Interview: Know Your LA Bands with The Happy Hollows

BeatCrave brings you band, The Happy Hollows, as part of your Know Your LA Bands series. The Happy Hollows are as quirky as their name sounds: Intriguing, fun, but mostly one of a kind. Sarah Negahdari, Charles Mahoney, and Chris Hernandez have all been happily making art for LA music lovers for years, and they still know how lucky they are to be in the scene. They know things change for the better, and just go with the flow. Although they are often compared to Pixies and Sonic Youth (mostly due to Sarah’s Kim Deal-esque vocals and stage persona), their material has a young blossoming charm to it with addicting melodies and scorching rips on top of distorted wilderness. The Happy Hollows are the epitome of local and pure post-punk.

Catch their next show at The Ruby Room in Phoenix, Arizona. (See their MySpace for more tour dates.) If there’s one band you want to see taken over by their own music, The Happy Hollows is it. Until then, check out the exclusive interview I was lucky enough to get with their very own Sarah Negahdari below! You’ll learn why she loves festivals and why she hates the song, “Kiss From a Rose.”

The first time I saw you guys live was when you performed at the Los Feliz Village Street Fair this past summer. I remember it was on my way out of the festival, but when I heard you guys I stopped and thought: Who ARE these guys? It was such a rad performance. Then I was stoked to find out you guys were playing Sunset Junction later on. What’s the great thing about performing at festivals?

The great thing about festivals is participating with loads of other bands, and the feeling of having the whole day to celebrate. I also love playing during the daylight hours!

Do you prefer shows in venues or festival shows where they are out in the open like that?

Oooh, out in the open! I love the sounds of the streets and the elements – the daylight!

Where in LA are you all currently living?

All over. All three of us are spread out in all corners pretty much.

Congrats on your Imaginary EP. Where did the artwork come from?

An amazing artist named Tim Lamb.

You used to roll around on stage. Why have you cut down on that in performances? Was it just uncomfortable?

Haha! I forgot about that! I used to get covered in bruises, so it was no fun after a few times. It felt like I took something that started out as pure, a natural reaction to playing music, and then it started to feel forced… so I stopped.

When you guys are performing on stage, is what you do involuntary or is it part of a stage persona?

Most of the time I don’t remember what I did on stage. I just sort of get lost in the moment. It’s completely involuntary.  I mean, nothing is forced or planned, just whatever feels natural in the moment. It is a good question though, because if you meet me in person, I am nothing like how I am when I play my music. That sometimes bothers me; it’s like, why am I only “free” when I play music? But then this makes me think of when I met Will Ferrell, and I was surprised because he was very mellow and serious. It made me feel so relieved because I think many artists, even though mellow people, when they are in the “zone” something just takes over!

Do you think there are more songs that come out of pain than happiness?

Wow, great questions here! It is a perfect 50/50 balance for me. I get very sad or distressed or frustrated or whatever, and I crave to heal myself through songs. The messed up part is that when I am in those dark places, I can’t really write, or feel inspired; I’m just a mess. Then, something lifts my spirits, and I get to work! It’s defiantly a fine balance. I like to make myself laugh, and many times my songs are like insane little jokes to myself. So yeah, I’m usually in somewhat of a good mind frame.

I have a hard time with this issue, as I want to transcend spiritually into a place of only peace and well being. I know I sound crazy but it’s true. I’ve been purposefully hanging out in the mind frame of healing my sorrow, because I have gotten so close to transcendence and then I’m like, “Shit! I won’t be driven to heal my pain by writing. Then what will I do? Ahhh, go back go back! Don’t get too happy! Go back and join the human race!” Do I sound crazy? I’m really not!

Is that why you chose the name, The Happy Hollows?

Yeah, totally. That is why. Also, there was a sort of scary petting zoo when I was little called Happy Hollows that my mom used to take me to.

What does the LA music scene have that others such as NYC and Chicago don’t?

I don’t know, I really can’t speak for their scenes! I’m sure those scenes are great too. I think the LA scene is experiencing a culmination of the last decade that is reaching a high point. It is a little glittering pocket of time.  It’s like all of these underground bands are starting to come up to the surface… it is so sparkly, real, and a reaction to so much that has been unsaid, undone, and unappreciated musically by the masses in this city.

I think the breakthrough of several bands from the downtown scene has opened this really exciting door to a world full of artistic, leading edge bands that have been here under our nose all this time in LA.  Not just the Smell, but I think all the bands that play at Pehrspace, The Cocaine, even the Echo, and all the many nooks and crannies and neat venues around here. At least that is what it feels like to
me. I might be alone in thinking that, but I feel like this last year has been a sea change for the better in the local music scene. I am just soaking it in, because it is all of ours for this glittering moment, and then it will be gone before we know it!

If recording were actually cheap and easy, how many records do you think you would have put out by now?

At least 25. Easily 25.

Quick-Fire Round:
Is there a difference between a band-aid and a groupie?

There are some fans that are sweet and that honestly love the bands. Others are creepy.

What’s your least favorite food?

Spaghetti.

Are covers cool or lame?

They are lame if you’re doing it to be cool.  Cool if the song is lame and you make it cool. Cool if you think it’s cool. Lame if the song is lame and the only reason you want to do it is to be cool. Lame because I’m being lame right now. Actually, I think covers are cool! We are about to start working on our first one ever!

What’s your favorite music venue in LA?

Pehrspace and The Echo are probably my faves.

Tell us one thing about yourself we probably don’t already know.

Everyday for the last four years my neighbor in the apartment next to me belts out the entire song “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal. It has been happening as I write this! Every day this happens. For four years. Because of my neighbor, I hate that song more than you or anyone will ever know. In response, I usually blast the radio or crank up my feedback on my amp really loud to cover up her horrendous American Idol sounding singing. It’s like this unspoken competitive game she continues to play with me every day. I just don’t know why she always sings that same song. Anyway, no one knows that. I’ve never talked about it, but it’s totally weird.