Fandom Mania!

This month has been super crazy for anyone in a fandom. There was drama, tours, music releases, and celebrations. I've never been so overwhelmed with so much musical news. It seemed like no fandom was safe. Some of the trends on social media weren't even music related, but instead connected to Vine stars and the drama in their world. I love Vine and music, so this month has been completely mental. I'll start off with the drama and not so good news. I figure it will be nice to end this on a high note! 

First, I'm going to mention something/someone not music related. Carter Reynolds. If you haven't heard of him then you won't be reading this because you don't have access to the internet. Carter has been in the middle of an Oral Sex video leak followed by death threats which led Carter to have suicidal thoughts. It's impossible for anyone to state their opinion on this topic without offending someone. I am going to say that I feel for Carter. He doesn't deserve what he's been through and still dealing with. Everybody makes mistakes. He has apologized for his repeatedly and has been trying to make things better. This "sexual assault" on his girlfriend at the time was hardly a sexual assault. That's coming from someone who was been through over three of them. You can dislike Carter for what he did and said to Maggie (his ex-girlfriend), but sending him death threats and telling him to kill himself was and still is completely unnecessary. Maggie said that she was sent to the hospital under suicide watch, but yet she was posting videos of her dancing on Snapchat and staying active on other social media platforms. As I have stayed a couple days in an institute before, I can personally tell you that she was just winding people up. You are not allowed to have cells phones while there. If you are in the hospital, you would not be "whipping" around your room to entertain your Snapchat followers. This caused Carter to get more backlash and push him to the point of trying to commit suicide. People said he was faking and continued sending hate. If you did that, you are just as much of a low life as you think Carter is.

Kenny and Wes' first single together

Keaton performing with NGO live

The drama in the music industry isn't quite as serious as that. Taylor Swift and Nikki Minaj started a Twitter war over the VMAs music video of the year award. Honestly I couldn't care less because I'm not fond of either artist and I don't think either of them deserve to be nominated for the award. More important news for me would be the fact that the me members of Emblem3 have decided to work on separate projects. Wesley Stromberg has started a project called The Balcony with Kenny Holland. Keaton Stromberg has started his own band, "Never Getting Older", and they've already had their first live show together. (It was amazing by the way) The two say that Emblem3 is still together, but fans are starting to think that they are approaching the end. Just yesterday, a majority of the Emblems found out that Wesley and Kenny were moving to Washington together, Wes' hometown. Keaton remains in Cali along with Tyler Case as far as I know. Neither of them have spoken about the change. I'm waiting anxiously waiting on the edge of my seat for one of them to mention the future of Emblem3.

He'd be a good dad though!

Let's talk about Daddy Directioner now. And no, I'm not talking about Liam Payne.  Mr. Louis Tomlinson is rumored to be expecting a child. I don't want to touch on this subject too much either. Not because it's a touchy subject, but because it's as I said, a rumor. Neither the supposed mother Briana Jungwirth or Louis Tomlinson have spoken about the baby. Louis' band mates haven't said anything publicly either, however "sources" say that his bandmates are happy for them. An interviewer also asked the members of 5 Seconds of Summer what they thought of the baby news. All four them didn't have much to say because they didn't know much of it and Louis hadn't told them anything, but either way they are happy for Louis.

BYE and The Vamps having a night out

On to the happy news! I'll continue on about the biggest band on the planet. One Direction celebrated their 5 year anniversary together yesterday. 5 years of that band. Amazing. I'm going to start crying thinking about it. They have been through so much together and are obviously still going through a lot. It was heartbreaking to be celebrating the huge accomplishment without Zayn Malik, but the Directioner's still made the day a huge success.
Want some more music news? Before You Exit has joined The Vamps and The Tide for a tour. So many bromances are starting to form! On top of that, they signed on to their first real record label and released a single titled "Model". The band claims that it is the song they are proudest of and couldn't have imagined a better reaction from their fans. I personally believe that "Model" is a great song with an awesome message in it. At the moment it's one of my favorite songs. Two more of my favorite artists have released new music. Conor Maynard's single "Royalty" has been out for a while, but not available for download on American iTunes. Finally, it was released in America and I couldn't be happier. It's quite a tune. Check it out!
Last but not least, "She's Kinda Hot". I didn't think that I could fall more in love with 5 Seconds of Summer, but I was completely wrong. This song is literally my anthem. It's says everything that I've ever thought about society and my own life. They are one of the few bands that aren't afraid to go against the mainstream crap and the pattern everybody else set. This song is lyrically genius. A lot of people are overlooking the actual meaning behind the song. I find that sad because that's what makes the song so amazing. It's not the band going full on punk/pop rock or Ashton's kick ass vocal solo the whole fandom has been waiting for. It's the message in the lyrics.
So yeah! July has been epically hectic! I'll be ending it on a high note though with my 5 Seconds of Summer concert! Hopefully nothing too upsetting happens before then, but with fandoms like these, you never know what will happen next!

