Scene Point Blank is excited to share a new split EP between Holler House and Busey, out today on all formats.
Both Minneapolis-based bands play noisey post-punk influenced tunes, but each adding its own spices to the base of howling vocals and punchy rhythms. The two groups have known each other for a long time, sharing bills across the upper Midwest and eventually teaming up for this split.
Check out the songs below, and keep reading to get the scoop on how the bands met – and how the EP – came to be. The record officially releases on 10” vinyl and digital platforms via Jetsam-Flotsam.
Speaking of the EP’s origins, we’ll turn the mic over to a member of each band:
Alan Erbach from Holler House:
Holler House first met Busey at the late Triple Rock Social Club, where Dan from Busey was one of the sound engineers. We played some of our earliest shows as Holler House to basically no one on weekday nights. Shit always sounded so good. We probably went back-and-forth with Dan on getting show with Busey for months, because dad-time made it hard to schedule things. But when we finally shared a bill with them at the late Grumpy's downtown a few winters ago, our jaws dropped.
Busey hit the hell out of their set, in a way we hadn't seen in town for a while. It was super fun to play next to that rawness and aggression. It was so refreshing. So when they asked us to hop on a bill in Winona the next week, we quickly obliged. After several more shows with them in-and-out of town made this quite an easy choice to release music together. I don't know, maybe Busey remembers it differently.
I wouldn't say that we picked songs that would pair well with Busey, but we definitely recorded our the hardest, most politically- and socially-driven songs we've ever written. It made more sense that it be coupled with a band that shared the same energy. But in short, it's just fun to release music with your friends. We're writing music differently (read: slower), and we're kind of digging this format to create physical releases at our own pace with like-minded musicians and humans.
Dan Berndt from Busey:
Yeah, I remember watching Holler House for the first time while running sound at the Triple Rock. Blown away. I think I bugged them about their amps and short-changed them for a copy of Lodge. For some reason, I left with the impression I might’ve rubbed them the wrong way (in hindsight was all in my head) and was actually a little embarrassed to ask them to do a show with Busey.
A few months later Busey opened a show at Amsterdam with Lutheran Heat [Garth Blomberg from Holler House's other band]. Garth approached us after the show and to my relief at the time we started talking about setting up a show with Holler House at some point. Took a few months but finally got one set up during our residency at the late Grumpy’s Bar in downtown MPLS. Just felt right. One of those shows where as you’re watching the other band you’re thinking, “These people get it.” We brought them to Ed’s NoName in Winona the following week and they brought us to the Aquarium in Fargo about a month after that. We shared a lot of each other’s gear (mostly, we borrowed their stuff) and there was definitely this feeling of camaraderie.
We shared some more bills in town and regionally and after we played this bar in Marshfield, WI called Goodfella’s I think they approached us with the idea. We were into it immediately. It's always felt like we’ve been brothers cut from the same sonic cloth. We live in the same house but take different ways home. I feel like they have a more focused and calculated approach. Very cutting, smart, and intentional. Amazing songwriting. Whereas I’ve always felt Busey’s approach is more like putting your thumb on the end of a hose and trying not to lose control of the flow. But in the end our themes, drive, and overall outlook I think mesh really well. There is definitely a special kind if electricity in the air at a Holler House / Busey show.
On the split, we definitely wanted to put our best foot forward knowing Holler House was going to be throwing down as well. We knew we wanted to record "Yellow Tale" without a doubt. We chose "Lazy Sunday" because we wanted to challenge ourselves a bit as it's a little different than our norm, and to be totally honest because it’s in a different key than "Yellow Tale" and for some reason A-flat is a common key for Busey songs.
---
photo by Alan Erbach
