The Bank Holidays were an Australian

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, which formed in 2003 as Tunnelball by Nat Carson (guitar, piano, vocals), James Crombie (bass guitar, vocals), Wibekke (Bekk) Reczek (guitar, vocals) and Ian (Stafford) Chater (drums). Late in 2007 Chater was replaced by

Stuart Leach Stuart Leach is a musician from Western Australia. Stuart Leach was originally the drummer in Carpet, a funk band formed by Leach's brother Simon (guitar) and fellow year-12 Hollywood Senior High School student, Joel Quartermain (guitar), in Pert ...

. They have issued two studio albums, ''As a Film'' (15 October 2007) and ''Sail Becomes a Kite'' (17 July 2010). By late 2012 they had effectively disbanded.

History

The Bank Holidays were conceived by James (Jim) Crombie (bass guitar, vocals) and Wibekke (Bekk) Reczek (guitar, vocals) whilst holidaying in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

(on Bekk's grandparents' farm), who several weeks later in London enlisted old school friend Nat Carson (guitar, piano, vocals) to form the band. On their return to Perth in 2003 they recruited drummer, Ian "Stafford" Chater. Late in 2007 Chater was replaced on drums by

. They played their first gig at The Swan Basement in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

under the name Tunnelball, a suggestion from

Darren Hanlon Darren Hanlon is an Australian singer-songwriter from Gympie, Queensland. Prior to becoming a solo artist in 1999, Hanlon was a member of Lismore, New South Wales, Lismore indie rock band The Simpletons, with whom he released four albums and s ...

. They changed it to the Bank Holidays before their next gig at Perth's Hyde Park Hotel. In September 2004 the band released their debut recording, a five-track

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''Good Looks to Camera'' on Lost & Lonesome Recording Co. Sabian Wilde described the band as "Firmly entrenched in the realm of '60s pop, without any of that caustic tongue-in-cheek bitterness that sometimes afflicts revivalists" and that the EP is "a gem of a debut... that is self-assured, breezy and very, very catchy. Despite being a little too indie for those of the rawk persuasion, consistent rotation should wear those boundaries down like a smile melting a bad mood.""WAM Reviews" for

West Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Aust ...

: * * * Its lead track, "Tread Easy", won a WAMi Award in 2004 in the Indie Rock / Punk Category for Crombie and the group. In February 2005 the group co-headlined with

the Panics The Panics are an indie rock band originally from Perth, Western Australia, and currently based in Melbourne, Victoria. History 2000–2006: Band formation and LittleBigMan Records The band started out while Jae Laffer (then known by his actu ...

on a national tour, with the Bank Holidays releasing their second five-track EP, ''Day for Night'', later that year. Its second track, "Like a Piano", was nominated at the WAMi Awards in that year for the Love category for Crombie, Reczek and the group; and its final track, "Not so Long Ago", was nominated for the Rock category for Crombie and the group. The Bank Holidays have also played with fellow Australian bands

the Lucksmiths The Lucksmiths were an Australian indie pop band formed in March 1993 by Marty Donald on guitar, Mark Monnone on bass guitar and Tali White on drums and lead vocals. Louis Richter (ex-Mid State Orange) joined on guitar in 2005. They released ei ...

Little Birdy Little Birdy were an Australian alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in 2002 by singer and guitarist Katy Steele, drummer Matt Chequer, guitarist and keyboardist Simon Leach, and bass guitarist Scott O'Donoghue. They gaine ...

Youth Group Youth Group is an Australian rock band based in Newtown, New South Wales. Built around the vocals of singer Toby Martin and production of Wayne Connolly, the sound of Youth Group is reminiscent of indie rock artists such as Teenage Fanclub, Pa ...

the Panda Band The Panda Band are an indie pop band originating from Perth, Western Australia. They have a reputation for combining numerous musical genres. They have toured nationally as support acts for bands such as The Sleepy Jackson, Little Birdy, The Gra ...

and

Augie March Augie (sometimes spelled Auggie) is a nickname for variations of the name August, which derives from the Latin name Augustus. It may refer to: People *Augie Auer (1940–2007), meteorologist *Augie Galan (1912–1993), Major League Baseball play ...

, and have supported international acts,

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...

and

Peter, Bjorn and John Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie pop/rock band formed in Stockholm in 1999, named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriks ...

. At the 2007 WAMi Awards The Bank Holidays walked away with their first WAMington for 'Best Indie Pop Act'. The group completed recording of their debut album, ''As a Film'', at the rural Victorian home studio of their producer, J Walker a.k.a.

Machine Translations Machine Translations is the performing name of Greg James Walker (born 1967), an Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; who is also a producer as J Walker. Walker started out recording all instruments himself in a home studio a ...

. It was released on 13 October 2007. Crombie and Reczek had married by 2010. On 17 July the Bank Holidays released their second album, ''Sail Becomes a Kite''. Jennifer Peters of the AU Review opined, "A surprising left turn for the delightful quartet, whose previous output has been exemplified by a giddy exuberance and sense of joyousness, ''Sail Becomes a Kite'' is an extraordinarily reflective and weighty indie-pop release... the outfit is more than capable of crafting unabashedly graceful and poignant tracks, fleshing out the production canvas along with the ever-growing gusto of their entrancing three-part harmonies." By 2012 the group's official website declared "The band is currently split between Perth and Melbourne, so a show is rare and exciting thing for us. Behold then, our appearance at Perth's This Is Nowhere festival!" They were scheduled to appear in October 2012. The Bank Holidays had effectively disbanded after that time. Meanwhile, Carson and Leach had formed another indie pop group, Captain Coach, in Melbourne which issued a single, "Done and Gone", in August 2013.

Band members

Former

* Bekk Reczek (guitar, vocals) * Nat Carson (guitar, piano, vocals) * James Crombie (bass guitar, vocals) *

(drums) * Ian (Stafford) Chater (drums)

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Awards

WAM Song of the Year

The

WAM Song of the Year WAM was originally formed as the Western Australian Rock Music Industry Association Inc. (WARMIA) in 1985, with its main aim to develop and run annual awards recognising achievements within the music industry in Western Australia. WAM first receiv ...

was formed by the Western Australian Rock Music Industry Association Inc. (WARMIA) in 1985, with its main aim to develop and run annual awards recognising achievements within the music industry in Western Australia. (wins only) , - , 2004 , "Tread Easy" , Indie Rock/Punk Category , , -

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The

(WAMIs) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on annually by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM).2007 West Australian Music Industry Award Winners
(wins only) , - , 2007 , The Bank Holidays , Best Indi Pop Act , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Holidays, The Australian indie rock groups Western Australian musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups disestablished in 2012