Hollowick

Nathan Peyton - Vocals and Guitar Chad Peyton - Bass and Vocals Luke LeDoux - Lead Guitar Anthony Moreino - Drums At a time when many bands ‘polish’ their sound so routinely with digital technology, both live and on record, Hollowick (formerly Rides Again) are a bit of a rarity – a road ready power trio in the classic sense of the words who’ve relentlessly honed their chops and their sound the old fashioned way. In the three years since the release of Into Existence, their 2007 debut album as Rides Again, Oshawa, Ontario based brothers Nathan (guitars/lead vocals) and Chad Peyton (bass/vocals) have covered a fair bit of ground; playing in excess of 200 shows across Canada on their own and in support of high profile acts including The Trews, Three Days Grace, Theory of a Deadman and Hedley, breaking the top 20 on Canadian rock radio and prompting millions of hits on their Myspace page with their singles Wonder Why and Infected. In addition, the band has garnered critical acclaim as one of Billboard Magazine’s Top Emerging Artists in 2008 and winning nominations for a 102.1 The Edge Casby’s and a Canadian Radio Music Award in the category of Best New Rock Group. To be fair, ‘new’ is a bit of a misnomer. At the heart of Hollowick is a musical partnership that dates back over a decade. But when Nathan Peyton put his first band together in high school in 1999 he had no intention for his brother Chad to be a part of it. “I had no idea he even cared about what we were doing,” Nathan says. But as the band rehearsed in the family basement, Chad busily taught himself bass guitar and learned his brother’s songs on his own. When the band lost their bassist to a bad case of nerves after one of their first few gigs, Chad stepped up with an offer to fill the void. With a string of upcoming gigs already booked Nathan decided to give his brother a shot, but cautioned him not to get too comfortable in the gig. “I told him, this is just temporary. There’s no way I’m going to be in a band with my little brother.” “Nathan never really ask me to join the band,” Chad puts in dryly, “but he hasn’t kicked me out either.” Now the brothers can’t imagine playing with anyone else. With that kind of history comes a level of confidence in the studio and on stage you can't fake. This is a unit who know who they are musically and what they want professionally. Rather than getting sidetracked in the studio by all the possibilities open to them like some young bands, Hollowick have always delivered the rock straight up and raw. “I remember the first time I got my Gibson Les Paul and Marshall Stack, plugged them in and ripped a chord,” Nathan says by way of explanation. “I loved the sound of it. It just sounded so big, so real and so perfect. That was a breakthrough moment for me and we’ve just kept that simplicity.” Over the decade the Peyton brothers have been playing together they’ve become a blazingly tight musical unit. Now, with a new name and a freshly inked deal with Aquarius Records, Hollowick admit they’ve pushed the reset button in a big way for their follow up record, Beautiful People. But even with all the changes, at the core their ethic and their sound remain honest, straightforward and raw. Recording in Toronto’s Vespa Studios with producer, Darryl Romphf (Hail The Villain) Beautiful People is a relentless ten-song set that mines a deep well of influences ranging widely from modern pop punk to the iconic hard rock and metal of the past. “The way we sound and how we play isn’t something we’re going for,” says Nathan. “It’s just who we are and what we’ve always been.” If anything, they’ve committed themselves to an even greater level of authenticity on Beautiful People. “This record is more performance based,” Chad says, “and that will definitely translate live.” As aggressive musically as they are lyrically, Hollowick tread the line neatly between the Alt. Rock/pop punk of the likes of Green Day and Foo Fighters, and the vintage arena rock of guitar driven bands from the 1970and ‘80’s, but with a style and sound that’s all their own. Though the band is taking a bit more time in the studio this time out to experiment, Beautiful People’s lead single Time Bomb and blistering album tracks like Just Another Day and Taking Me Over still depend heavily on Hollowick’s signature mix of crushing guitar riffs, blindingly tight harmonies and economical punk rock arrangements – hook laden, raw boned rock sporting the kind of fist pumping choruses that will have you screaming your lungs out midway through your first listen.