With a new album, Hit Music now out, I caught up with Greg Hoy to find out about his amazing journey through music making, doing things his way, overcoming adversity and what the future holds.
Hi Greg, for those not so familiar with your story, can you just run through how you got into music and what the journey has been that brings you to where you are today?
There was a moment – I was 11, or maybe 12 – when the kid across the street from my suburban western Pennsylvania home got a Cort Explorer guitar and a Gorilla GG25 amplifier. Next to a picture of a gorilla, that amp had a knob on it marked TUBE STACK. It turns out Cort was one of several low-end instrument manufacturers based in Korea – companies making cheaper, knock-off copies of Gibson guitars – and Gorilla was, shall we say, an ‘entry level’ amplifier, possibly made in Taiwan, and even cheaper than the ubiquitous, American-made entry level Peavey guitar amplifiers.
Of course, at the time of this incident, I knew none of these things about this gear. The details are about as fuzzy as that amp’s sound! But! I do recall that my neighbor let me borrow this particular guitar and amplifier combination, and I immediately turned the TUBE STACK knob to the far right while attempting to play guitar along to a cassette tape of Van Halen’s newest album 1984.
I really enjoyed Hit Music, and it showed that you are comfortable plowing a furrow through many genres, sounds, and styles. Is there a Greg Hoy sound, or something in the music that feels like familiar ground?
Thank you for checking it out! My sound… that’s an interesting question. There was a band in the early ’90s called Big Audio Dynamite, which was Mick Jones of The Clash’s band after he left. They had a song on their second album called ‘Rush’. AND in that song there are several audio samples – one of which is a guy saying ‘Mmm, I wish I could sing like that… ‘cause not everything’s singing, you know. The only important thing these days is rhythm and melody.’ (A quick search of the internet reveals that this sample is the actor Peter Sellers nicked from a 1959 comedy song called ‘You Keep Me Swingin’) So I guess if there’s a Greg Hoy sound, I’d say the only thing tying my songs all together these days is rhythm and melody… rhythm..,. and melody…
Again, last year’s ‘Holy Mother of God’ was a great song. What was it like to work with the legendary Eddie Spaghetti, and what was the inspiration behind releasing it with a series of alternate versions?
It was just a way to do slightly more than release a single song on the streaming services. The kids used to call these ‘EPs’ – which nowadays in digital streaming land stands for ‘Everybody Passes over’. An EP is pretty hard to find on digital! Now, the Supersuckers were a raging four-piece when I first saw them live in Brooklyn around 2004. They are legit rock-n-roll road dogs. Eddie is a true hero of mine – a survivor who’s carved a delicate path through the bizarre ooze of being a touring musician and songwriter in 2025 even as the odds continue to stack against that particular vocational path.
The deal with his version of ‘Holy Mother of God’ was that I only gave him the title and said, ‘Go to it! ’ He remotely wrote his version of the song, then recorded it with his son Quattro (also a very talented musician – look him up!). And, as one of Eddie’s messages to me said about his version when he sent it to me (in a way only Eddie can) – ‘I think it’s pretty amazing. So, I hope your song is good, because mine is a banger!’
I understand that not too long ago, you were faced with a personal issue that made you rethink how you make music. Could you tell me about that? Despite those difficulties, there is a new record and a new tour coming up.
The short of it is, in 6th grade, some dumb kid put a TV wrestling move on me in gym class, and it knocked the top 4 vertebrae in my neck / back out of alignment. As a consequence, they grew straight versus curved. All these years of throwing a guitar around (plus a baby during the pandemic) caused neuropathy to develop, along with arthritis and bone spurs. Fast forward to the summer of 2024, and strapping on the guitar made my left hand go numb, an unfortunate malady for a performing guitarist. I discovered this on tour and on stage mid-set in NYC at the Lower East Side club Berlin.
After the tour ended, I did a healthy amount of physical therapy. The doctor recommended using the arm in different ways to help strengthen everything in that area. My focus then that fall centered around playing the drums – so most of the songs on Hit Music started with a drum part – a first for me. And yeah, things are way better now – I’ve been touring in small bursts all year, and Greg Hoy & The Boys will continue to do so into 2026!
