Holy Ride are a New York-based Indie Rock/Neo-Soul quartet, who formed while attending Columbia University in 2016. Consisting of vocalist/keyboard player Julian Ernest Wright, guitarist/bassist Caleb Oldham, second guitarist John Sudman, and drummer Mark Brathwaite, Holy Ride started playing dorm rooms, parties, and other collegiate functions, while three of it's four members were running a music blog called Rare Candy, as well as a small on-campus recording studio called CU Records. I guess, what initially drew me to Caleb Oldham's cold-sent email was this line, in particular: "We sound like D'Angelo meets Mac DeMarco," which they genuinely do! Holy Ride's aptly-titled debut EP, Party Tricks, is a self-described Soul-Pop/Pop Rock-minded affair strongly influenced by Fleetwoood Mac & Prince; although, I would also, liken their sound to something reminiscent of The Beach Boys, Chester French/D.A. Wallach, Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!" similarly-minded greenhorn quartet no suits, and Stones Throw multi-instrumentalists The Stepkids. Although, Party Tricks has yet to even be released to the general public, Holy Ride are already plotting their next couple moves; "we're planning to come out with 3 more EP's in the near future," stating they presently have about "a dozen" songs completed and ready to go. '"Pictures" is a song about possessing intangible things in a physical format, like personalities, dreams, or memories," Holy Ride wrote within a recent emailed conversation.


Honestly, we're ecstatic to have partnered up with Holy Ride to premiere Track #03 from their Party Tricks EP right here at The Witzard! Vocalist Julian Ernest Wright croons, "If I'm just looking for a place to sit / Blind painter / See what's new" in a very abstract, almost stream-of-conscious way over relaxed guitar riffs and an effortlessly cool musical backing provided by Caleb Oldham, John Sudman & Mark Brathwaite. Then, we hear "Pictures"' main refrain/hook: "And we take pictures of each other..." directly followed by this poetic little nugget, "Millions and millions of tiny shards of glass / In my head / Poking through" during Verse #2. In addition to The Witzard-exclusive premiere of "Pictures," we're actually, lucky enough to be sharing a video of Party Tricks opener "Spotlight" filmed in guitarist Oldham's living room and sent in as a submission to NPR's now-closed 2018 Tiny Desk Contest. Party Tricks EP was entirely produced by talented record producer, mixer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Sahil Ansari at Degraw Sound in Gowanus, Brooklyn, New York. Holy Ride will be self-releasing their debut EP, Party Tricks, this upcoming Friday, June 22nd on digital streaming platforms. Give Holy Ride a Follow on Facebook: Holy Ride (@HolyRideNYC) Twitter: @weareholyride, Instagram: @weareholyride, and Soundcloud or simply, HolyRide.net to stay connected regarding their future releases, upcoming shows, happenings, and all things Holy Ride. 🎈