Review Fix Exclusive: Peter Hollens Talks ‘A Hollens Family Christmas’ And More

January 18, 2017 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Peter Hollens, who discusses his recent Christmas album, the rise of a cappella music and his goals for 2017.

Review Fix: Why do a Christmas album?

Peter Hollens: I chose to do a Christmas album, first of all, because my fans have been requesting it for a long time. Also, importantly, because I adore the holiday season and the message that it embodies. It’s all about being kind to one another, serving those around you, and spending time with loved ones. My hope is that we can carry the message of peace on Earth all year round, rather than just focusing on it during one month of the year.

Review Fix: How important are your fans to you?

Hollens: My supporters are the reason why I’m able to continue doing what I love for a living. My patrons and the people who listen to my music provide me with the means to support my family and I could not be more grateful for that. I constantly listen to their feedback and try to make music that I know they would enjoy. They really mean the world to me, and I consider them family!

Review Fix: Where do you think you’d be without YouTube helping you get your career started?

Hollens: YouTube was pivotal in the process of getting my career started and is still crucial to my brand today. It’s an awesome platform that allows me to share my music with virtually anyone in the world and was the best way to do so when I started this journey. Without YouTube giving me an outlet for my content, I’m not sure what I would be doing with my life – maybe still singing on cruise ships or working in the music recording industry!

Review Fix: Why does a cappella still matter?

Hollens: The a cappella genre is growing at a rapid pace, and I might even argue that it’s more relevant today than it ever has been. Don’t get me wrong, I love pop music! But the current music industry is saturated with electronic music that sort of diminishes the raw sound of the natural human voice. I think that’s why people are opening their ears up to a cappella; it’s music in the simplest, most human form. It’s refreshing to listeners who have gotten used to the synth-y, bass heavy tunes that they hear on the radio.

Review Fix: How did your time on The Sing-Off help you?

Hollens: The Sing-Off gave me experience and networking opportunities. Other than that, not much else. I met some great industry professionals and talented singers and also had the chance to perform on a national stage. But, it didn’t really help my social media or online presence at all, which are things that I rely on for the success of my brand.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2017?

Hollens: My goals are to really start focusing on teaching and educating and inspiring the next class of creators and musicians now… I really want to start giving back to this amazing creator community.  I am going to start creating educational tools to allow others to follow in my footsteps.  The world needs SOOO much more music and art out there.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Hollens: Next I want to start a second part to my company, one that focuses on educating and inspiring the next class of musicians… fighting the idea that you need a label, a publisher, a manager an agent…. and focusing on empowering people to do it on their own… from concept to execution of the final product.

Can’t wait to show the world what I’m going to create.

I will, of course continue to release multiple music videos a month, and I will begin to focus more on original material as well!

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13861 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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