The Band of Holy Joy

Band of Holy Joy

Band of Holy Joy
Background information
Origin New Cross, London
Genres Urban Folk
Years active 1984–1993, 2002–2003, 2007–present
Labels Stereogram Recordings
Exotic Pylon Records
Moloko Plus
Radio Joy
Rough Trade
Flim Flam
Cherry Red
Website bandofholyjoy.co.uk
Members Johny Brown
James Stephen Finn
Mark Beazley
Peter Smith
Steve Hands
Inga Tillere
Past members Andy Astle
Chris Brierley
Alf Thomas
Steve Hands
Adrian Bailey
Karel van Bergen
John Jenkins
Brett Turnbull
Max Davies
Howard Jacques
William Lewington
Conor Harrington
Mark Cavener
Wendy Dunleavy
Gus Ferguson
Rob Hacker
Jub Jenkins
Hilary Jeffery
Louise Kleboe
Oscar Khan
Robert Lee
Paul O'Donnell
Franny Armstrong
Martine Thoquenne
Kacper Ziemianin
George Lovell
David Coulter
Howard Rickard
Paul Sampson
Tom Smith
Neil Starr
Leo Fernadez

The Band of Holy Joy are an English band formed in New Cross, London, and initially active between 1984 and 1993, releasing several albums. In 1992, they abbreviated their name to Holy Joy. They reformed in 2002, under the name of Band of Holy Joy, releasing a new album called Love Never Fails. They concentrated on other musical projects during 2003 to 2006. Band of Holy Joy began performing live again in 2007 and have since released a number of albums, including How To Kill A Butterfly in 2011, a limited edition double cassette City of Tales, Volume 1 and 2 in 2013 and Easy Listening in 2014. A new album entitled The Land Of Holy Joy was released on September 21st 2015.

History

The band was formed in 1984 by Johny Brown in New Cross, South London. Early experiments revolved around cheap junk shop instrumentation and rudimentary electronics. After two self-issued cassettes, they signed to South London indie label Flim Flam for a string of singles and two 1987 albums; More Tales From The City and the live LP When Stars Come Out To Play.[1]

The Band of Holy Joy reached a commercial and critical peak after signing to Rough Trade with Manic, Magic, Majestic in 1989 and Positively Spooked in 1990,[2] supported by a tour of the U.S.S.R.[3] The label was forced into receivership in 1991 following cash flow problems and eventual bankruptcy. The band re-emerged in 1992 as Holy Joy, with the album Tracksuit Vendetta. They split up in 1993 and Brown moved into freelance journalism, playwriting and production.

Band of Holy Joy reformed in 2002 and released an album Love Never Fails. After a number of live dates the band became inactive between 2003 and 2006, pursuing other musical projects. In May 2007, the band began playing live again. October 2007 saw the release of Leaves That Fall in Spring, a best of released on the Cherry Red label.[4]

In 2008, after playing nine warm-up dates in and around London during April, May and June, Band of Holy Joy set off to the USA for the first time in their 24-year history and embarked on a successful tour of New York City.[5] Punklore, a six-track CD was released and initially only available at the New York gigs.

In 2009, Band of Holy Joy started to explore theatrical and multimedia based performances. As their alter ego Radio Joy, they performed two song plays Troubled Sleep and Invocation to William. Troubled Sleep was a fictional account of Sid and Nancy's last days at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. It played out over several nights in the Shunt Theatre Lounge in London and Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle.[2] Invocation to William was performed at The University of London Institute in Paris at the event celebrating the 50th anniversary of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, 'Lunch @ 50'.[6] The songs from this show were released as a mini album CD A Lucky Thief In A Careless World on band's own Radio Joy label. In October 2009, Band of Holy Joy were invited to play The Wire magazine's Into the Vortex festival, followed by a series of shows in Athens, Greece, later that year.

Paramour, the band's eleventh album was released on 8 June 2010 and featured eight songs that had evolved from the song play Troubled Sleep.

In 2011, the band embarked on another tour of Greece, playing in cities of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Larissa. They made their first appearance at Glastonbury Festival and performed their third song play Beuys Will Be Beuys in London and Thessaloniki. A new CD release titled How To Kill A Butterfly was released 28 October 2011 on Exotic Pylon Records.

On 15 March 2012 a new CD release entitled The North Is Another Land was released on German independent record label Moloko Plus.

On 28 January 2013 a double cassette and digital download titled City of Tales: Volume 1 & 2 was released on Exotic Pylon Records. Volume 1 contains previously unreleased material from 1985 found by former band member Brett Turnbull, restored and accompanied by a second volume of recordings from 2012. City of Tales has since expanded into a project taking in music, text, video and performance[7] featuring actors Tam Dean Burn and Joanna Pickering.

This was followed up in 2014 with Easy Listening which was released on Exotic Pylon Records with an accompanying UK tour.

Their latest album The Land Of Holy Joy was released through Stereogram Recordings on September 21st 2015.

Band of Holy Joy host their own radio show Bad Punk on Resonance FM every Friday from 10pm until 11pm.

Musical style

The band's music includes elements of post-punk, folk rock, European cabaret, reflective instrumentation and epic pop,[8] with Jacques Brel, Bertolt Brecht,[1] Coleridge and David Peace[2] identified as influences. Their 'City Of Tales' release has been likened to David Bowie's ‘1. Outside’ and the work of Pere Ubu.[9]

Discography

Chart placings are from the UK Independent Chart.[10]

Albums

Singles/EPs

References

  1. 1 2 Strong, Martin C. (1999). The Great Alternative & Indie Discography. Canongate. ISBN 0-86241-913-1.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Quietus - Features - In Extremis - Coming Full Circle: An Interview With Band Of Holy Joy". The Quietus.
  3. ↑ Jason Ankeny. "The Band of Holy Joy Biography". allmusic.com. AMG. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  4. ↑ Leaves that Fall in Spring at the Cherry Red website
  5. ↑ "Sloan, Band of Holy Joy, Dirty on Purpose side projects & more in this week in Indie". brooklynvegan.com.
  6. ↑ "RealityStudio". nakedlunch.org.
  7. ↑ "Band Of Holy Joy expand City Of Tales project - The Wire". thewire.co.uk. horizontal tab character in |title= at position 49 (help)
  8. ↑ "Band of Holy Joy - Interview". www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk.
  9. ↑ "Band Of Holy Joy - City of Tales (Vol. 1 and 2) Tape". www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk.
  10. ↑ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4.
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