The Holidays are an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

band. Formed in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 2006, the band consists of Simon Jones, Will Magnus, Alex Kortt and Andrew Kerridge. Their debut album ''

Post Paradise ''Post Paradise'' is the debut album by Australian band The Holidays. In Australia, it was released on 24 September 2010, and in Japan in January 2011 on the Rallye Label. Among other accolades, The Holidays won the Australian Music Prize's Red ...

'' was nominated for an

Australian Music Prize The Australian Music Prize (often shortened to the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The award was made by Australian Music Pri ...

Biography

The Holidays formed in late 2006 and quickly established themselves in the Sydney music scene as an upbeat, energetic addition. Simon Jones and Will Magnus had attended high school together, previously playing in cover bands in their schools' band competition. They were often up against the band Roger Explosion in these competitions, who went on to become the Australian

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

band Art vs. Science. Within their first year as a band together, The Holidays toured with

Jamie T Jamie Alexander Treays (born 8 January 1986), better known by his stage name Jamie T, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, guitarist and record producer from Wimbledon, South London. Jamie T released his debut album, '' Panic Prevention'' ...

, with The View, with

Ben Kweller Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations. Early life Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...

, and recorded an EP of demos which quickly sold out at gigs and received regular airplay on radio stations both in Australia and in the USA. In November 2007 The Holidays were featured on the Next Crop segment of national youth radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

, soon followed by their signing with independent Australian record label

Liberation Music Liberation Music is an Australian record company and label, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello, based in Melbourne. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining inde ...

, in early 2008. The Holidays released their debut EP on 19 April 2008 to positive reviews which was followed by a substantial national tour to promote the release. They released their second EP '' When The Ship Goes Down'' in October 2008, which showed the band's natural progression with song-writing. Recorded with

Wayne Connolly Wayne Paul Connolly is an Australian musician, record producer and audio engineer. From 1991 to 1997 Connolly provided lead guitar and vocals in guitar pop group the Welcome Mat, with whom he released two studio albums. In 1994, he formed Knie ...

of The Vines and

Josh Pyke Joshua Jon Pyke (born 18 December 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter, producer, musician and children's book author. Biography Josh Pyke is a prolific songwriter, with a successful and critically acclaimed career both domestically and ove ...

fame, this EP was followed by a 20 date national tour, co-headlining with Brisbane band

Yves Klein Blue Yves Klein Blue was an Australian indie rock band from Brisbane, which formed in 2005 and disbanded in 2010. The line-up included Chris Banham on Drum Kit, drums and percussion, Sean Cook on bass guitar, Charles Sale on lead guitar and Keyboard ...

. The Holidays' debut album ''

'' soon followed, after several months of writing and experimenting. Drawn away from the simplicity of their earlier indie guitar manifestation,

showed the band's development with both the groove and layers of a song, combined with their recognizable pop hooks. This album differed from previous recordings by The Holidays' in that it was self-produced and recorded in various locations around Sydney and New South Wales. "

Moonlight Hours ''Moonlight Hours'' is the first single taken from Australian indie band The Holidays' debut album. It was released digitally in late 2009. Recorded at home and self-produced, with additional recording and production at BJB Studios with the hel ...

", the first single from their debut album was taken to radio in November 2009, and added to high rotation on national youth radio station

. "Golden Sky" was the second single from The Holidays debut album, released in May 2010, which was followed by an east coast tour of Australia to promote the release. There is a music video for both these singles, made by Melbourne company Moop Jaw. ''

'' was released in Australia on 24 September 2010, in conjunction with third single, Broken Bones, which was added to radio nationally. The album has received very positive reviews since its release, which included amongst other reviews, being shortlisted for the

and winning the Red Bull Award for Best Debut Album. Post Paradise also received "Album of the Week" in

Drum Media ''The Music'', (formerly known as and now incorporating ''Drum Media)'', is an online Australian music magazine. It previously existed as a street press devoted to long-form music journalism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. In ...

, Beat Magazine, BMA Mag & The Brag, 4.5 stars in The Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph & The Courier Mail, as well as positive reviews in The Age &

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

. Post Paradise won The Age Readers Choice Best Album of 2010, and was the Triple J Feature Album for the week commencing 26 December 2010. The Holidays toured Post Paradise substantially in 2010 and 2011, including shows at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, The Great Escape Festival in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, UK, and Australian festivals including

Groovin' the Moo Groovin the Moo is an annual music festival that is held in six regional centres across Australia. The festival is held during autumn, typically in May of each year. Groovin the Moo was established by Cattleyard Promotions and their first fe ...

