Posted on January 19, 2010 - by Mark Zonda

The black hollies: don’t be afraid to ask!

Having the honour to interview great international bands, gives you the opportunity to get in touch with the broadest spectrum of personalities ever, jumping from popsters taking themself so unbelievably seriously, to monosyllabic inexplicable would be monks, to modern rock’n'roll Tolstoy ready to share with the enemy their deepest and dark gloomy secrets. That was the case of one of the most peculiar and talented American Earl Grey oriented bands, The Black Hollies (Take The Black Sabbath, bring The Hollies In, mix’em together, put them out of time and beam’em in US, here youa re). Most unbelievable part? Not only I could have published this interview in chapters, like a Beatlesian saga named The Lord of the Ringos, but Justin Angelo Mory was so crazy to write the all stuff… BY HIS MOBILE!!! CRAZY! Here we go with the craziest interview of 2010.

Mark Zonda: The ’60s and flower power explosive melodies. Energetic rock, psycadelia and fucking great choirs. Is still that all we need to hear from music? Please introduce us to The Black Hollies

Justin: Ok, sure thing. Ladies and Gentlemen….Introducing, The Black Hollies. Hahaha! My name is Justin Angelo Morey and I play bass and sing lead vocals. Jon Gonnelli plays organ and guitar. Herbert Wiley V plays the guitar
and sings back-up vocals. Nicholas Ferrante plays the drums.

Mark Zonda:  How did you guys met?

