Here for Hollerado

Hollerado getting some quality family time (Press photo)

Four guys, one Ottawa suburb and garage rehearsals lead to Canadian indie rock band Hollerado.

Guitarist Nixon Boyd spoke with the Gazette about influences, history and new music. On tour, Boyd says, “we mostly travel in the van. We pass time as best we can keeping each other awake by trying to one-up each other with jokes. Mostly dirty jokes. Sometimes we say dirty jokes are off limits and then it’s a real challenge.”

Boyd talked about how venues and locations can affect a vibe. He described his previous experiences playing in Halifax and compared them to bigger cities Hollerado has  played, like Toronto and NYC. Halifax is “…just as good [as a larger city], hugely energetic, incredible… We’ve played the Seahorse a bunch of times. It just feels like a drunken, sunken, pirate ship. It’s amazing.”

So how do shows with Billy Talent or Weezer in huge stadiums compare to small pub venues? “It’s just barely a comparison,” says Boyd. “In stadium shows you really feel like you’re in control of a ton of energy. It’s like you’re riding a tidal wave and you feel it rumbling its way into the audience.”

Boyd also recalls touring with iconic British band Gang of Four in 2011 as an inspiring experience.

“They were contemporaries of [NYC art rockers] television in the late 70s, and they wrote a new record and took us on tour. They’re a really bitingly sarcastic bunch and brought us to a whole new view of music.”

Boyd also shared a piece of unknown Hollerado history: “Here’s one thing I’ve never told anybody but the guys in the band. Our guitar straps get so smelly from the sweat jumping around on stage that we have to change our guitar straps about once a month.”

Is there any chance of hearing new music at their show later this month? In short, no. “We won’t be playing anything unreleased, which is too bad because we’re well on our way to writing the next record…we have some tunes we could try out but we’re not competent enough.”

Hollerado plays Reflections Cabaret Oct. 24 during the Halifax Pop Explosion.