The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
Live From The Current's Studio and Events

Hollow Boys perform live in The Current studio

  Play Now [22:50]

by David Campbell and Leah Garaas

August 04, 2014

Hollow Boys - Spellbreaker (Live on 89.3 The Current)
by MPR
Hollow Boys - Melted (Live on 89.3 The Current)
by MPR
Hollow Boys - Wait (Live on 89.3 The Current)
by MPR
Hollow Boys
Guitarist Ali Jaafar and bassist Cole Benson of Hollow Boys performing live in The Current studio.
MPR / Leah Garaas
Ali Jaafar, Hollow Boys
Guitarist Ali Jaafar of Hollow Boys performing live in The Current studio.
MPR / Leah Garaas

The title is deceiving, but Hollow Boys — consisting of guitarist Ali Jaafar, bassist Cole Benson and dummer Monica Coleslaw — want you to know that Believe in Nothing has a positive spin to it. Liberating, even.

Hollow Boys, Monica Coleslaw
Drummer Monica Coleslaw of Hollow Boys performing live in The Current studio.
MPR / Leah Garaas

"When you believe in something, you're sort of shackled to that, and it starts to hold you down or keep you away from the things that actually matter to you as a human," says guitarist Ali Jaafar.

Hollow Boys, Cole Benson
Bassist Cole Benson of Hollow Boys performing live in The Current studio.
MPR / Leah Garaas

Believe in Nothing is the second full-length and third release from the Minneapolis trio. The album has a specific anesthetic approach lyrically and sonically, and frontman Ali Jaafar wants listeners to take away one idea: if something or someone is weighing you down, reconsider the role that someone or something plays in your life. As a band, that was something was forgetting the "two minute tops rule" for song length.

Hollow Boys, Ali Jaafar
Hollow Boys' Ali Jaafar performing live in The Current studio.
MPR / Leah Garaas

Listen to the full in-studio session to hear Hollow Boys talk about their favorite tracks on Believe in Nothing, why bassist Cole Benson had to watch the Twin Peaks series two times through and how saxophone came to be a part of Hollow Boys' distinct sound.

Hollow Boys, Cole Benson
Cole Benson of Hollow Boys performing live in The Current studio.
MPR / Leah Garaas

Songs Performed

Hollow Boys, Monica Coleslaw
Monica Coleslaw of Hollow Boys performing live in The Current studio.
MPR / Leah Garaas

"Spellbreaker"
"Melted"
"Wait"

All songs off Hollow Boys new album, Believe in Nothing, out now on Modern Radio.

Hosted and produced by David Campbell
Engineered by Mike DeMark
Web feature by Leah Garaas