Your name is associated with a DIY approach to music? In what ways has such an approach helped your music, and has it even gotten in the way?
I can’t stress enough that doing it yourself has always been the best way to feel the most satisfaction in music. Having seen the terrible deals, lost careers, and downright insanity of the former music industry, I see no downside to having this aesthetic. With the explosion of the internet, it has never been easier. Of course, your mileage may vary, and some talent is encouraged.
There was a time in the 90s and early 2000s when everyone wanted ‘to get signed to a label’. Also around this time, the ability to burn CDs became the flavor of the day. I was working as a print designer at an ad agency on Park Avenue in NYC in 2002, and realized something: I could both burn CDs AND print out CD covers from the comfort of my employers’ printers and computers! Why bother working on American Express and AOL direct mail when this was more fun? It should be noted I did eventually get fired from this job… BUT not until after 5 years and 20 or so CD releases on my own record label, based in Brooklyn called Dunket Records.
What musicians and collaborators have had the biggest influence on your music?
There are folks I’ve worked with over the years who have taught me so much about not just the mechanics of music but the approach to being independent, honest, and how to, you know, show up to do the work, the collaboration. Too many to list – J. Robbins, who we recorded with in 2003, then last year helped remix my song ‘Yay For Effort’, of course, our time with Steve Albini… Sylvia Massy is just a gem of knowledge, talent, and humor. I learned about audio mastering from Alan Douches, and also spent some time with Gene Paul, Les Paul’s brother – a fountain of historical knowledge. Jack Rabid is a champion independent entrepreneur and writer who always inspires. Guided By Voices. Club owners over the years, like Joel at the 31st Street Pub, Lynn at Bottom of the Hill, Sea Jay and Winters, Nate at Westside Bowl, Katie and Kilowatt. Dave Richman has played drums with me on and off for over 20 years, the same as Vicky Warwick on bass since 2019. Plus a hella bunch of incredible musicians, such as Greg Hoy & The Boys, which are just too many to mention in one paragraph, haha.
And what about people, musical and otherwise, who have been inspirations from afar?
My mom was an oil painter. All my siblings were in the marching band as I was growing up (I was a very, very youngest child, by 14 years). My dad lied to enlist in the Marines in the 1950s to go to the Korean conflict, then became the first member of his family to get a college degree. (My, how times have changed). We butted heads a lot over my being an artist; however, he came around towards the end.
Bukowski, Henry Miller, Judy Blume books way back, Stephen King, Lester Bangs, and Andrew Carnegie are all writers who inspired me. The Choose Your Own Adventure book series! That was huge and helped shape my worldview. ‘You always have a choice!’ Eddie Van Halen, Trent Reznor, and Herb Alpert all did it in their own interesting way. All those indie labels in the 1990s – Touch N Go, Merge, My Pal God, Matador. Ward Harkavy from my short time working at the Village Voice. Bill Miller, the linoleum artist. Some of the entrepreneurs I met and worked with in Silicon Valley, believe it or not. Post-Facebook start-ups in the 2010s were kinda the same in some regards as the indie labels of the post-Nirvana 1990s.
Are there any themes and subjects that you find yourself returning to in your songwriting? Are there any dialogues and discussions that you are trying to start via your music?
Maybe the healthy distrust of technology – even from my first record back in 2003 – is ironic considering the path my life took. Maybe too much dystopian fiction growing up. I still hold Tron, Blade Runner, and 2001 in my top 5 films of all time. The theme shows up in most of my LPs. Becoming a parent in 2020 certainly has provided a certain attitude and angle in my songwriting. Inspiration is all around if you take the time away from your phone to look.
And what does the future hold, and perhaps, what would you like it to hold for you?
I’m currently working with a contractor to build out a brand new studio space in Northern Boulder, Colorado. I relocated from the West Coast here in April. It’s the first time I’ve had the means and the time to do it ‘my way’. I hope to continue to make meaningful, powerful art in all its forms – musically, visually, socially – helping myself, my framily, and my musical comrades cope with the crushing realities of our ever-speeding up society. Thank you for the lovely questions!
And thank you for taking the time to let me into your world. Best of luck with everything you are doing.
Website
Bands in Town
Instagram
Twitter
