Lower Hollow return with Threnody: Songs of Perseverance, a reimagined evolution of their 2022 release. With new vocalist Kathryn Georgina, the band embraces transformation, resilience, and a powerful new era of sound.
1. Your
new album, Threnody: Songs of Perseverance, is described as both a reimagining
and an evolution of Threnody: Songs of Fortitude. What inspired you to revisit
and reshape the material rather than move straight into writing new songs?
Kathryn: Having a female vocalist has
created such a new dynamic, we felt it would be best to portray our music for
what it currently is live, and will be moving forward.
Ashley: Essentially the album was only out
for 7 or 8 months before Trystan our vocalist left the band. We were still very
much in the frame of touring and promoting the album as a whole. When you’re
part of what was a great writing and recording experience, and you’re super
proud of the album you’re just way more connected to the songs, their meaning
and the way they may you feel playing them. It just didn’t feel right leaving
them in the past when they’re only just seen light of day, and moreso
culturally speaking we’re living in a disposable time of life where very little
carries and holds meaning. Let’s just say, I’m from a generation that repaired
the TV when it broke, so my heart position was more toward giving these songs
time to breathe and exist, to grow on people.
2. The
transition from a male-fronted to a female-fronted dynamic with Kathryn
Georgina is a huge shift. How did Kathryn’s arrival transform the sound and
energy of Lower Hollow?
Kathryn: I can't really speak to that. I do
feel there has been a positive shift in how we are being perceived.
Ashley: Essentially, we went from having
harsh screaming vocals to a rawer shouted angrier vocal style. Some bands are
musically way too heavy to pull off a shift like this, but with our sound, we
aren’t the heaviest by any means… as we play to our melodic guitar riffing and
speed strengths. This ended up working well for us, as Kathryn was raised on an
earlier era of hardcore punk where bands were fast and aggressive, over slow
and heavy. Stylistically it feels like a great fit, and I think her overall
approach to performance and energy has just given us a more urgent feel and
performance sensitivity. When playing drums, I feel her energy in a different
way, and it just helps motivate the intention of being together in studio or on
stage.
3. What
was the biggest challenge in re-recording and reinterpreting songs that were
already released, and how did you ensure the new versions still honored the
original sentiment?
Kathryn: I'm not the easiest artist to work
with, as I can be very emotionally involved in everything I'm doing. So, Ash
had to treat the process with a lot of understanding and calm. But I wouldn't
have been able to do it without his encouragement and direction.
Ashley: With these songs, the framework was already in place. To some, that may sound super simple, but vocally these are two different people, and Trystan wasn’t an easy lead to follow when it came to the parts. His approach to vocals meant he could scream and sound super heavy for extended phrases, while Kathryn’s approach was shorter and to the point. Her vocals are also way higher and shouted vocals tend to have stronger projection in context of a mix… so you have to balance things in such a way where things feel right, energy is maintained, songs sound in tact and somehow you respect the original essence of the songs. It’s a tight rope; we had rework ideas and Kathryn had to work really hard to get her voice as heavy as she could. Baring in mind, she’s a class music teacher who NEEDS her voice for school classes, and here I am pushing her to scream harder. It was tough, really tough. The more things got pushed, the more she came into her own space and started delivering the meaning behind the lyrics, and when you start doing that – you’re honouring the songs. When you can feel someone’s pushing the intention you’re usually in the pocket and it feels right.
4. Kathryn,
stepping into a band mid-cycle is no small task. How did you approach making
the material your own while respecting what had already been established?
Kathryn: I definitely had to find my own
voice in the mix. Harsh vocals are not something I have ever done before, so
adapting has been challenging. Even now I am still a work in progress! But,
being Ash's wife, I have co-walked the path of experiences he and Tristan wrote
about. So, the lyrical content has been easy for me to relate to and translate.
5. The
album is rooted in themes of anger, pain, loss, and perseverance. Which track
from Threnody: Songs of Perseverance do you feel best encapsulates that
journey, and why?
Ashley: Probably “Threnody” itself. That
song discusses the level of shit-talking that happened when things fell apart,
casting attention on everything else except the truth. Knowing this as a felt
experience and the judgement that came along with it all – “Threnody” served as
a sort of, pull yourself towards yourself, dust off the dirt, find your feet
again despite what others think of you, and just do your thing - holding onto
that hope – persevering through it all.
6. Lower
Hollow has always pushed genre boundaries with atmospheric and emotional
metalcore. How do you balance aggression and vulnerability in your songwriting?
