What’s on the horizon for The Holiday Collective?
Hey THC! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us!
THC: Thank you! It’s a mighty pleasure.
Congratulations on the release of your new single ‘KRIYA’! We hear there’s a story behind it - can you tell us about it?
Jesse:The root of the Sanskrit word literally means ‘to do’ or ‘completed action’, but a more in-depth description of Kriya that I heard briefly described on a podcast triggered me to write the song. In the podcast they talked about Kriya being the neutralisation of Karmic debt; when one has balanced their Karma in this life and it no longer has the ability to knock them off their path, they merge onto some kinda slipstream highway, via this free flow state on their way to the inevitable final destination... that’s me paraphrasing anyway. But when I heard this, I immediately thought; What does Kriya sound like?
I envisioned cruising with the windows down via a continuous metaphysical highway, I rushed off into the garage studio and it all came as quickly. The percussive beat and driving bass-line followed instantaneously, with that guitar chorus line following with the lyrics “I wanna find, I wanna find my way to the day, I see the sunrise, I look with new eyes…” Hmmmm, that’s some life-death-rebirth shit right there.
I jumped back into the car and found myself at Lennox Head, where a beautiful but scary looking storm brewed off shore of the rocky cliff face. As I walked along the beach soaking in the raw forces of the ocean and the inevitable storm, the three full verses of KRIYA came in one fluent piece. I went back home and the song was finished. With these lyrics came a realisation that mirrored my internal world at the time. To progress forward, I would have to surrender to fear and accept the end of certain constants, as they were coming to their natural end.
A few months later we hopped into a local Byron Bay studio (Old Dog Studios, with Allen Pegg) and recorded the track as a full live band. I’m pretty sure it was the second take, we’d played it right through a couple of times and then something special came through. At 3:55 minutes we let loose and it’s this unplanned end section play-out that came together in the studio and out of nowhere, that has become the moment of when we knew that we had encapsulated some kind of magic. We all looked up from our instruments and around at each other, in a jam daze, and we knew it - that was the take!
With members from London, Launceston, and Argentina, what influences have you found making their way into your music?
Jesse: THC musical pallet is broad, pulling from these diverse group of backgrounds, but sitting somewhere between AUS indie pop, Northern Rivers mystic rock (our time living in the Byron Shire these past 4 years), with an additional hint of world music, namely the psychedelic underground scene of Argentina (it’s here you can hear Marquee Moon’s production influences on the tracks). Marquee has a background in a well known Argentinian outfit 'In Corp Sanctis' who are big back in South America. Marquee and his partner Kimi Brown feature in the THC but originate from Byron DJ duo ‘In The Flowers’, and it’s Kimi’s (Gladstone girl) hip hop/MC vibe that brings a lot of steeze to the collective.
Myself, younger brother Jade and Isaac were all in the Tassie (Launceston) outfit 'Younger Dryas’, we grew up cutting our teeth on wild east coast pub tours and returned home one year to start the Tassie favourite 'Party in the Paddock' music festival. YD had a great innings and we became notorious for an outrageous live show. A lot of this existing onstage connection has transitioned into the backbone of a really tight live band for THC. Having performed together live on multiple stages for over a decade (developing in the midst of great Aussie bands like; Kingswood, Sticky Fingers, Ocean Alley, Stonefield, The Vanns etc.). Jade and I have been playing music together since we could wield our parent's instruments. Born into a party house of 70’s vinyl and extended family; it didn’t take us long to join the family band, with Jade on drums and me on my first instrument the harmonica, we spent most of our childhood on tour and in and out of studios with our parents.
Meg (London) brings another dimension to the THC, with a voice that soars alongside and comes from the same school of fellow Celtic witches Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine) and Hannah Reid (London Grammar) - Meg is set for big things and features in coming THC releases, including a small vocal appearance on the recently released Island.
Do you have any recommendations on some artists from each location that we should get behind?
THC:
London - Georgia; A multi-instrumentalist, epic song writer that gets you groovin with dance influences and catchy melodies. Watch this space.
Launceston - DENNI; is a passionate and brilliantly talented Tasmanian Aboriginal artist. Having a strong background in acoustic folk, she recently evolved through lush electronic textures to find a well deserved home in the Aussie hip hop scene. We’ve just had a sneak peak at her coming unreleased EP and it’s absolute fire… Be prepared to hear a lot more from this emerging queen.
Argentina - Marquee’s old band 'In Corp Sanctis' are still humming along with hundreds of thousands of plays on Spotify and a reputation as, “Argentina’s Tame Impala”, they’ve got some serious business South American psychedelia on tap. Check out the ‘Libres Van’ album to hear some of Marquee’s psych synth brilliance.
