Hello Victor's front man Eric Martin says he doesn't like to describe the sound of the five-piece rock outfit as indie, because of all the genres that fall under the term.
"All the styles of music we listen to shows something progressive and very unique," he said.
This is coming from a band that lists some of its influences as Bruce Springsteen, Eazy-E and Radiohead. Full recordings, complimented by Hammond organ, intense vocals and intense guitar work, certainly seem to be varied, from circus-paced jaunts to gospel-style harmonies over heart wrenching choruses, or full-on screaming that makes you pity whomever that inspired that one.
Weller, as the lyricist for the band, writes about "life situations."
"If I'm going through a rough time, I'll write a song," he said. "If I have a lot on my mind, I'll write a song. I reflect a lot of myself in my songs. I critique myself. If I make mistake, I will show it in our songs."
Guitarist Will Holden and Martin, as cousins, have been playing music together for years. It's Holden that helps Martin arrange the songs into what is heard live on their forthcoming album, Whatever You Want.
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Hello Victor
Album: Whatever You Want
Genre: Rock Sounds Like: Modest Mouse, Murder by Death, Jimmy Eat World Upcoming Show:
Hello Victor Album Release
wsg The Wildfire, Spacelift, Glennerd & The Bastard Few
The Strutt, Kalamazoo July 16, 9 p.m. $5 thestrutt.com, (269) 492-7200 |
When arranging, Holden said, "We usually come up with a guitar riff and build from there. We'll jam a song for probably a month and work it out and by that time, Eric will usually have all of the lyrics written."
The album, recorded by Matt Ten Clay of Skull Studios, follows the band's four-song EP, Sixteen Twenty Three, released in the summer of 2009. Seeing as how Hello Victor formed in January of 2009, it has managed to build kind a volume of material and perform quite a few shows, both in its hometown of Kalamazoo and around the Midwest. Live, the band has managed to hone its performance into something both to listen to as well as to watch.
"I think the audience would know that we put a lot into our songs," Martin said. "There's a lot of energy on stage ... every time we play a show, I feel crazy." "We try and be pretty true to our recordings," Holden said.
"No gimmicks; we don't like that. We try to get up and play rock 'n roll." Presently, Hello Victor is working on new songs and planning a tentative tour in support of Whatever You Want. You can catch the band on the first step of the journey at The Strutt on July 16 for the album release.
