POOL HOLOGRAPH
Bringing art rock to the city.
If you thought the sound of avant-garde 80’s and 90’s art rock was dead, think again. With bright and clean guitar sounds, raw vocals, and inventive production, Pool Holograph brings their awesomely unconventional sound to Chicago’s indie-rock scene.
Check out their new album Love Touched Time and Time Began To Sweat, streaming now everywhere.
Basement: How did you all get your start as a band?
Wyatt: I started recording under the Pool Holograph moniker around 10 years ago as a bedroom project. Zach and I started playing together gradually, and when we met Jake and Paul around 6 years ago, it almost became an entirely new project.
Paul: We’ve grown so much since then! It was such a learning process figuring out how to record in the basement through garageband but it was so exciting when something really clicked. I think meeting Dave Vettraino (of Public House Sound Recordings) during the mixing of Mortals back in 2015 was a truly transformative experience for us as the band we are today.
Basement: What does your songwriting process look like?
Wyatt: Usually we start with a demo either from a practice jam, or sometimes I have a more concrete idea for a melody that I put together as a demo for the guys. Things naturally progress from there.
Basement: What influences your sound?
Wyatt: We really like the spontaneity of practicing brand new ideas - some cool elements can kind of arise out of nowhere and change the song altogether. Musically, we have been very influenced by Ne-Hi, the Hecks, and Cafe Racer, and some long time favs like Deerhunter, Broadcast, and the Zombies.
Basement: Forced isolation can be a blessing and a curse for musicians- how has quarantine been for the band creatively?
Wyatt: It’s been a bit tough since I’ve permanently moved to Asheville, NC (unrelated to quarantine), but I feel like we’ve found a lot of new ways to share ideas despite all the distance. Covid has certainly been tough though because it’ll certainly change the industry on the other side.. We just aren’t sure to what extent.
Paul: Yeah, it’s interesting because while Wyatt lives hundreds of miles away, quarantine hasn’t really allowed that idea to sink in since none of us are hanging out with each other in person right now. We debated how to release this record or even to release it at all this year, but I feel like we made the right decision because it has allowed us to collaborate and be creative with the release process and art, etc. Having this outlet has definitely helped me keep my sanity in 2020...
Basement: You all started out in Chicago- what’s your favorite part about being a musician in the city? Any fun memories from tour?
Wyatt: For me, our best tour memory was playing in Toronto and Montreal. We got to take a good amount of time to walk around together and eat a lot of good food.
Paul: Same! That was at the beginning of our first real tour and I just remember how free we all felt getting out on the road and starting the tour out of the country! We self-booked the whole thing, and I think there was a sense of excitement in the unknown of it all. I so fondly remember stumbling upon a beautiful backyard patio bar in Mile End (Montreal) and staying way too long into the early morning.
“Chicago has a very generous, energetic, and uncompromising community of creative people. It may be quite fragmented due to how huge the city is, but it helped us gain a lot of perspective as musicians through witnessing such a vast variety of voices.”
Basement: Why is Chicago a special place to be a musician?
Paul: There are so many opportunities to play and see music, to collaborate, or to expand your artistic palette. Chicago sometimes feels overlooked as a creative city but that seems to be changing a little right now with so many artists like Nnamdi, Ohmme, and Deeper starting to get the recognition that they deserve.
Basement: What’s next for the band?
Wyatt: This release was our first on vinyl, so its been a big step for us. I kinda want to keep working on creating videos and starting to collaborate from afar more often.
Paul: Time to start writing and demoing! We’d obviously love to tour and play these songs live when the time is right.
Basement: What do you think is next for the industry given these unprecedented times?
Wyatt: I have no idea, but I hope it emerges stronger with a more equitable collective mindset that keeps the long-term livelihood of musicians and service industry workers in mind.