When interviewing an artist there are a number of things you should try and avoid. One that comes to mind, is that you should never complain about how terrible the weather is in Newcastle, when your interviewee hails from Tasmania.
Last week I got the chance to chat to Holy Holy frontman, Tim Carroll, about their latest record PAINT and their upcoming national tour. While the band has around for a couple of years now, it seems to be that only now are they getting the recognition they truly deserve.
Drifting away from their initial nostalgic, Americana style, Holy Holy has returned with a full bodied, more instrumental sound that has allowed them to showcase the talent of the entire band. For their most recent album PAINT, the band decided to place a heavy emphasis on their guitar presence and experimental sounds. However, it should be said that the most exciting part of their latest release has to be the visual components that accompany the music.
Six years after meeting Newcastle artist James Drinkwater in Europe, Tim talks of teaming up on the project aptly named ‘Painting to Paint’, to create four music videos, composed of four separate artists’ and their visual impressions of the tracks. “We had this thought where we didn’t want to just film another video clip for our album… it was really exciting being able to have a little crossover between the mediums of art and music”. The results are truly a feast for the eyes and if you haven’t already, I would whole heartedly recommend checking then out online.
Holy Holy recently covered Julia Jacklin’s hit single Pool Party at the APRA’s, receiving high praise from musicians such as Kate Miller-Heidke and A.B Original. As it turns out, Tim has been a Jacklin fan for quite a while now. “I saw her perform at a festival once and thought she was amazing…then we decided to take on her track and it’s not until you start learning a song that you really get an understanding of the lyrics and the melodies… It wasn’t until after we performed [at the APRA’s] that I really started to really get into the entire album. Julia is such a talent, she’s definitely one of the brightest song writers that the industry has seen over the past few years”.
When asked what the most outrageous tour moment has been for the band, Tim laughs to himself and begins to tell me about Holy Holy’s first European tour. “I flew into London from Brisbane, super jetlagged, and I had to go and pick up the tour van… it was a brand new Mercedes”. “There was a huge cavalry heading through the city, it was so f***ing English. I went to park the car… and drove around a corner into a narrow street…gouging a massive hole along the side of the van”. He chuckles and says “It was so embarrassing. I remember being jet lagged and depressed, having to call our tour manager…luckily everyone was okay about it”.
On what we can expect from Holy Holy in the coming year, Tim says, “There’s no plans for a new album as of yet, but we’re going to be jumping on a bunch of festivals until the end of the year. We’ve got Yours and Owls coming up and maybe even another tour before 2018”.
If you haven’t had the chance to check out Holy Holy’s latest release, Paint, then you should grab yourself a black coffee and settle in for an afternoon of incredible music.
Holy Holy will be bringing their PAINT Tour to The Small Ballroom on Saturday June 24th; supported by The Money War and Machine Age.
