| Interviews |

INNERGARDEN2.0

other interview :  ettison clio | truetilldeath.com | heaven shall burn

it started while im listening to Dashboard’s “Age Six Racer”. That angelic voice who doin backvoc in that song really caught my attention. I wonder if this girl have a band then it’ll be a great band. soon after that I found out this girl do have a band! and its name is The Rocking Horse Winner. after I got their mp3s from both of their albums, I finally find a link to TRHW website. And I end up have an email contact with their guitarist Henry. I have a great time hearing some news about TRHW from him. But suddenly he no longer reply my email. So I lost contact with him. And then I find out that TRHW are breaking up! That’s where the part 1 of this story end.

Part 2 of this story began about a month ago when suddenly there’s a new email in my inbox from some guy name Henry Olmino III. It’s appear to be this ex-TRHW guitarist letting me know that he’s doin some new project and have a new personel site. So I email him back and ask him what happen with TRHW. That’s where the idea to have this interview came up. so I email him again to ask him to do some kind of the last interview with TRHW. And he respond me positively. this is the second time I have an interview with band that already broke up (first one is with ReachingxForward from Dutch).

So this is it........the last interview from one of my fav band. im really happy to have this interview in Innergarden2.0 so I hope you guys enjoy it.

THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER (RIP)

hello there....how's your going?

I'm well, thanks.

can you first introduce yourself?

My name is Henry, and I used to play guitar for TRHW.

oh ya....before i start this interview i just want you to know that THRW quite have lots of fans in indonesia.even some part from "tommorow" and "elementary" are sometimes used to be escort songs in a reality tv show about love called "katakan cinta" ("said your love") in one of the biggest tv station in indonesia (i assumed the editor of that tv show is one of your fans...hehehe :P).can you believe that?

Wow...I didn't know that...I don't believe any of us know about that.

ok,here's the question that maybe everyone will ask if they meet you guys......what happen with the rocking horse winner? why THRW decided to split up?

Well, it just wasn't happening anymore, I don't know of any other way to explain it. Their was a lost of interest and I'm not sure why. We were also touring a lot, struggling to make ends meet, so we kind of got burnt out.

THRW are kinda big and also "horizon" album are just few months being released by equal vision recs the time THRW decided to broke up.so these kinda thing didnt affect the decision?

You can't force a horse to drink water if it doesn't want to.

if im not mistake THRW decided to split up in the middle of some tour.so what happen with the tour? are you guys just leave it or to finish it all up before go to separate ways?

We decided to seperate once we finshed the tour; however, we had a future west coast tour booked that we had to cancel unfortunately.

this is also question that might be many people curious about.....what are you guys doin right now? maybe some members already busy with some new bands?

I've been focusing all of my efforts into "writing and production", I'm not really looking to perform anymore. I'm now teamed up with James Wisner (the guy that recorded and produced THRW) and his wife Christine - you can stay up to date with what I'm doing at www.HenryOlminoIII.com   Matt Crum plays drums for a band called Feathers. Jolie sings with a project in Miami, not sure they have a name. Jeronimo is working in design and animation.

i heard that you are helping some Damien Moyal project.is that true? what kind of project is that exactly?

Matt played drums on Damiens record. You can visit his site, which I think is www.DamienDone.com

"horizon" have many similarity and also differences with "state of feeling concentration".for example THRW are kinda leaving "sweet song" pattern in "error" and "horizon".but on the other hand "playing with light","miss you" and some other songs are so much like "state of ....".and how the sound stuff in "horizon" are really similar with "state of....." in my ears.any particular reasons?

As artists, we never wanted to restrict ourselves. We always kept songs that we liked, regardless of how it sounded.

i want to ask you about TRHW lyrics.most of them are kinda poetic and talk about love.my fav is "from miles away" which i think have beautiful lyrics and really suit with the music.who responsible for TRHW lyrics? don't you think it's so typical that most of the indie/emo bands always talk about the same theme for their lyrics? do you think it's important to have something to say in your lyrics?

Jolie, Jeronimo, and myself wrote words for the band. It's only important for the writer/s to say what he, she, or they want to talk about.

so what's your fav TRHW songs? and why?

I like all of our songs, but if I had to pick just one, it would be From Miles Away - I think we nailed it on that song.

i think THRW is the perfect example of the perfect blend between emo and indie pop.is TRHW biggest influence come from this two genre?

Not Really. We all come from a broad musical backround.

i read alot of reviews are adoring jolie's "angelic voice" (including me actually :P).how's the story with finally TRHW have jolie in vocal (if im not mistake the rest of the member already played together long before jolie join in)? are you also fell in her voice once you hear it?

This is exactly how it happened. In 1997 -  Jeronimo, Matt, and myself played in Red Letter Day. We were practicing at our warehouse one day and decided to take a break. One of our friends was playing a Vacant Andys song in their car (Chris Dashboards old band/we shared a warehouse together at the time). Jolie had recorded some backround vocals in the song, but we really didn't know her.  It immediatley caught my attention though, and in 2000, we asked her to try out for TRHW.

you are once in AS FRIEND RUST and RED LETTER DAY.....what do you think of those your past bands compare to TRHW? which band you enjoying the most?

I like all of the bands that I've played in. I was twenty years old when we recorded "the Fists of Time", I'm now twenty-nine going on thirty, so it was a different time for me. I'm most proud of TRHW.

TRHW seems have a good relationship with dashboard confessional.it can be look from how jolie doin many dashboard's backing voc,how their bassist appear on TRHW's video "miss you" and of course from how often TRHW doin show together with dashboard confessional.so are you guys good friend with those guys? what do you think about dashboard being really (really) big.do you want the same thing happen with TRHW?

We've known Chris for quite a while...move up a couple of questions. I don't think their's any thing wrong with being successful as long as your true to yourself.

in some video interview if im not mistake you once said that you (and TRHW i suppose) don't quite fit in hc/punk scene? is that true? why is that? aren't you guys grown up in hc/punk scene?

Yes, that's true. I think TRHW was pretty different from a lot of stuff out there, and we didn't really fit into any specific category, and that's OK. We do come from a Hardcore/Punk backround. 

my zine is sort like a straightedge zine so im curious to know your opinion about straightedgeism.many people think it's a silly thing to do in your short life.but some also support it eventhough they are not straight edge.how about yourself?

I'm a firm believer in doing whatever makes you happy, as long as it's positive.

im doin some kind of special issue about is it hardcore gonna be mainstream someday.it can be look at how many hc bands gone major right now,making their videos played at MTV,promoting at major media,etc.do you personally think hardcore will be a part of the mainstream culture? are you agree if this happen?

Their are a lot of bands doing the mainstream thing, and I think it's OK. Like I mentioned before, if you are true to yourself, then I think it's OK, but if your faking it, then NO.

if a major label offer some contract with great deal to THRW someday....will you guys reunite?

We would only reunite if we were feeling the band again.

ok then,this will be the end of this interview.any last comment?

Thanks for reading this, have a nice day.

thanx alot for doin this interview.