Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

With the strength of the sun…
By Smriti Daniel
Your eyes drink it all in – the Distant Sun rages red and gold against a dark background; molten and metallic you find it mildly hypnotic. Below is the promise (or is it the threat?) “The beginning is nigh.” You move your mouse to the right, you click on ‘Enter’ and you’re on your way in. Just a word of warning – there are some slightly unusual, strangely addictive things waiting for you in there. Not surprised? Hmm… well then, it’s obvious you’ve already heard of Hollowpoint Halo.

They like to be known as ‘the collective,’ and no they don’t meet in strange rooms wearing robes and masks. You can count them on the fingers of your hands – André, Bob, Chamath, Chaturanga, Ranil, Marissa, Marsh and Rohith – these eight form the ‘Halo.’ Incidentally the ‘Hollowpoint’ part comes from a type of bullet of the same name. The cavity bored into the tip of a hollow point bullet ensures that it expands upon impact, wrecking the maximum possible destruction. Unlike ordinary bullets, a hollow point never leaves an exit wound as it remains lodged in the body. “All that is visible to the human eye is the point of entry – the hole that allows us to look inward.” Cool analogy, huh?

Back to the collective: making up this crew of artistes are musicians, designers and writers – all of whom work together to create Hollowpoint’s ‘product.’ Their creations are of a somewhat unique and radical nature, for what this group of people (for they really can’t be categorised as a ‘band’) do is present for your listening/view-ing/reading pleasure, “a multi-sensory experience – musical, visual and textual.”

You’re probably wondering how they actually achieve this intriguing concept in reality. So far, they’ve carried out their three-pronged attack through their website – www.hollowpointhalo.com in which their music, imagery and stories all find expression. Take for instance the song “Black Eye Lullaby”; you only have to listen to the lyrics to discover it’s about domestic abuse. Now once you get onto the site, you can access ‘Chapter 1’ of Black Eye Lullaby which consists of some potent text and images. Just be prepared for a rather unnerving experience.

In this case, the visuals and text the collective have put together, accomplish two things: One, they flesh out the background for you, so that you gain an insight or two into the song. Two, they take you into the world of the abused. Either way it succeeds in creating awareness in its viewers. Marissa, who does the writing for the site explains that both the site and the music are meant to be thought provoking, not preachy.

Beautifully laid out, the site also notably allows the visitor access to ‘The Core’ (gives you the low down on Hollowpoint Halo and its members), ‘Halo Vision’ (which consists of illustrations and texts that accompany some of their songs), and ‘Halo Tone’ (lyrics). In addition there’s ‘Point Blank,’ where everyone (from the obsessed to the merely curious) can have their say. Everything on the site – from the concept to its execution – has so far been the province of the Haliens (the members of the Halo) who seem to be a tad bit suspicious of any outsiders.

So, how did they get here? We can safely claim that the current multi-sensory approach adopted by the Haliens is the result of evolution. Marsh, the lead vocalist for the band explains, how what began with sketching a few images for the album cover, morphed into a comic strip booklet, which was meant to accompany the album, and then finally rampaged out of control and took over the website. Similarly what started off as a two-person band evolved into an eight-member collective (any reluctant recruits were beaten into submission).
Today the collective has created their own intoxicating blend of music, which they refer to as ‘Bullet Rock’ – a genre that combines alternative, industrial, acoustic and electronic music. So far, the Haliens have considered themselves more of an “online entity,” available to their fans only on the web. All that’s about to change now, with the band’s official launch at MKOP scheduled for the 17th of this month.

‘Distant Sun’, will mark the second time the otherwise reclusive Haliens have performed in public (and no, that’s not because they’re shy), the first time being at Acoustica 2005. At the concert, fans will get the first listen/watch of the new single “Distant Sun”, along with older Hollowpoint Halo originals, “Black Eye Lullaby”, “Freedom” and “Sacred Ordinary”.

Since the collective is about more that just music, this concert promises to be one-of-a-kind, with awesome images and lighting effects, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before in a concert in Sri Lanka. The collective – who considers the concert a personal challenge – is suffering the miseries of the damned, as they struggle to give their audience an authentic Hollowpoint Halo “experience.” Fortunately, the eight have established a great working relationship, i.e. they torment each other, disagree vehemently, make snide remarks about one another, and miraculously stay the best of friends through it all.

Meanwhile, in the hopefully not too far future, fans of Hollowpoint Halo can look forward to more concerts, a multi-media album CD and perhaps even a video, both of which will only see the light when the exasperatingly exacting collective decides the time is right.

‘Distant Sun’ will be on at MKOP on August 17, from 9 p.m. onwards. Tickets priced at Rs. 400 are available at Deli France (Crescat Boulevard).

Top