Holding Absence

Out of Cardiff, Wales comes post-hardcore band Holding Absence. On the rise in Europe, their melodic sound has trickled into the playlists of people internationally, exciting people for their upcoming self-titled record. Now, with the record being released as of March 8th, we were able to catch up with vocalist, Lucas Woodland and discuss the new record.

Talk to us about your debut self-titled record. How long have you been holding onto these songs for?

We’ve spent a long time working in this record! Writing for it began over 2 years ago now, so it’s been a very long time in the making.

How was the recording process for you?

Recording this record took a long time too! We began tracking in January 2018 and finished it in September 2018. I do think this really helps add an interesting flavour and longevity to the album - The tones and atmospheres feel different as the album progresses.

In terms of themes, what sort of subject matter did you explore on the record? Was there any prominent over arching theme to it all?

A key part of our band is the lyrics - I put a lot of time, effort and emotion into my lyrics - So when faced with the task of writing an entire album I knew I had to put way more thought in. I had more time to mould the imagery and narrative of the album, which I think really helped benefit the record! As for specific themes, the album is primarily about love, but it delves into the deep corners of the emotion - The elation, the tragedy, the death of love, and all the details affected by it too. I feel like a did a good job of keeping the imagery and lyrical pallet quite fresh throughout too, which was something I was very conscious of.

Would you say that choosing the black and white imagery is important to the idea behind Holding Absence?

100%. This helped us create a universe for our music from the very beginning. Back when we only had 2 songs, we had very little for people to believe in. I really think our aesthetic from day 1 helped paint the picture. We also like to think the black & white vibe will help us look back on our photos and videos in years to come and help add a more timeless vibe to everything.

With the exception of this lack of this “colouring,” what sort of images and ideas do you think are representative of you all as a group?

Most of our imagery is quite ambiguous - We like to leave our lyrics up to interpretation so that people can really allow their hearts to choose what the music means to them.

Speaking specifically to your album art, what is it about this image that makes you feel that it encompasses your music from Holding Absence?

Once again, it’s very open to interpretation. The artwork could mean anything or nothing and we like to leave that up to the listener. On a personal level, the artwork references some important themes throughout the record, but like I said, they’re not too blatant.

As for music videos, do you find that your music videos are meant to speak to the songs specifically, or is it more of a piece of art on its own?

A mix of both really! We like to let the videos stand on their own too legs and not be too literal, whilst also taking inspiration from the songs themselves.

What meaning does the logo of the moth represent for you?

Duality is an important part of our band. The love, the death. The happiness and the sadness. The light and the dark. We like to think the moth introduces people to that straight away and let’s them know that this band isn’t about sitting in the middle. We explore every avenue we can - Sonically and emotionally.

Did you ever expect the sort of reactions such as people getting tattoos dedicated to you guys?

No way whatsoever - When the first few people got HA tattoos we were shocked but it’s become quite a big part of our fanbase now! We love it because it shows that these people really, really believe in us, and that’s super inspiring to us.

What do you hope that people get out of seeing your live performance?

Our live show is integral to our bands existence. We sweat and pour so much of ourselves into the show. On a personal level, we love making music and really lose ourselves up there. On a band level, I like to think that all-or-nothing attitude really adds weight to the lyrics and let people know that these songs really do mean something to us.

What should people be expecting next from you?

Lots and lots of shows, and then lots more music. We hope to repeat that for the whole of our bands lifespan as it’s what we do best.