This interview was originally published in Perdeby on 13 May 2013.
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
“With any creative relationship, it requires some time to
get perspective. That’s definitely made us realise how important it is
to play music together and also to give us time to soak up more
inspiration.”
Holiday Murray’s bassist Chris Carter is talking about
the Cape Town band’s six-month hiatus, a sabbatical of sorts, while he
ventured off to India for a while.
Soak up inspiration they did, and now, with mysterious
Tanzanian stick man traveller Murray in tow, and a 600 km journey
through the night from Durban behind them, they are at Park Acoustics.
Arms woven together, the band huddles ritualistically before taking to
the stage.
What’s the huddle all about? “It’s a secret,” says lead
guitarist Justin Davenport later with a mischievous smile. “Something
happens.”
Whatever it is, the foursome delivers a labyrinth of
intricate sound, a declaration of intent, an invitation to go on an
illusory journey.
Their particular journey started when the band released
their self-titled debut album in 2011. Two years later, Holiday Murray
is five tracks into their follow-up release. The band is toying with the
idea of recording two EPs this time around, with the money from the
first one intended to fund the second. A limited vinyl edition is also
on the cards.
“I think it’s going to be a double-headed album and we
want to look at the interplay between two different styles,” explains
Davenport.
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
The band wants to delve into two worlds with these
different styles, the one exploring a velvety, complex sound while the
other dips into a bigger, boisterous, rock ‘n’ roll one. “We’re still
exploring, we’re just playing. We’re not too serious. We’re still
young,” says Davenport.
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| PHOTO: Christelle Duvenage |
having a more produced sound
with bigger, edgier songs and then taking a DIY approach to the rest of
the material.
Either way, they are steering their sound into a
direction quite different from the one that their immensely popular
first song “Jirey” pushed them into.
“It’s not necessarily that we don’t want to make happy
music, but there are a whole range of devotions and ideas that we want
to come through that aren’t just happy-go-lucky, make-you-dance music,”
explains Carter.
“As different as it is to us, it might be different to
other people and that’s cool. We want to keep on surprising people.
We’re going to continue making music that makes us happy and if it makes
other people happy, then it’s an absolute bonus,” says drummer Ellis
Silverman.
When it comes to lyrical content, Davenport says, Holiday
Murray’s music has always been quite metaphorical. A lot of the time it
gets lost in the spaces between the band’s multi-layered sound.
“We talk about a lot of things that have relevance to us
and the way we see the world,” says Davenport. “They often come out
quite ...”
“... abstract,” offers Carter.
Overall, though, Holiday Murray have never chosen to
tackle any specific topic through their music. “It’s just a journey of
words and poetry,” says Davenport.
And to finish this new journey that they are embarking
on, they are heading back home to Cape Town. Rather unconventionally,
they’re doing so by train.
“The scenery is absolutely unbelievable,” says Silverman.
“The number of times you look out into the absolute nothingness and
just think, ‘F**k!’ That’s all you really think. Well I do, at least.”
“I had a few deeper thoughts,” retorts Carter comically.
“I bet you did. Do you care to share?” says Silverman looking back at
him.
“Not really,” is the reply he gets.
“Fine.”
BOOTLEG | Holiday Murray - Live at Kirstenbosch from we-are-awesome on Vimeo.
