Hold Your Own

Everyone knows about my new obsession, No Such Noise! right? Well, guess what. They have friends. Lots of friends, actually. And some of those friends just so happen to be in bands. See those 5 studly dudes up there? They're one of the bands. They call themselves Hold Your Own and they're from Voorhees, NJ!

I first saw them perform in the basement at the NSN house and decided within seconds into their second song that I wanted to interview them. I then added all the members on Facebook, became friends with Dave (far left), and in no time at all we set up a place and time for the interview!

If you're familiar with the South Jersey music scene, you may recognize some of these guys. One thing in particular that I really like about HYO is that they're all pretty young (18 and 19), but you would never know it. The way they carry themselves and the way they sound is something other local bands typically strive for, but very rarely achieve. They are 5 of the most talented people I have ever had the privilege of meeting and interacting with. HYO and NSN have given me faith in the SJ music scene again and I am truly grateful to both of them for that.

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for!

The interview was recorded in a coffee shop so I apologize for the poor audio. =/

Forgive me?

Below the interview, you'll find a BLAIRIELOUHOO EXCLUSIVE! :D

The guys were nice enough to allow me to record an acoustic version of a new song they've written for their new, full length album! (coming soon!)

I would like to thank the guys in Hold Your Own for their time and interest in my blog

and for being so great. I really think they will become some of my best friends,

just like No Such Noise! did. :]

Don't forget to go like HYO on Facebook, follow them on Twitter

and subscribe to their Youtube channel, as well as mine.

Downloads of their EP's are available on their bandcamp site

or you can buy them directly from the band members at a show!

All for now!

-BlairieLouHoo

"We'll Do What We Want To"

See that stunning man up there and the band behind him? Well, that beautiful man is Kellin Quinn and the band backing him up is Sleeping With Sirens, as if you didn't already know. Now before you get too excited, no, I DID NOT do an interview with them. This is something completely different and it's dedicated to my cousin and best friend, Jessa.

This would have been more appropriate and probably made a lot more sense if I had done it a month or so ago, but I'm just one person! Better late than never, people! Anyway, this is to encourage her to "do what she wants to" and throw caution to the wind, so to speak. She doesn't get much of that being a 2nd grade teacher in Kentucky, so this is my way of telling her that I am encouraging reckless behavior (as reckless as she can get that is) and letting her know that she doesn't need to be so hard on herself or over think everything. Just....do.

I feel like I should put a disclaimer in here now for my younger readers. I AM NOT encouraging drug use, getting black out drunk, robbery, theft, assault, battery, or anything of that nature! I'm simply saying let loose once in a while in order to maintain what little sanity you may have left. That's all.

Without further delay, allow me to present you with my "Do It Now, Remember It Later" tribute to Jessa. Love and miss you tons, love! <3 :D Enjoy!

Love Via Dance Machine

Hey guys! See those boys up there? They are Love Via Dance Machine from Boston, MA and I was fortunate enough to get an interview with them! Unfortunately it wasn't able to be a video interview, but that's okay by me! From left to right they are Alex, Wiley, Izaiah and Jimmy. They all met while attending Berklee together in the fall of 2008 and formed their band just about a year later. Since then they have shared the stage with such musicians as We The Kings, A Rocket To The Moon and Drake Bell. They can also be seen in such magazines as Twist, Bop, Tiger Beat and J-14. Their Facebook page has over 25,000 likes and their cover of Die Young by Ke$ha has gotten over 50,000 views in just 3 months. I had some questions for the guys in LVDM and here's what they had to say. Enjoy!

NOTE: All the band's answers are REAL and have not been edited what so ever. They appear just as they were typed by the band.

1. I know you all met at Berklee in fall of 2008, but what made you want to start your band?We all shared a passion for blink-182 and pop music in general, we also all got along as friends and wore the same clothes.

2. How did Love Via Dance Machine get its name?

There was a lyric in one of our first demos that said "We're making love via dance" we thought it was a cool name for the band. 

