october 1,
2002jojo asks *HOLLIS QUEENS & JENS JURGENSEN* of lo-hi a coupla questions
october 1,
2002
via e-mail
hollis queens is a fine lady. she's been trying to get this naive, stubborn brat (read: me) to do something productive with her life instead of working in an office with florescent lighting and no windows. that isn't the only reason she is a fine lady, though...
besides being the better half of blues explosion guitarist judah bauer (my fave blues-x member, i'll have you know), she was also the drummer of boss hog. perhaps the blonde dreads she sported in the mid-90s made me curious about her. jens jurgensen also served some time in boss hog, playin' the bass guitar. he is also a swell photographer (did you know that?).
lo-hi started out as a two piece with lady hollis on guitar and vox, and martin owens of speedball baby on the skins. sympathy for the record industry released "...kind of like a feel good thing" in '98, a really catchy, garagey album. my friend brandi & i sang "put a sock in it" like it was goin' out of style.
tiger style recently released "say it more", introducing the now four-piece lo-hi. i'll shut up and let them do the talking now.
question #1: best/memorable things about the boss hog experience:
hollis: Getting to travel to Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand was the most memorable stuff. When we were in Australia, we would go to this island off of Perth and saw Quakas (mini-kangaroo type things).
jens: Playing in Melbourne (1994) and have Rowland S. Howard show up.
question #2: how'd lo-hi come about?
hollis: From hanging out at the first Twenty Miles show. That’s how I met Martin Owens.
question #3: current lo-hi lineup? where is martin?
hollis: Jens Jurgensen - guitar, Tadayuki Hirano - drums, Justin Holub - (cute) bass player, Hollis Queens - vocals/guitar. Martin is probably out at a bar getting his drink on.
question #4: why should one buy the new lo-hi album?
hollis: So you can listen to it loudly on your home stereo system dressed in trashy clothes dancing in from of a mirror while singing along like some diva, instead of watching “American Idol.”
jojo: right on!
question #5: lo-hi is _____.
hollis: A Chihuahua who is far more familiar with people’s feet than it wants to be.
jojo: interesting...
question #6: words of wisdom to the kids that wanna be in a rock 'n roll band or just words of wisdom in general...
hollis: Don’t eat at McDonalds or any other fast food place. Try to eat real organic food, you will feel better and have a greater capacity for any endeavor.
question #7: little known interesting fact(s) about lo-hi:.
hollis: Justin is a biochemist at Sloan Kettering.
question #8: these bands make me wanna rawk (inspirations, new & old)....
hollis & jens say: Devo, Cramps, Kinks, Alice Cooper, White Stripes, Captain Beefheart, Stooges, Rolling Stones, Scratch Acid, Jesus Lizard, T. Rex, Magic Sam, Pere Ubu, Television, Troggs, Mississipi Fred Mcdowell, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, Jesse Mae Hemphill, Muddy Water, Howlin Wolf, Sid Barrett, US Maple, Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison, the Band, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Lightening Bolt, Pussy Galore, Pete Townsend and the Who, Neil Haggerty, Nick Cave and the Birthday Party, Ike and Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Dusty Springfield, Lorretta Lynn, Robert Johnson, Otis Redding, Duane Allman, Wilson Pickett, Robert Wyatt, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Booker T. and the king of Boogie - John Lee Hooker, the Sonics, Link Wray, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, John Lennon ("Gimme Some Truth"), and Bob Dylan.
question #9: _____ is so overrated, because:
hollis: Our opinions are overrated, because they are transient.
jens: Musical trends are overrated because they are imaginary creations of writers and not musicians.
question #10: guilty pleasures (embarrassing bands you like, things you do that no one would imagine you partake in):
hollis: On some level I’m a total clown who wears it on their sleeve; I think people would be more surprised that I like any good music.
jens: I’m not embarrassed by anything I like. No one would be surprised.
question #11: funny tour experiences?
hollis: Nah.
jens: We played a festival in Southern in monsoon rains and almost got electrocuted to death. Kept playing after the power went out.
question #12: how is life in NY after Sept. 11? how did it affect you? i remember e-mailing you to see if you were okay...
hollis: On my way to work, I saw the first plane fly overhead right before I got on the subway on 23rd street. Any sadness around it is cheapened with the ridiculous media coverage, playing sad piano and strings in the backround. The tragedy itself carries enough weight. Don’t ask Jens about it. He gets so upset over our current administrations' obvious involvement in the whole mess it is enough to make your skin crawl. For me it’s so hard to weigh through the whole thing, I’m very distrustful. I was so scared of the perspective of having to face your death in that way, especially choosing between an inferno of flames and jumping out windows.
question #13: rock 'n roll is ______.
hollis: rock and roll.
question #14: how do yr songs come about?
hollis: The songs float around and we try and get them to float through us, by practicing and getting out of the way.
question #15: where do you see lo-hi going?
hollis: Lo-Hi is going straight to your heart.
jojo: "kickstart my heart"?
question #16: lo-hi rocks because _____ .
hollis: we have so many influences. we have no choice but to rock (ha ha!).