Holding Onto Hope's Hopefull rise

Last year, holding onto hope were coming off of a huge tour of Europe, they had 50,000 plus fans on myspace, and were getting their name put on numerous "up and coming" lists when they found out that they were with out a singer. Former front man Corey O'keefe was leaving to do other things and the sudden news of this left the rest the band to fend for them selves, find their own way.
That way would lead them to a new singer, a new sound, and a revolutionized spirit and purpose. "we scream because we have to and it comes out with a heavy feeling rather than an angry beatdown" guitarist Matt Black explains when I talked to him this last week. Black maybe more than any of member wishes to not be compared to other hard core acts and dreams of a day when his band sounds nothing like anything else.
"my influence comes from the bands i listened to early on such as The Get Up Kids, 238, Pedro the Lion, Thursday, Saves the Day and Sunny Day Real Estate. bands like that." Not much a hard core enthusiast himself, his attraction to pop hooks and smooth and flowing leads is part of what sets the band apart from the rest of modern day hard core scene.
this last month, the band entered the studio with engineer and producer Jeff shneewies(Number One Gun) in Chico California to work on their next album. the album was recorded over three weeks and was fully funded by fan donations via kickstarter.com. "we had a nice relaxed attitude and things just flowed." Black said of the process. if everything goes accordingly this album should be a huge step forward not just for the band but hopefully for hard core music. "musically i think we differ because of our diverse individual musical backgrounds. we've all played a number of different styles ranging from thrash to country to indie pop." With this in mind, look forward to a great, ear opening sound from the California natives. The album drops later this year, so keep your ear to the ground and hear the rumbling, cause the stampede is on it's way.