South Walean melodic post-hardcore band Holding Absence have been making waves in the scene across the last few months. They’ve recently announced a tonne of live shows, including headlines and supporting We Are The Ocean on their final ever tour and they have just signed to Sharptone Records! We asked frontman Lucas Woodland to take on our A-Z challenge;
A song that made you want to make music?
Ooh, this is a hard one! I think I speak for all of us when I say “American Idiot” by Green Day is the first Alternative, angsty-punk tune that made us want to get onstage and do this when we were all about 11 years old. That’s still a raging album to this day.
Best rider you’ve ever had?
We’re typically easily pleased – 3/5’s of us are vegan and the rest are vegetarian, so some hummus, peanut butter and fruit and we’re sold! It’s between a place called The Rigger in Newcastle-Under-Lyme that cooked us some awesome veggie burgers, or our good friend Dean Whittaker of Imperial Music who sorted us right out with a big supply of veggie curry when we played Bridgend recently. We were still up there munching scoff way after the venue’d shut. Not very rock n roll, but you can’t beat a good curry.
Craziest moment you’ve experienced in the band?
We’ve had a real crazy ride the past few months so the list is endless… On a band level, most weeks we’ve gotten some awesome news, between shows, label, management and so on. But on a real life level, we had some bloke called Yanto throwing locks at our van on the motorway one time on the way to a show in Birmingham. THAT was crazy. Worst guy.
Deepest lyric one of your songs features?
Our song “Dream Of Me” was written entirely about the loss of love – A few good friends of mine mentioned how the song helped them, as they related it to the passing of a loved one and I had never planned to the write the song in that context… So in response to that, I’ll have to leave this open – If people could teach me things about my own music that I didn’t even hear, any lyric could be the deepest. And I do write pretty deep lyrics!
Easiest song you wrote?
Nothing comes easy in this band… We really do slave away over the little things. I would probably say Permanent was the quickest though – Mainly just a case of me and Feisal tennising the idea back and forth until it was ready to be recorded.
Favourite song in your set?
That’s a very hard one. Our set is based around dynamic as much as it is based around the songs at our disposal, so everything’s there for a reason… Having said that, last track Penance is a 6 minute whirlwind of visceral emotion before bubbling into a massive outro. We really enjoy playing that one live.
Guest you’d most like to feature on one of your records?
Ooh that’s impossible! I feel like we all listen to a huge range of music and between our idols, whether it’s Simon Neil or Matt Healy, none of them would really suit! Having said that though, I don’t really “Scream” on record, so it could be good to have somebody with a decent scream to do something on a song maybe Keith Buckley, Jesse Barnett or Brendan Murphy‘d be cool!
Hardest thing about being in a band?
Probably finance. We all struggle very much to keep jobs and pay rent between tours but it’s a sacrifice you’ve got to make, and we all know that.
Interesting fact about one of your members?
Our drummer Ashley Greens birth surname is “Eggden”, and our guitarist Giorgio has webbed feet.
Jokes you have in the band?
Gio’s webbed feet
Key to writing a song?
Writing is a tough one, there’s no real “answer”… But we do like to make sure every track is written with passion and feel.
Longest distance you’ve travelled to play a show?
We’ve only been playing shows for less than 9 months, and most are linked together… We had a really long drive back from hull once mind. That was a dangerous one haha
Most inspiring musician you’ve experienced?
We have such an eclectic taste in music, our favourite bands range from Radiohead, the 1975 to Gorilla Biscuitz so there’s no real overall “inspiring” group to us but I feel like Architects, this past year, in light of all that’s gone on, have been a very inspiring group of musicians. Working so hard to honour the late Tom Searle and tour the whole world must’ve been so hard. That group are nothing short of inspiring.
New band you’d recommend?
Loathe. Unbelievable band.
Opening for this band would be ideal?
Thrice, Underøath, Alexisonfire and Bring Me The Horizon. We’d love to tour with those wonderful bands.
Place you’d most like to tour?
America would be the dream for us. Hopefully sometime in the not so distant future.
Quote you’d like to pass on to our readers?
I pondered this answer for a long time, but a few years ago I resonated with the Ghost Inside lyric “Do What Makes You Happy”, and I think that is a very relatable thing, and something we often forget to do.
Reason for the title of your recent/forthcoming release?
Both Permanent and Dream Of Me are named after lines in the song!
See us live at?
You’ve opened a can of worms here. We’re playing 23 shows in the U.K. in just over a month. Head to holdingabsence.com for all the dates, there’s lots!
The old days of music were better than the current, do you agree?
You’re always going to look at the past with rose-tinted spectacles, BUT, the two scenes from yesteryear that really inspire us most are the late 80’s UK Shoegaze scene (My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Jesus & Mary Chain) and mid 00’s Emo/Post-Hardcore scene in America (Underøath, Alexisonfire, Thrice).
Unusual merchandise?
Head over to holdingabsence.com
Variations you’d like to do on any of your songs?
I would love to record some Acoustic versions of tunes someday.
What do your fans mean to you?
The absolute world. If you are taking the time to read this, You are Everything. It’s cliché, but so important to us.
Xrays or any other treatments needed for any band related injuries?
Nah, we’re pretty easy boys. I mean, Ash cried after a show the other day but only because he was feeling emosh. No bone crunches here!
You’re late for a show, whose fault is it?
Well we did a run the other week in two cars, and the other car (Giorgio, James & Feisal) was late every show and I didn’t find out until after tour that they’d gone for a Toby carvery on the journey every time haha.
Zoo animal that best describes the personality of your band?
Probably a very emotional, intense monkey.