Interview: Take Us To 'Planet Holiday'
Wicked guitars, adrenaline-pumping drums and husky Kurt Cobain-esque vocals. They’re qualities that all garage rock bands strive to have. But for Sydney-based band, Planet Holiday, they’re traits that encompass the entirety of their artistry. The band is made up of four members: Aaron D’Onofrio and Sean Briffa as guitarists/vocalists, Luka Pazin on the drums and Daniel Pedic on bass.
With the releases of their demo and debut single, ‘Big Bed’ and ‘Sunny’ respectively, the band have successfully created a sound that blends together rock, post grunge, stoner-groove and sprinklings of psychedelic.
The band's latest single, ‘Chaser’, was released Thursday, 22 April 2021, and we've had it on repeat ever since. We were dying to know more about them, and the band were kind enough to answer a few of our burning questions about their startup and what the future holds for them.
How did Planet Holiday come together?
"We really just evolved over time into this current band as the line-up frequently changed during our earlier years. Luka, Sean and Aaron are old high school friends. During and after graduating high school we had other mates in the band too. We practiced at each other's houses/garages, hopelessly trying to learn cover songs from Violent Soho, Sticky Fingers, Arctic Monkeys and The Foo Fighters.
Fast-forward about a year or two later where a few band members departed, and in 2017, Daniel joined the band after meeting Sean at university. For another whole year we had five members (bassist, drummer and three guitarists). We wrote a whole bunch of sh*tty songs, some of them we liked and decided to keep till this very day.
At the start of 2018, our old bassist decided to leave the band, trimming us down to four members. Soon after we recorded and released our first demo-single, ‘Big Bed’, and played our very first gig on a boat at a friend’s 21st birthday, finally establishing ourselves as the four piece we are today."
What/who inspires you as musicians and artists?
"We all come from a few different backgrounds and are inspired by different people, but the music we grew up with is the thing that inspires us the most. Some of us are inspired by musicians we wouldn’t have even discovered without forming the band, so we think that plays into it. As a band a few of our influences include Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, Bloc Party, Black Sabbath, Foo Fighters and Gorillaz. We’re also just ... inspired by things that happen in our lives and observations we make in day-to-day life, which is where most of the lyrics come from."
What’s the writing process like for your songs?
"It’s always a collaboration. One of us may have a somewhat complete song idea to bring to the table and the band simply makes it better. We give each other honest feedback as well as maintaining self-critique based on what we want our music to be like."
I know you’ve played a few shows already. What's it like to be onstage and perform for an audience? Also, which venue has been your favourite and why?
"It’s the best feeling you could possibly experience, a high you can’t imitate. That’s probably the thing that inspires us all to keep playing live gigs. There’s nothing like watching people jam along to your tunes, even if you’re not at the stage where they can sing along yet.
Best gig would’ve been Valve Bar - We played a headlining gig there in early 2019 on a Thursday and it was basically a massive party. We played awfully, but it was a boatload of fun."
Your new single was released recently. How would you describe it?
"It’s called ‘Chaser’, it’s kind of a surf-punky love song. It’s about letting your worries go and focusing on the things in life that make you happy, taking hold of golden opportunities when they arrive, especially when you feel beaten up from charging through life's obstacles or ‘brick walls.’ Compared to our other singles, ‘Big Bed’ or ‘Sunny’, this one has much more of a positive outlook."
So with your latest single already out, what’s next for you guys?
"Finishing recording our EP, then probably doing a set of shows to promote the EP. We also have a few merch ideas we’re really excited to release."
Lastly, are there any up-and-coming Aussie artists we should be keeping an eye on?
"Jerranis, The Violet Stones, Supahoney, Sarah Jane, Bixie Major, Commodore Charlie, Just A Number, Smallways, Von Memora, Daniel Pedich, Lucid Hoops, Harold & the Bishops, Decapitators, Deadshowws, Tyler and the Harpies, Sal and the Mandas, Noon Shift, Cactus Lane… to name a few."
They’re a group of friends who are ready to rock out on stages across Sydney. Check out 'Chaser' below!