James
Halloran:
About
He was conceived by ice and fire and this is how stories are woven. JAMES HALLORAN is a weaver of story, a conductor of silence into sound, dedicated to the sonic explorations of sensuality, love, and the power of nature. Piano driven and in-wonder with the breadth of human experience, his original work explores the juxtaposition of sensitivity and aggression, anguish and hope, infatuation and resentment. James blends orchestral theatricality, erotic depth, and pop appeal with the artist’s candour. James Halloran is a musician and performer whose process and work participates within myriad modalities and styles. His voice is incandescent in its ability to grow, to strike, to pierce, and to mend; professional training and technique is present, surrendering into vivid and emotive expression. This is freak-pop by genre, unsettled by its context, strident in its content. He has been influenced by entire species of artists, but it would be impertinent not to pay homage to the prowess and power of Tori Amos, Kate Bush, and Anohni.
After several years of performance, experimentation, and growth, James Halloran released his debut solo EP HIM in October 2016. An offering of wild lyricism married to human existential crisis, HIM is a work full of rich orchestration and vocal eclecticism.“The original ballads burst into the space like blizzards chilling our hearts with stories of heartbreak, manipulation and frustration” – Rhumer Diball
His performances are always events to remember. Audiences can expect lush, Celtic-influenced string arrangements and James’ trademark theatrical flair. The venues are always totally transformed, seducing the audience to join James’ strange, otherworld.
“The original ballads burst into the space like blizzards
chilling our hearts with stories of heartbreak,
manipulation and frustration” – Rhumer Diball
The original ballads burst into the space like blizzards, chilling our hearts with stories of heartbreak, manipulation and frustration” – Rhumer Diball.
Style &
Breadth
His control of performance, voice and presence — evidence of years stomping and swaying with ZEN ZEN ZO physical theatre company has crafted James into a powerfully theatrical performer. James frequently works performing, composing and musically directing contemporary, avant-garde theatrical productions. Halloran’s dark, reflective and heart-breaking theatrical works have seen him perform and compose for physical theatre companies and independent artists, as well as nationally tour his own productions. Theatrically, James’ compositional work has drawn on everything form traditional Weimar Cabaret to 80s Glam rock. These shows are always riveting, spectacular, camp and often subversive. His most recent theatrical venture “The Retrofuturists” saw James embody a lost time traveller from the future. This show featured a live band with a darkly eccentric sound and “ominously electrifying” vocal harmonies. Aussie Theatre praised Halloran’s “wonderful vocals” and “masterful manipulation”, while describing his song writing as “somewhat of a mix-tape mission that sits somewhere between Ziggy Startdust and the Rocky Horror Picture Show”
2016 marks James’ final year studying a Bachelors degree in jazz voice at the Jazz Music Institute. Influenced by the concept of queer identity in jazz (particularly that of jazz composers), James’ jazz renditions often involve shifting perspectives of some of these standards into a queer context. Through this, James Interrogates and rejects heteronormative conventions and mores and ignites the desires underneath the received canon. From gentle and smooth ballads to hard-hitting, swing tunes, the vocal colours James displays in this work are truly unique.
James Halloran is a liminal being, an artist tempered by technique and vivid in intuitive catharsis. He embraces emotionality and expression as twins in the poetry of his work. James seeks an intimacy with the internal landscape and becomes an oracle of dynamism in his writing and performance.
