A Love Letter to DIY: Holden Caulfield’s Music to Release on Vinyl for First Time Ever

Photo: Most Exalted

Holden Caulfield was a hardcore band out of West Virginia, active from 2000 to 2008,

born out of a love of live music and a desire for creativity. 

Throughout their eight-year tenure, there was often a rotating cast of characters playing a number of instruments, but founder and vocalist Dana White assures that there was never any bad blood. “Life makes us make changes sometimes. No bad blood or anything. I love seeing everyone that was in the band whenever I can,” he said. 

White got his songwriting inspiration from dozens of bands from the 90s and 2000s, including Dillinger Escape Plan, Cave In, and Every Time I Die. The heavier bands that inspired his approach to the band’s sound? The list is long, but acts like Metallica, Anthrax, Sick Of It All, and Minor Threat were large contributors, as well as Faith No More, The Bouncing Souls, Silent Majority, Stretch Arm Strong, Most Precious Blood, Brother's Keeper, and more. White, a true Gen-X’er, still boasts a large CD collection and still adds to it whenever he gets the chance.

While Holden Caulfield has been dormant much longer than they were ever a band, that doesn’t mean they’re done making waves. 

Recently, they announced their only full-length album and follow-up EP are being pressed to vinyl, together, for the first time ever. "Can't Stop Now,” released on Surprise Attack Records, and "...And Never Will," the EP that wrapped up a lot of the lyrical content for what was on "Can't Stop Now," which is why the releases form a single thought.

Friend of the band Dwayne Hinkle came up with the idea of pressing the releases to vinyl. He recently started working for Outer Orbit Records out of Barboursville, W.Va., and asked if the band would be interested in putting out the full-length on vinyl. 

“The releases are extremely important to me, and Dana is a great guy. I genuinely feel like everyone should hear these records, and I was in a position to make it happen,” Hinkle said. 

After lengthy discussions and the idea to include the EP, and adding in some merch like hoodies and t-shirts, soon enough, the release was a reality. “I'm beyond excited about it because it's just nice to know that something you hold dear to your heart did something for someone else, too,” White said. 

The three variants available all feature a combination of white and purple. White, because the layouts for both CDs were white, and purple because guitar player Bobby Midkiff suggested it, and everyone agreed. 

“Dana had 20 years of thinking about designing for a band that he never wanted to end. Our friend Daniel Ray designed a triptych based on concepts Dana had for the front cover of each variant, and Dana designed the back cover of each variant,” Hinkle said. 

“This being released this way, all these years later, just makes me happy and proud to have been a part of it. We all made a bunch of music together and got to play it for a bunch of people. It was sold all over the world. That's nuts to me when we were just a bunch of dudes writing music in Bobby's parents' garage. It's nuts to think that people still think about us,” White said when reflecting on what this new era means to him on a personal level. 

White had some final words for readers: “Go see small bands. Support your friends when they play music. Love your local music scene. Love your local music stores. All of this makes life better. It's a major part of how I became who I am. West Virginia forever.” 

You can listen to Holden Caulfield everywhere music is streamed. You can preorder your copy of the vinyl now, set to release on July 17.

AVAILABLE NOW:

Outer Orbit Records: Exclusive Purple

Orbit’s Record Shop: Exclusive Splatter (Limited to 50 in the U.S.)

Coffin Curse Record: Exclusive White

Outer Orbit Records describes itself as “an independent Record Label dedicated to reissuing amazing albums that never got a vinyl release." They currently have an open pre-order for the 30th Anniversary Double LP Edition of Chum's "Dead To The World" that includes four previously unreleased tracks. You can also pick up the first edition of "Dead To The World", along with "I Don't Feel Closer To You Here" by Torches From Above on the Outer Orbit website now. More release announcements are coming soon, with the first happening on May 8. Stay tuned! You can follow them on Facebook here. 

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