GOOD GOLLY IT’S HOLLIS

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New Yorkers’ Hollis Brown will be coming to the UK on 30 September for a string of shows following the release of their new album ‘Ozone Park,’and will be calling through London, Nottingham, Newcastle and Oxford.

The quartet was born out of a garage in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York on a steady diet of psychedelia and basement jams in Greenwich Village.  Their first show came at the legendary Greenwich Village bar, Don Hill’s– which had hosted the likes of Blondie, Iggy Pop, Green Day and one of the earliest shows from The Strokes. That first show in 2009 seems a world away as the band have since  toured the world, frequently darting between the US and Europe playing rock clubs, stadiums and everything in-between.

Adam Duritz himself asked the band to join the Counting Crows on an extensive 3 month US tour which saw them play the stunning Red Rocks Amphitheater. They have also played with Citizen Cope, Jackie Greene, Jesse Malin, Toots & The Maytals and The Zombies. There have been marriage proposals in Newcastle, UK, Customs seized merchandise in The Netherlands and during their NYC Hollis Brown Holiday Jam they were joined on stage by DMC for a rendition of the classic Run-DMC song ‘Walk This Way’ in December 2018.

After a few line-up changes, the band have recorded the album with the same group of musicians for the first time following ‘3 Shots’ (2015) and now ‘Ozone Park’ – Mike Montali (Vocals/Guitar),  Jonathan Bonilla (Guitar) , Adam Bock (Keys), Andrew Zehnal (Drums) and it sees their at the most creative they’ve ever been.

“What this band has, is a lot of heart,” says Montali. “Lots of people have the romantic notion of joining a band, but when it comes to the grinding, they drop like flies,” he continues. “But the people we have in the band now, every single person makes the bands’ sound.”

“Growing up in Queens I fell in love with all different types of music,” he recalls. “We had hip-hop, we had funk music, we had rock ‘n’ roll music, and we had singer-songwriters. Everybody in the band loves all those things, so it’s nice to try and incorporate all those things. We’re really open.”

“As an artist, you need to try and keep hitting new ground” Montali says. “That’s this band, from hole in the wall venues to Red Rocks.”

The journey has seen them pick up the attention of David Crosby, Nils Lofgren (E Street Band) and even had a brief encounter with the actor Eric Roberts in California. You would have heard their music in films such as “Bad Country,” starring Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon and on TV series’ “Shameless,” “Kingdom” and MTV’s “Real World.” Also their music has been featured in the worldwide trailer for “The Founder” starring Michael Keaton.

Hollis Brown

September-October UK Tour

Mon 30th Sept – O2 Islington Academy 2, London – Tickets

Tues 1st Oct – The Old Cold Store, Nottingham – Tickets

Weds 2nd Oct – The Cluny 2, Newcastle – Tickets

Thurs 3rd Oct – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – Tickets

New Album ‘Ozone Park’ Out Now via Cool Green Recordings / Mascot Label Group

 

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