monitorTHIS! - March 2009 - (Page 26) music new tunes in stores this month The GraTeful undead T Hollywood Undead return to the road after vocalist Johnny 3 Tears’ state-sponsored “vacation” by Brian Baker h e p a s t f e w months have been a blur for Hollywood Undead. The SoCal rap-metal sextet celebrated the release of their A&M/Octone debut, ironically titled Swan Song, last September and promptly took the show that made them one of the Hollywood club scene’s hottest draws to the national audience. Just as HU were preparing for their European debut, vocalist Johnny 3 Tears was arrested and jailed (internet scuttle says allegedly for a parole violation), delaying the trip for six weeks. “Because it’s still ongoing, I’ve been told I can’t discuss it,” says Johnny, on his first day of freedom. “Anything I say can and will be used against me.” Although Johnny’s slam time was relatively short, any stay at the gray bar hotel is potentially dangerous, particularly if you check in with any kind of notoriety. And while Hollywood Undead have that beat well covered, Johnny escaped immediate recognition because the group generally performs in elaborately designed masks. “If I got to know someone decent enough to ask what I do, I didn’t lie,” says Johnny. “And the guards knew who we were, too. It helped somewhat, and made it worse in other ways. Whatever. I didn’t get tasered or pepper-sprayed, so I’m cool.” With Johnny’s legal concerns on temporary hold, Hollywood Undead return to planning their overseas jaunt. Luckily, Johnny’s stretch didn’t delay the band’s trip too long; although Swan Song has yet to be released in Europe, HU are a hot commodity there. “We’ve already sold out the Manchester show,” says Johnny. “We haven’t even released a record there, and to sell 700 tickets it’s not the Wembley, but it’s something.” Hollywood Undead began as high school friends (Johnny, J-Dog, Deuce, Charlie Scene) playing in various conventional hard rock band structures. When things didn’t progress as expected, they briefly abandoned music, reassembling four years ago with two new members—Funny Man and Da Kurlzz—and the idea to create something new from their previous and subsequent experiences. “We made it more eclectic, and we decided to use more vocalists rather than just one,” says Johnny. “We made some songs, and started flowing them out to the internet and people we knew, and they garnered quite a bit of attention. It’s odd because we worked for years and got nothing, and all of a sudden we’ve got majors bidding and they all wanted to sign us.” The masks were adopted almost as soon as Hollywood Undead coalesced in their new configuration. Although Johnny admits that everyone has a different personal philosophy regarding the anonymity of their individually stylized headgear, there is a generally accepted group concept. “We were so direct in the new fashion of music, we didn’t want people to know who we were,” says Johnny. “We’d been in the scene, with some notoriety in Hollywood, for a long time in bands. We wanted to release something and not be ‘those people who are making that music’; we wanted it to come from an anonymous source. My aim with it was that I want people to enjoy our music, but also to spawn a subculture to a degree, something that kids can feel more a part of. As opposed to wearing masks to separate a band from people, we wanted to wear them to connect more.” SWAN SONG is available now from A&M/Octone. [ 26 + monitorthis! + March 2009 ]
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