Hollis Brown Comes to MPAC

Queens-based rock group Hollis Brown performs at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $29-$39. A livestream is available for $25.

Hollis Brown will perform a special show celebrating the 55th Anniversary of The Rolling Stones' classic album "Aftermath" (which includes songs "Under My Thumb" and "Paint It Black") as well as original music. More information is available at www.hollisbrown.com

Hollis Brown is a band from Queens, formed by singer-guitarist Mike Montali and lead guitarist Jonathan Bonilla. Rounding out the rest of the band are Andrew Zehnal (drums), Adam Bock (keys), and Chris Urriola (bass). The band has been releasing music since 2013, during which they released an EP and two albums along with a Record Store Day tribute to the Velvet Underground's LOADED album.

Hollis Brown takes its name from the Bob Dylan song ("The Ballad of Hollis Brown"). The group has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe, both on their own and supporting the likes of Citizen Cope, Counting Crows, Jackie Greene, Jesse Malin, the Zombies, and many more. And you've heard their music in films such as "Bad Country" and on TV series such as Showtime's "Shameless," DirecTV's "Kingdom" and MTV's "Real World." Also their music has been featured in the worldwide trailer for "The Founder" starring Michael Keaton along with the Winter 2018 John Varvatos runway show and online campaign.

"We really feel like the last of the great American rock bands," Montali explains. "When you play rock music it's always kind of a hurdle to not be considered a retro band or a throwback band because somebody is always trying to put you in a box or define you. You're always compared to another artist, another band -- who are great, sometimes, but they're...old. I think we want to make a statement that rock music can still be done in a modern way that is still as good as some of those acts from the past."

"Growing up in Queens I fell in love with all different types of music," he recalls. "we had hip-hop, we had funk music, we had rock 'n' roll music, we had singer-songwriters. Everybody in the band loves all those things, so it's nice to try and incorporate all those things. We're really open.

Making Ozone Park with producer Adam Landry (Deer Tick, Rayland Baxter, Nikki Lane, Vanessa Carlton) in Fort Myers, Fla., Hollis Brown enjoyed plenty of opportunity for rewarding musical adventures. Some of it had to do with the recording process itself, mixing analog and digital technologies as well as the sound of four musicians -- Montali, Bonilla, keyboardist Adam Bock and drummer Andrew Zehnal -- playing together in one room. "We did a lot of pre-production and did the album pretty quick -- eight days, recorded and mixed," Montali says. "We did some sampling, some 808 digital drums on some of the songs and synth stuff we weren't doing before, just to make the sound current. But if it's a great song it's always a great song, no matter how you dress them up."

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