy for me. Not too many new hobbies - but I’ve taken up planting a bit more. Working on my green thumb. I also have a love for tinkering, so I’ve been messing with / improving my home network and computer (got a Raspberry Pi!). Past that, just playing guitar and TV. I really need to get back into writing my own personal music again. And of course, hopefully I haven’t driven my fiance too crazy yet ;)
LUNA: 2020 sure has been a year filled with lots of ups and downs to say the least, so do you have any goals or intentions for the rest of the year that you’d like to share?
TANNER: It certainly has! We started out the year with some of our largest and most fun shows to date at some of our favorite venues as well, so it’s important to not lose sight of the positives that have already come from this year. Even though it’s a little difficult at times to remember the positives of 2020 since that seems ages ago now. Another really important thing to us for the remainder of 2020 is to stay on track, stay focused and to utilize this time to be as creative as ever. Even though all live shows have been put on hold for the foreseeable future, and we can’t even meet up as a unit to practice in order to abide and promote the importance of social distancing, there are so many things to be done on a daily basis to get us in the best position possible as a band for when normalcy returns to the industry and be ready to roll. It’s a dire situation for so many industries and individuals, but I suppose it also offers an opportunity of creatively overcoming adversity and that has been really fun to play with and figure out moving parts over the last month. It also helps when you have tons of unreleased music that you’ve been sitting on for a year and now get to release into the world. Much more on the way too :)
PETE: Just to make the best music I possibly can with my friends in whatever way, shape or form that I can!