Justin: On my first day of kindergarten, inside Miss Gail’s class, I was fortunate to meet the Black Hollies’ original drummer,  Scott T. Bolasci. The first words out of his mouth were in the form of a simple question, “Do you like the Beatles?”.  We became close friends instantly. I remember we both liked the same girl in our class, Megan
Callahan. Scottie lived on the next street from me, over on Macadoo Avenue, and we spent many afternoons listening to his Beatles records after school. Interesting Fact: All of Scott’s pets were named after members of the Beatles. George was the name of his dog, John and Paul were the fish and his hamster was named Ringo. Scott actually had an
old Ludwig or Rogers drum kit that was located downstairs in the sub-basement. When I discovered this bit of information, I remember being really excited about the possiblity of playing them one day. Eventually that moment finally arrived and Scott was kind enough to teach me a simple drum beat. Shortly after returning home from Scott’s
house, I announced to my parents that I wanted a drum set. They didn’t really warm up to that idea exactly and after begging over and over for weekes, I eventually gave up on my dream of being the next Ringo. Time marched on and Scott and I kind of lost touch for many years but we managed to run into each other again when I transferred to a
different high school prior to the beginning of my sophomore year. Around this time I was trying to assemble a punk band but the only problem was, aside from my friend Dave(who was already in a band) and Audrey(at this time she was about 6 months away from becoming and currently still is, an amazing drummer) nobody I knew  played any instruments. Then out of nowhere, while running down the hall to get to my class, five-ten minutes late as usual, I ran into Scott. After brief salutations, I inquired about whether or not he still played and most importantly, if he still had his drum kit. When he replied, “Yes”, I immediately asked him if he would join my band. He signed on
and later on that weekend, we were rehearsing songs together. Only a moment or two away from our third rehearsal, Scott called me up and asked if it would be alright if his “cousin”, Herb could attend our session. I had no problem at all and three hours later I was introduced to a fourteen year old named, Herbert J. Wiley V.  Herb was not a typical fourteen year old by any means. He could carry on with the rest of us and gave others a run for their money especially when it came to playing guitar. When he displayed his abilities one afternoon, everyone in attendance agreed that he was more than just the obnoxious kid that would cause mayhem on a constant basis. He joined the band and we became brothers from that day forward. Herbert is insanely gifted and talented. We have a unique chemistry together
and we’re tuned into each other’s mind more than usual. If there are people present when these moments occur, we kind of freak them out a bit by simultaneouly saying the same things out loud. (Currently we’re not accepting offers to perform these acts at corperate holiday parties however, we’re considering auctioning off our bathroom
cleaning service during the month of May.) Roughly one year after I had forged a pact with Herbert, I received a phone call from my friend Dave Leto. He told me about some friends from his high school that were in a band and were interested in playing a shows with on the same bill as my group. There was only one problem, their drummer was no
longer playing shows or something along those lines. Anyway, Dave asked me if I would interested in donating my drumming services to his friend’s band for a while so that they could continue to play shows. I accepted and he told me that he was going to have the guitar player, Jon Gonnelli, call me up to arrange a rehearsal date. About a couple
of days later, my phone rings and Jon is on the other line(heavy 2nd generation American-Italian/Jersey accent). We speak very briefly about their current situation and before you know it, I’ve agreed to meet up with him and the rest of his band members over at his Mom’s house, which is only one town away in Secaucus, New Jersey.  When that
day finally arrives, my Aunt Anna drops me off at Arn Terrace, my index finger presses down on the door bell. No response. After a couple of minutes, I knock on the door loudly and Jon answers with a large Mortadella sandwich in one hand and a bottle of Pelligrino in the other. He wasn’t friendly to me at all and the entire time Jon proceeded to act like he was doing me a huge favor by letting me play with him and his boys. Hahaha! Just kidding. All jokes aside, that day Jon was actually incredibly warm and hospitable and he even shared half of his Mortadella and Provolone sandwich with me. I still consider that moment, the day Jon and I “broke bread” together. That simple act of sharing his meal solidifed our bond as brothers by choice. He is remarkable and super talented and scary intelligent. He’s always got your back. Quite a catch(to all of the pretty girls reading right now, Jon’s currently single and is looking for miss
right to shower him with love and affection. He can make really amazing eggplant rollatini as well).  One day Herbert was riding the New York City subway en route to a Broadway show featurning John Stamos. While waiting to transfer on another subway line, he could see at the other end of the platform, there was a man playing an empty 5
gallon joint compound bucket with graphite drum sticks. He walked closer and closer until eventually being within a two feet away from this street performer. Herbert recognized that the drum pattern was a butchered version of an old song by Deep Purple. Shortly after he finished playing his avant-garde percussion performance, Herbert placed a nickel inside of the boot located directly in front of the 5 gallon “street drum”. The two of them exchanged names and struck up a conversation. Nicholas expressed that he had been unhappy for quite some time with the group he had been performing with. Herbert explained that the Black Hollies had recently lost their drummer and asked Nicholas if he would be interested in auditioning. A rehearsal date is scheduled and confirmed for the following week. It’s been
roughly three years since that audition day and Nicholas Ferrante is still eagerly waiting to hear about whether or not he’s in the Black Hollies.
Mark Zonda: Do you think your music is qualified for any kind of venue and situation or are you aiming to a strict niche?

Justin: In my personal opinion, the compositions we produce are created for all walks of life. I don’t believe in restricting our sounds to a select audience. People that appreciate good music are already aware of us and for those souls that have yet to discover, will naturally gravitate towards us in due time. The Black Hollies are extremely
fortunate to have fans that are truly sincere and loyal. With that being said, allow me to express that we are forever grateful for their continued love and support throughout our journey.

Mark Zonda:  What’s the craziest thing a fan did for your band? Is there a particular guy or girl following you everywhere?

Justin: Oddly enough, there really hasn’t been any real life altering moments involving crazed behavior with our fans. Although we do happen to have fans in certain cities that follow us throughout their town during our down time, the majority of them are very respectful of our privacy. We absolutely LOVE it when fans turn up to our shows with gifts for us. Especially when we receive chocolate chip cookies, gear, and that rare occasion when a fan locates a 45rpm you’ve been looking for and hands it over to you with no strings attached. If there’s one thing that occurs frequently thoughout our travels, it would be in the form having our set lists stolen at the end of our performance. It doesn’t
bother me at, in fact, I am honestly truly flattered by the fact that somebody would actually want something with my crazy penmanship all over it. When writing out a set list for the evening, I like to experiment with my lettering techniques, especially when I’m feeling groovy like P.P. Arnold. Nick is usualy the only member that will take
the time out to re-write the set list in his signature “chicken scratch”, Herbert digs my style and often encourages me to dig deeper into my mixed media arts while Jon is notorious for smiling after receiving his copy of the set list follwed by, “Just shout ‘em out to me, man and we’ll find that groove man.”. How can you argue with the man armed with an Epiphone hollow body guitar and a Vox Continental? I certainly can not so, I just roll with it man and meet everyone on that magic garden( Magic Garden was actually a low budget local TV show that my sister and I would watch daily. Now it’s simply a reference to that moment of enlightenment during our set).

