Holopaw

Click the Artwork to order the new Holopaw CD from Sub Pop



Curious



Jeff Hays and John Orth have been playing music together for 10 years

now. They started writing songs in John's travel trailer on the

Tuscawilla Prairie in Micanopy, Florida where John lived at the time. They

recorded these songs on a handheld tape recorder certain that nothing

would ever come of them. These recordings were circulated around town and

led to invitations to play house shows. Other members were

conscripted to play proper venues (a lineup that came to include Michael Johnson,

Tobi Echeverria, and Ryan "Beachwolf" Gensemer). One of these early

shows was a benefit at The Ark warehouse (R.I.P., F.T.W.) in

Gainesville, Florida. Through random circumstance, Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse

was in attendance and soon after asked John to work with him on his solo

effort, Ugly Casanova. Over the next year they co-wrote four songs

("Hothcha Girls", "Barnacles", "Smoke Like Ribbons" and "Cat Faces") that

would make up a portion of the Sub Pop release, Sharpen Your Teeth.

After the release of this record, Isaac set up Holopaw with recording

time with Brian Deck at Engine Studios in Chicago. Isaac intended on

releasing the final recording himself but soon realized that with the

recording of a new Modest Mouse record he would not have time to follow through. He

shepherded the band to Sub Pop where they released two critically acclaimed

records, one self-titled and the next Quit +/or Fight. Soon after their

second release the band members followed different paths with Michael, Tobi and Ryan moving to Philadelphia leaving John and Jeff back where they started.

In early 2007 John and Jeff began work on their next effort. They

imagined a self contained project that would culminate with a hushed,

acoustic record that might be reminiscent of their earliest recordings.

After writing the second song towards this end, (the tentatively

titled "Art Teacher", Jeff turned to John and proclaimed, "We need a band." It

was obvious that the sprawling arrangement of the song demanded dynamics

that the two of them could not deliver. Over the next few months Jodi

Bilinski (drums), Patrick Quinney (guitar), Jeff McMullen (bass), and

Christa Molinero (cello) joined the band. "Art Teacher" had set

the template for the songwriting and introduced some of the characters

that would inhabit the rest of the songs. The Little Stallion,

Honeybee, the Lazy Matador, the Hobbyist, and the Conductor, play out their

lives across 11 songs that echo the twists and turns of their narratives.

Strings and horns swirl around their stories of love and lust. The

songs are more expansive in their arrangement than earlier efforts and

generally more up tempo. Less hush, more roar. To achieve this

bigger sound, Holopaw enlisted Jeremy Scott at Civil Defense studios in

Brooklyn, USA to record their efforts. The record is in the final stage of

mixing and will soon be available.