Hollow Wake’s “Skin & Bones”: A Song About Healing
- Ann Schlottman
- 5 hours ago
- 7 min read
Written by: Annie Schlottman
Photo credits: Nathaniel Clayton, Kevin Harris
I recently found Nashville metalcore band Hollow Wake through a recommendation from my friend Kevin. They had just dropped their new song "Skin & Bones" February 20th, and he said he thought I would like it. I checked out the song and accompanying music video, and Kevin was correct! I thought Hollow Wake and their awesome new song would be a great topic for my blog, so I reached out to the band, and they agreed to let me write this feature.
Band members of Hollow Wake include Bobby Spencer (vocals and production); Josh Overton (guitars and production); Jake E. Henderson (bass); and Matt Bowers (drums). I had the pleasure of interviewing Bobby, and he was very gracious in sharing the story behind the band and their music.
The story of how Hollow Wake began is longer than the history of most bands. Josh Overton and Bobby Spencer have been in multiple bands together since Bobby moved to Nashville. The solidarity of their sound grew from Bobby and Josh always being consistent with sticking together and learning from each other with each project.
After the last band they were in, Bobby decided to take a small hiatus from being in a band altogether. That was in 2019 right around Christmas time. He came back from visiting his parents in Virginia, and he sat down with Josh one night at a local bar and talked about creating a new band, one that they would control the way they wanted and that would be something they had both envisioned.
That vision eventually led to the beginning of Hollow Wake. Other than Josh and Bobby, bassist Jake E. Henderson has been in the band the longest, and he has become a staple of the band. They have had some lineup changes, but they’re happy with where they are currently! Drummer Matt Bowers is the most recent addition to the band.
The name Hollow Wake reflects the message the band wants to communicate through their music. Essentially, it’s “the emotional movements one feels in the emptiness”. The word “hollow” represents the empty feeling while still moving forward. The “wake” is symbolic of how a wake in water is the V-shape created through waves from the turbulence and displacement of a boat or a vessel of some type. The band’s music focuses on the darker times in life with the trauma they have faced, as well as finding the small glimmers of light that come through the darkness.
The songwriting process for Hollow Wake is mostly back and forth between Bobby and Josh. Bobby usually writes out a full rough demo with production, guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. He then sends that to Josh to get his thoughts on it. Josh will work on adding cleaner takes on guitar – sometimes it’s parts of the song that he’d be playing, and other times he’ll rewrite the guitars altogether.
There are times when Josh will be honest with Bobby and tell him he can do better and to rework the track a little more. I love that these two gentlemen are so close that they can be honest with each other and accept criticism in the pursuit of creating great music. Bobby told me that some songs take longer than others to get just the way they want them, and there are other times when a song is a home run right from the start.
In some cases, Josh will write a whole song on guitar and send it to Bobby and essentially say, “Have fun.” He allows Bobby the freedom to write around the instrumentals and put together a full song. They’ll workshop the track until it reaches a level they are proud of.
When the songwriting is done, they’ll have Jake learn the song, and he comes up with his bass parts for recording. Then Josh, Bobby, and Matt will work on final ideas or changes for the drums. Bobby says it’s important to him that each band member of Hollow Wake has a say in his parts and that it’s not just all him.
The band’s latest single, “Skin & Bones”, was produced by Drew Bender (Bender Recording), Josh Overton, and Bobby Spencer. It was recorded and edited by Josh (Grey Space Recording Studios) and Drew mixed and mastered the track. Drew was the only person outside of the band who was involved behind the scenes.
“Skin & Bones” is a high-energy, fast-paced song. Bobby’s clean vocals are spectacular and very expressive. The bridge includes hard vocals that lead into a heavy breakdown that makes this metalcore fan very happy. "Skin & Bones" is a melodic yet heavy track that reflects the direction of the music Hollow Wake is creating.
The inspiration for Hollow Wake’s songs comes from the band members’ own lives and what they have personally gone through and experienced. There are times that Bobby will take stories of other people that are close to the band and bring those into a personal lens. An example of this is their song “Loss Surrounds”. The song is about the passing of Josh’s grandmother. It was an extremely personal topic, and not one that Bobby took lightly. He understood how important it was for him to write about it with empathy, making sure to communicate the pain in his vocals in a way that would connect with the listeners.
