Hold For Swank

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Hold For Swank is a power-pop/rock band from Iowa, founded by Eric Nelson (vocals/guitar) and consisting of Nelson, Max Kenkel (bass/vocals) and David Dempster (drums).

The name "Hold For Swank" came from a telephone call to a record store in Fort Dodge, Iowa, which was answered by Nelson's friend, Scott Kelley (see also, Scotto). The customer requested what was, at the time, the newest CD by Meat Loaf. Kelley asked for the man's name so he could put it on hold, and the man answered, "just hold for Swank." Sure enough, the customer came to the store dressed to the nines, embarrassingly replete with butterfly collar, gold chains and general lounge-lizard swankiness. From there, Nathan Sparks, another co-worker and friend of Nelson's, suggested Nelson write a song called either "Hold For Swank" or "Amy, I Suggest?" Nelson had released a 2-song cassette tape ("Finger" and "Quicksand") on his own in April 1997, but when he asked Sparks about the origins of the the "Amy, I Suggest?" phrase, he chose to write the song about that scenario, and released that song under the name Hold For Swank in April 1998.

For the next three years, Nelson wrote songs through the inspiration of Sparks' witticisms, the joys of living in Fort Dodge and the trials and tribulations of his own love life. This led to a 5-song EP, titled "One Way," recorded in December 2001 at Junior's Motel in Otho, Iowa, with Nelson on vocals, guitar and bass, and yet another friend and co-worker, Mike Koch, on drums. (Kris Karr also appears on this EP through his earlier drum work with Nelson.)

Hold For Swank was noticably sans bass player, and after Koch moved to Des Moines, sans drummer as well. While at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, Nelson met Kenkel, who informed Nelson he played bass. The two practiced more new songs, and recruited Justin Bristow, a hometown friend of Nelson's on hiatus from his previous band, Marcato, to play drums. The trio worked out a 30-minute set and lined up shows for the rest of the 2002-03 school year at BVU. Kenkel graduated and moved at the end of that year, and Bristow rejoined Marcato, putting Hold For Swank as an active band on the shelf for the time being. Nelson continued to write songs and record them in his basement, including an early version of "Alicia" on which Bristow appears. Nelson also would sporadically drive to Altoona to jam with Kenkel.

After graduating from BVU, Nelson began working in Waterloo, Iowa, and living in neighboring Cedar Falls. He made the rounds at various open mike nights to good reviews, which rekindled his excitement to play live. He suggested to Kenkel they find a drummer, and coincidentally, Kenkel was working with Dempster, who had played drums in the past. The three began jamming in August 2005, recorded a 3-song demo (It's Like a Jungle Gym Sometimes, featuring "It's OK," "Alicia" and "Does She Realize?") at Junior's Motel in October 2005, and began playing shows that same month.

As of September 2006, Hold For Swank -- Nelson, Kenkel and Dempster -- have played nearly 50 shows throughout Iowa and Nebraska, and have released a full-length album titled "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things." The album was recorded by Chris Brown in April-May 2006 in Cedar Falls and was released on June 17, 2006. A radio campaign with Tinderbox Music has gotten songs from the album added to more than 150 radio stations across the country.