“I would rap to myself over Mob Deep and Nas instrumentals during road trips between Whistler and Vancouver - nobody could hear me,” Holly Fagan says to us during a photo shoot back in October. “Then I started wanting people to hear what I had to say. It’s been non-stop since.”
Holly’s day job, director of marketing and artist relations, consists of compiling and representing independent and signed musicians for film, TV, video games and advertising. Outside on the sidewalk entryway to her building, it’s a bright sunny day and she’s brought her dog to the office.
“He’s a good dog, they [her Liberty Music Trax bosses] don’t mind when I bring him in.”
In truth, he is a good dog; very well behaved, sitting quietly in a corner while we chat with Holly about life, music and her upcoming albums. Holly Fagan. Haven’t heard of her yet? You will soon enough. Going by the name HollyDish, Holly has been in love with music for as long as she can remember.
“It started off as a hobby, for kicks, when I was living in Vancouver and got a lot of love and a lot of bullshit,” Holly says. “I had to wait to meet non-toxic artists who actually believed in me and wanted to work with me rather than take advantage of what I had to offer.”
Studying psychology is British Columbia; Holly started performing alongside DJ Knowledge and Kenya at local hotspots. She became so at ease with music and performing that she soon recorded her demo only two months later.
If that wasn’t enough to have accomplished in such a short amount of time, Holly decided on a whim to take off to Maui. It should be said that Holly had been asked to be part of a popular band, Crazy Fingers, based in Hawaii, and eagerly accepted.
“I cancelled my flight home from Hawaii to be in a band. Best decision of my life and everything has happened musically because of that,” she says, “Life is [like] magic - when you want something and work towards it every day believing in yourself, it actually happens! NO SECRET,” she adds fervently. Moral of the story? Hawaii makes your dreams come true.
Holly worked hard to grow as an artist, becoming multitalented in her capabilities and after eight solid months of performing regularly, she packed her stuff and headed back home.
It was back home in Montreal where she met German producer Joh Lowmax and Montreal producer Steven Voyce* Ngoka. Working with them she was able to finally put something together.
“He [Lowmax] heard my vocals, sent them to his pull piece band back in Germany, they loved it and we decided to record an album together.”
It may seem like she has a horseshoe conveniently lodged somewhere uncomfortable, but Holly is a strong believer in positive energy and that whatever hard work you put into your dream, the universe somehow finds a way to make it happen.
It is with that attitude that Holly went on to record two albums, one intended for North American release, and one, entitled Holly & The What, for European release.
“My North American release is called Dishology and I wrote everything as far as lyrics go. It is produced by singer/songwriter/producer Voyce*,” she says. “It’s basically hip hop/pop but sending a message to people, especially women. They are songs with soul - none of this bubblegum rot your teeth sh*t,” she adds.
For those people who doubt MySpace as a platform for struggling artists, let this be a lesson to you. Fagan’s other album is a crazy MySpace success story. It was through MySpace that Holly met Joh Lowmax, which ultimately led to recording with The What.
“He [Lowmax} was on a trip across Canada meeting with MySpace contacts along the way,” she says, “[This album] won't be released ‘till I go to the music conference in France, Cannes MIDEM in late January. [But what I can tell you about it is] that it’s all live instrumentation, since the music is produced by a live band – it’s way less mainstream pop.”
While Holly did meet the right people, she attributes much of her success to being motivated. She made this happen for herself. Holly claims that the traditional ‘getting a record deal’ is becoming obsolete and artists have to struggle more and more to get their music out there.
“CDs and selling albums is a lost cause. Artists are getting paid by having their music placed in commercial content. F*ckin Weezer had to create a campaign to sell CDs by offering a free Weezer snuggy! That’s how lame the industry is right now.”
The new year seems busy, yet promising for Holly as she gets set to tour China with ‘The What’ in April. Holly is scheduled to go to MIDEM with Liberty Music, “to put Canada on the map in the music licensing world” as well. In the process she also is working on her second album and making videos for her first album, Dishology. So what does she advise aspiring artists to do?
“Do it every day. You can't be lazy with your passion cause then it’s not your passion,” Holly says, “Do not let other people who know or don’t know you hold you back. If you want music to be a daily part of your life, and you say it every day and work at it, destiny manifests itself. You just gotta be true to yourself and go after it if you want it.”
For more on HollyDish check out her MySpace here.
- Interview by Angelique Picanco
- Photos by Kristin Johnston and Jamie Rankin