Since joining Holding Absence in 2018, Scott Carey has played an integral part in pushing the band forwards, even more so with the band’s new album ‘The Greatest Mistake of My Life’. We sat down with him at the Download Festival Pilot and got him thinking about some of the most influential songs from different times in his life – from lesser known bands such as Counterparts, to the biggest and most mainstream such as Justin Bieber, Carey is inspired by it all.
Check out some of his favourites below.
Song that got you through lockdown
Novo Amor, āDecimalā.Ā Theyāre a Welsh band who – itās like emo folk kind of thing? – but it came out kind of mid-lockdown and it was likeā¦ I love sad music and it was just perfect at encapsulating the entire album, a perfect encapsulation of the disdain for Covid. Beautiful, beautiful bit of writing, it was my most played last year.Ā
Song that reminds you of a family day out
Iāve gotta really think about this! It would be Neck Deep āIn Bloomā, cause I feel like thatās a really summery song – like summery anthem, real like shimmery and just nice and makes me think of summer, so Iāll go with that!
Song that reminds you of home
Home? Ooh. Umm.. I would go with Funeral For a Friend, āStreetcarā because obviously Iām Welsh, theyāre Welsh.
Song that reminds you of your first festival
Slipknot, āPsychosocialā. Technically not my first festival but it was like the first one that I went to with my mates and you know, it was Download actually. 2013. Slipknot headlined, Biffy Clyroā¦ 2013 so that was eight years ago, Iām 26 so I was 17 or 18.
Song that reminds you of school
Ooh school! The first one that comes to mind is Deftones āBack to Schoolā. I used to love that song back in the day and it has school in the title soā¦Ā
Song you put on when youāre angry
One of my friendsā bands called Counterparts, theyāve got a song called āChokeā. Iām gonna go with that. The clue is in the title. No explanation necessary.Ā
Song that will always cheer you up
Umā¦ You know what, thatās a really hard one because I love sad music; not because Iām like a sad person, I just really love beautiful sad music. So I donāt really listen to any happy music but Iām gonna go with the F.R.I.E.N.D.S theme tune because who doesnāt get cheered up by that? I mean you hear that songā¦ instant day booster, that.
Favourite song of all time
Thatās a great question and Iām gonna go withā¦ Oh itās such a great question, uhā¦ āPopeā by Copeland. Itās kind of a niche answer but yeah, beautiful. And because itās one of the only songs I can remember hearing for the first time and really like, getting goosebumps and really feeling emotional. Copeland are a band that Iāve loved for a long time but they put out an album in 2014 and like they kind of broke up and kind of fell off the wagon a bit. And then out of nowhere they put out this album and the first song on the album is called āCopeā and itās just a beautiful piece of music. I cried the first time I listened to itĀ cause I was like, āThis band I used to love are back and itās better than everā.Ā
Favourite song of this year?
This year? Iām gonna be really cheeky and say āCelebration Songā by Holding Absence! No, Iām gonna go with – ah Iām gonna go with um, Hayley Williams. Her album. Iām trying to think of my favourite song because thatās my album of the year so far. Oh you know what, no, Iām going to go with, um, Justin Bieber and Iām gonna go withā¦ There are so many good songs on that album! Iām gonna go with Justin Bieber, āPurposeā. Yeah joint album of the year with Hayley Williams. Fantastic album. Love Justin Bieber. What an incredible artist. Inspirational.Ā
A song that people might not expect you to enjoy
[Laughs] Iām gonna go with Justin Bieber, āPurposeā. I tell you what, Iāll go āFlowers for Vasesā for this year and Justin Bieber, āPurposeā for this.
Check out the new album, ‘The Greatest Mistake of My Life’ by Holding Absence now.
YASMIN BROWN