Lo-Fi production, and plenty of audio attitude
The idea behind The Holstered was a couple of rock
and roll guy’s love of ‘70s inspired rock,
new-wave & punk n soul. The catchy hooks, retro guitar
lines, cool vintage gear, and a “lets do what we
do, and "F" it attitude."
The band wear their influences on their sleeve; you’ll
hear familiar licks, their love of lo-fi production, and
plenty of audio attitude for the unsuspecting listener.
The Holstered started a couple of years ago after Divo
and Jorge started hanging out again after the band they
were in, $3 Mess, broke up after losing their singer
(RIP Gio). Eventually they were getting together and
writing so many songs that they had to pursue this project.
It felt right, theycalled up Mark to join them again
and called themselves The Holstered with Divo on lead
vocals and bass, Jorge on guitars and vocals and Mark
on drums and vocals. Prior to the Holstered Jorge already
had a good working relationship with Divo from a previous
band, The Coma-tones and they actually went to high school
together. |
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All three members have an impressive history of prior rock
and roll bands that have provided the foundation for what is
The Holstered, no need to brag. (OK...The Coma-Tones, Amazing
Grace, F, Nuclear Valdez, Los Diablos, The Masons, Rock City
Angels)
The bands first EP was reminiscent of catchy material with
a nod of unapologetic worship to old school rock and roll reminiscent
of The Stooges, Sweet, The Cars, The Stones, Cheap Trick, and
the Velvet Underground. On their follow-up EP, Go-Go Juice,
available next month, the band has embraced lush reverb sounds,
thick drums, lo-fi garage soul with fuzzy solos. And all with
elements steeped in pop sensibilities again. The band has just
finished recording their second EP, Go-Go Juice, and are currently
finishing up the mastering on it. The EP has been sent it out
to a studio in Alabama hoping to capture some of that Alabama
mojo!
All the songs are written by the band. Basically it starts
with Divo calling Jorge at some insane hour of the night with
him making sounds, salking (singing and talking) words and
what style he's hearing in his head. Jorge can usually process,
and decipher enough to take it to rehearsal, work on it and
they usually end up with the bulk of the song down. On the
latest EP they chose to work again with Ferny, from the band
Humbert, over at his studio. He really embraced and delivered
the sound wthe band feels they were looking for this time around.
Lush reverbs, thick drums, fuzzed out guitar solos. They're
calling it garage-soul!
Bands without balance tend to fizzle out quick
Aside from the local shows they have coming up they're also
looking to book some out of town shows. Last year the bandwas
selected to play in Austin, TX during SXSW week. They made
some new friends and some connections so the plan is to try
again to head back out there again. Jorge goes on to say " There
is so much great music out there now. Bands that make you get
off the couch and move! Lately I've been digging on music by
Ty Segall, The Allah- Las, Bass Drum of Death, Jacuzzi Boys,
Palma Violets and the new Fuzz disc.
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Looking back Jorge adds, " Elvis
Presley. He was incredible. He's had success on all levels.
Top 40, Country, and even Gospel charts. Shit If he'd
still been around he'd probably would've be on indie
charts too! The band just really takes one step at a
time. One rehearsal, one gig at a time. The best way
to break up a band is to rehearse all the time. There
really is some truth to that. Bands without balance tend
to fizzle out quick.
Being fans of music and music history we really enjoy
meeting other musicians and music fans. The interaction,
conversations about gear, other artists, pop culture
and life experiences has always been rewarding. Artists
sometimes take themselves too seriously. As Divo likes
to say "relax, take it easy man. There's nothing
to hate about being a musician.It's a
wonderful feeling to be able to make music with your friends.
If you're doing it for money you're in trouble. Get rid of
these TV talents shows. Manufactured pop stars. They milk the
crap out of them until the next one comes along. Let's embrace
longevity. Develop and nurture bands, support artist on all
levels. " |
The internet has been a blessing and a curse. It has changed
the way we consume and disregard music. It has gotten better
with people actually paying for music. Legal digital sales
have increased and LP records are making a comeback so maybe
people want a tangible thing in their hands. Who knows. But
people need to search for new music in creative ways. Subscribe
to blogs, indie newsletters, watch videos, listen to internet
radio or go to visit your indie record store. The social media
part is also a must, if you ain't engaging and participating
in it you're at disadvantage. Participation should be a piece
of your music puzzle. We gave out our first EP for free online
at Noisetrade and made some new fans everywhere out of that.
We also have a couple of songs on internet radio. We usually
always get a good laugh when we get that "you received
a royalty payment!" email every couple of months.
Bands and solo musicians have gotten pretty creative lately.
But artist have been on this crazy Kickstarter thing lately
getting finance for recording and touring. Even professional
musicians! I'm personally not a fan of this "Hey, I'm
awesome, but I don't want to bet on myself because I'm a pussy,
so can you, anonymous public, pay for it?" Get some gigs
save your money and release it. Own it.
Artist and business are a touchy subject. Musicians have always
been rebellious by nature. There's always some level of distrust
with business. But hey, half of nothing is nothing brother!
Where do we sign?
Go get your Go-Go Juice!
https://soundcloud.com/the-holstered/cheated
Website
http://theholstered.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Holstered/136624326437991
ReverbNation
http://www.reverbnation.com/theholstered
