Cruising along with her kaleidoscope of dance-provoking sounds, Australia’s very own Holly-J is best known for her high energy and fiery finesse. Her countless arsenal of genres including Electro, Dutch- House and an overlooked outlander known as Melbourne Bounce will have your jaw hitting the floor with crashing force.
Emerging from a small corner in New Zealand, Holly took the leap of faith to Australia, where her talent flourished amidst a world of support from Axwell, Tïesto and Markus Schulz. Her journey to the top includes number one chart grabbers like “Out My Bitch” with Stevie Mink and “Bass Bitch” which had Beatport spinning with attention.
Her new release under Big Alliance Records properly dubbed “Eternity” featuring Werewolf, Madeleine Jayne and NeeQ is yet another ear enthralling anthem that will be her calling card during her climb through the year 2014.
Strap in and prepare to sing and groove along with Holly and her friends, and be sure to check out her exclusive chat with Straight Up! Music below!
Sum: Hey Holly! Thank you tons for sitting down with us! How’s life treating you down undah?
Hey, life is pretty awesome thank you! Melbourne has to be one of the coolest places to live, I feel very privileged to be able to now call it home.
Sum: How were you first introduced to the dance music scene? Seeing that you’re from a quaint little river town of Wanganui, New Zealand, what leaps and bounds did you have to take in order to have a foothold in the EDM scene?
You’ve done your research! Well, the first night that I went out in Melbourne, I was taken to this underground club called TFU, & they were playing this music that had a bouncey grooving bassline with these rap vocals & I literally fell in love right then & there! I ended up going to that club religiously & following around these dj’s that go by name of Orkestrated, they’re basically the godfathers of ‘Melbourne Bounce’.
After about two years of being a party animal raving every weekend to these addictive tunes I decided that I wanted to be the one behind the decks instead of on the dance floor, so I saved up, bought some decks & got a copy of Ableton Live & started learning to produce & play. Took me about 8 months before I felt confident enough to play in public, & even then it definitely didn’t happen overnight, back then it was actually pretty hard being a female getting gigs ‘cos none of the promoters wanted to book us. But I was pretty determined & proved to them I could play & ended up building up regular gigs, giving out free tunes & just spending every waking minute slaving away in the studio when I wasn’t working my full time job at the law firm…. That’s the short version anyway haha
Sum: What’s your take on the music culture comparison between New Zealand and Australia?
I moved over to Australia as soon as I turned 18, so apart from the clubs that I was able to sneak into with fake I.D. I didn’t really get to experience much of it back in NZ.
I reckon that NZ will always have a different music culture with it being more Hip Hop & Rock fanatic, although they definitely seem to be warming to dance music, but I think Australia is a fair bit ahead of them in that regard.
It seems that dance music is all we listen to these days here in Australia, with Melbourne even having its very own genre called ‘Melbourne Bounce’ that is slowly spreading & becoming more popular, it’s even making its way onto commercial radio stations during daytime play which we never thought would happen!
Sum: How do you feel the music scene in Australia relates to the electronic dance community in the U.S.?
Well it seems that the U.S. is still quite young in the whole dance music scene, which is exciting for you guys! When I played over there last year I couldn’t believe the energy & love everyone shared. The whole P.L.U.R.R. candy-swapping craze was such an awesome way to meet other music lovers & really added something special to my whole American experience. I think because it’s been mainstream for quite some time here it’s kind of lost that new appeal a bit now. But the artists we have emerging here are so talented & there is an abundance of them, it’s just a matter of time before everyone in the US is going to snap them up too I reckon. Good friends of mine Will Sparks, Uberjak’d & Joel Fletcher are just about to tour over there & they’re all ‘Melbourne Bounce’ gurus, their following is quickly growing over there, which is so cool to see! So make sure you guys keep an eye out for when they’ll be playing near you!
Sum: You’re new release shared with Werewolf, Madeleine Jayne and NeeQ can easily be added to the ranks of high-energy tracks. Can you take us on a journey through how it was made?
Thanks! This track has actually been a fair while in the making. Werewolf & I started it about a year ago, & we actually had more of a big room style in mind at the time. We made the first version of the instrumental, then bounced ideas around with a vocalist & asked NeeQ to do countdown style build, then decided to change it to more original rap lyrics. We liked it but thought a girl singing would compliment it, so I got Madeleine Jayne onboard to write & sing for it. Then over the next few months after playing it out & gaging reactions, we tweaked & changed the track about 10 times, until we finally came to this more Electro, slamming drop, which seemed to get the best reactions everywhere I played it.
Sum: Was this your first time working with such a diverse and multi-talented group? Who are some you’d hope to work with in the near future?
I’d have to say no, it’s not the first time, ‘cos I’ve done a couple of records with NeeQ now, the other one is with a female rapper named Shona McCoy, but it hasn’t been released yet, but should be soon. I try to work with lots of different people; I find that collabing is the best way to learn new tricks & easier ways to do things.