Mark Zonda: What is the American reaction to these dudes playing music for a Brit oriented audience of 60 years ago?

Justin: Quite receptive and well received believe it or not. After they’ve witnessed one of our performances, they’re more inclined to seek out steak and kidney pies, Peter Sellers memorabilia, DVD’s of: Eastenders, the original Office series, and the Avengers, and they refer to dinner now as, “Tea”. Hahaha. Actually, the majority of the “Americans” that attend our shows have exceptional taste and are massive fans of interesting music created by sincere individuals and
don’t really dig cooker cutter/ “modern rock/flavor of the month” style of music (which has been dominating commercial radio for too long of a time now. Yawn.). Therefore, they’re very appreciative of what is occuring in front of them. Then you’ll have people that turn up based on recomendation alone and come the end of our set, they’re
turned on and purchase our discography and ask us, “Why aren’t you guys huge?”.  A typical response is , “Because we don’t sound like there’s post nasal drip constantly running down our throats and we don’t have any bread to purchase support slots on big tours(instant exposure to a larger audiences)”.  Sometimes you’ll have people that came out to see the random local band on the bill(Look Out! Every now and again, the promoter will throw this band on just to fill the slot and cash in on their friends’ unbelievable drinking abilities. This band is, “going for it” and they are by no means afraid to show you how they combine their love for: Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Grease era”Franki Vali, Enya, Lynyrd Skynryd, Stxy, Elton John and Jefferson Starship all within their 12 song set) and if they manage to stick
around for our set or don’t pass out in the back, they fall in love with us, especially Nick’s drumming, and to show their gratitude, they buy you drinks and tell you dirty jokes.

Mark Zonda: Why aren’t you guys hudge? I’ll have to ask as well… because I was really sure you were!

Justin: You and many others are asking themselves that same exact question. The thought never crosses my mind until the night falls and I’m all alone wandering around inside my own personal abyss. Hahahaha! I could simply name names and blow the whistle on the whole operation that’s preventing us from being massive but I’m saving that piece of
information for my, “Tell All” autobiography. I’ve often heard that in order to become “huge” in today’s music world, you need to have either a large trust fund of your own, an extremely close relative standing on the highest part of the corperate music ladder or a line of investors financing your musical endeavors in exchange for a more than
profitable return and 3/4′s of your music publishing. They say you have to spend money in order to make money so if there is any truth behind those words, I can assure you that we’ll most likely going to die poor. None of us come from families with large amounts of disposable income nor are we independantly wealthy. If you or your readers think payola died with Alan Freed, you’re wrong. It’s just living under a new moniker and used on a regular basis for those
affiliated with commercial television and radio. I find it extremely amusing when large major label financed bands, that already happen to be successful, release records for public consumption with dramatically reduced price tags or offer them for free. Hype is then created and all of a sudden they’re hailed as this radical group that’s challenging the dinosaur’s way of releasing music. A large number of retail consumers neglect the fact that there was some
serious pre-meditated marketing strategies assembled prior to this great unveiling. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of dollars spent on obtaining continuous heavy rotation commercial radio play. Why did
I go out and purchase that Pet Shop Boys, “West End Girls” cassette single back in the day? I wasn’t listening to them regularly but  I heard that song about forty times a day for months straight. In my opinion, it’s a great song. I don’t know why I like it so much but I really do. When I hear it now, it reminds me of a certain time in my
life.  Ok, I’m going to shut up now. Whether or not the Black Hollies become huge, based on our own genuine
and sincere abilities to write and perform what we consider to be quality music, is not up to us. In the meantime, we’re going to focus on winning the love and affection of new fans one happening at a time. For the future, I’m planning on meeting with the Food Network to produce my show. It’s going to be called, “Full Circle with Justin Angelo Morey”. My show will include a guest(s) that will cook with me as I conduct casual interviews We’ll have famous guest soul/freak-beat DJ’s spinning 45′s. We’ll speak about 60′s soul/freak-beat artists/bands that are well known in small groups but haven’t been exposed to a larger audiences. My first guest is going to be Jaime Kozyra from Nouvellas (www.nouvellas.com). She’ll teach me how to cook one of her favorite dishes and WFMU DJ Matt Finewine who has his own radio program, Downtown Soulville (www.wfmu.org) will be my first guest DJ. Jon is currently working on a radio program of his own called, “Bitter Hours”. He’s aiming to get an opening slot somewhere on WFMU.
Herbert has been compiling all sorts of information for his first cookbook, working title as of now is, “Foodman orders you to…EAT IT!”(www.diaryofafoodman.blogspot.com). Nicholas is currently auditioning for the Keith Gordon role in an upcoming off-Broadway play based loosely on the life and times of Keith Gordon during the filming of the movie, Back To School.
Mark Zonda:  Tell us a little about your new album. Was it fun to record?
Justin: Softly Towards The Light was entirely captured under extremely moody moments. In fact, Wiley smashed his toothbrush against the sink an hour after he tracked the guitar solo on, “Lead Me To Your Fire”. Despite all honest to goodness attempts, he was never able to properly remove the piece of apple skin trapped between his two front teeth.
While most of the faces in attendance were shocked by his frustration, Jon and I on the other hand, were completely in awe by his abilites to confront poor performance. We removed the tooth brush from his grip and handed over a bottle of mouth wash. Oddly enough, after rinsing with full strength for 30 seconds, the expression on his face indicated that he was no longer the victim, he was officially the victor.

