El Hula

The creation of singer-songwriter Blair Jollands, a New Zealand expatriate based in London, England. Prior to his departure from New Zealand in the mid-90s, Jollands played in a number of bands based in Auckland and also performed as a solo artist on the coffee house circuit. Shortly after recording his 1994 cassette debut, he left New Zealand to attempt to broker a music contract in New York, but ended up in London where he put together El Hula with guitarist Rhys Hughes. The debut album, Hotel, was recorded with a number of session musicians and released in 2001 through Boy George’s More Protein imprint. The record’s elegant lush pop went largely unnoticed in the UK charts, although Jollands’ adoption of the vocal mannerisms of Scott Walker and Jim Morrison was enough to attract the attention of several music critics. The follow-up, Violent Love, was a more coherent set, and included two contemporary classics in ‘Bitter Girl’ and ‘Killer Landings’. Jollands was supported at live shows by a band including Hughes, Noam Halby (drums), Andrew Park (bass), Sarah Brown (vocals), and Sandy Mill (vocals).