 
3. Who are your biggest influences?
 We all have many individual influences but together we all love some of the pop punk bands of the early 200's like Blink-182, New Found Glory, and Fall Out Boy.
 
4. What is your favorite song that you have written and why?
 We all love our new single that will be coming out in the next month or so, it’s called "Crazy Over Me"

 
5. Where is your favorite place to visit on tour?
 We love going to "In n Out Burger" there aren't any in the northeast so it’s always a treat when we find one. 

 
6. Who has been your favorite band/artist to share the stage with and why?

We really enjoyed touring with our friend Drake Bell. We loved his shows growing up and it was cool to get to hang out with him and watch him play. 

 
7. Do you consider yourselves to be one of this generation’s “boy bands”? Why or why not?
 We don't consider ourselves to a "Boy Band" at all. We play our own instruments and write all of our own songs however we have always been fans of the classic boy bands like Backstreet Boys and Nsync. 

 
8. Who do you find to be your main demographic?
 We have found anyone from the age of 8 to 80 at our shows! We accept all people and want to play to whoever will watch us. 

 
9. What is the biggest crowd you have played for so far and where was it? 
On our last tour called the "Shop Til You Rock" tour we played at a mall in Houston to over 1400 people. It was an awesome experience and we can't wait to go back. 

 
10. When and where is your next show?

We are busy recording more songs right now so we haven't locked in any shows for 2013 as of now, but make sure to look for us on tour this spring and summer! 

 
11. Where can my readers find your music online?
 Go to our site http://www.lvdmonline.com and that should take you to all our other sites like facebook/youtube/twitter

 
12. What can my readers look forward to from LVDM in 2013?
 New music! 

 
13. What advice do you have for bands just starting out?

Do anything you can to get more and more fans. 

 
14. If your fans were to learn one thing from your music, what would you like it to be?
 We just like to have fun and spread positivity with our music.

15. Do you feel your music accurately represents all 4 of you as people? Why or why not? 
Definitely we all take part in the writing process and we look upon our own lives and relationships for inspiration.

17. Final thoughts for my readers?
Make sure to check out all of our websites and like us on Facebook! We love all of our fans <3

I definitely encourage you to check out LVDM. They're fun, quirky and cute. What more could you want? Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to embed a video of theirs below like I usually do, but I'll try again later. Hopefully it's just a temporary bug. =/

I would like to thank Alex, Wiley, Izaiah and Jimmy for being so awesome and granting me this interview. Thanks, guys! :]

-BlairieLouHoo

WELCOME, 2013! You sassy year you!

Well, here we are! We didn't die. The world didn't end. We made it to 2013, so, now what?
Personally, I've been asking myself that question a lot lately and in addition to setting some personal goals, I have decided that 2013 is going to be my year. If I had gone to a 4 year college this would be the year I would be graduating so I figure I have 6 months. I have 6 months to make a go of this thing called life. I have 6 months to make my passion for music and promoting and interviewing and writing my job. I have 6 months to prove to myself and everyone else that I can do this.


2013 is already shaping up to be a great year of interviews. I already have a few musicians confirmed such as Hold Your Own, Michael Crimlis, The Artisan, Christine Dixon, Lessons Learned, Count To Four and Left Exit! I'll also be expanding and doing some interviews with some bands outside of the tri-state area as well as some bigger names that I cannot announce yet, but when I can of course it'll be here before it's anywhere else so stay tuned!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your continuous support of me, my blog and my dream. I would not be able to push through and do this without all of you so thank you for that. I really cannot put into words how grateful I am to not only have an amazing family and friends, but an amazing following as well. THANK YOU, BLAIRIELOUHOO NATION! :D
I have so many things in the works that I'm BURSTING AT THE SEAMS to tell you about all of them, but you'll just have to wait a little while until their finalized and everything before I go bragging. haha. It'll be worth the wait, though. I promise. :]

Well, I guess that's everything for now. Happy 2013, everyone!
Make it your year!

-BlairieLouHoo