Interview: Getting to Know Hollow Zoo (Written)

From ‘Die Over There’ to ‘Never Do What You Say’ Hollow Zoo have spent the last couple of months putting out the most intense, and crushing singles you’ll hear this year. This refreshing wave of sound continues to absorb all that dare to listen through their latest single, ‘Until You Bleed’! A hard-hitting song about when love turns toxic and the tragedy that ensues when emotions turn dark, and love turns to hate.

In this interview we get to know them a little better.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

Hi, well there are 5 musicians in our band and all of us have a background in music, some of us worked behind the scenes in live sound and in music studios, some of us still work in the industry outside of the band. We started the band in 2022 but really got started in 2023 with the addition of our singer Azeron.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

We usually just say we play Metal because we like to play a variety of different styles but its always pretty heavy. I’ve heard other people call our songs everything from alternative metal to thrash metal to post-grunge.

3. What’s currently keeping you busy? A new album/EP/single release? A new video? Playing live, or planning ahead?

Our first album comes out in August. It’s called T.V. Static and HATE. 10 songs that run the gamut from bad relationships, to fighting inner demons, outlaw anthems and other such nonsense.

We are also working on three new music videos that we want to release throughout the rest of the year. We are also having a ton of fun making the videos for the songs and we are working hard to make compelling visual stories.

4. What is about this current period that is particularly exciting for you?

The opportunity to start playing our album live for people. These songs are very personal to some of our members and it is awesome to see people connecting with and enjoying our music.

We also have a comic book coming out which was created and written by our Guitar player (NineFinger Nate). He likes to call it our “totally made-up true origin story”. You can get it along with our album and merch form our website starting in August.

5. Tell me about the work that has gone into making it a reality and what it means to you.

We don’t think our struggles are any different than anyone else who is trying to make and self-produce music. We have certainly faced some battles and overcome some obstacles but so does every other person in every other profession.

6. Making music and being creative can be a very positive experience and can be very good for the mind. In what way has making music had a positive impact on your mental health?

For our band it has resulted in a lot of new friendships because most of us did not know the others before we started playing music together. This band has allowed all of us to be more creative and try stuff outside of our comfort zone since we did not all come from the same musical backgrounds.

7. It can also be incredibly challenging, more so in the modern times. What have been some challenging aspects of making music and how have you overcome them?

The most challenging aspect for us was that we had a couple of members that lived in other cities which made it hard to get together on a regular basis. It has also been a struggle to get traction as we are fully independent and so we must find creative ways to be seen as we are not being pushed or promoted by a record label.

8. How do you handle the online aspects of being in a band? Having to put out content constantly, promoting across several different social media platforms, and having your success measured in likes and follows?

It can be a lot for a new band to deal with. We don’t mind having to constantly put out new music. If you think about it a band used to put out albums of 15-20 songs and sometimes double albums with 12-15 songs on each part. So, there was always a need to have a large catalogue. Kind of, the main difference now is you don’t have to put that many tracks out all at once if you don’t want too. That same 15-20 songs can be multiple smaller releases which is more in-line with how people consume music these days.

9. How do you make this part of things enjoyable, and fulfilling, for yourself?

We all love playing music and most of us are creative in other ways, so we just focus on how fun it is to write songs and make videos and other sorts of media. At the end of the day a band is like any other business, it has it’s good and bad and it’s up and downs. We try to just have as much fun as possible because the business side is always there and it can really suck sometimes.

10. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support you?

They can listen to us on any platform and check our music videos out on YouTube or they can check out our website where we have links to our music, videos and merch. Really anything helps and we are just glad when people outside our family and friends find our music and enjoy it.

11. Outside of music, what do you like to do to relax?

We are a varied bunch but as a group when we hang outside of rehersal or the studio, we like to BBQ or go out to see live music or comedy.

12. Where can people find you?

Facebook | Instagram | Website | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube