During the course of Fly Magazine’s interview with State College’s Nathaniel Hoho – singer, songwriter, human flier – myths were dispelled, lore was invented and legends were made. It was a very productive 20 minutes.
We began the conversation by diving headfirst into the mythology behind Hoho’s name itself, which – at least until you hear his music – is probably the best thing he’s got going for him. Just say it: “Hoho.” Aren’t you kind of a fan already? “Hoho.” It’s like the unicorn of last names – you know better than to think it actually exists, but damn, wouldn’t it be magical if it did?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t.
“My last name actually is Hohol,” Hoho explains. “You pronounce it ‘hoho,’ though, with a silent ‘L.’ I would tell people at shows that my name was Nathaniel Hohol, and nobody would be able to find me [online] because they would type in ‘h-o-h-o.’ So I figured I would just drop it.”
Myth one: busted.
We then moved on to the rumor that Hoho is the leader of some kind of vagrant, mass-marketing guerilla army of “human fliers,” a group of walking, singing billboard advertisements that promote Hoho shows in towns across Pennsylvania.
Myth two: true!
“If you walk down the streets and see a flier, you would maybe look at it; but if you see a guy that’s singing to you …,” Hoho says, pausing to allow the genius of his marketing model to set in.
“We don’t just walk up and sing. We introduce ourselves and we talk. We just sing to people in the street or in restaurants or on busses,” he adds. “It really helped us build a fan base. Wherever I play, there are people who know me. And we’ve ended up in a lot of interesting places because of it. We ended up getting a PBS interview on TV. It really helped out a lot.”
Eccentricities aside, Hoho is actually a relatively grounded guy with a realistic view of his career. In fact, his pragmatism is what launched his solo career in the first place.
“I’ve played in bands since I’ve been in high school, and nothing ever seemed to work out,” he says. “There were always conflicts of interest or conflicts of schedules. I knew that I really wanted to try and make a career out of it, and I felt like every time things would fall apart. I finally just got sick of it and decided I was going to do it by myself, because that’s really the only thing I could do.”
And so, in May of 2006, Hoho picked up his guitar and began creating crystalline acoustic compositions that balance a ton of pop melodies and sub-hooks on top of a teetering folk sensibility. His music is a teen-tested, coffeehouse-approved blend of ’70s folk-pop, the witticism of Jason Mraz and his ilk and the rock-envy of acoustic-based bands like Nickel Creek. It’s sort of an anachronism in music today – a kid who is at least as good at songwriting as he is at promoting himself. These are super-concise songs with grownup-sounding melodies that kids who are too cool for school can still appreciate. It’s like listening to Jim Croce being covered by someone who quite possibly never heard of Jim Croce, but did hear of John Mayer.
When we spoke, Hoho was putting the finishing touches on his first EP, which is slated for an early November release. Once that’s out the door, he and his band of promotional pirates will continue to loot and pillage each and every town that’ll have them.
 “I’m going to try to play everywhere and anywhere I can, just keep building a fan base and growing,” Hoho says excitedly. “Within the next two years, I would love to be capable to tour the world. I really want to go to Europe. I really want to go to Japan.
“I want to show my music to as many people as I can, and I want to see the world doing it,” he adds. “I feel like everything is just falling into place for me.”