Bobby shared with me, “Our stories are embedded in the lyrics of Hollow Wake, especially my own journey of healing. From anger issues, to loss and love, it’s all from the pages of our lives and our memories.”
I asked Bobby specifically about the new song, “Skin & Bones”. I actually had my own thoughts on the song, but I wanted to get his insight as well. To me, it’s a song about someone who has been torn down by a failing relationship, but now that it’s over the person is trying to find the strength to pull themselves up and rise above the pain and misery. Bobby told me I was spot on, and he was so glad the song conveyed that message so well. He also expanded on it with his own thoughts.
“To go more in depth, the story of ‘Skin & Bones’ comes from my last relationship, where she cheated on me and had an affair. The pain and loss I felt was terrifying, but after she left, that is when I chose to grow and get myself into therapy. I wrote the lyrics in a way to see who I was back then and the pain I felt, but compare it to who I am now. ‘Now that I’m stronger, no longer, skin and bones.’ That line was such a wave of healing to me. ‘Skin & Bones’ is one of the most important songs I’ve written and the most personal I’ve shared thus far.”
The music video for “Skin & Bones” has a haunting, melancholy feeling that reflects the theme of the song perfectly. Bobby was the director, videographer, and editor. He said, “I wanted to share the story through a personal lens, but I didn’t want to be in the couple scenes of the video out of respect for my wife and our own growing love story. I wanted to be the storyteller, so I asked my friends Josh and Casey Palombi to act in those roles, which they absolutely nailed. We had a lot of fun filming their scenes.”
To finish the video, Josh had some edits that Bobby worked with him on, to get it to the level they were looking for to feel happy with releasing it. Bobby says Josh is a great ally in the process, because he’s the type of person who knows what looks good, and when you’re in the depths of editing you can overlook little things. Bobby is always very thankful for Josh's input.
Along with “Skin & Bones”, Hollow Wake also released a “secret single”, called “Like Heroin”. Bobby told me that was like a little gift for their fans who have been waiting for new music. It was sort of a way for them to say, “Sorry for taking so long, here’s a little something extra.”
Bobby shared that the band took a little detour last year and went back and re-recorded their first two singles, “Upside Down” and “What the Hell”, because they felt the original recording and production wasn’t up to the standards of not only themselves, but their listeners.
Bobby gave me the meaning behind “Like Heroin”. He said, “It comes from how people can feel so depressed and tired that they would rather feel nothing and become numb. It blends my own personal story of loss due to heroin, and my own struggle with depression and anxiety. But overall, it’s a fun song to jam to.”
Bands like Hollow Wake that are very hands-on with their music and videos intrigue me. I always have so much respect and admiration for them, because I know it’s not easy to keep up with it all. But there is something so special and rewarding about seeing your hard work pay off with something you set out to create and the final product turning out exactly the way you pictured it from the start.
I asked Bobby about this. He shared that Hollow Wake has always been do-it-yourself for the most part. The band members are all incredibly talented and help share the load. Bobby, a graphic artist by trade and co-owner of a graphic design studio called Genuine Creative Art, can incorporate his talents into the band seamlessly with merch designs, logo and branding, video editing, and so on.
Josh has his own recording studio that he has built over the years, so between those things the band feels pretty set where they are. That isn’t to say they don’t work with other producers, mixing and mastering engineers, or photographers for live purposes. But for the most part, they do everything in-house.
Bobby admits it can be exhausting, but when it’s all said and done it’s very rewarding. The hard work definitely pays off, and they’re thankful for their combined skills beyond the music.
There is a lot to look forward to this year for Hollow Wake fans. They will be releasing a lot more music, and they will be performing at a couple festivals which they are very excited about. Make sure to follow Hollow Wake on their socials to keep up with what's coming up. You can find Hollow Wake on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Bobby shared some final thoughts with me. “We want to thank the readers for taking the time to learn more about who we are, and we invite everyone to follow our journey on all socials at @wearehollowwake. We also thank Annie for reaching out, and for this wonderful interview.”
It was absolutely my pleasure to interview Bobby and write about Hollow Wake, and I look forward to continuing to follow this great band in the future!
