Bio

(Full Bio)

Holly Conner is a drummer, producer, and all-round creative musician based in Sydney. A musical chameleon, she is just as at home playing electronic pop with producers or laying it down and singing BVs in indie rock bands; as she is in the worlds of modern improvised music, film music, free jazz, and experimental performance art.  Alongside her drumming and collaborative work, she creates her own percussion-meets-electronic music as ilex. She also fills in as a radio host on community Sydney station FBI.   

 "Dynamic, powerful...an impressive display of virtuosic drumming...theatrical, the sound and vision were highly impressive" - Eric Myers, Freedman Fellowship Awards Sydney Opera House  

"Mesmerising...Exquisite" - Mark Pigott, Sydney Arts Guide, Freedman Fellowship Awards

Holly is a respected as a versatile touring musician, touring extensively throughout Australia, Europe, and Asia with pop/commercial and indie acts such as Jack Ladder, Matthew Ifield,  Annie Hamilton, CLEWS,  Glenn Hopper, Hevenshe, Human Noise, Lupa J , Marcus Whale & Holly Throsby.  She has also performed in the hit musical SIX, in Sydney. 

Her part writing/arranging/playing also features on a diverse range of recordings. She has recorded for film and tv (such as BBC/HBO's Top of The Lake: China Girl, award-winning surf film Beyond the Noise); on indie releases such as Glenn Hopper's Something About the Weather , many other pop singles; as well as on a host of modern jazz, funk, and contemporary improv releases (Matthew Ottignon's Volant, Microfiche and many more).  Holly has also contributed her compositional & performance skills to countless cross-arts projects - from theatre works - to performance art with artists such as Lauren Brincat, Alyx Dennison, Leo Tzao.    

Regarding collaborative projects, Holly is a co-leader of the well-respected improvisation collective Microfiche. She has co-produced, composed for, and played on all their albums since 2015.

For her own solo project, ilex, releases include the Visions of Elsewhere EP + singles Kodamas & What Is Soft Is Also Strong . 

As an improviser she has collaborated and performed with many incredible artists such as Chris Abrahams, Phil Slater, Adrian Lim-Klumpes, Paul Cutlan, Joseph Franklin, Flora Cabo, Jacques Emery, Clayton Thomas, Jonathan Wilson, Niki Johnson, Sia Ahmad, and Hilary Geddes

Festival/Event appearances: Pelupo (Thailand), Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Rhepperbahn Hamburg,  Aberdeen International Youth Festival, VIVID Sydney, Sydney Festival, STRATA Festivals 1 2 and 3 at Phoenix Central Park, Sydney World Pride, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras,  The Sydney Biennale, Liveworks, Underbelly Arts; plus special projects at The N1Reaktorhallen in Stockholm, Km28 in Berlin, MONA in Tasmania, The Powerhouse Museum Sydney, and The Art Gallery of NSW.

Selected Awards/Support
2023 - ongoing - Volunteer and Presenter at FBI Radio, Sydney
2023 - Inner West Council professional development grant recipient to complete Ableton Liveschool in 2023.
2023 - Mentee in the AIR (Australian Independent Record Labels Association) Women In Music Mentor Program
2023 - FBI Radio's Independent Artist of the Week (for ilex)
2022 - Freedman Jazz Fellowship Finalist (Australia-wide Jazz Award). 
2019 - Jaan Rutherford Memorial Award Finalist (excellence in Australian female jazz instrumentalists)

Study
Holly comes from an eclectic background of rock drumming and classical percussion. She completed a BA of Jazz Performance (Honours) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and has also completed summer courses at the School of Improvised Music Brooklyn, plus two Australian Art Orchestra Creative Music Intensives.  In 2026 she will complete a residency at the Jazz and Sonic Arts Program in BANF Canada.