Talking Everything Music With Holly West

Holly West: And as a hairdresser. And I put these songs together on my computer through a garage band and I was singing on it, but I wasn’t playing an instrument, so I was just doing these loops. And so. And he said, he’s like, You, can you play bass? I’m like, Well, I mean, I’m sure I could, you know, I always wanted to play an instrument 

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Zeke: I like to welcome everyone to another episode of the Let’s Gather Podcast I’m your host Zeke. In this episode  I have Holly West to speak about her music career. You can find more information about her by clicking the link in the description below. I like to give a content warning on any strong language used in this episode. I hope you have a nice day and enjoy the show.

Zeke: I like to welcome you to the podcast. Thank you for joining. Interesting stuff. 

Holly West: Thank you. Thanks for having me Zeke.

Zeke: Nice now let’s start with your introduction. 

Holly West: Okay. So my name is Holly West and I am the singer and basis for Dead Groove Band, and I also tour with the well-known tribute band Zepparella. And so I’m a full time musician.

Holly West: I also teach at School of Rock in Huntington Beach and do acoustic stuff and it’s what I do. 

Zeke: Okay, so let’s start from the beginning. So what kind of got you into music? 

Holly West: I’ve always wanted to play music and I had a lot of family members that were musicians. My father’s side were all artists and musicians, so growing up I had a couple of great aunts and uncles that toured and had their own band.

Holly West: And so that really inspired me to think that that was kind of part of my lineage. And so I really took a liking to certain music when I was younger and tried to emulate it and try to learn the music. And and I really enjoyed trying to play by ear when I was younger, even though it wasn’t very good singing and trying to play whatever instrument I could get my hands on and throughout my life I didn’t really understand music enough and probably needed some better understanding of it or better instructors to kind of guide me because it’s like learning a new language, you know?

Zeke: Mm hmm. 

Holly West: And so it wasn’t until later on that I actually picked up bass and then really started understanding music. And I started writing my own and playing in bands. Got it. So was there any wavering in your love of music, or did you always just like, step after I’m gonna do this for a living? Yeah. I mean, I remember when I was really young that I started listening to Whitney Houston and I was just in love with, you know, the idea of being a singer.

Holly West: And so through a sixth grade talent show, I wanted to sing I Will Always Love You. And I forgot the tape at home. And so I think actually that was the start of my music career. And I didn’t I didn’t get to do that. So I always wanted to eventually become a singer. And with what comes with that is, you know, I wasn’t trying to become a musician because, I mean, there’s a lot of singers out there that don’t know how to play an instrument.

Holly West: But I would tell that type of personality where I like to do a lot of things on my own, you know, And so trying to play an instrument to back that up was always a goal. And and so I’ve I’ve learned many instruments as you can see a lot. Just a few over here. 

Zeke: So I try to play an instrument before because of school, it’s kind of maybe hard like the muscles, you have to train your fingers to, like, move a certain way.

Zeke: And then you have stay on a certain beat and rhythm. How do you do that 

Holly West: It is of practice, you know, it’s just all practice. And the language is the, you know, the theory basically. And the language is audio. You know, it’s it’s all listening. And so you you kind of have to kind of just love to listen. I tell my students what I’m teaching, like learning music and playing music is 80% listening and 20% technique.

Holly West: So if you can practice your techniques and then really listen intently to a piece of music that you’re learning to get the feel for it, to understand the phrasing and, and to understand the structure and things like that, then I think that that’s a good way to go about trying to learn a piece of music or even trying to write a piece of music too.

Holly West: You know, a lot of it has to do with feeling and how to interpret the feeling of what you’re feeling into the music. 

Zeke: Got it. A couple weeks ago, my brother trying to teach me how to use a keyboard. I was like, This is this is different. 

Holly West: Yeah, it’s really hard. And you know, the keyboard is, is, is horizontal, right? So the theory, we look at all these different shapes horizontally and when we look at like the guitar, for instance, it’s it’s more vertically, you know, so you have these different shapes that go vertically that can also go horizontally, but it’s taking shape vertically.

Holly West: So it is depends on your poison. You know, if you want something that you can learn very, very quickly, the guitar is probably easier than the piano just because you have to learn these   different shapes and they don’t resonate the whole way through, you know? And so it’s hard. It can be hard 

Zeke: and continue with your journey. So I’m kind of like the best part of your journey so far of music?

Holly West: The best part of my journey? 

Zeke: Yeah. 

Holly West: I think the traveling. I’ve always had a travel bug. When I was 21, I took off and worked on cruise ships and traveled to many, many countries and I wasn’t doing music back then. I was doing hair and working in the spa and so I told myself that I wanted to go back and visit other countries that I haven’t visited or even states with music.

