The Holidays - Interview
- genevavalek
- Jun 2, 2014
- 4 min read
We were privileged to have a lovely chat with The Holiday’s front man Simon Jones. The Holidays released their second record Real Feel earlier this year and are about to embark on an Aussie tour. We spoke about their album, touring, Like A Version, SXSW and their circa 2007 love of Vampire Weekend.
During the recording of their latest LP Real Feel, The Holidays did a lot of travelling. Simon said while the tried to discover a new sound abroad, the recording occurred in Sydney. The recording process involved a mix of a mobile home studio in which the band could “experiment with sounds at home without the pressure of studio time” while neatly polished stuff like the vocals and drums were recorded in a professional studio.
The Holidays play an all age show at the Metro on the 13th of June! We asked Simon about what its like to play for an all age crowd and he described the crowds as “more enthusiastic” adding that is “exactly what you want” as a performer (no pressure Sydney). The band who gained significant attention since the release of Post Paradise in 2010 are yet to play a large all age show to their home crowd just missing the chance after the release of Post Paradise because they went overseas. Simon said the upcoming show was an “Opportunity to finally do an all ages show and also play the Metro which has kind of been on our bucket list”.
Simon, a Sydney local remembers seeing the Kaiser Chiefs play the Metro when he was younger, supported by local Indie rockers Red Riders. He said “seeing support bands for the first time was something really cool”. Simon reckons all age shows are cool, because younger crowds are more likely to get to the gig at doors, to check out supports. This time around The Holidays are supported by Thief, an electronic artist who the Holidays picked as a support: “We heard his song on JJJ which we all really liked, and just asked him to do it for us.”
The Holidays had a significant break between Post Paradise and their latest release Real Feel, with around a year of no shows at all. Simon said the band is glad to be back playing new music again, describing it as “the fun part”.
Some of the band members met at high school before forming the band when at Uni. I asked Simon if he had any advice for young musos, and when reflecting on his own experiences he wished he had started earlier, ignoring the pressures of high school. Despite playing and writing it wasn’t until uni that he started to properly release songs. Simon wishes he backed himself earlier because “the fastest way to learn is putting yourself out there.”
Simon left university when he became too busy with the band. Upon reflecting on the decision to end his studies in economics (what I’m studying) before he completed, Simon seemed glad: “I would not at this point be working in finance.” While studying he decided his “other option was music and I preferred music”. Just showing that us youngsters should pursue what we love in the hope it turns out just the way we want it!
After the release of Post Paradise, the boys headed to SXSW. When asked if they wanted to do it again Simon said that the band purposefully didn’t go this time, despite a great experience in 2011. They had heard from friends that SXSW is pretty chaotic now that punters have got involved. The band while benefiting from the experience found shows weird with music executives sitting back on their phones rather than getting involved in the music. Simon said the band much preferred playing shows to their own audiences who were more energetic, “The vibe is a thousand times better, with an all age crowd even better still.”
Simon said he wanted to do the classic bus tour supporting a big American band, “the almost famous tour”. They have toured the United Kingdom quite a bit, and despite having toured America by plane, the bus tour is definitely something they’re keen on doing.
If you haven’t already seen The Holidays covering The Preatures ‘Is this how you feel’ for Triple J Like a Version you’re missing out. The band have dropped hints online that they may even be playing it at the Metro show. The Holidays cover, a complete vibe shifter on the original was described by Simon as a bit of risk, adding “it’s such a great tune but we did it pretty different”. They didn’t just want to cover the song as it was, instead they made it their own: “My philosophy on like a versions and just covers in general is there’s no point in covering something just the way it is, we felt like we were writing a new song almost.”
Since the release of Real Feel, The Holidays have been busy releasing some pretty cool videos. They have been trying a lot of different styles and having a bit of fun producing with friends. Their upcoming video clip for Tongue Talk, is going back to that classic MTV vibe: It’s an “old school performance clip in a huge white space with our amps … set up like a classic video clip but a little bit sideways as well, not quite standard.” So we have that to look forward to soon!
In an interview with Triple J in 2007 The Holidays (found here) said the band they wanted to tour with the most was Vampire Weekend. Simon explained to me that they actually came across Vampire Weekend on MySpace back in 2007 when Vampire Weekend had around 100 friends and only one song. The Holidays sent them a message saying they liked the song and they had a chat discussing an Australian tour before either band had even recorded an EP! Incredible!
We were stoked to have a chat with Simon, The Holidays are certainly a band to watch! Make sure you get to their Metro show on the 13th of June. More info can be found in our gig guide.
Interview by James Macdonald
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