We had the good fortune of connecting with Leila, William Perry, Nicol and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leila, William, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Leila: I really had no choice. I don’t think I’d be happy or fulfilled if I didn’t express myself creatively. I always wrote songs and put on plays and performances as a kid. It’s a soul urge. When I don’t create and allow my expression to flow I start getting physically stiff and frustrated. When I open up my channel and express, my body and soul feel better, freer, lighter. It’s literally a path to healing for me.

Will: I love making things and just can’t really see a life when I’m not doing that in some way, all the time. So I think for people that can’t help creating things, life just goes in that direction.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Leila Perry & Will Nicol: Our band, The Holycuts, is different than a typical music show. Will and I come from theater and film backgrounds so telling a story and taking people on a journey is a big part of our live shows.

We love playing live and feeding off the crowd’s energy. After some years, we realized we needed to put content online to show people in order to grow beyond our local circle. The recording process was hard for us at first, it’s completely different than the energy of a live show.

Luckily we found an awesome producer, Ivan Wayman, that really helped us capture our essence for our debut Album, “HolyCuts”. It captures a lot of the storytelling, edge, nostalgia, dreaminess, and punk attitude that our shows have and we are so excited to release it!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Will: Chipotle.

Leila: (Will’s joking) The landscape is amazing here. I usually take people up the PCH highway to see the gorgeous beaches on the coastline. There’s many amazing hikes. I like to hang at the local bars in Echo Park, see a show at The Echo. There’s so much talent and great art here. I’d take people to an improv show at UCB and then to a live bands/burlesque show at three clubs.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Leila: For me it’s the community in our neighborhood of Echo Park that have given us so much support. There’s a bar called Little Joy that booked us on our first residency and we’ve played the Echo Park Rising music festival many years. There’s so many amazing musicians in Echo Park who inspire me constantly, come to shows, and collaborate with us.

Will: Yeah all of our friends that have helped us with recording and putting us on shows, it’s an awesome community. Also thanks to my mom and family for always encouraging me to keep going.

Website: www.theholycuts.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/theholycuts?igshid=YzcxN2Q2NzY0OA==

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theholycuts7035

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3fshtEZH0AAT8CBqxe2jF2?si=GfaAh9lhSxiPAgeMAtT13g

Image Credits
Photo taken by Keith Hamm

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