Holly West: And so I really have actually done that a lot the last the last decade so that I’ve been doing music, you know, going out of the country several times to play music and and then inside of the United States have actually covered a lot of ground, too. It’s only a few states that I haven’t visited or played at so far.

Zeke: Nice. And what kind of been like some of the bad parts that you wish you could change?

Holly West: I think maybe like the stereotypes and the, you know, the stigmatism or like the just different parts of like having female bands or being female fronted or, you know, the different ways of thinking around the quality of just having a person go up there and show their talent and not have to look at them a certain way. You know, I applaud people like Billie Eilish, you know, that don’t show off their bodies first.

Holly West: They show off their talent and I, I kind of want to be a representation for women, too. I don’t I don’t really want my my looks to come in between my talent. I want people to see to hear my talent first. And so I really like when I can express myself and just be accepted as a as a human.

Zeke: Got it. Let the music speak for itself and then not have other people’s ideas or perceptions of who’s making it and. 

Holly West: And there’s a lot of producers out there behind women that are taking their clothes off for, you know, entertainment purposes. And I think it’s degrading and I think that we can be better as humans to lift each other up in your music in a better way from the general sense.

Zeke: And so as you’re learning the instruments how, what was the steps in terms of that just learning, just playing by ear or going through theory first? 

Holly West: Yeah, it’s it’s hard because you’re learning a new language, right? Are you by bilingual in anything in Spanish, French? It’s  hard, right? You know, and we go to school, you know, we even get in these classes that they make us learn these languages.

Holly West: And we still don’t  learn them. So this this language is the hardest part, right? The playing by ear also comes with a lot of practice. It’s not like you can just pick up a guitar and play something perfect. I wish I could if I had like three wishes, you know, but it’s and that takes a long time to be able to kind of pick things up by ear.

Holly West: I still struggle with that. And so I have to look at tabs and stuff and getting better with that. But it’s just it takes a long time and it just depends on how your brain is to. There are a lot of people who are born, not a lot of people, but there’s a small amount of people I’ll say that are born with perfect pitch, and then there’s a small amount of people that develop it when their younger.

Holly West: But when you get older, you don’t really have that chance of developing those skills. So you have to have like a really good relative pitch. And so I try to work on my relative pitch and I feel like the more that I’m connected with music and playing music, that it gets better and better. And I mean, I know some amazing players that don’t have perfect pitch.

Holly West: They’re really good relative pitch. And so a lot of it is just picking up the instruments and playing them and just getting used to playing with other people. I think the best advice I can give to someone just technique wise is to just  to play with as many people as possible with people that are better than you to.

Zeke: Definitely. And speaking of playing with people, how did you like meet the different bands that you work with now?

Holly West: Yeah, it’s it’s always like, you know who you know, with with Zepparella, I was I had put out a record and put out a Zeppelin song “When The Levee Breaks” on that record. And then a few months later I got a phone call, asked if I was interested in joining Zepparella, because they were losing their bass player. And so that was just happened to be that I had the right the right thing out there for people to say, Oh, connect me with connect with Led Zeppelin.

Holly West: Okay, She’s into Led Zeppelin, but also the right person. Say, Oh, I know the guitar player and she’s looking for a bass player. Let me tell you about this. You know, this bass player and what not. And so it’s kind of like who you know, and what you kind of throw out there as your talent. And then with this band and Fred, the drummer, he and I started dating in 2020.

Holly West: And so we just eventually wanted to sort of band together. So it just came out that we got a guitar player, which is a friend of his from Peru that was working with him before. And so the dynamic in our band is kind of crazy cause we live in Long Beach and the guitar player lives in Peru. Until we do any type of recording, we go to Peru, but our upcoming tour will have a different guitar player and and he’s actually the guitar player that we’re going to be using for North American shows.

Holly West: And he was in Megadeth a long time ago since Jeff Young and haven’t tried to play in a band called Kings of Thrash with David Ellefson from Megadeth. So it’s kind of like, you know, we know him, Fred played with him, you know, So it’s a lot of, it’s, you know, 

Zeke: It was a perfect timing thing yourself out there.

Holly West: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s, that’s the key right place at the right time. But also to be ready. 

Zeke: Yeah. Because when you need a bass, you know how to play bass? Yes. When you like. Okay, 

Holly West: Exactly. 

Zeke: We need bass. You’ll play bass? No. 

Holly West: Yeah, exactly. That’s how it goes. But, you know, sometimes when I got my first bass gig, the guy asked me as I was I was doing his hair, I was his hairdresser, and I put these songs together on my computer through a garage band.

Holly West: And I was singing on it, but I wasn’t playing any instruments. I was just doing these loops and stuff. And so and he said he was like, Can you play bass? I’m like, Well, I mean, I’m sure I could, You know, I’ve always wanted to play an instrument. I just haven’t really. I’ve I’ve been playing my whole life but never really resonated with anywhere.