Laneway Festival The St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, commonly referred to as Laneway, began in Caledonian Lane, Melbourne, Australia, in 2005. Beginning as predominantly an indie music event, the festival grew in popularity and expanded to five Australian citie ...

and

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near B ...

. The Holidays' current live show incorporates a fifth touring member, David Zucker as percussionist, as well occasional backing vocalists. On 21 February 2014, The Holidays released their second record, ''Real Feel''. Coinciding with the release of the album, the band toured Australia over March and also continuing into June/July.

Members

*Simon Jones -

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*Alex Kortt -

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Andrew Kerridge -

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Touring

*Toured with

in May 2007 *Toured with The View in June 2007 *Toured with

in October 2007 *Played nationally at the 2008

St Jerome's Laneway Festival The St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, commonly referred to as Laneway, began in Caledonian Lane, Melbourne, Australia, in 2005. Beginning as predominantly an indie music event, the festival grew in popularity and expanded to five Australian citie ...

*Toured with

The Wombats The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards). ...

in March 2008 *Toured with

Lightspeed Champion Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was ...

in July 2008 *Played at

Homebake Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...

2008 *Played at

Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne (Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve ...

2008 *Toured with

Bluejuice Bluejuice was an Australian band based in Sydney, active between 2000 and 2014. The group's final line-up consisted of lead vocalist Jake Stone, backing vocalist Stavros Yiannoukas, bassist Jamie Cibej and drummer James Hauptmann. The band rele ...

in April 2010 *Played at

2011 across Australia *Played at

in Austin, Texas in March 2011 *Played at the

Festival across Australia in May 2011 *Toured with

Cut Copy Cut Copy (sometimes stylised as Cut/Copy) are an Australian synth-pop band formed in 2001 by Dan Whitford (vocals, keyboards and guitar). Originally a home-recording project, the band now includes Tim Hoey (guitars), Ben Browning (bass guitar), ...

in Australia in May 2011 *Played at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, and

Dot to Dot Festival The Dot to Dot Festival is an annual music festival held at various venues in Nottingham, Bristol and Manchester across a weekend. Unlike weekend music festivals such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals, there is no artist rotation – all artist ...

across the UK in May 2011 *Played at

in August 2011. *Played at the inaugural Harvest Festival in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane in November 2011 along with

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

, Portishead and

Tv on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and Jale ...

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (Australia - 24 September 2010, Japan - January 2011) * '' Real Feel'' (21 February 2014)

EPs

* ''

The Holidays The Holidays are an Australian indie pop/soul band. Formed in Sydney in 2006, the band consists of Simon Jones, Will Magnus, Alex Kortt and Andrew Kerridge. Their debut album '' Post Paradise'' was nominated for an Australian Music Prize. Biog ...

'' (19 April 2008) * '' When The Ship Goes Down'' (11 October 2008) * '' Golden Sky'' (Australia - May 2010, UK - August 2010)

Singles

* ''

'' (December 2009) * ''Golden Sky'' (May 2010) * ''Broken Bones'' (September 2010) * ''2 Days'' (February 2011) * ''Voices Drifting'' (August 2013) * ''All Time High'' (November 2013)

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - ,

AIR Awards of 2011 The AIR Awards of 2011 (or Jägermeister Independent Awards of 2011) is the sixth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Revolt Art Space, in Melbourn ...

, themselves , Breakthrough Independent Artist , , -

Australian Music Prize

The

(the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The commenced in 2005. , - , 2010 , ''Post Paradise'' , Australian Music Prize , , -

EG Awards/Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

(previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. , - , EG Awards of 2010 , ''Post Paradise'' , Best Album , , -

Further information

*The Holidays song 'Telephone' was featured on an Australian television advertising campaign for

Clearasil Clearasil is a brand of skin care and acne medication, whose products contain chiefly benzoyl peroxide, sulfur and resorcinol, triclosan, or salicylic acid as active ingredients. Clearasil has a wide range of products both for rapid and sometimes ...

in late 2007. *The Holidays song 'Golden Sky' was used in the Channel 7 summer 2010/2011 advertising campaign. *Simon Jones collaborated & sung vocals with Australian dance duo

Bag Raiders Bag Raiders are an Australian electronic music duo founded in 2006 by Jack Glass and Chris Stracey. They play keyboards, drums, and act as vocalists, producers, and remixers, with Stracey additionally playing guitar, violin and piano. They also ...

on the track 'Not Over' from their eponymous debut album.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holidays, The Australian indie pop groups Australian indie rock groups