Holly McNarland
Holly McNarland whirled onto the Canadian music scene last year with all the intensity of a summer thunderstorm. Deceptively small and waiflike, with a powerful wail of a voice and a bunch of startlingly direct rock songs, the Winnipeg-born, Vancouver-based singer had the industry sit up and take notice fast with her debut EP, SOUR PIE, and a number of well-received performances across the country.

Holly performed at the Canadian Music Week Conference 1996 to a capacity crowd, filling the room with an incredibly BIG voice. You could have heard a pin drop. Fans were definitely made and the world took notice of this talented young woman!

When SOUR PIE, which had been independently recorded in Vancouver by Holly, was released in 1996 it caught the attention of the powers that be at Universal Music Canada. McNarland's songs dealt frankly with emotional and sexual experiences ("Mr. Five Minutes" was a particularly pointed jab at an unsatisfactory lover), and her 21 year-old voice sang them with an attitude and maturity that belied her years. It was an intriguing combination, and SOUR PIE ended up garnering breathy superlatives from smitten critics. Holly's captivating live performance attracted even more attention, with observers tripping over each other in their search for the words to describe her powerful appeal. "She has a superhuman ability to Krazy Glue your feet to a spot on the floor and send an electric current up your spine without killing you," was one apt description.

After touring to promote the EP and develop a fanbase across the country, Holly headed into the studio to begin working on her first full length release, her major label debut. She packed her mini-studio, her adored Jack Russell terrier, Owen, and her guitar and headed off to B.C.'s Galliano Island to write and create some new songs. "I rented a cabin for two weeks and I wrote," she recalls. "I had a friend there for a couple days, but mostly I was on my own. It was weird, it was scary. Apparently I'm afraid of the dark! It was the middle of winter, it rained all the time. But then the band came out for the last three days and brought some equipment and we finished the songs, got them into band mode, and it was fun."


The result is STUFF. Eleven songs, some dating back a couple years, others coming out of her writing stint in rainy solitude, reflect McNarland's development as a writer, performer and person. STUFF is texturally beautiful, big, yet very personal, and it shows the true talent that Holly possesses. Lyrically, it is bare and somewhat introspective. From the beauty of "Coward", the anger of "Elmo", the aloneness of "Water", and the maturity of "Porno Mouth", to modern rock songs like "Numb" as well as delicate acoustic tracks like "I Won't Stay", STUFF is not as dark as its genesis might suggest. "I'm not as serious anymore, I don't have to be completely depressed to write a song. Some of these songs are more upbeat that the older ones. I lightened up a bit!"

Holly first started singing at the age of three, learning songs at her performer mother's knee, then took up the guitar at 16 and began writing a couple of years after that. She recorded a demo, got ripped off and was unhappy with it, but that tape ended up leading her to Dale Penner, still the only producer she has worked with. "I was going to use two producers this time and cut the album in half, but Dale was working so well," she says. "He did a really good job, and I'm really comfortable with him." The album was mixed by the infamous Tom Lord-Alge (Wallflowers, Live and Toad The Wet Sprocket).


She was also comfortable with her drummer Adam Drake and bassist Mark Pullyblank, so she hung on to them, in spite of the fact that she moved to Toronto and they remain in Vancouver. Then she added the considerable guitar talents of Joey Santiago (the Pixies) to the album's sound. Since that time she's found a new full-time guitarist, Matt Kelly, and is now getting set to tour the country and conquer the world.

Holly's been one busy lady lately... On September 8th, she performed live at the launch of MusiqueMax, the new Quebec service run by Musique Plus; on September 12th she performed live and signed autographs at Tower Records Yonge Street in Toronto; on September 18th, she was a presenter on the MuchMusic Video Awards. Her album STUFF was released in the U.S. on October 7th, with the track "Numb" being the first single.

Stay tuned to Star 95.7 this week for your chance for tickets to our exclusice listener

-- Reprinted from Universal Music - Canada