Hollerado knows the meaning of quit
Indie-rock veterans will ‘move on to other things’ as final North American tour planned for this year
Indie rockers Hollerado are hanging up their instruments after one last whirl across North America. The Ottawa-founded band says their upcoming album Re
taliation Vacation, and subsequent tour, will be their final one after 12 years together. The first single “One Last Time” was released Tuesday.
“All adventures have an end and we feel that we have reached ours,” the band wrote on their Facebook page.
“We’ve had the best time, all the time, and now it’s time to move on to other things. We are all still best friends in the world and will cherish every second that we got to spend playing music together.”
Hollerado struck viral fame in 2010 when their music video for “Americanarama” grabbed the attention of actress Elizabeth Banks, who retweeted it to her followers. The video also caught the eye of influential U.S. music industry writer Bob Lefsetz, who made it the focus of an entire newsletter.
The clip, shot on a $4,000 budget, featured 24 actors each posing and dancing to the power-pop tune in a grid of boxes stacked four by six.
Its popularity gave an extra push to their debut album “Record in a Bag,” which featured songs “Juliette” and “Fake Drugs.”
Hollerado has indulged in various other projects that strayed into the absurd.
In February 2009, they embarked on a 28-day residency tour that saw the band visit the same seven-city circuit — which included weekly dates in Boston, New York, Montreal and Toronto — for four straight weeks.
They also released “111 Songs,” a5 project comprised of custom songs they’d written for fans who pre-ordered their previous album. Each track was written around two facts the person sent about themselves.
In a Facebook post dated Monday, the band thanked fans for their support and said things are ending “the way we want it to end.”
Lead singer Menno Versteeg reiterated that Wednesday when reached by phone in Toronto.
“Does the world really need a seventh Hollerado record?” Versteeg said. “Name one band where your favourite album is album No. 7.”
Versteeg said he plans to focus more energy on the slate of musicians on Royal Mountain Records, the label he founded, which recently made news for offering its artists help with paying for mental-health needs.
Retaliation Vacation comes out June 7 and tour dates will be “announced soon,” says the post.
Their final concert is already slated for the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on Dec. 13.