The Hold
Give us a little history on The Hold?
We started The Hold to have fun. During the early days of the band we all had other “serious’ projects on the go that we needed escape from. Hold shows were so exciting for us that we made it our full-time thing. ‘,’
Where did the name come from, its very simple and to the point!?
Ya, KC came up with that. Our music is pretty immediate. I think he wanted a name that reflected that.
Whats it like being a hardcore band in Canada – what kind of scene is there,
do you get to play much?
We’re based in a small city in eastern Canada called Halifax. There are a lot our bands and a lot of shows here, but no obvious hardcore scene– we end up on some incredibly mismatched bills. There are still a few hardcore bands in Halifax, though. Check out Risky Business and System Shit.
The Canadian scene outside of Halifax is strong. Last summer, we toured half the country and had a blast. There was so much energy at our shows. In some of the big cities like Toronto and Montreal, kids seem to be catching on to the old-school hardcore thing, so it’s a good climate for us. It’s amazing how welcoming the Canadian hardcore community has been. Almost everything we’ve been able to do outside Halifax is thanks to strangers.
You released two albums last year NOISEBLOODASSAULT and NEED – did you put them both out yourselves?
We put them out on DIVORCE, which is our own label. DIVORCE has been releasing local punk, hardcore, noise, and a bit of rock for about six years. Ideally we’d like The Hold to do a few releases with another label so that DIVORCE could focus on a few of the younger bands in our region.
Whats the story with the short movie you’re making?
It’s basically a tour movie. Like I said, we had some great shows on tour.
They look so good on video that we had to do something with the footage. I can’t
believe our camera is still in one piece!
What are your views on your southern neighbor’s president, and the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Hardcore started in part as reaction against Reagan. I guess Bush is the new
Reagan. He’s responsible for the death of thousands of Americans, Iraqis, and
Afghans; bankrupting America and devastating civil rights. Bush doesn’t respect the international community or national sovereignty, and so he’s especially dangerous. At the same time, Bush is just an extreme example of a long running American ideology. Changes in government don‚Äôt seem to help.
If you had him alone for 5 mins. what would you do or say to him?
I’d probably freak out and not stop smiling at him.
What do you do away from the band – college, work, etc.?
KC went to school for graphic design and know he’s a baker. Crystal went to
school for math and philosophy and know she is working in a magazine store.
Christian doesn’t really work, but he plays in five or six bands. I studied philosophy in university, but now I cook for a living. The Hold are blue collar; that’s just how it is out here.
Any weird, scary or funny tour/show stories? Where was your first show and how did it go…what‚Äôs been your best show…and your worst?!
Our absolute first show was at an open mike. Crystal, KC and our old drummer Mark had been jamming with this Kenyan guy for a few weeks. They had played one open mike and were planning to do it again on the night in question. The Kenyan guy apparently skipped the country that morning. An hour before the show they asked me to sing. I agreed. I hadn’t heard the songs before, so just I screamed,
threw monitors, punched myself with the mike, whatever. It made little sense and
the audience knew it. I couldn’t talk for about a week after that.
Our best show was probably the release show for NOISEBLOODASSAULT. There were probably 300+ people in a bar that holds 200. I guess that show was the height of my cross-dressing and recreational violence period. Some ancient biker gang guys asked us for our autographs that night. As sick as it is, the show was pretty emasculating– even for Crystal.
We just played a show in a small town about an hour for Halifax. It was a Tsunami relief show for a Sri Lankan family. There was guy there running around with his pants down punching everything. There were a few Sri Lankan children watching the whole thing. I have to say the family was very gracious. It was a long night.
What’s your 5 favorite albums?
My favorites list has changed a lot over the years/months. In the last few
weeks(in no order):
1) Righteous Jams – Rage of Discipline
2) Hair Police – Obedience Cuts
3) The Locust & Man Is The Bastard Spit Ten Inch (mostly for Man Is The Bastard)
4) Converge – You Fail Me
5) Doom – War Crimes
How would you describe your music? And what do your lyrics deal with?
Our music is derived from old-school American hardcore– black flag, poison idea, minor threat, etc. We feel that the genre was written off too early, and that the immediacy of old hardcore is lacking in a lot of new shit. I guess we try and add something of our own to the mix. People think we are a bit strange for a hardcore band, though.
For the most part, the lyrics on Need deal with politics. I’d been reading a lot of Howard Zinn and Emma Goldman stuff at the time, so there is certainly an anarchist slant to some the songs. The lyrics are a bit idealist in places, but for the most part I just yell about things that get me down–war, homelessness, wage slavery… Hold lyrics that aren’t political tend to deal with my struggle for sanity and contentment.
Whats your earliest hardcore memory…!
When I was thirteen, an older kid in town was teaching me how to skateboard. I’d just learned to ollie, so he was trying to convince me to launch down these three stairs. He put his walkman on me and played some Dead Kennedys. I’d never heard anything like it. Up until then I’d wear my church clothes all the time and listen to The Ghostbusters soundtrack. I can’t remember if the Kennedys got me down those stairs or not, but that moment opened up a lot of shit for me.
Whats coming up for The Hold?
Our big goal is to release something on a foreign label and tour a foreign country. Right now we are working on a split seven inch with our friends Gilbert Switzer. It should be out by June.
The last words are yours….
Everything hurts from our show last night. Sorry if I was long winded, and thanks for the interview.