What is your name?
Greg Hoy!
What is your genre of music?
Plug in and Play Rock and Roll
Give us a little bio about you.
I sing, write songs, and perform live. I enjoy travel, cooking, and exercise. My entrepreneurial spirit means a few different creative pursuits around people, team building, and coaching. I’m an Aquarius, an ENFP, and an Enneagram 7. I’m the youngest of 4 siblings however, also like an ‘only’ (they were 14, 16, 18 when I came along). I grew up and lived in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania until my mid-20s when I moved to New York City for 12 years. I’ve been in and around San Francisco California for the past 15 years and I am moving to Colorado in just a few weeks. I like people, and stories, and as a new dad, spend lots of time reading about the future of the world. I’m working on my first musical as well as my first fiction book.
What made you go into music?
My house was full of melodies growing up in the golden era of recorded music. My life’s education in rural western Pennsylvania came from FM radio, vinyl records, and cassettes. There was a guy a few towns over named Trent Reznor that also escaped his small town the same way.
Who are your influences?
Classic riff rock bands like Thin Lizzy, Joe Walsh, The Clash, INXS, Living Colour as well as solo folks like Beck, Tom Petty, Jack White, and Paul McCartney.
You released your latest album ‘Hits Music’, tell us more about the album and the meaning behind the music.
The half a year spent making ‘Hit Music’ was a time of great challenge both for me personally and the state of our world. My songwriting channeled pain both physical and psychological into healing. There was a ‘whatever works’ attitude this time out that led to some of the most adventurous 3 min pop songs I could make. I like it.
Describe each track in two words.
‘The Simulation’ 5/4
‘Last Quarter’ My daughter
‘Gold’ Keep digging
‘What, My People?’ Stop whining
‘The Wheel’ We’re doomed
‘The Machine’ You’re product
‘Luck Vs Fate’ Whatever works
‘The Nx’ Savor it
‘I Have Frustration’ Relationship work
‘The Devil’ is everywhere
‘Stay Fun!’ Stay fun!
‘Hit Music’ Soothes me
What was the writing and recording process like?
I rented a small room in a group rehearsal space just off the Pacific ocean in my current hometown of Pacifica, CA, and began playing a 4 piece standard drum kit. Some days, I played to stuff I grew up on – Phil Collins, Van Halen, Fugazi – and others, I’d throw on whatever was new on Spotify, and played drums along. I then spent time crafting room sounds on the drums – sounds of live takes, capturing the air of the room, using mic techniques gathered over the years working with incredible engineers like J. Robbins, Steve Albini, and Jacob Winik. After, I’d work on melodies over guitar and bass lines. The songs sometimes were a lot of work, and sometimes fell right out of the sky.
Who did you work with on the album?
Although I performed, recorded, and mixed everything myself, I had guest horn players Ben Opie from Pittsburgh PA and Kelly O’Donohue currently based in Germany.
Can we expect a music video for any of the tracks and if so tell us more about the making.
There is a video for the first single ‘What, My People?’ which was shot at my storage space and in my garage. It’s a 2 minute low grade, B-movie alien invasion movie. The alien mask I used did scare both my wife and 4 year old daughter pretty good.
Do you have any live shows coming up? Let us know where we can get tickets if so.
The end of the first tour is in California this week at Bottom of the Hill San Francisco and Spancky’s in Cotati. The band played 5 shows including Nashville, New York City, and Philadelphia, in March. These are the first shows with a horn section. We’ll be on a long break until summer as my studio and life are moving to Colorado.
What else can we expect in 2025?
We’ll be releasing a few more singles and videos, along with some regional touring per usual!
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Hopefully, to quote Simple Minds, alive and kicking.
What quote or saying do you always stick by
I have a meditation mantra which I won’t share, however, my mantra is if anyone else can do it, so can you.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
Ha! Great question! I’m gonna go with 5 things I tell myself on stage (assuming I ‘ve remembered all my gear) 1 smile 2 eyes open when singing 3 dance 4 connect 5 stay in the moment.
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
