The Zombies are an English rock band. Formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent on piano and Colin Blunstone on vocals, the band scored US hits in the mid- and late-1960s with “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No” and “Time of the Season.” Their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle, is ranked 80 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
The scrappy New York outfit known as Hollis Brown was formed in 2009. Drawing from a bottomless well of classic influences yet firmly rooted in the present, the band’s output has steadily evolved from the raw immediacy of its early releases to the more expansive, adventurous approach that fuels its bracing new album, 3 Shots.
New York band Hollis Brown recently sat down with the legendary English group the Zombies for a Talkhouse Music Podcast recorded live at New York’s Samsung 837.
Over the course of the conversation, Hollis Brown’s Mike Montali and Jonathan Bonilla drew out a history of the Zombies’ singular career as told by key members Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone. Get ready for tales of meeting the Rolling Stones in their hardcore R&B purist days, how the Zombies tried to meet Elvis while in Memphis (but hung out with his dad instead), and how it feels to have their new record, Still Got That Hunger, in six Billboard charts after not touching those hallowed heights for fifty years.
You’ll also hear about Hollis Brown singer Montali writing Aaron Neville’s new song, “I Wanna Love You,” and how guitarist Bonilla got a little too drunk one night in Memphis… and ended up with an Elvis tattoo.
— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast producer and engineer
