Untitled2 480x330 - RADAR: New Hollow @NewHollowBand by @JonathanValdez

RADAR: New Hollow @NewHollowBand by @JonathanValdez

Mookie Clouse, 19; Evan West, 19; and Chad Blashford 18 are rock ‘n’ roll obsessives who together make up the band New Hollow. The boys have been playing music together since they were 9 years old in New Albany, Ohio and became a band by age 13. The guys are not just some boy band who plays their own instruments. They have put in serious hours jamming together and have been influenced by some of the greats such as Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley, The Smiths , Zeppelin, Sam Cooke and Nirvana.

“We were just doing it for fun,” says guitarist and vocalist Mookie Clouse about the band’s humble beginnings. “It was really just out of the spirit of wanting to play music.” Last year New Hollow’s single “She Ain’t You” was being played on Sirus XM’s “The Pulse” before the band was even signed which scored them the title of “Breakthrough Song of 2013.” The song was The Pulse’s #18 song of the year and Billboard named them one of the “Bands to Watch For in 2013.”

Apparently some major people were watching the teen trio as they hit one achievement after the other and in the same year New Hollow played with Carly Rae Jepson and Big Time Rush earning them amazing exposure. By the end of 2013 the guys scored a spot on Epic Record’s roster and now the group is enjoying the hard work of being a newly signed band. “We just signed with Epic a few months ago and that was the first time that I thought, ‘We can do this for real’,” says Mookie.

Their sound is something that has not really been heard in the last 7 or so years especially with the rise of EDM. It has a late 90’s/early 2000 feel to it that brings you back to a time that was B.S.M., that’s Before Social Media. “There is not really any tricks or anything that distracts you,” says Mookie. It’s just guitars, bass drums and vocals. There is not any auto tune, which you can hear so easily.” It is an attitude from musicians that has not been heard for a while. Without auto tune Mookie says you really have to commit.

The guys really know their music too. When asked about their particular instrument that they play, they can go into an entire history of who played what the best or what beats/rhythms in certain songs really inspired them. It is refreshing to see a group of young guys from a generation that has been dismissed as having a very short attention span really studying their craft and appreciating those that have come before them. It is that kind of discipline that shows in a group’s music and provides them with staying power.

The guys are working on their as of yet untitled debut release slated to drop this summer, and we are sure to bet there will be posters hanging in teenage girls’ rooms by the holiday season. “We are thankful for every fan we have.”

Photo by Gari Askew

 

About Jonathan Valdez

JcN awhG 400x400 70x70 - RADAR: New Hollow @NewHollowBand by @JonathanValdez
EIC of OJ&B. Official Press: @MBFashionWeek Fall/Winter 2014. Fashion Police Top Cop @UsWeekly. Top 5 Best Blogger to Follow- @Mashable. JonathanRValdez on IG