Funny Like a Funeral

Gavan Holden, vocalist and bassist for local punk act Funny Like a Funeral, met guitarist Jordan Holden at NYP. Jordan was sporting a Mohawk at the time so Gavan assumed he was a punk rocker and approached him about playing guitar. Jordan was a metal head and turned down Gavan’s offer. Years later they became friends and band mates though neither knows exactly when. “I’m a little too drunk to remember stuff like that” say’s Gavan.
Gavan and Jordan were both drawn to the “fast, loud, and sloppy” music of late 90’s Midwestern post-punk acts like Jawbreaker, Oscar, Get-Up Kids, and Hot Water Music. The influences of these bands can be seen in their music which, according to Jordan, “Juxtaposes happy, energetic music with dark lyrical content.” Gavan adds, “A lot of the lyrics are about past substance abuse.”
A typical Funny Like a Funeral Show consists of, “Seven or eight drunk kids standing around,” according to Gavan. There have, however, been a number of notable exceptions. They played a house show in Grand Rapids that drew in, “Hundreds of straight up college kids with jack shit else to do.”
The band also played at a Spanish poetry reading at a Christian coffee house in Indiana. The owners of the coffee house were especially nice, “They paid us and bought us food and asked to come back again sometime.”
While on tour with Social Life at Virginia Beach the band spent all their cash at the bar because everything was on sale for a dollar. Gavan and drummer John Robertson was lost and wandering around Virginia beach at 8am and was saved by Social Life’s drummer Caleb Gross who found them and picked them up.
Funny Like a Funeral has one album out entitled Evolved to Counter Act and it’s available at shows. The recording session was, “cheap and fast.” Local artist Sam King did the artwork for the album. “I want to make out with Sam,” says Gavan, “He did the artwork for free and deserves a kiss.” The band is currently working on releasing another album early next year. Gavan and Jordan expect the record to show more maturity. Jordan adds, “We’re going to pay more attention to detail on this record, use more layers, and concentrate on backup vocals and harmonies.”

You can check out Funny Like a Funeral online at myspace.com/funnylikeafuneralnc