Courtesy of Hounds/Who Will Rock You?
Yesterday evening, the three members of the St. Louis–based band Hounds gathered with friends and family at Chesterfield’s Topgolf, a mega-venue described as “a place where you can come for birthday parties, bachelor or bachelorette parties, corporate events, date nights, or just a night out with friends, and everyone will have a great time.” (All brought to life with a golfing twist.) The reason for the gathering made sense, as Hounds was on hand to watch Who Will Rock You?, a web-based band competition sponsored by Topgolf, and one that Hounds took part in late last year.
Since then, the band (Jordan Slone, guitar/vocals, 26; Logan Mohler, drums/vocals, 23; and bassist/vocalist Jack McCoy, 22) have been struggling to keep some good news under wraps. Specifically that: They won the competition. In doing so, they’ve scored a label deal with BMG, as well as a cool $50,000 and all the possibilities that come along with such a stroke of good fortune.
Slone says that “we’re really excited to start working with BMG and start getting positioned with them. We’ll start working on a new record and will work alongside BMG on that. The pretty immediate plan is to put out a release as soon as we can. Nothing’s set today, but we’re anticipating a release during this summer.”
To that end, the band figures that they’ve got about two albums’ worth of material in some state of finish, a chunk of those demoed at their home studio, others recorded at Encapsulated. And they’re still writing; just prior to a phone interview on Wednesday, Slone and McCoy were huddled up for a session. Although a producer and studio haven’t been chosen yet, they’re considering options that are new to them and places/people that are familiar.
Slone says that the idea of “doing rough cuts is how to tackle production of a song. We’ve been working in the basement and going over songs again and again and again. That’ll help make things sound cohesive. We want to make it sound like a record, rather than a compilation of songs.”
The band—formerly known as Clockwork, back when Slone’s brother Logan was on bass—have been at this game since they were teenagers. (And St. Louis Magazine featured them prior to a Loufest appearance back in 2015.) Their winning appearance on Topgolf’s Who Will Rock You? was a continuation down the path they’ve been on for a bit.
That said, there were some quirky moments during the filming, such as when judge (and former Twisted Sister vocalist) Dee Snider cracked wise about Mohler looking high, or Slone being “tethered to the microphone” during one live session, after wrecking his knee during a stage fall back in St. Louis. All three feel that the crew and producers of the show made them feel like the proverbial rock stars throughout the process, even before their win.
McCoy says that the lingering good wasn’t just that final selection, but that the experience “solidified the group,” which Slone agrees with, saying that “when we came home, there was a new air about us, the way we interacted and thought of the the music and performance. It just put us in a different place.”
All that said, getting signed to a label deal doesn’t assure them of success beyond the signing itself; lots of variables exist and they’re collectively in that space of wondering about next steps, how serious they’ll have to be about tackling this music career full-time. For example, the band’s keeping their varied day jobs, but… there’s that lingering feeling that they may all have choices to make in the very near future.
One goal achieved. Many more to go.
Slone suggests that the past few months have been “very stressful, which is kind of the right word. It’s been an exciting stress. We’ve been ready to start moving on this. We’re workhorses about this, and we’re very ready to go to work.”
Here’s Hounds' winning episode:
