Holodrum are a dance-oriented new group that features members of indie bands from Leeds you might know, including Yard Act, Hookworms, Virginia Wing, Drahla, Cowtown and more. The seven-piece unit are: Emily Garner (vocals), Matthew Benn (synth/bass/production), Jonathan Nash (drums), Jonathan Wilkinson (guitar), Sam Shjipstone (guitar/vocals), Christopher Duffin (sax/synth) and Steve Nuttall (percussion). “When it comes to doing music most bands fall between two extremes of doing it for some goal or as an end to itself,” says Shjipstone, who also plays in Yard Act. “I think Holodrum is about the joy and complexity of living, and I just hope to god everyone gets to have a good time doing it.”
“Apart from Emily, all of us had actually played together before in a covers band at a New Year’s Eve party at the Brudenell Social Club a couple of years ago, so we knew we could have fun together” says Benn, who was in Hookworms with Nash and Wilkinson. “So we set up to be a live party band early on. We wanted lots of people on stage having fun, playing for people that also wanted to have fun. It makes sense we take inspiration from bands like Tom Tom Club and Liquid Liquid; they were trying to help people to party at a point when New York was quite a scary and dangerous place – we’re doing the same, albeit in the face of a decaying world and a global pandemic.”