I’d love to collab with Henry Fong or Deorro production wise, & I would kill to get Hayley Williams on a record, she is my favourite right now vocal wise!
Sum: What is your opinion on Ableton? Would you recommend this software to newly inspired producers and songwriters?
Yes 100%, all the different DAW’s do the same kind of thing, just the layouts & shortcuts are different, I think Ableton is probably one of the easiest to pick up, but at the end of the day it all comes down to personal preference & what you find easiest to use. I’ve tried Logic & hated it, Pro Tools was a bit easier but I think that’s just because I started on Ableton & it had a few similar aspects to it.
My advise would be to go with what you feel comfortable using, they all take a while to get the hang of, I’m basically self taught & literally spent every spare second I had in my room mucking around with stuff for a good 3 or 4 months before I had a ‘track’ finished & looking back now, wow, it was badddd!!! But we all start somewhere.
I swear by YouTube tutorials & even now 5 years into producing I learn something new every tute I watch! I’ve found it really handy to watch a new one every morning while I eat my breakfast.
Sum: If you were given the option to go to Mars on a future voyage of discovery, what would be the things you would miss most back on Earth?
I’d miss my family & friends, but as long as I wasn’t away for too long & I could take my boyfriend & my computer with me, I reckon I’d be sweet!
Sum: You’re heading to Vegas for the weekend. For you, what would this adventurous trip entail?
I would stay at either Encore / Cosmopolitan or The Venetian (like we did last time).
I’m not a gambler so I wouldn’t waste my time or money in any of the Casinos, but I would live off Fat Tuesdays Piña Coladas, play & party at Hakkasan & XS at night, & do a few pool parties at Encore Beach & Rehab during the day!
Sum: Give us a sense of what the genre Melbourne bounce consists of, as compared to other genres. Do you think your taste has a calling for this style of music, or for a multitude of others?
I started off making Bounce, I still make a fair bit of it because that’s what most of the crowds here in Australia love & expect to hear, but I don’t like to be labeled as making just one genre, I love all sorts including Big room, Trap & even Rock, so I try to dabble & morph lots of different sounds & angles together to make something fresh & unique.
It’s kind of hard to really explain ‘Bounce’ because there are lots of different sounding variations that fall under that category, but I think the most commonly made & played one is a dirty, offbeat bassline, with a Dutchy sounding synth line. Bounce has definitely evolved over the last few years from an almost Minimal/Techno sound to now being on the cusp of falling under a slow version of Psy Trance with triplet basslines & rave sounds. It really doesn’t have much limitation with what you can put in it, even Dubstep wobbles work & I’ve recently started to include Trap drums & stabs to spice things up a little.
Sum: Tell us about your own record label, Wahzoo Records. What can listeners expect from it in the near future?
It’s a fairly new little label, & we have our most exciting release yet about to hit promo in the next few weeks. It’s an awesome Bounce record called ‘Talk Shit’ by Lesware & Lefty, & I’ve put together a full 6 track package, with everything from House to Big Room, to a down-tempo Trap mix, so should be something in there for everyone!
Sum: If you had your pick of an event to relive from the past, what moment would that be for you?
Would have to be the 2nd day of EDC Las Vegas last year, the experience was amazing, I didn’t want it to end!
Sum: We have to admit, you’re a very stylish individual. Yet, when out of the spotlight, what is a basic get-up that simply screams “comfortable” for you?
Haha, ohhh well the truth is going to have to come out here… I don’t ‘put my face on’ or bother doing my hair unless I’m heading out somewhere important, so the majority of the time you’ll find me in trackies & a hoody. I guess one of the joys of working from home is that I can bum around wearing whatever I like most of the time!
Sum: It seems that there are new artists sprouting all about the world at an alarming rate. Yet some are late bloomers when it comes to putting on their first live shows. What can you recommend for these anxious do-gooders as they progress through the world of live shows?
My advise would be; Know your music & know your equipment!! There is nothing worse than a newbie accidently stopping the music & not being able to figure out quickly what went wrong, whether it was their fault or an equipment malfunction you need to be prepared & able to get it cranking again in a very timely fashion! Also knowing your music’s structure & keys well, this will help with mixing in the next track at the perfect time so that vocals don’t clash, & even being able to play acapellas that fit perfectly in the breakdowns to keep the dance floor entertained even in the downtime of the songs.
And finally; learn to produce! There is only so far that being a good dj & playing other peoples music can take you, plus being able to play something that you have made & seeing the crowd go off to it has to be one of the most satisfying feelings in the world!!!
Sum: Our very last question, something that us at Straight Up! love asking to each artist we sit down with. What is one thing that you straight up can’t live without and why?
My laptop & an internet connection!!! It’s sad, but I’m seriously attached to my computer! If I’m not mucking around with edits or writing new music, I’m playing with designs on photoshop or emailing people or perusing the net for new tunes! I feel lost without it!
