East Bay, California-based songwriter Greg Hoy and his band, Greg Hoy & The Boys, recently released their single/music video “Holy Mother of God,” the title track from their latest EP.
Comprising four tracks, the EP features two guests: Eddie Spaghetti of The Supersuckers and Dave Slharma, drummer of The Skalars. Spaghetti wrote an alternate version of the title track, “Holy Mother of Ska,” which Greg Hoy and The Boys recorded and included on the EP.
Hoy has recorded with Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies), Sylvia Massy (Johnny Cash, Tom Petty), and John Vanderslice (Spoon, Nada Surf), and toured incessantly across the US over the past several years supporting his releases “Yay for Effort” and “Cacophony.”
Frequently compared to Jack White, Tom Petty, and Brittany Howard, Hoy has been a long-time critical favorite. Hoy’s songs have been heard on networks such as the CW, HBO, and MTV, as well as in commercials for Pinterest, Adobe, and American Express.
Tattoo.com spoke with Greg Hoy to find out more about Holy Mother of God, arguably his best release since Demons at Night.
How would you describe your own music?
Ah, I guess melodic, catchy, energetic (mostly), memorable? Mostly it’s an exercise in creativity that I quite enjoy, and it seems, so do others.
Tell us more about “Holy Mother of God.” Can you share the inspiration behind the track and the creative process involved in bringing it to life?
Me and the band retreated to my cabin up near the Canadian border in Minnesota a few summers ago. I’d written a song cycle loosely based on the idea of two humans – kind of like Adam and Eve, if you will – taking a rocket to Mars to start over. We spent a week recording all the instrumental tracks for the album in between hikes and bourbon-soaked fire pits howling at the moon. ‘Holy Mother of God’ was maybe the most riff-rock of the songs. We got all the basics done for the (as yet-to-be-released) full album. Then when I was ready to tour this summer, I finished this track and made it the single for the tour.
Carissa Johnson directed the video. Where was it shot and are you pleased with the way it turned out?
Carissa is a creative powerhouse when it comes to visuals and a fantastic singer-songwriter in her own right. It helps that she and I share the same birthday – we can work almost telepathically around the videos on which we’ve collaborated. Although we’d worked on a lot of videos long-distance, ‘Holy Mother of God’ was the first one where we got together from day one to hash out the storyboard. She flew out to the San Francisco Bay area along with the rest of the band, and we shot the video over two days. The first chunk was recorded at Soundwave Studios – a legendary rehearsal space – in Oakland, California. They have this big, cool stage room that could be its own live music venue.
The second big chunk was shot all around the cliffs and beach in my current home town of Pacifica, California. (Stay away, it’s not a hidden gem at all). Then we shot the final stuff at the Best Fest music festival at Winters Tavern in Pacifica. A great time was had by all, and for some, maybe *too* great a time. It’s the most collaborative visual I’ve ever done in my 20 years doing this stuff and by far the most satisfying.
How did you get started in music? What’s the back story there?
As the youngest of four (seriously, when I was born, they were 14, 16, and 18…), my musical initiation came in the form of LP records, and lots of them. All three of my siblings played instruments and were in the marching and high school bands. The clarinet and guitar that were given to me got extensive use as I entered grade school. My brother played saxophone in a funk band in the ‘70s that did some light touring, opening for Kool & The Gang. My mom was an oil painter. So, creativity was encouraged all around me. My mom belonged to Columbia House Records and Tapes. Every month, new vinyl would arrive in the mail from a wide variety of artists. Johnny Mathis would cozy up to Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond would arrive next to the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ soundtrack – so the idea of diversity in musical taste was baked into me at a very young age. It serves me to this day.
Knowing what you know now, what would you change if you were to begin your music career all over again?
There’s not a lot of regret or things I might change. Mostly, I’d encourage myself to create more music faster. My first tapes (yeah, it was tapes!) were sort of home-based stuff. I made an album at a studio when I turned 20 where I played all the instruments, and even got into a music ‘contest’ in my hometown of Pittsburgh with it – the Graffiti Rock Challenge. They almost disqualified me since it was not ‘a band’ but ‘a musician playing everything on a recording.’ Apparently, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Phil Collins all would have been rejected under those rules! After moving to New York City, I spent a lot of time sort of goofing around, playing in other people’s bands, and making electronic music. It wasn’t until almost a decade later that I released another album under my own name, and again, I played all the instruments! Luckily, there was some amazing press and response. Jack Rabid – the legendary publisher of ‘Big Takeover Magazine’ – said it ‘has to be the best power pop record I’ve ever heard recorded entirely by one person. Is he for real?’ So then I put together my own band, and things started to rotate in my own little sphere of fun.
What can you share about your writing process?
I write in fits and starts. Usually, I need a deadline. At this point, it might be a tour, or just an idea that hits me. I’ve been out of songwriting for the past year or so, although I’m working on my first fiction novel, and it has a band and songwriter in it. So, I’m writing songs for a fictional character here and there. That’s a lot of fun.
Which do you enjoy the most: writing, recording, practicing, or playing live?
All of it can bring me great joy or misery depending on the day. There’s a fantastic clip of Queens of the Stone Age mastermind Josh Homme talking (and getting drunk) with Anthony Bourdain, and he says something about when you’re away on tour, you can’t wait to get home, and when you’re home, you can’t wait to get away on tour. That’s sort of the artistic conundrum that fits me. So, if I’m writing, I’d rather be recording. And if I’m playing live, I’d rather be hanging out with the people in the crowd. Having said that, I take nothing for granted. My life’s journey has provided me with everything I’ve ever wanted, and that all comes down to my earliest discovery of music, and art. That’s the world I want, and the world I help make. But as anyone who plays in my band will tell you – I loathe rehearsing. Always have, always will!
What’s next for you?
Slowly, I will finish the ‘Mars’ recording. I have this book that I’d like to finish by the end of the year. And Greg Hoy & The Boys are playing wineries and breweries all over California in the late summer and fall – so I guess I’ll be learning a few sets of cover songs for the first time since college! Thank you for the questions!
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