JOLIE HOLLAND



“I’ve been meditating on the devil for the last few years.” laughs singer, songwriter and storyteller Jolie Holland. Usually when you ask people what their obsessions are, they don’t rise to such a grand level but the sultry Texan heads straight for the jugular and continues to explain her fascination with The Dark Side.
“I’ve been obsessed with The Master And Margherita by Mikhail Bulgakov. That’s the book that Sympathy For The Devil was based upon. Also, there’s The Forbidden Zone. Its this really hilarious and fucked up movie. It’s got the Knights of Oingo Boingo in it and I guess it’s like low budget Marx brothers. It’s also got the devil in it (laughs). It’s really interesting for me what The Devil means to people. In Psychotherapy they talk about how evil is repressed, like it’s this shadow. I mean the devil has really lost his power in the Western mind. No ones really scared of him anymore.”

When she’s not pitying Satan’s plight, Jolie Holland is busy touring and promoting her third album Springtime Can Kill You, which has met mass critical acclaim. Weaving a number of different genres together into a tapestry of light and dark, the result is something that begs to be listened to through a cloud of smoke in a shady bar. She’s been labeled by the press as a ‘Southern Fried Billie Holiday’ who conjures up gothic fairytales. No wonder Tom Waits is a fan.

“It’s strange. I guess people say that they’re Tom Waits fans but I can say the inverse.” She says gleefully. “I haven’t met him but I know a lot of people in common with him like musicians and business people. It’s very cool.”

The album shifts between Blues, Country, Folk, Pop and countless other schools of music effortlessly yet Holland swears that her influences are far from what people may expect. “I don’t understand what influences mean. It’s just a strange concept to me. There are some things that I started listening to when I was a teenager that are still really important to me like The Pouges and John Coltrane. A lot of my influences are my friends who people haven’t heard of so I can’t steer people to websites that don’t exist.”

“If you came to a show of mine, you’d probably understand the whole genre distinction thing for me.” She continues to explain. ”Especially if you came to a show in my neighbourhood you’d see you my friends and fans were. I really try not to limit myself. I’ve always had a lot of friends in the Hardcore scene and the Punk Rock scene. I think of myself as something out of Punk Rock culture. Not so much as some of my friends. I was never in a real Punk Rock band but I used to go see Punk shows when I was a kid. I really know nothing about Folk music. This is just what I do.”

Holland is also part of the ever-growing number of bands that are bucking digital recording in favour for the old school method of laying tracks down on tape and relishing the sound of vinyl.
“The first album was done digitally and the sound quality is not as good. It’s more difficult to produce but it’s sounds so much better, especially on record. Digital on record just doesn’t sound very good at all. I think the vinyl release of Springtime Can Kill You is more of a European thing. It’s definitely impossible to get it in The States. You actually have to order it from The Netherlands if you live in The States. It pisses me off that somebody has to pay $40 to get a record.
I guess that’s like a tribute to me, that they’re doing it out of love for my music but I wish they could buy in a store instead of spending all that money on the postal service. That’s just how it is though.”


Touring with a record that may not be instantly accessible to live audiences due to it being so diverse, intimate and lush may seem like a challenge but Holland doesn’t see it that way.
“I tour with a trio. A drummer and a guitar player.” She says of her stripped down live sound. “I like playing Rock clubs. I think it’s a bit boring playing dinner places. You can’t see anybody’s faces and no one’s standing by the stage. I’m trying to get a better attitude about it but I’m not that into it. There is a real difference though playing shows in Europe as opposed to America. It’s really hard for me to understand any of it. It’s all happened so fast that it’s difficult gaining a perspective and it’s constantly changing. When I go on tour this time it’s going to be completely different from the way it was last time cause the fan base is constantly expanding.”

A sellout appearance at the South By Southwest festival also added to Holland’s growing reputation as a must-see live act. “When I was in South by Southwest I had the best time. I partied until seven in the morning with (US Gypsy Punks) Gogol Bordello. The crowds there were so adoring. It was awesome. Last night I played a secret show here in Brooklyn with some of my hero’s and all time favourite songwriters. I played with Samantha Parton of the Be Good Tanyas and Jan Bell. She’s from Britain and she’s one of my heroes.”

As the interview comes to an end, I realize that my view of Holland 15 minutes ago was completely different to what it is now and the same can be said for Springtime Can Kill You. It changes form with each listen and like all good records shows another layer every time you press repeat.

So….I’d be guessing that Holland would be a big fan of Bloody Mary’s or Scotch straight from the bottle.

“Actually…I’d prefer a natural spring.” She says sweetly.

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