Start Listening To: Holy Wave
Ahead of their new album Five of Cups, we caught up with Holy Wave and got to learn more about their indelible sound.
On Five of Cups Holy Wave delves into musical experimentation, drawing inspiration from a variety of genres and artists such as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Portishead, Cocteau Twins, and more. The album showcases their desire to create songs that can stand on their own with a single instrument while maintaining a bittersweet, yet ultimately positive, tone. Building on the mellow psychedelia of their recent tracks ‘Happier’ and ‘Bog Song’ the band shares a third glimpse into the record with the intricate and heady track ‘Nothing In The Dark’. This captivating song combines a steady propulsive drumbeat with tape-warbled synths, arpeggiated guitar chords, jet streams of fuzz, and serene vocals.
The theme of loss and grief is evident in the title of your upcoming album, 'Five of Cups.' Can you tell us more about how this concept influenced your songwriting and creative process?
We didn’t necessarily go into the record with the intent of it being about loss and grief, that was just kinda the state of things for a few of us. The title came from a tarot reading that Ryan received but the themes regarding loss and grief that pop up sometimes are more of a way of us reflecting on getting out of it more so than being entangled in it.
"Bog Song" has a dreamy, '90s-indebted sound. Can you share the inspiration behind the track and the process of bringing it to life?
We started working on Bog Song during the pandemic and it actually began as a kind of Burt Bacharach homage. The original version was much more in that vain, but early in the song writing process we decided that we wanted this album to reflect more of our kind of late 80s early 90s inspirations and so we steered the song in that direction. we just wanted lush Robin Guthrie style guitars to be the main element of the track.
The accompanying visual for "Bog Song" has a retro futuristic aesthetic. How did you collaborate with animator Joshua Kirk Ryan to create the visual representation of the song?
Josh has been a friend of ours for a long time and we always wanted to collaborate with him. He actually made a video for Son of Sound back in the day as a I can’t tour with you guys anymore gift lol. You should all check it out on YouTube it’s pretty amazing and it didn’t get the love it deserves. BTW its the Diamond Dolls Paige video.
Ryan, you mentioned that "Bog Song" is based on a trip you took with your dad in Idaho. How did that experience shape the lyrical content and emotions expressed in the song?
My Dad guides elk hunters in Idaho and I went with him on one of his guides one winter. We spent the week waking up before dawn tracking elk herds. It was really kind of a conflicting experience in the sense that I loved being out in the mountains, I felt this sense of peace out there but I wasn’t really into the hunting aspect. I understand the nature of the world we live in and that we have created an ecosystem where we have to curb herd populations, but I wasn’t as into that element of the trip. I was just spending a lot of time thinking about the world we have created and what it means to be a human out in the wild these days.
The Tarot card 'Five of Cups' served as a muse for your album. Can you delve into how this card resonated with you and influenced the overall tone and themes of the record?
During the early days of the pandemic while people were mainly still unemployed and we were in a lockdown phase I think that I was grappling with the idea of fate a lot, and how so much of our previous life seemed lost and how out of control things had become. I was kind of at this point I was really starting to think that a life in music was lost, to the point where it seemed like starting to pursue other avenues was the only option. so one day a friend read my cards at work and I received this card. She had told me that it was the only “bad” card she believed existed, in the sense that it really only dealt with grief and loss and I must be in that state. I hadn’t confided in her about my situation so it felt pretty genuine to me. She was basically telling me that I was at a crossroads where I needed to decided whether I was going to let this grief dictate my future or whether I was going to acknowledge the positive pieces of my life and take those forward with me. in a sense I think it helped me realize that I have my fate and its to play music.
Holy Wave has evolved from a tranquil psychedelic sound to more sophisticated melodies and tripped-out instrumentation. How would you describe the musical progression and growth of the band over the years?
I suppose in the beginning the landscape for bands in the psychedelic world was pretty ripe with new ideas and innovation and stuff like that and that’s what was really attractive at the time. We all love the idea of psychedelic music and I guess it just kinda leads you down other musical paths inevitably. We’ve always been big shoegaze fans and I think that infiltrates our sound a lot, often without the intention. We also got pretty into things like dub and a lot of electronic music. We like the idea of always changing while still being rooted in our core sound.
As childhood friends, how has your shared history and friendship impacted your musical journey as a band?
Being brothers basically I think has allowed us to be pretty open with each other and we’ve always been able to talk about things pretty freely. Just really being able to lean on each other and trust each other is a dynamic that we feel lucky to have because we don’t meet many people (or bands for that matter) that have known one another for such a long time. We’ve gone through plenty of musical phases together and gotten into other things together and that surely has had a significant impact on our music.
How did your upbringing in El Paso and experiences in the local DIY scene shape your approach to music and influence your artistic direction?
Growing up in the El Paso music scene was a pretty amazing experience. There were never any real venues or guarantees of getting paid or anything like that, it was a lot of the music community always organizing shows. There also weren’t a lot of bands so shows might be a hodgepodge of different style bands all kinda of trying to impress other bands fans. It made you have to be a good live band, no matter what style of music you were playing. It made us pretty good at rolling with the punches that the world of being a touring musician tends to throw at you. We look back at El Paso very fondly and have referenced it numerous times in song titles, lyrics, etc.
Relocating to Austin must have had a significant impact on your musical pursuits. Can you share how the city and its vibrant music scene have influenced your sound and creativity?
While we were still living in El Paso we had gotten into bands like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth and stuff like that and there wasn’t really an audience for that kinda thing at the time. We knew we wanted to start a new band that was more song-writing-driven than our previous bands we had as teenagers and the idea of moving to Austin was a bit captivating because it was a big city in our eyes. We heard bands like Ringo Deathstar and felt like maybe our ideas would be a little more well received than if we stayed in El Paso
'Five of Cups' seems to explore new sonic territories. Can you elaborate on the musical experimentation and exploration that took place during the album's creation?
I think we are always just trying to reflect what we like at the time, maybe more successfully sometimes than others. There are always themes and qualities that we bring to each album but I think we strive to try new things with each. On this one I think our goal was to create songs that can be played with a single instrument and still be as effective. We definitely wanted to explore some kind of trip-hop themes, some ambient themes, we wanted to do some Fripp Eno type stuff. I think we kind of make our songs and decided what inspiration we want to sing on top of the foundations.
In what ways does Holy Wave navigate the balance between embracing darkness and finding moments of joy and light within your music?
We kinda make positive music in general. At least it seems that way to us. We write songs that are personal to us and so the themes might be sad or angry sometimes but I think we generally want to make music that helps people. It often comes out a bit bittersweet but that’s just kinda a pretty realistic feeling in life.
Are there any specific artists or genres that have influenced your sound on 'Five of Cups'? Can you share any musical inspirations that shaped the album?
There are definitely the standard inspirations we bring with us, at least on the last couple albums. We always refer to Pink Floyd and Radiohead before making an album. Just kinda touch base with them and learn some tricks from the best. Some specific ones on this album though are Portishead, Tara Clerkin Trio, Cocteau Twins, Robert Wyatt, Ennio Morricone, The Beach Boys, The High Llamas, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, Casino vs Japan, White Poppy, Autolux, Protomartyr and the list can go on way too long.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes and aspirations for the future of Holy Wave?
Were super happy to be with our new label Suicide Squeeze and it feels like they’re helping us grow quite a bit so we just wanna always keep growing. Hopefully affect some peoples lives positively through our music and we’ll be happy.
