Hollerado's Got A Brand New Bag

In these modern music times, releasing a CD in stores may not pack the lustre of the album launch of old.

But for Montreal/Manotick, Ont. rockers Hollerado, the long-awaited physical release of their Record In A Bag debut album still represents a chance to make history, by packing the album in an honest-to-goodness non-name plastic zipper storage bag (perhaps better known as the Ziploc).

"It was a little anti-climactic because its been so long since we released that album [online]," says frontman Menno Versteeg. "It doesn't feel that much different really.

"I mean, there are going to be people who can now buy the album in stores instead of buying it at a show, and I don't even know if that's going to happen. I didn't expect there would be all the other stuff with putting it in stores.

"When you put out an album properly, there's a bunch of things you need to do that have nothing to do with music."

The in-store version of Record In A Bag is an impressive package containing stickers, confetti and even a rub-on tattoo, all packed in the re-usable plastic bag. The CD label even comes with helpful suggestions on alternative uses for the bag. Hollerado designed the art themselves, and Versteeg says the band prefer the DIY approach as long as they can handle the workload.

Doing things on their own has served Hollerado well up until this point, as the band swung a couple of impressive trips to South America (specifically Argentina and Brazil) and China in 2009.

After their management-mates The Stills were invited to an Argentinian music festival they couldn't attend, Versteeg, guitarist Nixon Boyd, bassist Dean Baxter and drummer Jake Boyd swiftly grabbed the spot. Then, they found a street-smart Brazilian booking agent who set up an extensive tour in his home country, and even got them a spot on Brazil MTV's Total Request Live equivalent.

"I was sending emails back and forth with this Brazilian 'booking agent,' [quotes emphasized] he said there are shows and to just show up," recalls Versteeg. "So when we arrived in Sao Paolo, all I knew was that I had sent emails to a guy who said there would be shows for us. We honestly thought it was a 50-50 chance he would be at the airport to meet us. Turned out he was reputable and we became good friends.

"Not only did he take us to all the shows, he took us to all the tourist spots. He had a gun on his ankle the whole time. That was pretty cool. When we went to the beach, we were tipsy one night and decided to take off our clothes and jump in the ocean.

"I think back about it now and just how unsafe it was, and he just sat there watching the beach to make sure no one came to kill us."

Hollerado similarly turned a chance to play a show in China into a tour that extended beyond the usual big cities of the world's most populous country, including many cities where the locals tend to not see any foreigners.

"Everyone was staring at Dean's ankles and we couldn't find out why," he says. "Someone told us it was because his legs were so white and hairy. They would literally stare and point at his hairy white legs."

You can see Hollerado here:

Feb. 25 Kingston, ON @ The Mansion
Feb. 26 Ottawa, ON @ Capital City Music Hall
Feb. 27 Montreal, QC @ DLe ivan Orange
March 11 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern (part of CHARTattack's CMW showcase)
March 13 Toronto, ON @ Criminal Records (in-store)
March 17 Austin, TX @ Brush Square (South By Southwest Music Festival)
March 18 Austin, TX @ Nacho House (South By Southwest Music Festival)
March 19 Austin, TX @ Caswell House (South By Southwest Music Festival)
March 19 Austin, TX @ Paradise Cafe (South By Southwest Music Festival)
March 20 Austin, TX @ Canada House at Nadine's (South By Southwest Music Festival)
April 20 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
April 28 Winnipeg, MB @ Royal Albert Arms w/ The Besnard Lakes
April 29 Regina, SK @ The Exchange w/ The Besnard Lakes
April 30 Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos Cantina w/ The Besnard Lakes
May 1 Edmonton, AB @ The Pawn Shop w/ The Besnard Lakes
May 2 Calgary, AB @ Broken City w/ The Besnard Lakes
May 4 Victoria, BC @ Lucky Bar w/ The Besnard Lakes
May 5 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club w/ The Besnard Lakes