By Michaël Côté, Arts Contributor
It’s in the bag for Hollerado. The four guys from Manotick, Ontario, will be releasing their debut album, Record in a Bag, in (you guessed it) sandwich bags throughout the country on Feb. 9.
“When we first made our first demo, we obviously just burned it on to a CD like everybody else does. And then we realized we needed a case to put it in and we couldn’t find anything in the house to put it in,” says lead singer, Menno Versteeg. “We just put it in a Ziploc bag, and we thought it was kind of cool, so we drew on it … and then we kept putting our CDs in bags.”
To some, Hollerado may be a slight reminder of a crazy Canadian version of The Fratellis; their sound is filled with jumpy guitar riffs and entertaining melodies jam-packed with enough lyrics do turn your brain to mush.
Songs such as “Americanarama”, “Do the Doot Da Doot Do” and their new single “Juliette”, offer an extra-strength relief of winter blues.
Overall, the honest feel of the album makes it worth its while; it’s a tad insane, touches on a whole lot of every day material, and is bound to make you speed walk from point A to point B.
“We always listen to different stuff,” says Versteeg. “I try not to think about it. We’re in the middle of writing a new album and I find if I think about (my inspirations) too hard it messes with me. It’s one of those things you can’t explain. The wackiness comes from us being really open minded.”
The band will be playing every Saturday in February at the Divan Orange in Montreal, where they have temporarily settled while recording their new album.
Montreal isn’t the only place this band has seen; from the Great Wall of China to the beaches of Brazil and the glitzy American cities, the band has had opportunities to travel and make their name a relatively popular word.
“The hardships of being on the road are interesting to deal with too,” said Versteeg. “We like to tour a lot. I love seeing the world, and for the last little while, we’ve been all over the place, but it’s really important to me to balance travel and family time.”
Networking sites such as MySpace remain a great way for Hollerado to reach out to listeners. Their success can also be attributed to years of hard work and dedication to the other members. The guys are in it for the long run.
“We’re a very special group. We all grew up on the same street, and two of the guys in the band are brothers. We’re basically family. Even if you want to kill each other, leaving the band is not an option, we’re so close that we can fight like dogs and we can be closer than most.”
With venues packing up in Ontario and Quebec, Hollerado have been proving themselves to the Canadian music industry and are beginning an ascent in popularity.
The crowd-pulling is understandable; with a fresh song introduced to MuchMusic, an album in a bag filled with goodies and sound to keep your earbuds thumping, Hollerado seems to have it well off.
Expect their album to drop on Feb. 9, and who knows, maybe you’ll end up with their hand-made prize vouchers: a guitar, the band playing at your birthday party, or, if you’re lucky, a free pass to all their shows and free beer.
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