SIMON HOLLWAY
Simon Hollway is making waves with his dance track, You Make The Sun Rise. More importantly, he needs a boyfriend. Urgently. Interview by Marc Andrews.
DNA: Hi Simon, what’s your story? Simon Hollway: I was born in Australia, but moved to England as a kid and spent 20 years there. I got into clubbing very young and realised it was more of a vocation than a lifestyle and, with the blind optimism of youth, decided the only career which wouldn’t clash with Monday morning recoveries was DJ-ing. So I ended up spinning discs for ten years. If you were off your chops dancing at an underground shame hole in Europe ten years ago, chances are I was behind the decks. Where are you based these days? On top of a mountain overlooking the rainforest and Mount Jerusalem National Park, half an hour inland from Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, Australia. It’s remote, peaceful and inspiring. When I tell people I live in a rainforest, they assume that I squat in a hut, crap in a hole and forage for wild berries. It’s not quite as basic as that [laughs]. What are your musical influences? Old school tunes from the ’90s. Anything on the Hooj Choons label and Trade at Turnmills. My single biggest influence, or at least musical motivation, is to be successful enough to score an invite to one of Justin Bieber’s parties, slip a rohypnol in his drink and see how the evening pans out. Were you always interested in dance music? I was always interested in what went with dance music: boys, booze and benzodiazepine. How did you get to this point professionally? I’ve been writing tunes for a couple years and I roped Lou Van Stone into recording at my home studio and we haven’t stopped working together since. A couple of months ago, I got signed by European electro house label, Plasmapool, following a drunken email I fired off. I’m halfway through an album now and want to use a different vocalist on each song.
The silhouette of someone clad in speedos looks like a squashed hedgehog that’s swallowed a marble.
Are you Australia’s next big breakthrough international artist? As flattering as it is to be signed by a major European label, I’d really prefer to work more at home. Australia has finally become far more welcoming of international producers and, subsequently, less parochial. The remixers here have also improved considerably. Australia’s inferiority complex, quite rightly, seems to be fading away. Whose picture did you have on your wall when you were growing up? Oh God, I’ve just remembered. It was a poster of some preRaphaelite painting. Oh no, the shame. When did you come out? I was dragged out when I was 21 by my mother’s forensic detective skills. Was that traumatic? Her first words were, “I wish you’d been run over and killed by a bus. It would be easier to explain to my friends.” So you could say the experience tended towards the traumatic. Needless to say, I haven’t spoken to her for a number of years. Are you currently romantically attached? No, it’s only been five years since I split with my ex so I’m still in the grieving period. Too soon, right? I’ve been accidentally celibate for a few years so I’m currently operating on a hair trigger. I can’t brush past the edge of the sofa without going off. Hope that sets the scene for you. What do you want in a lover? Vulnerability, low self-esteem and blondness. A joint credit card is not off the table for the right applicant. Eastern Europeans are particularly welcome. Is music the true love of your life? Music and books, plus my two border collies and my ex. Have I mentioned him yet? The big question: speedos or boardshorts? Boardshorts, definitely. The silhouette of someone clad in speedos looks like a squashed hedgehog that’s swallowed a marble. I’d rather be surprised when I’m unwrapping. Anyway, size doesn’t matter to me. Nice eyes are far more important. Preferably ones that point in the same direction at the same time. How are you keeping busy at present? I’m touring Europe promoting the new single and then there’s another single – a girly belter aimed at the gay dance floor. After that I’ll be back in Australia locked in the studio putting the finishing touches on another three tracks I’m super thrilled with so far. Oh, and a boyfriend. Yeah, definitely that. What’s your message to the readers of DNA? Get off Grindr and go out and meet someone. And if you’re on Grindr being pestered by someone who looks like me and you’re not interested, then it’s a fake profile. If you are interested, then it probably is me and you should reply. Immediately. And buy my single, play on repeat and dance. Or do the hoovering. Both work. more: You Make The Sun Rise is released through TRXX and available on Beatport, iTunes and Spotify. Soundcloud.com/hollway.