Byron Bay - Drop Legs; Best live band in the Bay! Dropy’s will have you kicking it via a hip hop, reggae cross (think Sublime vibes) and are one of the hardest working bands you’ll come across, backing it up with an ever growing catalogue and a fucking rad live show. Catch them anywhere along the east coast where they’ll be ‘Pacific Highway Trippen’, but it’s on their home turf at the Northo that’ll be a night that you probably won’t remember.
Are you all based in Byron Bay now? What led you there, and was there a time when you’ve had to manage recording and rehearsal schedules while living in different places?
Jesse:Almost! Marquee, Kim, Meg and myself all pretty much live together and are currently working on all of our projects simultaneously, living and breathing the music. It’s been hard with COVID, Jade and Isaac are held up in Tassie at the moment, but we’re finding ways to stay connected and are looking forward to that monster jam at the end of all of this…
For a while there, when Meg was back in the UK we tried out a Zoom rehearsal or two and Marquee and Kimi made a few flights to Tassie in the lead up to our performance at Party in the Paddock. But yeah, Byron has that magnetic pull to it, it keeps bringing us back together here, a bit like the summers in Tassie - it’s a pretty beautiful combo, we can’t complain.
What do you love most about Byron Bay? How does it compare to your hometowns?
Meg:
Byron has a unique way of bringing people together - a small town filled with big dreamers. Compared to London, I spend my time in the surf instead of on the trains. Neither place is better than the other, but for me, right now, I’m lapping up the goodness that comes with days in the slow lane among nature and good company.
The Holiday Collective has been described as a “low key supergroup”. We’d love to hear a little bit about the projects each member is a part of outside of the band!
THC:
‘In The Flowers’ - A recent live show critic said; “If Khruangbin were dj’s”, is where Kimi has her MC hat on and Marquee is at home behind the decks. Byron’s loveliest couple and hardest working DJ’s fell in love via a Byron Bay garage to the beat of disco samples and Japanese elevator music. Now, not only a typical couple that wears each other's clothes, In The Flowers have burst out onto the AUS music scene in a big way over these last twelve months. Actively playing residential gigs all along the eastern seaboard, from the Sunshine Coast to Tassie.
Fresh off the mark, British songwriter-producer, 24-year-old Meg Hitchcock is set to grace the AUS music scene with her debut single ‘Hello Moon’ (due for release mid August 2020). Meg’s powerhouse voice and her group’s infectious energy “feels like Madonna and Kevin Parker met at a bar during the 80s.” It’s almost like The Weekend did a collab with Florence Welsh… We’re all bloody excited for this banger that also has a ridiculous 80’s inspired film clip to match, keep those eyes peeled.
As mentioned above, Jesse, Jade and Isaac all played in Tassie outfit ‘Younger Dryas’ for just over a decade, but also have a hand in as the backing band for several other projects including DENNI, The Prairie Dog Conspiracy and The Salad Tribesmen (Jade & Isaac). Jesse initiated THC as his musical moniker HOLIDAY and still is at the helm of writing the majority of the songs for the project and the coming album ‘*In Holiday’.
Outside of music, what are The Holiday Collective’s passions and interests?
Meg: Simple pleasures. We enjoy morning drives to our favourite local cafes (currently - The Roadhouse, Punch and Daisy, and Lilium) where we tell each other tales and our latest business ideas. We keep eachother fit, going out for group lighthouse runs and surfs. Separately we all have our creative outlets, for instance - Marquee is an epic drawer, Kimi is currently into dancehall, Jesse is all about the activities; ball sports and mountain climbing, Jade is a brilliant videographer and photographer and Isaac handmakes products out of recycled materials such as wallets, chairs and coffee tables!
What’s on the horizon for The Holiday Collective, and where can we find your music and follow you?
Jesse:
Well, we can’t go on holiday, so more music is the only option! And to be honest, we’re all pretty stoked with that. This condensed focus time has been brilliant to finish off the coming album and to spend time together on all of the different aspects of finishing off and releasing the material - it’s a process. So yeah, there’s definitely more releases on the horizon (album included) and COVID depending, live shows! We miss em and don’t we all… We’re going to try and keep it interactive online though, with more film clips, live versions of songs and potential live streams popping up soon, so join in for an online holiday via:
Facebook | Instagram
Meg Hitchcock: https://www.instagram.com/meghitchcockmusic/
Jesse Higgs: https://www.instagram.com/jessehiggsinholiday/
In The Flowers: https://www.instagram.com/intheflowers__/
Isaac Williams: https://www.instagram.com/isaacwilliamsdesignobjects/
Jade Higgs: https://www.instagram.com/jade_higgs/
