Sticking to the UK today with a young band hoping to have an album coming your way before the year’s out. Hunting Holly are today’s Band of the Day…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re all from Sevenoaks in West Kent, which is where we rehearse and record. But for the last year we’ve been split between Kent and Brighton.
How did you meet?
Guitarist and singer Jakob Tyson went in to Blizzard Records one day to record some demos for a new solo project called Hunting Holly. Bassist Jack Randall was working as an engineer there, and joined the group. Drummer Jack Smith was studying music at West Kent College, and was recommended to Jack and Jakob.
How long have you been playing as a band?
The three of us have been playing together for about a year and a half.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We’ve got to find Holly and track her down, and until we do this nightmare will continue.
What are your influences?
Any fast-paced guitar music with good hooks and a bit of artistry. It all goes in the melting pot.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
For us it’s all about energy. We combine indie and pop-punk sensibilities, and try our best to make interesting music that you can dance to, that gets stuck in your head.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Most of the lyrics try to express something that it can be hard to talk about in normal conversation. So, you’ve got your heartache and longing and break-up songs. But we try to keep it more angsty and sarcastic than depressing; it fits our sound better.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Playing live is our favourite part about doing this. Our shows are always full of energy, we try to get people moving every time. We’ve been gigging as much as we can between recording sessions and video shoots, it’s hard to keep count. But we’re always going to be playing as much as possible.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We played at a charity fundraiser for the ‘Don’t Deport Luqman’ Campaign last year. At the end of our set the crowd rushed out into the street to block traffic and start a march, which was cool. We had to stay and pack up though.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
You know, I’ve never checked.
What are your plans for the rest of 2017?
Gig a lot, hopefully go tour the country in the autumn. We’re also going to follow up our debut EP with an album. Oh, and we have a couple of videos in the works, so it’s exciting.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We’d love to support Less Than Jake. They play with incredible energy and look like they have a lot of fun. We’d love for Wolfe Sunday to open for us. He plays folk punk and puts on a great live show, he’s perfect at warming up a crowd.
Hunting Holly: facebook | twitter | soundcloud
