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/rock and electronic 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: Lalala (Manila, Jakarta), Pelupo (Thailand), Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Rhepperbahn Hamburg, 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.