Interview and article by: Gavin White
About:
Heavy as Holograms was born in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, CA. Comprised of singer, Malcolm Gordon, guitarist Matt Gordon, drummer, Riley Amos, and Michael Raimi on bass, Heavy as Holograms wants to expose the world to their catchy pop riffs and soaring melodies.
Brothers Malcolm and Matthew Gordon have been playing music together for as long as they can remember. Having being
in a few moderately successful bands of various genres, the brothers were ready to create a serious project that would get them recognized for their pop sense and musical virtuosity. It was then that they met drummer Riley Amos and Heavy as Holograms was conceived.
After playing their first show at the famous Troubadour in West Hollywood, they decided to introduce a fourth member to the band: Malcolm and Matt’s longtime friend and bass player Michael Raimi.
The band began gigging more often and grew a sizable fan base in Southern California. They spent time everyday writing new songs. It was on the set of their first official photo shoot that they came up with what would be the first single off of their EP: The One to Say Goodbye.
Their EP is being produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Alexander Track at Track Entertainment Studios in Sherman Oaks, CA.
Being inspired by a wide range of music (from Kiss to Blink 182 to Nirvana to Panic! at the Disco) the band strives to create catchy, dancy pop rock tunes that any audience can appreciate.
[source: https://www.facebook.com/HeavyasHolograms?sk=info]
I got a chance to sit down with Malcolm and Matt Gordon of Heavy as Holograms after their performance at House of Blues in Hollywood . No Town Media headquarters, Sherman Oaks California.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): How long have you been heavy as Holograms??
Malcolm: HAH has been together since 2008, so about 3 years now
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Were you in any bands before this?
Malcolm: Yeah we were in a couple bands before this.
Matt: we’ve been gigging since 2005, Malcolm Michael and I played together in a couple bands together and I know Riley was in a couple as well.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Matt, have you always played the guitar, and Malcolm always been vocals?
Matt: I used to be a bassist and I have this t-shirt that says “everyone hates the bassist”..
Malcolm: but it doesn’t really apply anymore..
Matt: sometimes I wear it around Michael!
Malcolm: I’ve been singing since I was little and I’ve played guitar for many years now but he is still way better than me.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): You’ve both been traveling out side the country recently can you tell me a little about your travels?
Malcolm: Well he went to England and I went to France. I was studying French and some politics there for about a year
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Did you play at all when you were out there?
Malcolm: I went busking a couple times there on the main streets. Its really easy cause you don’t have to have permits or anything so you can just walk out onto the street and start playing.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Did you make any money?
Malcolm: Ha ha I made probably like three Euros. Lots of competition! There was a guy with a puppet that played the piano and I mean, how do you compete with that?
Ellenwood (Gavin White): How did heavy as holograms start?
Malcolm: Well we were in a couple bands before this and we still wanted to gig around and the last band wasn’t working out.. So we found Riley on Craigslist
Matt: and it turned out he knew a bunch or our friends and we were like hey lets meet up?! And we needed a bassist so we called Michael and we’re like we NEED you back! Heavy as Holograms was born that day.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Was Michael in a previous band?
Malcolm: He was in The Fine Print, which was our first band.
Matt: and we had a dummy that we play our shows with, we had a few actually. And they would chill on the drum set during our shows
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Who are your Influences?
Malcolm: that’s difficult… I have many, many influences..
Matt: oh yeah me too
Malcolm: I’d say… definitely Yellow Wolf.. Who sings the song ‘Pop the Trunk”.. From Alabama.
Probably R Kelly
Matt: Cisco, KC and the Jo Jo
Malcolm: Toby Keith..
Actual influences tho.. um Queen?
Matt: yay Queen. I like a lot of like classic glam rock bands like Kiss and T-Rex.. Cheap Trick. But I think theres some newer bands we are really into, like Foxy Shazam. Check them out.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): What albums do you have out?
Malcolm: We just released our first EP. Its self-titled Heavy as Holograms has 4 songs on it and they are all amazing! So everyone should..
Matt: We want you to buy it! Produced by Grammy award winning producer Alexander Track. He’s a million dollar master and he did a great job.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Do you have any videos out?
Malcolm: We have a single video, the one to say goodbye. And we are working on one for Here With Me. And that will be out soon.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): How was the show at the house of Blues?
Malcolm: it was fun we had a good crowd. Its always nice playing there, they have really great sound, the atmosphere is really cool.
Matt: and we really loved that they had a refrigerator in the dressing room stocked with free bottles of water and coke
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Do you have your next show lined up?
Matt: We are playing October 11th at the Key Club, with Hawthorn Heights
Ellenwood (Gavin White): Congratulations! Are you excited?
Malcolm: Yeah! We’ve never played at the key club before so we’re really,,
Matt: I have..
Malcolm: ha ha ok I’VE never played the Key Club so I’M really excited and Hawthorn Heights is an interesting band so yeah!
Ellenwood (Gavin White): How did you get linked up with Hawthorn Heights?
Matt: I book the show for the band and I make them good ones!
Malcolm: He’s like our manager/ guitarist.
Ellenwood (Gavin White): One of your members is going out of state for a while correct? What do you do when he’s not in LA?
Malcolm: Riley is going back up to school in Seattle for a little bit, but he’s our drummer and he’ll always going to be our drummer. He’s not leaving.
Matt: He better not he’s too good!
Malcolm: So we’re still going to gig around and we’ll probably have someone fill in on drums but no one is like writing with us.
Matt: we might just do acoustic shows, ya never know. We just have a good connection with him
Heavy as Holograms will be opening for Hawthorn Heights at the Key Club in Hollywood October 11th. Check out the new Heavy as Holograms EP at
http://heavyasholograms.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-as-holograms
Stay updated at:
https://www.facebook.com/HeavyasHolograms
photos by: Gavin White