by danielle holian
photo courtesy of holliday howe
Holliday Howe, Sydney’s finest cyber-hyper-popstar, producer, and songwriter has teamed up with scene legend Himera for their hyperpop track “Digital Affection.” “I wrote ‘Digital Affection’ as the world was entering lockdown [COVID-19], about my journey back to Australia, leaving behind my life in London. We were spending more time online so we were increasingly connected — but all one needs to do to forever disappear from your life is log off. I'm asking them to stay online for me, to not disconnect, to not leave me in the dark,” she comments on the track. We caught up with Holliday Howe to discuss all things music below!
For our readers, please tell us a bit about your background in music.
Holliday: “I’ve been writing songs since I can remember — they weren’t always very good. But I can’t remember a time in my life where I didn’t want to perform and make music. I’ve been studying classical piano since I was seven years old and producing electronic music for the past six years or so.”
Who or what are your musical influences?
H: “The PC Music producers and SOPHIE have all been massive inspirations for me. EASYFUN in particular. Then there’s William Orbit who did a lot of Madonna’s late 90s and early 00s stuff. Recently my favorite pop star has been Rina Sawayama — she’s not afraid to make bold creative choices and I admire that a lot.”
You just released your new single “Digital Affection” with Himera. What can you tell us about this track and what inspired it?
H: “I wrote ‘Digital Affection’ at the very very beginning of the pandemic about being in isolation and not being able to talk to my friends — and then I moved from London back to my hometown in Sydney and that made communicating even harder. Everyone was doing Zooms and trying to catch up, which was lovely, but there was still a little disconnect! It’s all about missing those people and hoping that they will ‘stay online’ for you.”
What do you want the listeners to take away from your music?
H: “A sense of understanding — hopefully they can relate and not feel so alone.”
How has your music evolved since you began?
H: “Originally I wanted to be a singer-songwriter on the piano like Regina Spektor but then I went off to London to study music and discovered PC Music and started making what I called at the time ‘hyperpop’ — I still attest to this day that I was the first to start using the term to define my genre of music.”
And how has the pandemic helped your creative juices?
H: “It’s made me more resourceful. Everyone is also trapped and it means that collaborations have gone up the wah-zoo! I’ve gotten to make some interesting music with interesting people because we’re all essentially stuck inside or can’t travel.”
Finally, what’s one fun fact about you for our readers?
H: “I had appendicitis for 3 YEARS before I got it cut out.”