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Holy Oak is the songs of Neil 
Holyoak and the rotating cast of musicians who accompany him. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Neil began singing as child. After a tumultuous upbringing, he was forced to move away from home at the age of 16 to live at a reform school deep in the wilderness of Montana. While the institution put restrictions on playing music, Neil continued to craft small songs using the tools available – a borrowed guitar, a smuggled-in tape
recorder, and his own voice.
Escaping from the reformatory after two years, Neil traveled to Colorado to study psychology, literature, and experimental music. There he lived for a year at the base of the southern Rocky Mountains, singing songs to the smokestacks outside his dormitory window. His songs from this period were released as a short EP of self-recorded
music entitled All These Mountains Look the Same.
After a year living in Colorado, Neil packed his bags, dropped out of college and moved to Montreal. During the winter of 2008, he made his first full-length album at the home and recording studio of David Bryant, a founding member of Godspeed! You Black Emperor. An ambitious departure from Neil’s sparse home-recorded efforts, this album featured twelve musicians playing an array of different parts on a variety of instruments, from triumphant horn harmonies to the gentle howl of a finger-plucked piano board.
Neil continued to live in Montreal, writing songs and playing with local musicians. He returned to university twice at two different schools, Concordia and McGill. He dropped out again twice. In 2010 he recorded another album, Better Lions, with the same band. This new record also features fellow musicians Brendan Reed (of Clues), Matt Shane (Think About Life), and horn dynamo Noah Cannon. This album was recorded at the Holy Oak practice space with the help of local audio and screen-printing wizard Nick Kuepfer, and mixed at Montreal’s Breakglass Studio. It combines the intimacy of Neil’s early home recordings with the more sophisticated arrangements of his studio recordings.
Releases
Holy Oak (self titled)
What Really Happened to Teri Dupier & Buck Bonnihman (Compilation)
All These Mountains Look the Same (EP)
Hi Lonely Oak’s debut 6-track EP. Recorded on a portable recording apparatus in various corners of the country, All These Mountains.. is a personal look into the workings of 20yr old singer- songwriter Neil Holyoak with minimal accompaniments by various instrumentalists including cellists trumpeters and electronic artists
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