The Bollands

The Bollands

The Bollands at Brown Sugar Jar (Shenzhen, China, April 2014).
Background information
Origin  New Zealand
Genres "Foot-stomping folk", Folk music, Indie folk
Years active 2009–present
Labels Unsigned
Associated acts The Hairy Family Jam Band
Website http://www.thebollands.com
Members Christian Bolland (vocals & guitar)
Joyce Bolland (keyboard & vocals)
Paul Maclean (drums)

The Bollands are a 3-piece folk music band originally from New Zealand, and currently based in Hong Kong.

Background

Formation

The Bollands were founded by Christian and Joyce Bolland; a husband-and-wife duo from New Zealand. Joyce’s background was mostly related to the classical arts, such as classical piano and dance. Contrastly, Christian was raised in a less formal environment, having grown up travelling around New Zealand in his family’s house truck.[1] Christian Bolland is the main songwriter of the group, and was part of a christian cult for around five years, and cites this as a strong influence on the music that he writes[2]

In 2007, Christian and Joyce moved to Taiwan, and after returning to New Zealand for a time, they decided to return to Asia,[3] this time to Hong Kong.[4] The Bollands first began playing through The Wanch, a local live music bar in Wan Chai, as well as The Underground.[4][5] Since their arrival, The Bollands have become a mainstay of the local indie music scene,[6] performing at numerous music showcases and festivals. In 2012, The Bollands were featured on the government-run RTHK programms '藝坊星期天' (English: Art Square Sunday) in 2012.[7]

The Bollands also played at the Spring Scream Festival in Kenting, Taiwan, in 2012[8]

First Album

The Bollands first, self-titled, album was a collection of songs that they had written in the two or three years previous, which they had played in bars and at music festivals around Asia and New Zealand.[3] In April, 2013, The Bollands went on tour through Taiwan.[9]

Paper Houses

During the production of their 2nd album, Paper Houses, drummer Paul Maclean (who is also the drummer for the Hong Kong metal band DP[10]) joined the band.[3] Paper Houses was launched in June, 2014 at a public event held at Hidden Agenda.[11] After the release of Paper Houses, The Bollands continued to tour around Asia.[12]

Discography

Albums

03. The Song That Keeps Her Up
04. The Old Chest Nut
01. When You Coming Home?
02. Sing to the Moon
03. Distort the Truth
04. A Drunk
05. What Have You Become?
06. Chestnut
07. Soapbox
08. Morning Tea
09. The Song That Keeps Her Up
10. Travel Song
01. Inside
02. Bad Nights
03. Stalker
04. Down To The Bone
05. Broken Scene
06. Room For You
07. Rag Doll
08. Call Me When You Do
09. Light Of Day
10. A Preacher's Organ
11. Come By Grace
12. Been All Around This World

References

  1. ↑ Shenzhen Daily, “The Bollands to bring folk to LOFT”, “Futian District Government, Shenzhen”, 29 August 2013
  2. ↑ Joe Henley, "Live Wire: Lost and found", The Taipei Times, May 09, 2014
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Andrea Lo, "The Bollands", HK Magazine, 05 Jun 2014
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Silke Hartung, "Ex Pat Files: The Bollands", NZ Musician, April/May 2013
  5. ↑ Shashwati Kala, "Live Review from CD 5 Launch Party B", The Underground, 12 May 2012
  6. ↑ Hans Schlaikier, "Acoustic scene is finding its feet in Hong Kong", The South China Morning Post, 19 August 2012
  7. ↑ 李籽勳, "(第二輯) 第四十集 現場表演: The Bollands", Radio Television Hong Kong, 19 July 2012
  8. ↑ "Spring Scream 2012", GigGuide.tw, 04 Apr 2012
  9. ↑ heidi, "[香港] The Bollands港、台巡演即將開始", Bitetone, 26 March 2013
  10. ↑ Leese, Samantha; Maar, Dwight. "Best Hong Kong bands to rock out with". CNN Travel. CNN. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Mark Tjhung, "The Bollands: Expanding foot-stomping folk", TimeOut Hong Kong, June 2014
  12. ↑ "The Bollands are currently trekking around Taiwan as part of a larger Asian tour.". The Taipei Times. May 9, 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  13. ↑ The Underground HK, "Compilation CD #5", The Underground HK, May 2012

External links