Mark Zonda:  Is “Paisley Pattern Gound” still the best song you ever made, and are you happy with it?

Justin: Hahahaha! Actually, out of all of our songs, “Paisley Pattern Ground” is certainly one of my favorties. Perhaps even ranked somewhere inside of the top 5? Regardless, I don’t know if it’s the best song I’ve ever made but I
can assure you that I’m thoroughly happy just knowing that a large number of people really dig it. Appreciation for particular songs are incredibly  personal and strictly a matter of one’s opinion. Am I happy with it? Yes, however knowing me, I’m pretty positive that I often reflect on the thought that maybe i could have done something
different to make it really leap out. But that’s just me. I’m mostly never happy and almost always think that I can make something that I’ve just created better. Despite all of that, I can recall being quite pleased when that final
arrangment was completed. That was an interesting recording process(Casting Shadows LP). Jon was living out in Los Angeles and we had to fly him back home to record his guitar tracks. Sounds relatively simple, right? One minor challenge stood out in front us: We had one day to record all of his parts and out of the ten songs featured on the Casting Shadows LP,  Jon had only learned 3 songs during a visit a couple of months prior to the recording date. I don’t
even think he had heard any of the other 7 tunes because at that time, we didn’t do any emailing of mp3 files. We rarely do that now as it is because I don’t own a computer(I’m responding to this interview with my mobile).  All things considered, it was such a magical time for all parties involved. Especially when I was trying my very best(or
according to Jon, he’d probably say, “Worst!”. Hahaha!)to convey what I was hearing inside my head while the tape was rolling and the clock was in no sign of stopping still. Although he’ll probably tell you that he hated every minute and that he wanted to bash my skull in with a fuzz box and choke Wiley’s neck with a garden hose, I know he had a
tiny bit of fun throughout this version of our home grown madness. One thing’s for sure, Jon’s dedication to accomplishing that particular goal, still retains a special place in my heart. On a funny note, it should be mentioned that, “Paisley Pattern Ground” almost never made it to the table in time for recording. In fact, during the song’s earliest stages, I only had a handful of chords lumped together with little to no vocals. I had the melodies and I knew what I wanted to achieve however, at one point I wasn’t sure that these ideas bouncing back in fourth inside of my mind were ever going to reach fruition. Then one night inside of the Holland Tunnel, while driving back from a show I had played with the Dansettes(I played bass in the last line-up), it all made sense. The only trouble being, I didn’t have anything in front or around me to document this discovery. Being that I could not suddenly stop inside of this transportion
device, I had no other option other than to sing the chorus over and over at the top of my lungs until I reached a pen and paper to write it all down. The following day, the song was recorded to a four-track cassette recorder and shortly after we called it a day.

