Making Up For Lost Time With JOHNNY 3 YEARS From HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD

Interview by Kris Peters
Bursting onto the scene in 2005 with a rap/metal hybrid sound that had, by then, all but vanished from the scene, Hollywood Undead almost made it a personal mission to revive the sound.
By the time they released their 2008 debut album Swan Songs that mission had already been conquered and Hollywood Undead have been waging - and winning - countless battles ever since. Fans flock to their shows, so-called respectable media outlets have stuck to them like bees to honey, and even the mainstream music market have embraced the Californian metal fusion outfit with their albums and singles charting through the roof.
And, despite all of these obvious pre-cursors, Hollywood Undead have never come close to selling out. Not that they have ever needed to.
After far too long between visits, Hollywood Undead are on their way back to Australia, forming part of a line-up that also includes Falling In Reverse and Black Veil Brides. It is a monster line-up that has already seen most of the tour sell out. But there are limited tickets left, and if you don't manage to get your hands on one, fear not, Hollywood Undead are also doing a couple of headlining sideshows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
HEAVY caught up with vocalist Johnny 3 Tears to find out what we can expect, pointing out the quality of the line-up.
"It's gonna be a lot of fun, man," he smiled. "We've done five or six tours with falling and we did a tour in a van with Black Veil 10, 20 years ago. I dunno, it's been a long time. We've also been on the same festivals. We all run in the same circles so you get to know each other over time. It's very incestural (laughs)."
We ask Johnny to run through any changes with the band since their last visit here.
"It's been ten years since we've been there, and fifteen… 2011 was the last time we did a tour in Australia, so fourteen years," he recounted. "Then we did that festival there in 2015, that's how long it's been. A lot has changed…. well, nothing's changed and a lot has changed, I guess. We're still going, we're just a few more albums in deep, we're ten years older sadly. Closer to the grave, bro but still going strong. We're very much looking forward to coming back and hopefully it's not so long between this trip and the next one."
In the full interview, Johnny reveals what we can expect from Hollywood Undead live, the dynamics between themselves, Falling In Reverse and Black Veil Brides, how their headline shows will differ, how they approach support slots in terms of set lists and playing to a crowd possibly not there for them, the early days of the band and where they fit in, the impact of their debut album Swan Songs and their thoughts on the album pre-release, how Hollywood Undead have changed musically from that album to now, new music and more.

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