Just a quick 35 minutes away from Elon is UNC Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street. Lined with tons of lively bars and restaurants, you are guaranteed to have a great time at this college nightlife scene. If you’re lucky, you might even spot Holland Gallagher, the artist of Gentlemen Contender!
By performing at several local venues and consistently releasing new music and videos, Gentlemen Contender has already made quite the name for itself on UNC’s campus and is only continuing to grow. In January, he released a brand new album called Blank Narrative, which you can listen to on his website here!
To find out more about this aspiring artist, I was able to ask him a couple questions myself:
How did your passion for music and performing first develop?I grew up around music in New Orleans, my dad ran a recording studio so I was always near it as a kid. It was instilled in me from the jump.
Do you have a certain artist or band that has inspired you throughout your career?Frank Ocean has always been my biggest inspiration as an artist. More recently though I’m really into the new Kendrick record and what Chance and Gambino are doing with film tying into music to give a more holistic expression of their work.
How would you describe your music style?This is always the hardest question for me but I think I’ve settled on l somewhere between synthpop and rap. I have the whole #It’sNotRap thing, but that’s more about not being put in a box as solely a rapper. Obviously I rap in my songs, but I like to think my brand is about more than that. I produce, I tell stories, I write songs.
What has been your most memorable moment as Gentlemen Contender so far?In January I released Blank Narrative during a headlining show at Cat’s Cradle Backroom which was a really exciting night for me. It’s always dope to think back to a couple of years ago when I was playing free shows in my dorm to where it is now. I have a lot of appreciation for the people that put me in a position to be able to go after what I love.
So next time you need a break from Elon nightlife, be sure to take a trip down to Franklin Street and you may even catch Holland performing! To stay up to date with his music be sure to “like” Gentlemen Contender on Facebook or follow him on Twitter here!