By: Nikki Darling

On Holiday is solo artist Marianne Williams on a 100 year old piano and her malfunctioning Mac. She’s been venturing around the Los Angles area laying down her quirky delirious sounding melodies and outrageous performance art shows for about a year now. She speaks with long time friend Nikki Darling, who has seen her evolve from a talented visual artist in the background of her own work to a loud power to be reckoned with out front. Nikki also apologizes to Marianne that she can’t show this to her mom. On Holiday is about to play the first night of Amoeba’s sponsored Undergroundnous shows this Sunday at Charlie O’s.

So, would you like to explain to our readers why the staff at LA Record affectionately refers to you as Furby Crotch?

Oh god. I guess I’m not showing this to my mom. Andy Ben, we play music together he makes music with toys, we made a lot of art together, he went through a phase of circuit bending, actually its not a phase, he is actively bending Furby’s, he has a lot of them, so at a certain point it just seemed natural to include them in our photographic efforts.

Your photographic efforts…?

That’s all I’m saying.

I have to admit, I’m bummed. I thought it was because of that summer we spent reading Lunar Park on your porch.

Oh, Turby. No Turby is merely a coincidence. Actually, after you went back to New York that Fall he (Bret Easton Ellis) came to Skylight and I like, dorked out and took him all my books to have signed and I was like, “I really like this one!” (Lunar Park) and he was like, “Oh yeah? Ok.” But I just had him sign my Less Than Zero.

Isn’t he the coolest?

Well, he was a little bloated. I know what I’m going to get you for your birthday.

Oh, but my birthday isn’t for six months, yours is first.

I know but it’s going to be practical.

Is it a cell phone recorder? I know I need one.

Yes.

But you’re going to be twenty-eight before me.

But I’m going to change my Myspace clock back to say 27 forever. I guess you’re not going to ask me about my music?

How did you get hooked up with this Daedelus show?

It was through Matt, his band is called Endless Contortionist- his music project-and he’s doing a monthly night of concerts that Amoeba is sponsoring so matt is doing this thing every month for the next six months, but I know Alfred (Daedelus) from the Incident Complexity parties and have been a fan of his music for at least five years. I really respect him highly as an artist.

So how would describe your music? Genre wise at least? I know on your Myspace page it says like, grunge or something-

Grunge/Pop/Experimental. That was last week. I have a hard time explaining it because it’s different every time I play a live show. Its scratch recordings to get down the ideas of the songs since I do all my recording in the house. Eventually I’d like to be in a studio with a producer but right now its still in my house so when I play a show its different skits or elements of what I’ve scratched out at home.

How did you become On Holiday? I know you were in a band before this.

I broke up Pocket Rockers and started On Holiday as a solo project but quickly got tired of playing by myself. I like collaborating with other people. I don’t like playing alone.

Describe a perfect afternoon with On Holiday?

A warm well-lit room with my friends dressed up in holiday appropriate attire, and we all like, party really hard.

So tell me a good story.

Okay, what about the time we went to the LA Weekly awards as the guests of The Rolling Blackouts and we all got so drunk The Rolling Blackouts didn’t hear their name called when they won best LA Band and didn’t make it onstage to accept?

And we were in that little backstage room doing Tequila shots? That was an awesome night. Yeah, tell that one.

Yeah and we saw X play and they ruled. Then we went back to my place and found out that Michael Jackson had been acquitted and you and Danny started stomping around the house and yelling “Not Guilty! Not Guilty!” for like and hour. Next thing I know the cops are downstairs and its like, five in the morning.

Mr. Kim called them.

Yeah, I barely remember that night.

I just remember the next morning your bathroom was covered in puke.

I don’t remember that. Was I mad?

No, you were like; let’s smoke a J. Ah, the good old days. So tell me about your bunny Foot Foot, he’s become the mascot of On Holiday. He’s on all your flyers.

I actually did a new shoot with Foot Foot today. There’s a band named Foot Foot in Los Angeles.

In his honor?

No. I got the name from a song by The Shags. The first time I saw Foot Foot I knew that was his name.

Tell me another story.

OMG, what about the time my Korean neighbor killed his mom and the police asked me if he did it and I covered for him.

Well, tell the story.

Oh my god, this story. I came home really early in the morning it was like six and I see Mr. Kim walking back into house and there was a box on the curb with some old lady clothes a blanket and some torn photos of an old Korean lady inside. We really needed a blanket so I took the blanket and the photos because I collect photos and I thought it was a little weird but I didn’t think about it, then I went back to sleep and later that afternoon I was in my room and I heard a lot of yelling and screaming, it sounded very anguished and grief stricken and then like, ten minutes later it was still going so I go outside and everyone was on my yard staring at my house. I asked my neighbors what was going on and they were saying that Mr. Kim had just gotten back from vacation that afternoon and found his mother dead. But I knew that Mr. Kim had been there that morning putting that box on the corner because I had seen him, but I don’t think he’d seen me. And there were pictures of his mom in the box and I have them- and then I left because it was really intense because everyone was staring at my house and when I got back the police were there and they asked me if I had seen anything odd or unusual and I said no. I protected my neighbor.

No justice for old Mrs. Kim.

I know. He’s scary, he’s a killer, and he’s never been the same since. He’s all alone.

Well, that’s because he killed his roommate.

You shouldn’t kill the people you live with, let that be the moral of the story. Hey, remember when you stopped being my friend because I was a raver?

No I didn’t.

There was a lull in our friendship.

But you were going to Burning Man. How was I supposed to process that?

But see, that influenced me. That affected me. Who’s laughing now? Thank god I only went one year.

What was coolest thing about it?

Oh my god, smoking ice, what do you mean?! I didn’t know it was meth though, this dude was all, do you want some ice?

What did you think you were smoking? Dehydrated Otter Pops?

No, no, I knew it wasn’t ice cream, I just didn’t know it was meth. It was kind of monumental. I just don’t remember it very well.

I should note for our readers that all of this was a very long time ago.

Yes, thank you.

Okay, lets move on to something else. Most of your fans aren’t aware that you’re actually a very accomplished photographer and artist and that you were a photographer first. Do you plan on continuing with photography or are you going to sort of concentrate on music from now on?

Um, that’s a nice question. I do a lot of my own photography for my releases but I’m not sure if people make the connection. Its kind of a balance between music and photography, although now more and more because of commercials its more my job. I’m more job-y about it. My photography. But it’s my job because I work hard to make it work. I love it. I still do a lot of personal projects.

You’re also known for having excellent style and snagging the best vintage, do you want to give away any of your shopping locations?

Oh, with the populous? No. I’m halfway guarded. I mean, remember how long it took me to take you to my favorite place? It took me like me like three years. So uh, no not really, lets just say South Central has the best clothes.

Most underrated musician or band in Los Angeles?

I don’t know, I feel like this city churns through bands so fast, so I feel like if they’re underrated they don’t survive and there’s so many talented people, like I know a lot of my friends are really talented and work really hard at what they do but don’t get the attention they deserve, but I just think that’s the nature of the city. But as far as musician, I would say Chris Martinez is the best right now in the city. Um, I’ve been here ten years but I’ll never be the same as someone who was born here. I don’t know man everything I think of saying just sounds really cheesy. But I do love this city, I do.

ON HOLIDAY, DAEDELUS AND INFAUXTECH VS ENDLESS CONTORTIONIST AT CHARLIE O’S, 501 S. SPRING ST., LOS ANGELES. 9:30 PM / 21+.