New Hollow

I'm a little late on writing this one. I've been a fan of this band for a while, but have never posted anything about them until now. If you haven't heard of New Hollow, I don't actually blame you. I would normally say that you've been living under a rock, but not in this case. New Hollow has been around for a while, 2010 to be exact. However, the group of three friends had been playing together since they were in elementary school. Their first single titled "SICK" was released in 2010 and promoted by the clothing store Justice. On Billboards Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart the single was able to beat out Katy Perry's "California Gurls" for the top single of the year. They also sang the National Anthem at the Thanksgiving Day football game between the Cowboys and the Saints. This was only the beginning for New Hollow. 

Chad, Evan, and Mookie

2011 was a major year for them. They became the first and only rock band in history to perform inside the Ohio State House. They also released their second single "Boyfriend". While it only peaked at #96 on the Hot 100 Chart, it climbed to number 1 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. "Boyfriend" defeated "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga for the number one spot on 2011 Singles Sales Chart. They released "Airplanes", a cover by B.o.B and Haylee Williams, as a single that same year. Just like the two singles before it, it was able to be named number one on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. They became the first unsigned band without radio play to have three singles be #1 on the charts. "SICK" and "Airplanes" finished #3 and #4, giving them three spots out of the top 5. 

The first time they got airplay was in 2013. This is when I heard them. Sirius XM was playing New Hollow's fourth single "She Ain't You" while I was on my way to school. The unique sound of Evan West's voice pulled me in immediately along with the rock sound and interesting lyrics. I fell in love with the song instantly. I loved the song, but the band didn't really interest me at that point. They didn't have their other singles available on iTunes, so I was only able to get my hands on "She Ain't You". "She Ain't You" won the award for "Breakthrough Song of 2013" beating out songs like "Say Something" and "Let Her Go". (I cried from pride while typing that...) 

The frontman Evan West. (Click to hear his amazing vocals)

I heard their newest song "Why Don't You Love Me" when I decided to creep on their iTunes page. Like before, I instantly fell in love with the song and had to buy it that second. There was just something about their sound, their vocals. I fell even harder for the band when I learned more about them. After I heard "Why Don't You Love Me" I decided to have a little stalking session. I went on all kinds of social media sites to learn about New Hollow. The first place I went was YouTube. Judging by their sound, I had figured that they were an older group, but I was way off. I was left speechless when I saw how young of a band they actually were. As I watched the video for "She Ain't You" I struggled to comprehend the fact that the voice I was hearing was coming from Evan West. It didn't match his looks at all and took me by total surprise. So, my love for them as individuals and as a group grew.

They've only had one song get massive airplay, but they have managed to dominate the Singles Sales Charts and show the world how much talent they had. Mookie Clouse and Evan West are both 19. The youngest of the band, their drummer--Chad Blashford-- is 18. That means that they were about 14 and 15 when they released their first few singles and 16 or 17 when they came out with "She Ain't You". Does they sound like they're that young? If you say yes, you definitely need some help. I consider myself a music expert, and I never would have thought they were that young. They are amazing, talented, and mature artists for their age. You don't hear of a rock band that consists of teenagers very often. Their different, young, talented, and simply amazing. They deserve to get a lot more notice and I mean A LOT! I've seriously never thought that an artist has been so over looked before, except for Paradise Fears maybe. 

Anyways, New Hollow isn't so new anymore, but they are still a young band with a shit ton of potential. You can tell that just by what they accomplished on their own, without a record label.They deserve to get some recognition in the music industry.