When you load up Spotify, a great big chunk of the time you can’t think what to play, right? You default back to your old favourites, those albums and songs you played on repeat when you first discovered you could make them yours.
This isn’t about guilty pleasures; it’s about those songs you’ll still be listening to when you’re old and in your rocking chair. So, enter Teenage Kicks – a playlist series that sees bands running through the music they listened to in their formative years.
Next up, Connor Hallisey from Our Hollow, Our Home.
Parkway Drive – Romance is Dead
I hadn’t really been listening to heavy music that long when I discovered this band. I think I bought this track and another from iTunes when I was like 13/14? Something about the emotion in the vocals and the melody of the guitars combined with this overall crushing metal sound had me hooked immediately. Parkway are definitely one of the bands that made me fall in love with the Metalcore genre.
A Day To Remember – The Danger In Starting A Fire
My mum still says this song reminds her of me. When I first heard ‘For Those Who Have Heart’ at 15, everything else went out of the window for months. I couldn’t put the album down! I became obsessed with this sound of pop-punk being mashed together with metal/hardcore, and this song perfectly encapsulates everything I love about that entire record.
Underoath – A Moment Suspended In Time
I can remember discovering Underoath like it was yesterday. I just loved how different the band sounded to anything else I was listening to at the time. It took the essence of my favourite emo/post-hardcore bands to a whole different level. Lyrically this song used to resonate with me and my teen angst, and feeling like I didn’t fit in even with my own friends. “Define the Great Line” will forever be in my top 5 albums of all time, and I took great pride in telling drummer/singer Aaron Gillespie that when we shared the stage with them at a festival in 2018.
Linkin Park – Somewhere I Belong
My older cousin was a massive Linkin Park fan, so automatically, I thought they were really cool growing up. Then my parents got
me the “Live in Texas” album one year for my birthday, and I was genuinely hooked. I’m not sure if it’s just the relatable lyrics or the atmosphere captured on tape from those live performances, but in particular, the opening track of the album just hit me really hard, and still does to this day.
Nirvana – Lithium
This list would feel weird without at least one Nirvana song. They were arguably one of my first real loves in music. I used to watch music videos on TV after school religiously, and tracks like Lithium and Smells like Teen Spirit would always get shown. I think like countless others, I just found Kurt Cobain to be a really unique, captivating and remarkably talented person. I was never that popular at school, and I got bullied pretty badly, so seeing this guy who had unapologetically worn his heart on his sleeve and kinda made up his own definition of “cool” really inspired me to pick up a guitar and get into music from a young age.
Dead Swans – Ascension
This song and album remind me of a time when I was really just trying to figure life out.
I remember going through my first proper break-up, and this album was there for me. I felt like the words were being plucked right of my own mind. The way this song specifically explores depression and anxiety really captivated me and helped me realise that I wasn’t the only person who experienced these thoughts and feelings.
Bullet For My Valentine – Room 409
I got this song on a compilation CD with Kerrang! Magazine back when I was at school. I vividly remember putting the disc into my Walkman and feeling like I got punched in the face when it played this track. It starts with a little build-up that teases you before it just unleashes upon you. Maybe it’s purely for the nostalgia, but this is still up there as one of my favourite heavy songs ever, hands down.
The Amity Affliction – Youngbloods
If it wasn’t for this song, I might have never made it into Our Hollow, Our Home. I was 16 and super into TAA at the time, and I got a message from the original bassist (who I’d never actually spoken to before) asking me to come audition for a new Southampton-based band called Deadlines. I agreed to the audition purely because he’d sent me a demo of a track they were working on, which instantly gave me Youngbloods vibes. A week or so later, I’d auditioned and joined the band, which many years later went on to become OHOH! I still love how massive this record sounds nearly ten years on; it’s been very influential to me and helped me figure out what type of band I wanted to be in.
Circa Survive – Living Together
I went to a show at Southampton Guildhall, and Circa Survive opened. I think I was the only one of my friends who was excited for their set, and it honestly blew me away. They have such an atmospheric sound that flows between emo/post-hardcore and experimental/rock that just really struck a chord with me. I even got to meet their guitarist after the show and get my ticket signed. My friend took the picture in a hurry, so it came out a little blurry, but Fightstar were playing too, and I didn’t have time to be sad about it, hahaha.
Taken from the June issue of Upset. Our Hollow, Our Home’s album ‘Burn In The Flood’ is out 28th May.
