Hound – The Ballad of an Aging Millennial
Release Date: 15th December 2023
In the first of our series of Introducing pieces in 2024, we’re pointing our attention at Hound, a five-piece from the east of England that are raising issues that a certain generation will be able to relate to…painfully. Gig going isn’t the same experience when you reach your 30s and it doesn’t matter who says it is and Hound are here to put that sentiment into pop-punk form. ‘The Ballad of an Aging Millenial’ opens feeling like it’s going much further down that pop route, East 17 vibes for sure before the guitars kick in and whilst everything feels positive the lyrics paint a vivid picture of the frustrations of capitalism, the futility of working your whole life for not much return and takes the time to reflect on where it takes you. Whilst the subject matter may be less than optimistic, there’s a sense of fun musically with catchy choruses referencing cleaning toilets and this feels like one of those songs that just completely goes off live. Get these guys mid-afternoon at a festival (while the rock Mums and Dads can still stand up and before the white wine fully kicks in) and you’ll get one of the highlights of the day.
To give everyone the chance to get to know Hound a little bit better we had a chat about the band, the music and how it all came to be:
Heya, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today! For those living under a rock, can you tell us a bit about yourselves as a band?
We are Hound and we’ve been together as a group since the summer of ’22. We are five 30-somethings with dodgy knees and broken dreams playing a Heavy Pop Punk and Emo mashup, we deliver catchy hooks, riffs and melodies with a sprinkle of nostalgia and just enough self-depreciation to convince people we are serious about what we do! we are colourful, energetic and you’ll always leave a Hound show with a smile on your face, covered in confetti, most likely with an inflatable banana.
You’ve recently released new music, can you tell us a little about it and what it means to you?
The ‘Ballad of an Ageing Millennial’ is pretty much an anthem for the average over 30, flittering between jobs, living paycheck to paycheck, being depressed with lower back pain seems to be the way for so many people and this is our way of saying we are with you, we’re all struggling in life and sometimes a catchy little chorus can be enough to pull someone out of a slump, it’s one of our softer numbers but it’s one we painstakingly crafted as a group to make sure you hear the best version of it.
Can you give us an insight into how you write tracks and has this changed as you’ve become more comfortable working together?
Most of the time we record demos individually and throw them into our Google drive, our singer Jamie tends to work in parks and troughs and he will pick something to fit his mood and write rough vocal hooks, then send them to the rest of the band to check out. We then refine the songs in our rehearsal studio until we are happy with the arrangement. We then record our parts at home and our guitarist James pieces things together, mixes the instrumentals and Jamie records the vocals and finishes the mix off, it works pretty well for us and gives everyone’s creativity a platform to be heard within the group.
What was the original inspiration for you wanting to get into music and is the current style where you thought you would head?
All of us have been in various bands over the years, from death metal to Ska but we are all Emo kids at heart, given the massive pop punk and emo revival at the moment we felt it was a good time to come together as Hound. We have such a varied palette of influences and style the songs we have written break a lot of genre walls and we feel it makes the live shows far more enjoyable for both us and the audience, we love the direction things are going musically as we are all having fun but things feel fresh and challenging.
Do you have any upcoming plans you’re excited about?
We have two singles coming out in Q1 2024 – ‘Circling’ and ‘The Way A Dog Loves Pizza’. Our gigging plans are temporarily on hold while our singer Jamie recovers from a collapsed lung but we hope to be back on the circuit for summer!
What’s the ultimate goal for the band? Headlining major festivals, playing a certain venue or just having as much fun as you can?
Our goals tend to evolve as we accomplish them. We’d love to play some big festivals and our drummer Mark considers his magnum opus being a Hound video on Kerrang!
Outside of the day-to-day band life, what gets you up in the morning?
3/5 of us have young kids so when we aren’t playing pop punk power rangers we are covered in jam and snot. We love retro gaming and buying way too much new musical gear.
Finally, are there any bands that you’d like to give a shout-out to?
So many to name but here are some who’ve been dope to us in 2023 and some good friends; Call to the Faithful All Fall Down (RIP) Keep Flying (see you in the UK soon brothers) Dead Reynolds Lonesome Lost without Cause Electric Press Das Kapitans Jess Davey Buried by my Heartache Fire Fall Keep this up The Reckless Jrowsy
Thanks for your time! Is there anything you’d like to say or promote while you’re here?
We do most of our business on Instagram so a follow to help us hit our immediate goal of 1000 would be awesome! Stay Classy planet earth!
We’ve added ‘The Balled of an Aging Millennial’ to our New Hard Rock and Metal playlist. Give it a save and a play: