Combining folk, roots and contemporary indie may not appear the strongest of foundations for an ambitious musical outfit, yet Holy Moly and the Crackers have proven that in the right hands they can be dynamic combination.  Damian Robinson caught up with frontman Conrad Bird to find out more about the new album, it’s accompanying tour, and the challenges of evolution.

 

Your new single ‘All I got is you’ sounds like another experiment with the traditional ‘Holy Moly’ sound.  Is this an indication of what we can expect from the new album ‘Take a Bite?’

Good question and it’s hard to answer if I’m honest.  We started off as almost a pure folk band and our last album was a jump to a heavier, more guitar driven, sound.  I remember we were quiet nervous about the release of our last album and what people would think, but people really enjoyed it.  With this album I’d say it’s more super high energy and musically interesting.  I think no matter how we played, the fact that we’ve been together for 7 years means that there will always be a Holy Moly sound to anything we play.

 

So are you nervous again with this album?

Not as much as we were at the time of the last album release, but yeah there’s always some nerves when you release new music.  Our aim is to try and avoid sub genres and social trends and write music which is a genre of our own, and a one which attracts all sorts of people from different backgrounds.  The nerves are not about upsetting anyone, the nerves are more about have we created music which could be accessible to anyone.

 

You’ll be in Newcastle for the albums launch party, how’s the planning going?

We’re literally in the middle of rehearsals now and we’re sounding really good.  It’s nice to have new material to work on, which is keeping us excited, and we’re trying to figure out how to replicate the new songs live which is an interesting journey.  We’re always looking to be better.

 

The November show in Newcastle was, as always, very lively; how would you go about being better?

We’re working this out now in the rehearsal process and seeing how the songs sound.  Perhaps we’ll look at a lighting engineer, which would influence our production, or maybe we’ll look into some of the technical elements of the band to improve the sound.  I think there will always be a lot of energy with our live shows, but perhaps the new songs may influence us to be a little less silly on stage.  Our visual and performance choices are all really interesting questions we’re asking ourselves and working out in the rehearsal process.  As long as we create a show which is accessible to everybody we’ll be happy. 

 

Holy Moly play Newcastle and Stockton in April. Tour dates and new album details can be found at https://www.holymolyandthecrackers.com/