Holly West: You only played a couple of things, right? I can’t really break out of the box. So he was like, Well, I’ll teach you how to play bass. So I said, Okay. And then that’s how I got into the gig. And there are a lot of people that do that, you know, But for the higher gigs, you know, the bigger gigs, it’s usually, you know, somebody that can already play.

Zeke: Yeah, 

Holly West: It’s just a local band. 

Zeke: That’s funny. So how is it like managing time and song knowledge with two different bands? Did you ever get mixed up? They played one song, play the wrong song. 

Holly West: No. I think when you when you get to a certain I mean, when you get to a certain level where you just you kind of understand what you’re doing, it’s it is different.

Holly West: But to someone who doesn’t know how to play an instrument, yeah, of course you would think that. Like, how do you, you know, how do you register all of this? But like I said, it’s like learning a new language, right? And so when you learn English and you grow up with English your whole life, you can speak different things in English.

Holly West: Like you could write a letter, you could write a professional letter versus like a letter to grandma. You know, like it just it’s the fluidity of the language. And so you get these patterns in your head. I don’t know, but I’m good with patterns. So I think if you’re good with patterns, it probably resonates pretty, pretty easily. Good with tone.

Holly West: If you’re good at relative pitch, you know, it’s all like little, little tools in your basket. And you’re you’re actually if they’re playing and you know, one thing like being not being a drummer, you know, when the drummer comes in, I can usually tell what song it’s going to be just by how they’re coming in on the song.

Holly West: Of course, I usually have my setlist there. I can’t look at my setlist. There’s been times where I’m like, Wait, what’s coming up? And she hits the cymbal or the high hat to go, Okay, this is the song that’s kind of intuitive that way too. 

Zeke: Like you hear it in your brain is like, Okay, 

Holly West: Exactly. Yeah, yeah. 

Zeke: Because that’s how that song sounds.

Zeke: And you just like, like somebody, listens to a song and just like start rapping it. Well, uh sing word for word because they heard it so many times. 

Holly West: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. 

Zeke: So with music, what kind of, what kind of led you to the genre that you chose or you play right now? 

Holly West: Yeah, that’s a good question. I’m from the South.

Holly West: I live in L.A. now, but I’m from. I’m from Dallas. And so in Dallas and the South, I mean, I’m very big on blues, country and rock and roll, and I’m not so much into country, but I like classic country, but I like rock and roll and blues. It’s definitely something that I’ve always loved the voice enjoyed. I also I do like old pop music.

Holly West: I like old R&B music. I like real hip hop music, not rap stuff. What’s current. That’s really not really into it. So I kind of enjoy all of those genres and not that I’m putting all of those genres into my music currently, but they definitely still have influence on my melody writing or sometimes my recent stuff. 

Zeke: Got it. And when you’re writing music, what does it feel like?

Zeke: What were you playing was like, What does it feel?

Holly West: What does it feel like? It’s a great feeling. I mean, when you’re writing something and it comes together, how how you want it in your head, it’s great. If it comes out worse than what’s in your head. It’s awful, but then it can become something else, too. I mean, I think when you’re working with people that you really respect, admire and love, that that the music seems to just kind of come off well and with with my projects you know I try to be as authentic as possible.

Holly West: And my first my first record that I Makita, I try to come off as authentic as I could going into the rock and roll genre, the hard rock genre. And then in this band Dead Grooves, I also try to come off as authentic, as authentic as I can be in the hard rock genre, but also the influences that we’ve kind of picked out for the band.

Holly West: You know, before I do any record, I usually pick out a song list, like the tracklist that inspires me to write the music that’s going to be on the record. And so I try to stay true to that and I think it really comes out in the music, too. So the feeling of being able to replicate something that you’re really feeling is great.

Holly West: And of course when you get up on stage and you can play it and it comes out great and the audience loves it, that’s that’s a great feeling, of course. 

Zeke: Got it. So do like a is like an imagine it? Because like when I dessign sometimes I can’t explain what I’m thinking of, but I have the feeling of the image in my head.

Zeke: But if somebody asked me like what to like describe in words, I can’t. It’s the same to you.

Holly West: Yeah, Yeah. Because there’s feelings and there’s also there’s feel and there’s dynamics and there’s also, you know, phrasing that comes out whenever you’re writing a piece of music. So all of those combined really kind of get that flow going. And so when you’re when you’re, when you’re building the piece of music and it’s just flowing together perfectly, it’s just it’s, it’s wonderful.

Holly West: But sometimes, yeah, you don’t really you can’t really communicate that. And in fact, in our band, the guitar player, he’s from Peru and he doesn’t speak much English and I don’t speak much Spanish. So the really the language, you know, our our personal language that we have, it doesn’t really work. We have to communicate a lot through the music.

