Music Monday: 30 years of Band of Holy Joy

It is now 30 years since Band of Holy Joy were formed in New Cross, and they're still going strong (albeit with some big gaps along the way!).

One of their first releases was a 1984 cassette  'More Favourite Fairytales'  put out by Glasgow-based Pleasantly Surprised. The sleevenotes say:

'Holy Joy were formed in the summer of 1983 when Johny and his sister Max found a synthesiser in the cellar of the house they were living in and started messing around on it. They then brought in Brett (Test Dept's visual genius) as he had an organ and could also play various instruments. John at this time was taking photographs that had everything in common with the songs Johny and Max were writing. They persuaded him to trade in his camera for a mouth organ, tambourine and various other instruments. Test Dept then took them under their with and they played places like Manchester, Sheffield and Retford. After these performances Holy Joy decided to go into the studio then came a few more dates in London at their own club "The Stomach Pump" Situated in a crypt in Deptford and also playing with Einsturzende Neubauten.

"More Favourite Fairytales" was recorded on a four track portastudio in late winter / early spring '84 and is a follow up / progression to a previous cassette entitled "Favourite Fairytales For Juvenile Delinquents" which they consider to be more background music than anything else.Plans for the proper studio and record a 12 inch version of "Liquid Lunch" and a 7 inch of "Consumption" and one day soon M.F.F will appear properly recorded on a record. Also being talked about is a video film tentatively called "Seven Days Of Agony And Holy Joy". At present more songs are being written and recorded. They have also made some new instruments and have come up with a whole host of new sounds and noises. Ideas are also underway for some film music. All in all "Holy Joy" are a very creative and exiting conception and in my opinion you shall be hearing a lot more from them in the near future'.

Well a lot more has certainly been heard, latest from them is the third in an ongoing series of films featuring tracks from this year's return to the cassette 'City of Tales, Volume 1 and 2'. 'Empty Purse Found in Hotel Lobby' features band drummer William Lewington and Joanna Pickering.



Lots more Transpontine BoHJ