Hollywood Undead - Rise of the Undead, By Psy-23

Their latest studio album New Empire, Vol. 2 continued to build on the reimagining of their sound which was seen on New Empire, Vol. 1. From their boundless energy on-stage to the ever-changing masks that they wear, their unique approach to the scene has carved out an image that resonates with millions of people around the world and this has kept them touring almost constantly until Covid-19 spread rapidly around the globe last year. As you would expect, the lockdowns and varied policies from different countries cut short their planned tour and the various members suddenly found themselves wondering when life would ever return to normal. We caught up with them at the tail-end of 2020 to talk about their current situation and their plans for the future.

Sitting down with Johnny 3 Tears and J-Dog, they explained that they were actually in Germany when the borders began to shut. They were 7 months in to a world tour and the news came out of nowhere; they had to make a decision fast as they were worried they might not make it back to the US otherwise.  This came as a huge shock to everyone and all future dates and subsequent tours were cancelled for the foreseeable future. Johnny 3 Tears told me that it was pretty surreal to go from playing packed out shows to being sat at home with no idea of what would happen next.

The band see their fans as an extended family and the connection they had built up over the years meant that they were all feeling devastated for those who had been looking forward to seeing them play. They both agreed that it was weird after so long of being out on the road touring to have that connection cut-off. In the months that followed they organized an online concert and tried to communicate online where possible, which was amazing for them and the fans, but it doesn't replace the energy of being at a real live show.

While some artists are keeping their fingers crossed that the world returns to normal as soon as possible so that they can continue to thrive, Hollywood Undead are using these strange times to focus their energy into different projects alongside their continuing writing and rehearsal sessions. Almost five years ago, they launched their own cannabis brand under the guise of Dove & Grenade and this has been steadily growing in the background while they toured the world. Now, courtesy of Covid-19, there is space and time for them to expand their brand and bring it closer to its full potential.

For J-Dog the desire to grow cannabis is long-standing and he has had more than his fair share of problems over the years. From entire grows burning to the ground to getting jacked for his crop by gang members along the way, he knows his way around the cannabis scene and we spoke about how he is expanding their operation in Oklahoma.

"We always thought about setting up in L.A., but the reality of it is that it's just not feasible. The whole system is corrupt, you know? Most of the money is still in the black market because the legal market requires too much money to set up and even then you have to deal with the corruption that goes on behind the scenes.

Even if you get the go-ahead from the official channels (and you're talking about spending $1million on the license, another million for the set up of the grow premises and another half mill to get you through the first 6 months of operating) you're looking at around 3-4 years before you even break even. And that's if you're lucky.

Then you have to pay 40% tax on your profits and they won't let you write-off any of your business costs as tax deductable. What makes it even worse is that you are constantly exposed to a situation where people want money to ensure that things run smoothly: city officials want money to keep the crooked inspectors from your door; police and security companies want safety money; people are constantly trying to blackmail you with threats of planting things at your premises or straight up robbing you. It's crazy, man. Even if you don't turn a profit, or everything falls apart, they still want their money. There's no opportunity for the average person, you know?"

We went on to discuss the idea of wholesale in the US and how many strains are grown and sold as unbranded packs. With no ownership of proprietary strains, people are often buying bud with no real idea of what it really is. They've seen this first-hand with some of the product which is sold through their two dispensaries, 46 Releaf and Dove & Grenade in Oklahoma, and this is one of the reasons that they wanted to have control over their own supply chain. I asked them why Oklahoma was their choice of location and they went on to explain that it just made sense once they came to realize how crazy it was trying to operate out of L.A..

"We've got some good friends out there and we made a great connection with someone who could get a license pretty quickly and work alongside us. We knew that there was much more opportunity if we could get set up without all of the madness we had seen in L.A. over the years and when we looked into getting the license we realized that it was only going to cost about $2,500. That's insane when you think about how much we would have spent in L.A. just to get the paperwork started."

Once they had made the move to Oklahoma things started to fall into place. Their friends are like-minded individuals who encouraged them to grow strains that could feed into their own dispensaries. Over time this has expanded and now they have a solid relationship with a number of other dispensaries too.

This expansion of their brand has seen them pour a lot of money into getting their 15,000 square feet site up and running, but they believe it's important for them to do things their way. J-Dog, who has the most experience with cultivation, went on to explain that they want this to be more than just 'another celebrity endorsed product'.

Over the past 15 years, Hollywood Undead have garnered an impressive and dedicated fan base through their evolving sound and trademark style.

Their latest studio album New Empire, Vol. 2 continued to build on the reimagining of their sound which was seen on New Empire, Vol. 1. From their boundless energy on-stage to the ever-changing masks that they wear, their unique approach to the scene has carved out an image that resonates with millions of people around the world and this has kept them touring almost constantly until Covid-19 spread rapidly around the globe last year. As you would expect, the lockdowns and varied policies from different countries cut short their planned tour and the various members suddenly found themselves wondering when life would ever return to normal. We caught up with them at the tail-end of 2020 to talk about their current situation and their plans for the future.

Sitting down with Johnny 3 Tears and J-Dog, they explained that they were actually in Germany when the borders began to shut. They were 7 months in to a world tour and the news came out of nowhere; they had to make a decision fast as they were worried they might not make it back to the US otherwise.  This came as a huge shock to everyone and all future dates and subsequent tours were cancelled for the foreseeable future. Johnny 3 Tears told me that it was pretty surreal to go from playing packed out shows to being sat at home with no idea of what would happen next.

The band see their fans as an extended family and the connection they had built up over the years meant that they were all feeling devastated for those who had been looking forward to seeing them play. They both agreed that it was weird after so long of being out on the road touring to have that connection cut-off. In the months that followed they organized an online concert and tried to communicate online where possible, which was amazing for them and the fans, but it doesn't replace the energy of being at a real live show.

While some artists are keeping their fingers crossed that the world returns to normal as soon as possible so that they can continue to thrive, Hollywood Undead are using these strange times to focus their energy into different projects alongside their continuing writing and rehearsal sessions. Almost five years ago, they launched their own cannabis brand under the guise of Dove & Grenade and this has been steadily growing in the background while they toured the world. Now, courtesy of Covid-19, there is space and time for them to expand their brand and bring it closer to its full potential.