A song can come to you at any time. You could be in the valley of Brisbane or in the bustle of East Stockholm – whatever your surrounds, it could just happen to be environment that your song needs. Holy Holy are an act that have learned this all too well in their time together – after all, it was a matter of geographical circumstance that drew the duo to one another in the first place.
“I try to do it as a habit,” says Oscar Dawson, the guitar-playing and composing half of the band, when broaching the topic of songwriting. “You’re not always going to do great things, but if you make it a habit, things start to happen. Certain times and certain places have been better for us, I think. Tim [Carroll, vocals] started writing some of these songs a few years ago. He was living in Stockholm and I was in Germany. It was actually quite serendipitous – I travelled up to Stockholm for some work with another band, and Tim popped up on Facebook. I don’t think we’d spoken for years at that point, but we got in touch and we ended up recording a demo for a song that ended up on the album.”
Given the in-transit nature of the band, Holy Holy have never identified with a single city as their base or hometown area. Dawson admits it may look like he and Carroll are in some sort of long-distance relationship. He is, however, adamant that their set-up works for them.
“The distance thing has always been a part of this band,” Dawson says. “After we recorded that demo, I started coming back to Stockholm a lot. It’s actually quite easy to travel around Europe – if you’re lucky, you can grab a flight for one euro. Even when we both moved back to Australia, he went to Brisbane and I went to Melbourne. We’ve always recorded in Brisbane, though – our producer [Matt Redlich] is there, and it’s a really positive space for us. I think it works for me in particular, given that it’s away from my normal life – I’m able to produce and work properly when it’s all that I’m focusing on.”
It was in Brisbane with Redlich where Holy Holy were finally able to finish their debut LP, When The Storms Would Come. Recorded to tape, it’s about as authentic a folk rock record as you’re likely to hear in 2015, regardless of nationality. It’s a refined, sharp album that is wholly reflective of the songwriting strengths of both Carroll and Dawson – which makes sense, considering that an entirely different record was ultimately scrapped by the band prior to making this one.
“We did have a version of an album a few years ago,” says Dawson. “Things just changed really quickly – we started writing new songs, the older ones got wedged out, we released an EP [2014’s The Pacific], we got rid of even more songs in the making of that. The songs were definitely honest representations of us at that time, but we’ve developed a lot since then. Some of the songs started out as a part of a solo project for Tim, and the newer songs that we were writing sounded a lot more like a band, if that makes any sense.”
Momentum has been picking up for Holy Holy even prior to the release of When The Storms Would Come. Last year, they were picked to open for Boy & Bear at the Sydney Opera House, and as the national support for The Preatures on their album tour. Subsequently, the Holy Holy collective has expanded out to a five-piece in the live environment. According to Dawson, the team they have assembled is about as great as they could ever hope for.
“We’ve got Graham [Ritchie, bass] and Ryan [Strathie, drums] playing with us at the moment, as well as Matt playing keys. Graham played on quite a few tracks on the album, and he’s really slid right into the pocket – we’re at a point now where we probably couldn’t do this without him. As for Ryan, what can you say? Anyone who’s seen him play knows he’s a beast – he’s an absolute monster behind the kit. He plays with feel but also with this absolute precision. We’re both big Zeppelin fans, and he’s the closest I’ve ever heard to John Bonham.”
Along with the recording and production of the album, Holy Holy also spent part of 2015’s first half touring abroad. It was an experience that, although potentially risky, worked out far greater than anyone in the band could have anticipated.
“I know there’s a real notion that Aussie bands will tour internationally just to play to rooms full of Aussies, but that surprisingly wasn’t the case when we were in Europe,” says Dawson with a laugh. “It was a real testing ground sort of tour – we did a few festivals where most hadn’t heard us before. The people that did stop by to check out what we were doing ended up really enjoying it, which was really great. It made us feel as though we made the right choice in heading over. Besides everything else, they treat you really well when you tour through Europe. You get a meal at every gig that you play – or, if they don’t have a bistro, they give you money to go get a meal in the area! You’d never get that in Australia.”
When queried on a tour highlight, Dawson immediately picks a moment from neither a show nor a festival. It was instead a fan-boy experience for both him and Strathie. “We actually went and found John Bonham’s grave,” he says excitedly. “We were going through the UK and decided that we had to take a detour – it was almost like a Spinal Tap moment. It was near Birmingham, in the countryside. When we found the grave, we saw that all of these other musicians had been there before us. The whole thing is surrounded by cymbals and drumsticks all left from fans all over the world. It felt like we’d become a part of this huge music nerd pilgrimage.”
Before undertaking an extensive national tour in support of the album, the band is gearing up for an appearance at Splendour In The Grass this weekend. Spirits are high in the Holy Holy camp – for them, this is the perfect way to properly launch When The Storms Would Come into the ether.
“Getting a spot on Splendour is always a big deal for bands here in Australia,” says Dawson. “There’s a lot of vying for position, so we’re really excited that we were selected. It’s going to be a pretty incredible weekend – like, apart from playing, there’s so many incredible acts playing across each day. I’m really looking forward to seeing Blur, especially after what happened when they were supposed to come out last time. It looks as though it’s finally happening this time!”
When The Storms Would Come is out Friday July 24 through Sony. Holy Holy play Lizotte’s Newcastle onSaturday September 12 and Oxford Art Factory on Saturday September 19, along with Fractures, Methyl Ethel and Violet Swells; and Splendour 2015, North Byron Parklands, Friday July 24 – Sunday July 26.
