Today, we have the pleasure of streaming, for the first time, the new EP from Nailpolishh "Hollows". With a genuinely interesting sound all their own, Nailpolishh could probably be classified as "indie-trap" but there is quite a bit more going on here than meets the eye, with each influence coming out on repeated listens. Bits of emo, lo-fi, electro-pop, hip-hop, orchestral, aughts rock, all come out within each of these six unique tracks. What Nailpolishh probably does best, and is the hardest feat for such an eclectic sound, is create a cohesive thread throughout the entirety of the EP.

These songs have a fantastic flow to them, with lyrics covering modern life and catchy guitar riff after riff tying all their different influences to one base of ideas, they have made a beautiful universe for these tracks to exist in. Nailpolishh clearly has an exciting future ahead of them, this EP is a clear glimpse into their potential. Read our exclusive interview with them below:

This new EP "Hollows" is conveniently coming out the day before Halloween, always curious to know if things like this are planned or if it's a total coincidence! 

Diana: We knew we’d release this EP in October, so we totally planned for it to come out right before Halloween. It’s pretty much our favorite time of year. If it wasn’t for the pandemic, we’d be at haunts here in LA. Putting out this EP has been a nice thing to focus on.

Gregory : Halloween is one of our favorite times of year and it's normally  a time of tradition. This year obviously we can’t do a lot of things we normally do so this was a nice distraction. Who knows, maybe a halloween themed release will be a new tradition! 

What's the significance of the name "Hollows"?

Diana: I think everyone is going through something right now and there are so many moments of emptiness with what we’re all dealing with. Like so many since March. Recently, back in August, my grandma passed away. That stung. A few weeks ago we had to rehome our foster dog. That stung too. Hollows is kind of an escape from all those bummer moments. 

Gregory: I used it as a working title for a beat I was working on and when Diana saw it she thought it would be a good name for the EP. I think a lot of us have been feeling a little hollow(I know I have) and with it resembling halloween, we’d thought it’d be perfect.

Nailpolishh has a very unique sound, it's similar to other "guitar + trap" projects from the past few years, but there's a sugary pop overtone to it that's very novel to it. Some tracks almost sound like the mid 2000's, like Owl City. Where does the sound come from?

Diana: I think the best music--regardless of genre--embraces pop. I need hooks. That’s what I love so much about Peep--he had so many great hooks. Earlier this year, we were working on a MCR-related project and I was listening to so much MCR. Even the verses are straight hooks. I listen to a lot of indie and darkwave music too. I grew up listening to The Cure because of my dad and even though their image is a little dark, it’s totally pop. I need that in whatever genre I’m into.

Gregory : Funny that you mention Owl City because I love his first three releases. I even saw him live in like 2010 lol. Other acts similar to Owl City like early A Rocket to the Moon, playradioplay!, The Secret Handshake, and Rediscover definitely shape the pop aspect for me. Of course emo is a huge influence on my guitar playing. Bands like Daphne Loves Derby, The Ground is Lava, Charmer, Algernon Caldwalder, and others like that. Of course I’m into “emo trap” like 9Tails/sewerperson, fats’e, lil peep, cold hart, lil raven, 93FEETOFSMOKE. There’s tons of other influences ranging from The Magnetic Fields, to The Chameleons. We’re a mis mash of a lot haha. 

The production has a lot of interesting twists and turns throughout the EP. What was the recording process like and did 2020 have any effect on it?

Gregory : We recorded everything in our little home studio at our house which made it super easy because we could take our time with it! Most of the guitar and stuff is original except for the song Speaker which we sample the band The Ground is Lava. With us all being locked down in 2020, it gave me the opportunity to connect with some people and we were able to have some awesome collabs on this EP. 

Interested to ask this; autotune can still be divisive to some listeners, have you found that it's something people bring up when they listen to you or is it pretty normal to most people's ears?

Diana: I think the same people who would find it divisive would also hate 100 gecs and I feel bad for them haha. Some people won’t like autotune. Some people won’t like fun. 

Gregory : I tend to find older people dont really fuck with the autotune. For most other people it's pretty normalized, especially if they listen to more mainstream music. 

Let's leave it off here; what does the future hold for Nailpolishh?

Diana: More collabs. I’m ready for the Nailpolishh LP. We also dream about going to Japan and doing shows. Traveling totally seems like such a fever dream right now. In the meantime, we’ll keep making more music.

Gregory : Working on the LP! Hopefully we get a vaccine soon and we can tour in Japan. I want to do many more collabs and projects.

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