Why this ‘band’ is breaking the rules and letting the best idea win.
Nestled in the sun-soaked shores of Silver Strand Beach, HOL!DAY’s creative force has been quietly crafting a debut album that defies expectations.
Delusions of Grandeur is more than just a collection of songs—it’s a cinematic journey through art, love, and loss, born from years of introspection and collaboration.
With a sound that blends acoustic intimacy, Eastern-inspired rhythms, and orchestral grandeur, HOL!DAY is the brainchild of a musician deeply rooted in Southern California’s beach culture. But this isn’t your typical band. It’s a collective where ego takes a backseat, and the best idea always wins.
From Radiohead-inspired epiphanies to the therapeutic studio sessions with producer Eric Palmquist, HOL!DAY’s debut is a testament to the power of creative freedom.
We sat down with the artist behind it all to talk about fatherhood, DIY artistry, and the fleeting moments that make life—and music—worth savouring.
HAPPY: Tell us a little bit about where you live, what do you love about it?
HOL!DAY: I’m from Silver Strand Beach, a beach community in Oxnard California. I was born and raised on the beaches of southern California, I moved away multiple times but this area has an alluring quality that always brings me back.
Not to mention it’s where my family resides and I recently became a father to end out December of last year. They say it takes a village to raise a child and I’m fortunate enough to have a whole community of friends and family to help raise my son Banks.
HAPPY: What’s the best and worst part about being a musician right now?
HOL!DAY: I would say the best part about being a musician right now is the DIY aspect. Yes it’s expensive to do everything on your own these days but you can also just come up with quick cheap little ideas using your phone at the same time. The technology for doing things on your own has simplified things immensely but also makes each artist have to be their own record label.
In releasing this album we did all the digital advertising, video content, radio, recording costs and vinyl pressing, album artwork, merchandise etc that I actually became my own mini label. So the worst part is just the financial burden if you really want to push through your art in all aspects and have it in the upper echelon of releases in order to try to break through the noise.
HAPPY: What’s one album that changed your life?
HOL!DAY: If I was to try and pinpoint that question with such a long list of answers, I would have to say Hail to the Thief or In Rainbows by Radiohead. In my adolescense to high school I was really into punk rock, hardcore and metal, and still am. But in high school I was really going back and understanding now all the music my parents were inundating me with in my youth from the 50’s through the 70’s of rock.
I’ll have to admit I was late on the Radiohead train probably because of my musical preferences at the time but one day when a friend turned me onto those albums it finally clicked. Now they are probably the highest regard for an all original member band out there that I have. Just the combination of songs using acoustic, electric, digital instrumentation and time signatures on those albums opened my mind up to so much more that was musically possible.
HAPPY: What was the first song you wrote for Delusions of Grandeur, and did it set the tone for the rest of the album?
HOL!DAY: The first two songs I wrote for the album were Spellbound and Self Destruct. They were laying around from years prior but they consequently became the first songs we tracked in the studio. The whole collection of songs came about over an expansive amount of time that were just ideas sitting around.
Turnstile was the final song recorded and became the last track on the album. I went into the studio with only a song structure without lyrics on that one aside from the final 4/4 section, really the inspiration of that song was a conversation I had with my father at a moment in time before his passing.
So really it’s a compilation of years of old and new experiences regarding art, love & death all put together in an album.
HAPPY: What’s been the most challenging song to bring to life, either in the studio or on stage?
HOL!DAY: I wouldn’t say the most challenging but I think one of the most fun tracks that Eric and I did was Echoes Of Tomorrow. The idea was to do the old 60’s style of combining Western with Eastern music in the ways that The Beatles, Donovan, Led Zeppelin etc did.
Halfway through the song when it switches, we only had my acoustic guitar track then we built all the tabla drum parts over that. That was a highlight day for both Eric and myself.
As far as the stage goes HOL!DAY has only played a handful of solo acoustic performances. We wanted to all play a record release show surrounding when the album dropped on December 13th but halfway through the year the universe decided I was going to have my first born son on basically the same timeline. So currently the live aspect is on the backburner but it’s definitely something that will come along as time progresses.
HAPPY: You worked with Eric Palmquist, who’s produced some huge alternative acts. How did his influence shape the sound of the record?
HOL!DAY: I can’t say enough about Eric, he is an incredible producer, engineer and mixer. But also within our friendship and within the process of making this album, there were times he became my confidant / therapist as I was working through personal aspects of my life.
Really this album doen’s exist without Eric, it would just be my acoustic home demos. I came to him with the vision of what I wanted to do with the songs and brought friends to play other instruments on the tracks and then we stacked everything out into what it became.
The idea was to make the album and worry about live performances as an afterthought, so there were no rules to what we were doing in the studio as far as I’m concerned. Orchestras, Backwards Guitars, Indian Instruments whatever we felt would serve the greater good of telling each song’s story. I felt we almost looked at story telling cinematically.
HAPPY: What’s one thing about HOL!DAY that fans might not know?
HOL!DAY: HOL!DAY isn’t a real set band or set of members, I write songs then a crew of us go into the studio and bring them to life. The best idea wins no matter who brings it to the table. I feel it’s really liberating for everyone involved.
It’s different from traditional bands where ego takes so much away from the process and final result when members are fighting to get a personal idea, part or their voice through. Steering the ship sort of speak. In this album process it was a collaborative effort in bringing a piece of art to its completion.
HAPPY: What’s next for you—any big plans for the rest of the year?
HOL!DAY: The plan is to still keep pushing Delusions of Grandeur out there for now, it’s not even 3 months old yet. There are a couple new singles that might get released later this year or early next, but no pressing timeline on when I will put those out.
Hopefully Eric and I can get back together in the studio to work on another song before the end of the year as well. So with that said… more songs will be coming out down the line.
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
HOL!DAY: I feel happiness is an ever fleeting feeling, it comes and goes so quickly. Instead of focusing on trying to be happy all the time I just try to really enjoy things, enjoy the brief moments in time we get daily. Just knowing it’s only a moment in time and a part of the human experience I feel is a much more manageable approach.
You deserve a HOL!DAY… Take some time to yourself and listen to the album here!
