Interview by Imani Warren.
Holy Fawn is an up and coming band based in Phoenix, Arizona. The band currently consists of guitarist and vocalist Ryan Osterman, guitarist Evan Phelps, drummer Austin Reinholz, and bassist Alexander Rieth. They’ve recently been on tour for their new album “Dimensional Bleed.” None of the bandmates have traveled internationally (except for Canada), so excitement is high within the group.
“I’m most excited for the architecture,” stated band member Ryan Osterman.
To expand from small-scale to large-scale performing was quite an organic process for the band; playing lots of house shows until they gradually reached larger venues. They mention that playing outside is new for them, but they enjoyed the space on stage. When asked if they’d rather have a bigger stage or a bigger crowd, the band chose a bigger crowd immediately.
“I would much rather sacrifice the stage space to connect with a ton of people on a small stage,” the band agreed that Riot Fest was the best of both worlds.
Tour merch is being sold on this tour. An artist named Piper, based out of Las Vegas produces most of the merchandise designs. Osterman states, “They turned out to be a fan of ours, so we worked together!”
One message the band would like for their audience to take from the album are elements of acceptance and understanding through hurt and depression. “But also accepting it … certainly a lot of the lyrics are about coping,” Osterman stated. Osterman also does voice overs on Instagram, breaking down all of the songs on the album. More people engaged in this process than they thought. “It’s been a really big process” the band says.
During COVID, this album was being created and mastered. They never had a chance to play any of these songs together. They recorded each sound separately and made layered sounds to create a new and unheard of sound. “It’s like we took all of the pieces out of a body and then put it back together,” says guitarist Evan Phelps. Now, when they go on stage, it’s like they’re playing a sound that never really was. “I wrote all of my drum parts, and freestyle my parts, then pieced them together,” says drummer Austin Reinholz. “You can hear the difference,” says Ryan. The world is excited to hear what’s next for Holy Fawn.