Sydney rockers The Holy Soul released their latest studio album, ‘Fortean Times’, late last year.
Bassist Sam Worrad says making the new album was a much more collaborative songwriting effort between band members than their previous albums. “We probably spent longer jamming it out than any of our other records, so it was a couple of years of writing songs casually and there was just more participation from everyone.”
The Holy Soul worked with Gareth Liddiard of The Drones to produce ‘Fortean Times’, recording it over five days at the Kyneton Mechanics Institute in Victoria.
Sam says Gareth’s direction and creative input provided unique, yet essential motivation to create the best record they could. “He told us that we had to go for excellence and that we should use our initiative and get more beer around midday,” he laughs.
“If something was no good he’d just say ‘do it again better’, and that was good and clear. He played a little bit of guitar on a song or two and co-wrote one song that came together right at the very end.
"I think he manipulated us somewhat by playing some extreme music for us in the mornings when we’d get in, so I think that might have set a bit of a tone, maybe.”
The Holy Soul launched ‘Fortean Times’ in December and will embark on a headline in February and March. “We don’t tour heavily so it is fun when we do get a chance to do it,” Sam says.
“It’s not usually very deluxe but that’s okay. We might get a stretch Hummer for this one; that might be nice. We’ll play most of the new stuff and a couple of the old songs but we’re going to do our best to not suck.
“We haven’t been to Brisbane since 2009 and Melbourne’s about the same [2012] so we haven’t gotten around very much. I guess our motto’s been ‘coming soon to a town near us’ but I think we’re going to change that.”
The band’s previous studio album, ‘Damn You, Ra’ was released in 2009 and, along with 2011’s retrospective, ‘SUPERKANGS’, saw The Holy Soul expand their live presence across to Asia and Europe. “We did go to Asia in 2009 with The Stabs, Mick Turner and a few other people,” Sam explains.
“We went to Malaysia and Taiwan, and a couple of years after that we went to Europe with a compilation called ‘SUPERKANGS’ which came out on this French label.”
The latest single from ‘Fortean Times’ is ‘There’s A Hair On The Soap’, and if you think the title is a bit off, wait ‘til you see the video clip. Without spoiling the narrative, it involves a shower, vomit and ends in blood; needless to say it’s a real horror show.
“Everyone loves that one,” Sam laughs. “It’s lucky we can pass the buck onto some friends of ours in Tokyo who did the video. Our friend who did it is a filmmaker and when we asked her to do something, in about a week she’d sent that back to us.
“So it was very efficient and very cheap. The vomit was made with some kind of two-minute noodle. So far people either love it or are completely horrified by it or both, so it’s kind of nice.”
The Holy Soul Tour Dates
Sat 27 Feb - The Old Bar (Melbourne)Fri 4 Mar - Rad Bar (Wollongong)
Sat 5 Mar - The Bearded Lady (Brisbane)
Thu 17 Mar - Newtown Social Club (Sydney)
Sat 9 Apr - The Union (Sydney)