Ashley: You write lyrics that mean
something, and you scream it because you mean it. If the lyrics and music are
emotive (which they are in our case) and if they carry a sense of purpose – you
perform your parts in a way that showcases that understanding and ownership to
that purpose.
I don’t
believe authentic vulnerability can’t be felt through programmed
instrumentation on a song. No one proposes to their better half through a
programmed script emulating emotion… instead - you surrender to the moment by
showing up as yourself. Vulnerability is a risk you take, and if you’re not
showing up as yourself – were you even there to begin with?
7. You’ve
toured extensively across South Africa since forming in 2022. How has the live
energy and crowd response influenced the way these reworked songs came to life?
Ashley: Honestly, I don’t know that we were
all that considerate to the live response in terms of actual studio decisions.
However, it has to be said that playing the songs live before hitting studio
for the re-record sessions certainly gave a positively charged sense of support
as the response from the audience and people in general since the shakeup has
all been super positive, which has been great.
8. South
Africa’s heavy music scene is growing rapidly but still faces challenges in
visibility. How do you see Lower Hollow contributing to putting SA metal on the
global map?
Kathryn: I don't know that we will. But
that's not really the goal. Obviously, we want people to hear what we have
worked so hard on and what means so much to us. But none of that is the focus.
We really just want to play music from our hearts, and have a good time doing
it.
Ashley: Visibility isn’t easy, that’s for
sure. You need to be able to grow and learn who you are as a band within your
local scene first. We need to be able to hold our ground really well in terms
of songwriting, recording & producing, performance, online marketing and
touring before we’re truly ready for touring overseas realistically. In saying
this, our efforts of global reach lie more in online media and building a
presence in this space.
9. The
title shift from Fortitude to Perseverance feels symbolic. Can you talk about
what “perseverance” means to the band at this stage of your journey?
Ashley: Perseverance really means facing
the adversities with a sense of pride and knowing who you are, no matter what
people say about you, or what the world or music scene, public opinion says of
you. You persevere through it all, not because you can or want to, but because
its within who you are as a person.
Being of mindset that giving up isn’t an option, and that you can rise above
the hurt, the pain, the failings, the losses and be better for it. By better, I
don’t mean on paper… I mean spiritually within your own core being.
Within our band, there’s old and young, male and now female. We all stand to learn from each other, and we all have done and continue to do so. As the oldest member of Lower Hollow, what lesson is there for everyone else here if I said, I’m packing it in because a singer left the band? Suffering builds character, grit and it’s the kind of stuff that builds leadership through learnt and felt experiences not just head knowledge. Suffering births opportunity, and here we are – facing whatever could be, knowing we never gave up when things got hard, or when everyone else felt our time was up.
10. Looking
forward, do you see Threnody: Songs of Perseverance as closing a chapter for
Lower Hollow, or as the beginning of an entirely new era with Kathryn at the
helm?
Kathryn: I don't know about being "at
the helm"! Front person doesn't automatically mean forerunner. But I do
get the strong sense the tables are turning, and a new chapter has begun for
LH. That's what this album redux represents more than anything.
Hennie: I joined after 2 albums had already
been released and in the process of doing a redux of the second. I saw Lower
Hollow performing, and the blend of melody and punk immediately resonated with
me as they sounded like a mix of so many bands I listened to in my formative
years.
These guys
were already playing what I wanted to hear. Some of the sonic elements will
likely stay in this new era with Kathryn. She has already discussed how she
wants to convey the band's message differently from how it was done before. A
new frontwoman will obviously mark the beginning of a new era. I'd like to
build on the foundation that's already there, but stylistically and lyrically
it's definitely a new era which I'm looking forward to contribute to.
Ashley:
This is definitely the beginning of a new era for Lower Hollow.
We have new
material in the works that we’ve been working on almost since Kathryn joined
the lineup, and so yeh while the initial focus was re-recording Threnody, it
was purely done so that anyone seeing us live, could enjoy the sound of
whatever they just saw live, and not feel confused by hearing a male after
having just seen a female on stage.
There’s a really beautiful feeling in our camp, positive forward motion and just authentic excitement almost as though everything is brand new for us. We’ve truly come into our own space quite quickly under the lineup revision, and its honestly as though everyone is connecting all the right emotional dots, weaving themselves into what the band is. As the only original member remaining, it’s a beautiful thing to see unfolding right in front of your eyes.
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