LOCAL BAND SPOTLIGHT
Bury Mia talks with our favorite Denver area local bands to get the dirt on the music, upcoming events and all the questions you've always wanted to ask.
hellocentral
Band Members
Rob Knox – Drums
Justin Jokinen – Guitar
Frank McGinn – Bass
Cody Smith - Vocals & Guitar
Q & A
Q: What bands currently inspire you? For those new to your band, how would you describe your sound?
hellocentral: All of us are big fans of Turnover, Brand New, and old blink-182. We try and capture the upbeat energy of bands like Blink, but execute it with the sonic textures of more lo-fi artists such as Turnover.
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Bury Mia: Love how you put that…sonic textures. Don’t even know what it means and it makes me feel buzzy.
Q: For someone that’s never listened to your band before, what’s the best song to start with?
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hellocentral: Carbon Fiber House is a good one, it has a lot of different elements to it and we feel it does a good job at capturing ‘our sound.’
Q: What projects were each band member in before this one? How did this band get started?
hellocentral: We’ve all been friends for years before starting this band but weren’t always living in the same place. Before this, Frank and Cody played in a band called Deep Waves. Rob and Cody were also in a band called Internal Light System during high school, but once college came the band couldn’t continue. Fast forward a few years and we all were living in different areas across Denver, and eventually came across a great deal for a house that we all rent together now. It’s got a basement for us to practice - it’s perfect.
Q: What’s the origin of your band name?
hellocentral: While we were first getting together and writing songs, Justin went up to Nome Alaska for a grad school sustainable business class where he met the super eccentric mayor of the small town. The mayor’s catch phrase was “hellooooo central!” for pretty much anything and everything, which he said was related to what someone would say when they called the operator for an area code back in the 60's. “Hello Central, give me 303” for example. After hearing the mayor use the phrase whenever he would see an attractive woman, it was just too awesome to not bring back home. After using the phrase ironically for a bit, it started to stick and we decided to name the band hellocentral!
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Bury Mia: I like how you don’t capitalize any of the letters so none of the little ones feel less important than the big ones. Not wasting words on lower cases and capitals if you catch my drift.
Q: Who writes your songs? Are there any repeated topics or themes in your songs?
hellocentral: Cody does most of the songwriting. There’s also a lot of times where a few of us will just be hanging out with guitars in hand, and a song gets created out of thin air. That’s always a great feeling.
Q: What do you do to prepare for a show? What has been your favorite show so far?
hellocentral: We have somewhat gotten into a habit of getting Chick-Fil-A before a show. I think we like greasy food before we play. Every show has some great moments but we recently played at Lost Lake and really enjoyed the atmosphere, the crowd, and the people who put it together. It was a packed show.
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Q: What are you currently working on? Any new albums, videos, shows or anything else that you’d like to talk about?
hellocentral: We have a big round of shows this summer so right now we’re just keeping our songs tight while experimenting with new songs for different shows. Once that’s over we will focus on new songs and our next recordings. We try and do something different every show, and release multiple singles throughout the year so we’re always keeping busy.
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Bury Mia: Big show on July 12th I've heard, Marquis Theatre I've heard. Supporting Bury Mia's album release maybe?
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Q: If your band was a Pokémon, which Pokémon would it be?
hellocentral: Blaziken
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Bury Mia: Should have mentioned we’re stickin’ to original 151 here, I think makes me old…I’ll post a picture for our senior audience.
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Q: What is your spirit animal?
hellocentral:
Justin - Wampus Cat
Frank - Pug
Cody - Anteater
Rob - Lion
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Q: What’s your drink of choice?
hellocentral:
Justin - Scotch, ice on the side. If the ice is not on the side, I send it back.
Cody - Fiji Water
Frank - Nothing beats an ice cold Guinness
Rob - Gin & Tonic. Hendricks to be exact.
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Bury Mia: Aint no PBR drinking in this band, you guys stay classy.
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Thanks for reading! Check in soon for more local band spotlights!
If you enjoyed this please visit Jailpocket at the links below:
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Facebook: facebook.com/hellocentralofficial
Bandcamp: hellocentralofficial.bandcamp.com
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