Entertainment Features

HOLLERADO: From Moscow to Ridgeway

By David DeRocco

While Canada’s allies around the world scramble to deal with an emboldened Vladimir Putin and his election-hacking, spy-poisoning, diplomat-expelling activities, the covert agents of Canadian rock known as HOLLERADO are quietly celebrating the one-year anniversary of their own successful invasion of Moscow.

“That was fucking amazing,” said lead vocalist/guitarist Menno Versteeg, recalling the band’s 2017 outdoor concert in the Russian capital with fellow Canucks SUM 41. “That was one of the most incredible experiences. There were over 7,000 people at the show we played. And then we announced from that stage that we were going to play a small club that held 400 and it sold out the next day.”

The Moscow trip was one of the many highlights for Hollerado in a year spent promoting their third, release, 2017’s Born Yesterday. Besides raising the band’s profile in Russia, the trip netted some other benefits for the band as they maneuvered their way through the crazy streets and oppressive security they faced in the old Soviet stronghold.

“We weren’t allowed to leave our hotel without our handlers,” said Versteeg, who along with Nixon Boyd (lead guitar, backing vocals), Dean Baxter (bass, backing vocals) and Jake Boyd (drums, backing vocals) form the pride of Manotick, Ontario. “So we became really good friends with them, became quite close actually in the time we were there to the point we invited them to come join us on tour in Canada. One was our guitar tech and the one was our tour manager when we did our headline tour a couple months after the Moscow show.”

A tour with Portugal The Man, a Sum 41 cross-country tour, a new album and what Versteeg describes as “a bunch of other fun stuff” certainly lead to a busy year for the band in 2017. And while there’s no plans to return to Moscow in the immediate future, Hollerado is heading back to The Sanctuary in Ridgeway June 8th (postponed from April 14th), a place they’ve played so often it seems like an annual residency.

“They’re just a nice bunch of folks,” said Versteeg. “They’re kind of becoming a regional institution run by some good people. And they feed you well there.”

Along with a full slate of summer festivals on their tour calendar, Hollerado is organizing a Labour Day festival at Hamilton’s Royal Botanical Garden through their own indie music label, Royal Mountain Records. Partnering with live events company Lower Level, the label will present Royal Mountain at Rasberry Farms September 2nd with a line-up that’s got Versteeg stoked.

“Mac DeMarco is headlining, we've got Calpurnia, U.S. Girls, Ought, Little Junior. It’s going to pretty awesome. We just announced it last week and we’ve already sold half the tickets. People should get their tickets soon if they’re planning to go.”

With such a busy slate, there’s no sign Hollerado will be recording a follow up to Born Yesterday in the immediate future. That's seemingly uncharacteristic for a band that once delivered 111 custom songs for the first 111 fans to pre-order a special bundle for their second album, White Paint. However, Versteeg says he and his bandmates are currently content to be doing exactly what they’re doing a decade into their career.

“So far so good. It’s always strikes and gutters, ups and downs. But being able to hang in there as long as we have, I’ve seen so many bands come and go in the 10 years we’ve been doing this. I’m really proud we’ve been able to truly truly make music on our own terms. It’s funny. We dabbled in a sound that was maybe a little more accessible for one single. And it worked commercially, but it didn’t feel right artistically. I’m glad we were able to make those hard decisions to not go down that path. You see certain bands that decided to go down that path, you see the success they’ve had and sometimes it makes you wonder for a second. But I think in the end we’re just happy with the decisions we’ve made.”

Hollerado and Guests perform June 8th at The Sanctuary. All ages. Doors at 8pm. For tickets visit https://www.thesanctuaryarts.org/.