Atlanta band Hello Ocho released their self-titled record last year and left stars in our eyes. The band, made up of John Gregg, Chris Yonker, Clinton Callahan, Tumby Kohler, and Crick Childs – ran a Kickstarter campaign looking to find $999 to fund the album (they ended up earning all they needed and then some). From there, they decided to scrap their entire collection of songs up to that point and sort of reinvent themselves as band.
“We started digging a little deeper with our songs, and reached a point where we wanted more from them,” Chris Yonker told Creative Loafing. “We wanted to write songs that we wanted to listen to so we started holding ourselves to a higher standard.”
Upon the album’s release, it was clear that much of the writing style remained the same, but the music had became more experimental with smoother, dreamier tunes under subtle yet evocative lyrics.
With an electric on-stage chemistry, the band puts on a fantastic live show full of raw and powerful energy blasted directly into the audience. And their music videos are no different. Even through the barrier of a screen, the band is able to reach the same spirit and vigor they do on stage.
In September of last year, members of Hello Ocho opened the Mammal Gallery, a DIY artist’s space located on South Broad St. with the mission of gradually bringing life and vibrance back to downtown Atlanta. So far, Mammal Gallery has seen a lot of success booking tons of fantastic artists and musicians that bring people out of the woodwork and into some really great shows.
Hello Ocho has come a long way since their humble beginnings and really transformed themselves without loosing what makes them so great and not taking themselves too seriously. Lucky for us (and for you), you can catch them live at The EARL this Saturday (8/9) with The Convergence. Tickets are only $5, so you’ve really got no excuse not to go show your support.
Be sure to follow them on Facebook to keep in the know with what they’re up to and check out their Bandcamp to hear all their awesome tunes. Also keep your eyes peeled for vinyls of their first album in the next couple of weeks.
