Hollow Stare’s new single, I’m Barely Alive, is an exhilarating addition to their debut album, Diary Of A Madman
This track exemplifies the band’s unique blend of deathcore and progressive metal, featuring a powerful orchestral intro that transitions into a dynamic mix of aggressive riffs and melodic passages. The song showcases the meticulous production work of Daniel Friedman-Posner and the intense, emotionally charged vocals of Ben Fleming, capturing both raw power and lyrical depth. I’m Barely Alive has quickly gained traction, with its dramatic sound and poignant themes resonating across press and playlist features. The track’s success reflects Hollow Stare’s commitment to pushing boundaries and creating music that is both hard-hitting and deeply personal.
As they continue to make waves in the metal scene, we sat down with Daniel and Ben to discuss the inspiration behind the track, their creative process, and what lies ahead for the band. This interview offers an in-depth look at the making of I’m Barely Alive and provides insight into Hollow Stare’s vision and future plans....
Let’s kick things off with the title: 'Diary Of A Madman' sounds intense! What was the inspiration behind such a striking name, and how does it tie into the overall narrative of the album?
Daniel: Everything about our first EP alludes to psychological issues in some way or another, whether it’s Sleep being about sleep paralysis or I’m Barely Alive being about a broken heart, everything kind of points to life driving you crazy. Even our band’s name alludes to the thousand mile stare. Around I’m Barely Alive’s initial production we decided on the name for the EP. It just felt fitting with the theme of things and how the world is going lately. We’re all going mad I think.
Your music is a wild ride, merging progressive metal and deathcore. How do you keep the energy high while making sure the music stays cohesive and impactful?
Daniel: That’s what’s fun about progressive rock and metal man, you don’t really have to care as much about the cohesion. Song structure is your enemy, you just make what feels right until it’s done- at least that’s how it is for me. As long as it sounds good it is good, that’s what my mentor told me. I will still structure and compose songs before recording them, but for progressive rock and particularly Hollow Stare I honestly just like to produce and mix everything as I go along.
'I’m Barely Alive' hits hard, both socially and emotionally; Can you break down the track’s evolution from initial idea to finished product?
Daniel: Ben and I have this kind of unspoken arrangement where I handle the instrumental and Ben handles the lyrics and vocals and we both have complete control over our elements of the song, but sometimes that doesn’t work out perfectly and we have different conflicting visions, which is just part of the process sometimes. For I’m Barely Alive, Ben really wanted something solid and clearly structured that he could pour his heart out on, and gave me tons, and I mean tons, of songs to reference. From everything I listened to, I put together a song structure on paper that I believed targeted Ben’s vision for the song and then got to work. The first thing I did was compose that orchestral bop at that beginning of the song, and then filled in the blanks from there. I ended up making several edits to the song according to Ben’s notes, and funnily enough it turned out to be the least challenging song to play instrumentally out of the lot, but the most cohesive and powerful in my opinion. I definitely learned a thing or two from that experience. But to break down how we do things, it usually goes like this: I have an idea, I record the idea on my guitar and produce a full segment of music around that recording, mixed and all. I decided what part of the song I want that segment to be, and build the rest of the song outwards from there until I feel satisfied with it. After that I’ll send the rough mix to Ben and let him give his feedback on the track. Sometimes he’ll veto the whole track and it goes to the shame corner of my harddrive, never to see the light day. Sometimes he loves it and he’s immediately ready to hop on it. Sometimes he wants things about the song to change, but likes it for the most part. Once it’s at a place we’re both happy with, Ben takes a couple weeks to write and record the vocals for the song, after which we kind of go through the same process in reverse until we’re both happy with it. Then I’ll mix the whole song, make sure Ben is happy, and send it off to our mastering engineer Philip!
What’s the secret sauce behind your collaborative synergy, and how has it influenced the direction of Hollow Stare?
Daniel: Oh that’s easy, the secret sauce is that we’ve been friends and have worked on music together forever, since we were in highschool. We’re also both dipshits to the same degree and that really helps.
Your sound has drawn comparisons to bands like Periphery and Lorna Shore. How do you navigate these comparisons while carving out your own identity in the metal scene?
Daniel: I mean that’s pretty much exactly how I’d describe the sound we’re going for with Diary of a Madman. Periphery meets Lorna Shore, djent meets deathcore, prog meets death. Honestly I couldn’t really care less if someone else has done our kind of sound before. We’re doing what we do the way we do it and in our own unique way. Hell after we had finished Diary of a Madman, Ben had me check out Nine Inch Nails which I’m embarrassed to say I somehow never got around to until this year, and I fucking loved it. It’s pretty much the kind of music I want to make, but I don’t want to just make Nine Inch Nails songs, I want to make Hollow Stare songs. If Hollow Stare is influenced by Nine Inch Nails, Periphery, Lorna Shore, hell even Daft Punk, it doesn’t really matter. Everyone is influenced by everyone, so just do what you want to do the way only you can do it.
What have been some of the biggest hurdles you’ve faced so far, and what keeps you motivated to push through?
Daniel: I’ve been living in London for the last couple of years and since I moved here, England has kind of taken a turn and things have gotten really difficult here financially, especially in London. That, and being on a visa in the midst of riots based on immigration has not made it easy for me to be here, and it put a major damper on my mental state and ability to keep pushing through Hollow Stare or any of my other projects with my head up, and I definitely hit that burn-out state a couple times managing everything.
Looking forward, what’s next for Hollow Stare? Are there any upcoming tours, new projects, or surprises fans should keep an eye out for?
Daniel: We are currently in the production process for another single, one that we’ve brought additional producers in on. We’re really excited to share this song, it’s something else, but it’s not ready yet.
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