Zeke: How does that work communicating through music? 

Holly West: Well, so when so Fred is bilingual so he can interpret things, but he’s not going to interpret things word for word, you know. But I can sit down with Cesar, and Cesar can show me a riff and I can repeat that riff because we know music right? But if he’s saying, Oh, is actually verbally explaining something to me, sometimes I have to play it out to actually get it.

Holly West: So yeah, it works really well. 

Zeke: Never thought of it like that, but that makes sense, it’s like you guys both know what is playing. So 

Holly West: There is a technique that comes with it, you know? 

Zeke: Nice. So let’s continue to your teaching. How’s that became about?

Holly West: So I started teaching after well, during the pandemic, really, I had been teaching before when I lived in Dallas, but not to like I know I didn’t have like a line of students or anything, but when I came out here, I started teaching online, which has been great and really helpful when we didn’t have jobs right?

Holly West: But now I actually teach at School of Rock in Huntington Beach, and it’s really great. They have a great program there. I teach anywhere from like seven year olds to 70 year old and anybody that wants to learn how to be in a band or play music or just get better at their own instrument and every every lesson is different.

Holly West: Every kid is different, a student. And so I also do band directing over there. So that’s been really good for me personally to kind of have that that skill set as well. Because, you know, when you’re in a band, that’s great. You can be a great musician, but if you don’t know how to like, really move the band along, I think that you’re you’re lacking a very important piece of the puzzle.

Holly West: There’s got to be, you know, a band director. It’s got to be somebody that’s in charge, you know, at least to say okay. And listening intently, you know, So I feel like my skills as a musician is sharpened a lot. So I’m teaching and I really enjoy teaching 

Zeke: Nice. And when you say that everybody’s different and they’re just like 7 to 70, how’s that?

Zeke: That’s like a we’re a different age range of 

Holly West: Very, very different. Yeah. I mean, I have, you know, preteens. I have elementary school, I have, you know, adult students. And so the adult students, I think really it’s a different mindset. You know, the adult students are looking at the little tiny details and just making sure that they do everything perfect, which is great.

Holly West: But sometimes you want them to just let loose. And sometimes the kids are letting with too much that you want to just do some little details. So and you do see a difference in like the very, very small ones. You really want to do it. They just soak it up like a sponge. You know, I could teach them a rift and they’ll come in the next time and they just play all the rifts that they know.

Holly West: You know, it’s it’s it’s really cool to see them do that. And I’ve been able to teach them theory from from point A to point B to where they come in. They don’t know anything and then they they leave knowing as much as they really need to go start, they’re either playing their own music or playing somebody else’s music.

Holly West: So playing in a band and it’s really cool to see that that growth in a musician and give them a foundation, you know.

Zeke: Definitely. I remember in six grade  we had to rotate between art music and theater to see which one we picked. And the music teacher, he put me on bass and I was like, I was like, This is, I remember how my hands are trying to like, just get used to that motion of where they’re going, where to place them.

Holly West: Yeah, yeah. And it’s funny because a lot of people say, well, you know bass is easier than guitar and it’s really not at all. In fact, when I’m teaching bass, I get into theory faster with bass than I do with guitar. Because with guitar. I mean, once you know the names of the strings and the names of the frets, the guitar, you go into shapes and then with the bass you have to go into intervals, which I think are more or they’re harder than learning just the shapes.

Holly West: Right? And so yeah, I it’s it’s, it’s a journey. 

Zeke: Nice. Before we continue, is there anything you want to say that I didn’t ask? 

Holly West: Yeah. I mean, we drop the record for Dead Groove March 30th. It’s out now and then we’ll have pre-sales for the for the record version and physical record at the end of this month. And everything that we are doing is on our website.

Holly West: We’re actually doing a whole tour starting next month, all North America, and then we’re going back to Peru at the end of the year. So most of US date will be with with Jeff Young. And until we get Cesar out here because we’re going through a paperwork thing, it’s the immigration thing. You know, it’s insane. And so anyways, hopefully that will get solved very soon, but we’ll have Cesar with us.

Holly West: But for the time being, we have Jeff, who is great and he’s done some shows with us already and everybody seems to be welcoming, welcoming him very well. But we’re starting up in the northeast. We’re going to go and then we’re going to do like kind of the Midwest. We do some West Coast dates and so all in the end of the year.

Holly West: So you can go to the website, look for that, and then all of our socials. You can get Dead Groove.

Zeke: Nice is there anything you want to add before I guess, end or continue.

Holly West: No I’m Good. Thank you for having me. 

Zeke: Thank you for joining. 

Zeke: That brings another episode of The Let’s Gather Podcast to a close. Again you can find more information about Holly West by clicking the link in this question below for next week. I have Hank Paul to speak about how to be inclusive. I hope you continue to have a nice day and hope to see you there.

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