3 Years Hollow Release “Among the Waves”

The Quad Cities own 3 Years Hollow called "Among the Waves".  You of course remember these fellas from "Chemical Ride" that gets spins on the radio around the nation.

When I saw they released a new song, I clicked immediately to see what these guys have been up to.  I was greeted with an onslaught of riffs, guitar textures, and drums that dance.  They can paint a picture for sure and just like fine art...there's tons to break down.  You can find new things every time you close your eyes and listen.

Then there's Jose.  The singer who I talked with about the release & upcoming projects.  He sounds incredible on this song.  He's really found his voice with this release and I can't wait to see what's next.  In the meantime...don't mind me while I spin this one a few more times and ignore my responsibilities.

Here's my conversation with Jose Urquiza:

How did the seed of this one get planted? Riff first? Lyric/melody first?

I think this one started off with a very very basic version of the intro as you hear it now. Once Tony heard it, he laid the lead parts over the intro and we finished out the music for it. The melodies have been marinating for a little bit but the chorus was just written about two weeks ago. I was never happy with the chorus and there are 3 different versions including the final one on Among the Waves.

How did the production of this come together? All in one room or track by track? There’s so much going on. If people don’t listen in a “stereo” setting they’re really missing out.

There are definitely a few different guitar tracks in parts of the songs. The intro has a really huge space about it due to 3-4 guitars at separate points. I was looking at the dates on the Pro Tools session from when we first started messing with this demo and it was April 2018, so some of these details are a little foggy haha. We've been playing a version of this song live for a couple years now, so it just felt right to get it out and released.

You mentioned you’ve been sitting on this one for a while. When you record/produce a song…are you constantly tweaking it? What makes a song “done”?

Yeah, especially when it's my own project. We should have put this song out a year ago, but the chorus was just not there for me. I had to feel something myself in it and I finally do.

Jose, you really seems to have found your voice. It’s a different delivery than a song like “Chemical Ride”. Is this an evolution for you or specific delivery/artistic choice this song needed? It seems more (for lack of a better word) “mature”. It sounds like “you”. I’m really impressed!

Thank you very much for that. I didn't really think about it until you just pointed it out, but yes, I would say this is the most comfortable version of my voice. I spent the first two records really straining and belting to hit certain notes and melodies but I was never really singing properly so performing for multiple nights in a row was incredibly challenging. Over the last few years I've definitely found a range that I love being in. There is another song we will release soon that definitely reaches those familiar moments.

Are there other songs coming out? Full fledged album in the works?

We have another couple of songs that we will release soon. We'd love to finish the album this year, and that is definitely the plan.

And if you can give any updates on the Instamix and any of your other projects-musical and otherwise.

Instamix Live is doing great. We've got an event coming up March 6th at The Rust Belt with Instamix co-founder Morgan Rose of Sevendust, Barry Stock of Three Days Grace, Shaun Foist of Breaking Benjamin, and Blake & Zach Bedsaul of the band SAUL. Very fortunate to have met these guys and we're growing these events to different areas of the country as well.

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