Hollow House Frontman Travis Green on Collaboration, Sincerity and the Self
The Perth rock band Hollow House has just released their debut single, ‘Don’t You Wanna Be Somebody Else’. The band’s loose, hard, and cathartic sound draws influences from Lianne LaHava's tender songwriting, Alabama Shakes sonic immensity, and Jeff Buckley’s vocal sincerity. Laura Tooby sat down with the band’s vocalist and song writer Travis Green to talk about the launch, the band and their intent.
Laura Tooby How are you this morning?
Travis Green I'm feeling relieved after finally getting to perform our single launch last night at The Bird.
LT I was there! The crowd did seem to be singing all of your songs with you.
TG Did they? I had my eyes shut. It gets so loud in there that I sometimes can’t tell what the noise is.
LT You had your eyes shut?
TG For most of it, yeah. That’s the place I can find the most concentration. But I’m so glad people were singing along!
LT Since this marks a time of public introductions for you with this debut single, would you mind introducing your band? It’s a shame the rest of Hollow House couldn’t be here today.
TG Well, we are a three-piece band. I do the songwriting and vocals, and I play guitar. Then we’ve got Connor Hart who plays bass, and Junior Moyo who plays drums. So, there’s not a lot to hide behind, and everyone’s kind of got to be on top of what they’re doing. This is also great because Connor Hart, my bass player, is absolutely ridiculous.
I was playing a solo gig for my friend Sash in 2021, back when I had just begun singing my own songs. Connor was in the audience and he came up to me immediately after my set and kind of just inserted himself. He said, “You need to start a band. I’ll play bass." And that was that! It was excellent. Connor’s contribution to Hollow House is fantastic: strong, sprawling bass lines, with powerful characteristic inflection based on his being part animal. He is just a beast of a man in such a fantastic, endearing way.
Then you’ve got Junior Moyo, the rhythm section to what we do; they jumped on board more recently. A couple of years ago, we were seeking a drummer for the band who we knew could really commit to Hollow House. We also just wanted someone we could laugh and have fun with. So naturally, we thought of Junior. They are charismatic and just an absolute treasure to be around. Junior also rips on drums, is a great communicator and is such a calm, present, peaceful, expressive human. Junior, kind of like Connor, responded immediately with “Yep. I’ll do it. Done”. When we asked them about joining us. It really does feel like we are all so committed to each other at this point, which I feel immensely grateful for.
LT The track ‘Don’t You Want to Be Somebody Else?’. What compelled you to sit down and write it?
TG I wrote it at the start of 2021. I had just moved to Perth, after living in Canada for eight months. It was disorienting to come home, I found myself isolated and lacking direction. I was coming to understand why I had yearned to put myself in the body of someone on the other side of the world and live a far more simple life.
LT Were there other musical influences throughout the years?
TG Yes, the first one I remember was Jeff Buckley, who came about for me when I was 17. That was a very formative time in my development, and it just struck me, I just didn’t know music could sound so beautiful. Then I came across Jordan Rakei, Big Wreck and Moses Sumney who were also highly influential. I found Moses in particular to be an outstanding vocalist, able to carry such ethereal sound.
LT What is important to your songwriting?
TG The majority of my songwriting is definitely focused on the experience of the self. Sometimes the songs are written from the second perspective, so it’ll sound like I’m talking about a relationship, but it’s just kind of talking about myself to myself. I gravitate towards this subject matter because music and songwriting allowed me to truly express how I felt for the first time. Then, over time, music marked points I could reflect on, to help make sense of things.
I want to scream at everything that makes me feel like I want to scream. I hope when I release this music, people are able to understand the songs, learn them, and scream them back to me. If someone could get even a sliver of what I get out of it in this way, this would be amazing. I hope this gives people a place to express themselves, to exist, and to not feel alone.
LT What should we be expecting from Hollow House next?
TG The next steps are releasing more music and getting an EP out. We have this fantastic band manager, Chloe Chrisohoidis, who makes this all possible for us. She helped get us on stage at Wave Rock Festival last year and without her, none of this recording would have happened. So, releasing a body of work suddenly seems possible with her help.
LT How exciting. Thank you, Travis.
TG Thank you Laura.
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