Thursday 1st September 2011
Sometimes a name finds the band. That’s certainly been the case with Holland. The melodic Australian four-piece inherited the title, as though a birthright. As the group readied for their entry into the big league, they adopted a new guise which evidently had been with them all along.
Fatis Valour was cast-off for the new title Holland, the maiden name of the group’s charismatic vocalist Jarryd Klapper. “It’s always been a part of my life,” comments the eye-catching singer. “I’ve not been to Holland, but in a way it’s where I come from.”
Holland is led by Jarryd and its talismanic lead guitarist Shane “Shano” Graham. The band’s co-founders are well supported by a rhythm section which comprises James Taylor (bass) and Javed Sterritt (drums). The four bandmates call Brisbane home, but all have a strong connection with the Gold Coast. Now, with a major label album release and a debut single in the works, the group is riding on the crest of a wave quite like none have experienced before.
It’s been a lucky tide of events which has brought the band to this point. Back in 2006, an early incarnation of the band known as Fatis Valour released a self-funded EP. “That EP was us finding our feet, our style,” recalls Jarryd. It wasn’t an overwhelming commercial success, but it did enough to catch the ears of a Sony Music Australia-signed artist, who brought the record to the label’s A&R team. Sony Music’s executives liked what he heard, and they signed the band to a recording contract. Later, a management arrangement fell into place with Billy Blue Music.
Following a year of writing and fine-tuning, the band shipped Stateside to record their debut effort with feted producer Nick DiDia at the helm. DiDia’s track history reads like a chronicle of contemporary rock music. The American producer has worked on multiple albums for the likes of U.S. superstars Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against The Machine, Bruce Springsteen and Train. DiDia has a healthy association with Australian artists, having sat behind the desk for many of Powderfinger’s best-sellers and worked on albums for the Living End and Katie Noonan, among others.
Holland hunkered-down for a touch over a month in Atlanta, cutting their debut in the Southern Tracks Recording Studios. It was time well spent, and it was spent well-away from the band’s comfort zone. “Over the years Nick has mastered the art of bringing out the best in someone,” says Shane. “He’s very disarming and he knows exactly what he wants. Nick had a very collaborative approach to the record. He’s not like one of these guys who come in and want to prove something. He just nurtures the process.” On a casual listen, the album is a littered with pop numbers. There’s drama and tenderness in equal measure, with touches that will remind some of Coldplay and early Kings of Leon. Closer inspection reveals a set rich with warm melodies, and a depth that should strike a chord in the colder months. DiDia truly captures the urgency of Jarryd’s vocals and the subtle tones of his piano-play.
“There’s a beauty in these songs, and they’re all an honest representation of our original ideas,” says Jarryd. “I keep the melody and lyrics honest, and the guys then come in and build on that and keep it really simple.” Jarryd has a penchant for penning his works late at night. “When I’m writing, I don’t think about the fact that a lot of people will be listening to it. I imagine one person lying in bed, like I was when I was a kid. Listening to a song and rewinding the tape to play it again.”
Album highlights include the catchy, bass-heavy “Without You,” and “What You Mean To Me,” a piece which neatly showcases each musician’s set of skills.
The lead single is “No Control”. The track, with its atmospheric, up-lifting chorus, forms the backbone of the band’s dreamy live set. “That song is for everyone,” explains Jarryd. “Who hasn’t gone to bed in the middle of an argument and you end up kicking yourself for not solving it? The song is about learning from your mistakes, and dealing with it.”
As the band members enter a bright new stage of their careers, the glow of the spotlight isn’t phasing them. They’re ready, insists Shane, but they’re not going to sweat over what happens next. “We’ve been pretty calm about the whole thing. We’re secure in what we do.” And what would Shane be doing if he wasn’t a member of Holland? “There is no other thing I’d be doing,” he says with a smile. “When we formed this band, in so many ways it gave me a sense of freedom. I’d found an outlet. It’s quite an amazing thing.”
Family played its part in bringing the band together. Holland’s founding members met at a festival in 2006. Jarryd was on stage, and Shane was catching the action. Midway through the first song, Shane’s wife leaned-in and nudged her partner. “If you start a band with that guy,” she said, “I’ll follow you around the world.” Shane laughs when he recalls the talent-scouting skills of his wife. “Great vocalists are just so hard to find. Especially someone who has an amazing concept of melody, and movement in melody. Jarryd just has so much natural ability to write great melodies.”
Indeed, Jarryd is classically trained on trumpet, but his skills extend to the guitar and piano, all of which feature on the album.
Shane, however, was a late bloomer. Though a life-long music fan, he didn’t realise he had the gift for the guitar until much later than his contemporaries. So late, he admits he “nearly missed the boat”. Shane didn’t pick up a guitar until his mid-20s. “It was like the biggest light bulb went off,” he admits. “I was so in awe of the people who made music that I never thought I’d be able to do it. I respected the art way too much, even from a young age.”
Shane recalls listening over and over to a tape as a six-year-old. He’d sneak out to play the tape in the family car, many years before he’d learned to drive it. Years went by, and that tape’s influence formed a strong part of what Holland is today. Though the name of that album was long-forgotten. As it turns out, the tape which inspired a young Shane was a legendary early 70s recording by the Beach Boys. The album was called “Holland”.
If ever a name had belonged to a band.
