It is a quiet Wednesday afternoon. This would be normal except for the fact that I am on the phone with Simon Jones of The Holidays and his band’s debut album, Post Paradise, is being released in two days. It has been over a year in the works, writing and recording the album, so I am a bit surprised by how calm Simon is in regards to the matter, but I quickly learn that this is just his personality and he is looking forward to what the coming months have in store.
“I can’t wait, to be honest. It’s been quite a while just sitting around waiting for people to hear it. It was a long process, but I think we got to this point where there was nothing we wanted to change really. We’re all locked in; no regrets from here.”
The band took a bold step in choosing to not only record the album at home, but also produce it entirely by themselves. Having attempted recording in the studio with a producer, they found that the sound they were getting on their own was far more suited to the music they were creating.
“We had a bunch of demos from earlier songs and had taken them into a studio with a producer and gone, ‘Let’s record the album versions of these songs.’ After a couple of days in the studio, we learned the studio vibe wasn’t as good as the demos. The sound may have been a bit crisper but the energy and the feeling wasn’t there. They all sounded really good; we liked them but they were only about 80% of what they needed to be.”
“We kind of said, jokingly at the time, ‘Let’s record the whole thing ourselves.’ Gradually the idea got momentum and the label said, ‘Okay, we’ll set you up with some gear and you can have a go.’ The results were good and it just kind of flourished from there. We learnt more along the way and got really into it. I wouldn’t have done it any other way now. I really enjoyed the process of it.”
They are now embarking on their first headline tour in support of the album and in mention of this; Simon starts to speak with a little bit more energy and excitement in his voice.
“It’s great. We haven’t done this before but doing your own album tour where people are there to see you and have heard your album, I’m really looking forward to it. The last tours we’ve done have been getting ready for this. We’ve been supporting other bands or playing these songs to people who haven’t heard them before, so it is hard for people to connect with them immediately so I’m looking forward to playing to our audience for once.”
With the album finished and the tour about to start, Simon seems to be looking forward to the future of the band. Not to say he isn’t proud of the album he has been a part of, but more to say he seems to be taking each step one at a time with care and consideration. He doesn’t let it all go to his head because he knows how hard they have had to work to get there.
