Indie supergroup Holidays On Ice — Dean Manning (Leonardo’s Bride), Angie Hart (Frente) and Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint) — are preparing to tour Australia in support of their latest release, ‘The Luxury Of Wasted Space’.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Dean says Holidays On Ice’s new album is testament to their evolving sound. “There's a little bit more wisdom, it's four years down the line… musically, I guess everyone's simplifying their approaches. We didn't want to repeat ourselves… you want to do a different record. We've leant more towards an electronic sound.”
According to the music veteran, the minimalistic sound and style of 'The Luxury Of Wasted Space' serves as somewhat of an ironic theme, touching lightly on the density of modern living. “Where I'm living here in Sydney... it's just high density living, so when we made this minimal album I just thought it summed up things nicely.”
Since forming in 2005, Holidays On Ice have grown together as a group and are excited to be playing in Brisbane later this month. “I'm really looking forward to being up there, it's gonna be cool,” Manning says. With Dean living in Sydney, Angie residing in Melbourne and Stella based in Los Angeles, the physical constraints that come with living so far away from each other have had both a positive and negative effect.
“We're not living in each other’s pockets. We're free of the day to day dramas of a band, which we have all had to endure at some point, so that's really nice. When we do get together it's great to see each other and make music. It's fresh and there's no baggage.
“The downside is there's no sort of, 'Oh, look we've got an offer for a show next week, let's go'. We work many, many months in advance and a lot of the time we have to say no to things. It's a day to day thing. Not being able to just jump on the bus and do a show is probably a downside.”
Manning's passion for music is evident in his extensive back catalogue of work. “I really love playing music... when you're writing a record, it's like writing a play. It's always nice to get that out in front of an audience and share it, getting the reactions and bringing this idea you've had knocking ‘round your head for three years to life.”
Written by Lexi McKee
Holidays On Ice will play the following venues
Fri Apr 18 — Smith's Alternative (Canberra) (w/ Reuben Ingall)Sun Apr 20 — Open Studio (Northcote) (w/ Georgia Fields)
Fri Apr 25 — Glebe Café Church Hall (Glebe) (w/ Martha Marlow)
Sun Apr 27 — Dowse Bar (Paddington) (w/ Angharad Drake)