Mark Zonda: One last question before the mobile runs out of charge… Tell us a little about the Dansettes…

Justin: Where does one even begin when speaking about the Dansettes? Excuse me for I am about to flood not only you, but your reader’s heads up with visions of yesterday’s goodbyes. Allow me to show you how I take a
long story and make it anything other than short. It was the Summer of 2003, when the Dansettes were brought to my attention. In between drinking his self penned cocktail of choice, the Mexican Breakfast, a good friend of ours, Chris Ward, said to me, “You would LOVE the Dansettes! Check them out!”.  Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to see them live because around this time, I was out of town quite more than usual. A couple of years pass us all by and it’s
now June 2006 and we’ve been booked to play three shows with the Dansettes. The first one was also with the Dirtbombs and the Dansettes on the 29th of July over at Maxwells in Hoboken, NJ. We’re all looking
forward to this show because we had heard so many great things about both of these bands so, like Christmas time for the members of the Black Hollies and most people walking among us, we can’t wait for this date to arrive. Unlucky for us, about two weeks prior to this date, something occurs and we’re unable to perform on this bill. Well, I was
home and Hoboken for me is not even ten minutes away from where I reside so, I decide to attend this show. I missed the first act but I happened to arrive while the band members of the Dansettes were setting up their equipment. Somewhere under fifteen minutes goes by and then the band kicks into their opening instrumental number. It
could have been a couple of bars from a Booker T and the MG’s song, whatever it was, I was pulled closer within seconds. Then the keyboard player introduces the three singers and they begin their song, “Boomerang”. I’m now in awe at how well this band is performing and the vocals only enhance this whole experience for me. They finish this
tunes and the drummer kicks into this drum beat all by himself and then out of nowhere, a different singer goes up to the center microphone and I hear, “Oh my, oh my, oh my I think I’m falling in love again” and the other two girls echo in harmony, “Think I’m falling in love again”. I honestly can’t believe what is going down in front of my very eyes. The nerve of them! The balls of them all! The whole ensemble comes together and this song is officially off the
fucking ground! I was Incredibly Blown The Fuck Away!! I am officially a fan and unlike usual, I actually stick around and watch their entire set.

We became good friends shortly after playing the two shows with them and decided to display our new releationship proudly by releasing a split 45rpm single together. Dennis Pierce offered not only his home studio but his engineering service to record us and sweet snacky treats for our hunger pains. It was Autumn of 2006 when we entered his
studio(I simply could not believe tht Den lived up the street from me) to record our version, “Hush”. Some time went by and I was asked if I would be interested in filling in on bass for them for a New Year’s Eve show over at Maxwells. Without any hesitaion I responded with, “Yes!” and before your knew it, I was practicing my ass off trying my
very best to learn this entire catalog of songs. Fortunately for me, they were patient and walked me through the songs over a million times. In retrospect, this was my best bass playing phase of my life because that’s all I did. Every free moment from the time that I woke up, was devoted to practicing these songs.

One thing always leads to another and eventually it became all too much. Three months after the Dansettes’ SXSW, there were a couple of shows booked for the group and change was waiting patiently around the corner. Following a support slot for Vampire Weekend over at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, the Dansettes officially imploded.

Two different groups rised above the ashes left behind by the Dansettes. 1. Nouvellas. Features guitarist Dennis Pierce, drummer Andy Pierce, and vocalists,  Jaime Kozyra and Leah Fishman. I am also the original bass player for Nouvellas. Check them out: www.nouvellas.com 2. The Sweet Divines. Features keyboard player, JB Flatt and vocalist,

Jennie Wasserman. Check them out: www.thesweetdivines.com

The Black Hollies – You’ve Been Gone Too Long

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