Out of Illinois, 3 Years Hollow has been around for almost a decade trooping tours in the midwest while releasing new music independently. They worked and fought for the past eight years building up fans and friends to support their music through the region. All of that work culminated in the fall of 2012 when they were one of the top four bands in the annual Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands to win a spot playing locally or nationally on the Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival. Recently, 3YH frontman Jose Urquiza talked about that contest and the doors that it opened up for the band with Alternative Addiction. “The funny thing is that we had done so many of those battle of the bands over the years,” started Urquiza on the contest. “We had been a band for eight years and we had entered several but we’d never won. We kind of figured that it was more about the battle of the fans instead of the battle of the bands. As we got older, and this opportunity came about, we started realizing that the bands who were winning were bands who earned those fans. I think we had done that at that time and our fans kept us at number one in votes throughout the entire competition, which put us at the top of the list for judges to see. Our record label owner, Bob Winegard was one of the judges that year and that’s how we got his attention. We didn’t end up winning, we won our region and we got to play the outdoor slot at Tinley Park for that date, but it definitely led to other things.” The contest was a big victory for 3 Years Hollow and the band, but there have been more since. As Jose mentioned, that led to the band being signed by Imagen Records and being able to make a debut full-length album. That debut album, The Cracks