Holding Absence has had a busy few years. Between relentlessly touring The Noble Art of Self-Destruction, navigating a surreal last-minute set at When We Were Young with members of Boundaries, and becoming an unexpected voice in the growing conversation around AI in music, the Holding Absence frontman, Lucas Woodland, has had plenty to unpack.
Catching up with Woodland at Warped Tour Orlando for Melodic Magazine, he opened up about where Holding Absence stand now and how they’re fighting to keep humanity at the center of their art.
You guys have spent the last few years touring on your third album, The Noble Art of Self-Destruction. Were there any songs that you were shocked that fans resonated with more than you were expecting?
Not so much shocked, but we have a song called “The Angel in the Marble,” which is like the last track on the album. When you put a song at the end of the album, it’s almost like a treat, you know? It’s almost like dessert after dessert. If somebody really wants to stick around, then they will, but if they don’t, then they won’t. So that song was very beloved in the end by a lot of our fans. And I think that will always stand out to me as a special one, you know?
You guys recently ended your tour with The Plot In You, and I know you played When We Were Young and there were some complications with the band. How did that last-minute Boundaries coming in to help you guys happen?
It was a miracle, because we were like, who on earth knows our songs at all? We had this scenario where our visas had been delayed. For weeks and weeks and weeks we’d been waiting at least four months. It usually takes three, and we’d expedited them, so we spent more money to get them to come quicker.
And basically mine got approved first because I was kind of the head of the petition. The boys hadn’t been approved and we had to decide, are we gonna try and do this or not?When We Were Young and Warped are such bucket list festivals. I don’t think any other festivals would’ve made us do that scenario of having another band learn our songs and play behind me. Even when I say it out loud, it sounds like a joke.
But I just remember the drummer of Boundaries was so good and he obviously knew our songs and in my head I was like, well, he could definitely drum. He was kind of like the first thing. And then I was like, the rest of the band are amazing musicians and good friends of ours, so maybe we try and do a package deal, you know. And yeah, hit them with a question. They had three days to learn the set. And I promise you, we didn’t play a song together before we stepped on stage.
The first time that Tim, the drummer, hit those cymbals was the first moment that I’d made music with him, in front of everyone.
I know there was a recent TikTok moment with AI and you calling that out. When did you realize that it was making a true impact and it was actually something where you were like, “Hey, there’s real bands that are suffering”?
Great question. To be honest, I don’t want to sound like a martyr here, but it’s not just for me that we did that. I don’t think people knew that it was happening. And I don’t think it had ever happened in this sort of cannibalistic way before, because this band had AI generated these songs and they put us in their bio as a “for fans of.” So quite blatantly modeled their songs off of us.
I had BBC News and Rolling Stone magazine and I had all these people trying to bring me in about it because it was probably the first time that art has become more successful from an AI artist than the artist that it was modeled off of. It’s not just that they’re modeling shit off of us. They’re swallowing our views and listens in many ways.
But I think truthfully, we need to understand that this is happening currently as we speak. The number one country song in America is AI. It’s our job as artists to make sure that our music becomes more human in protest. Make sure that our live shows are more important, because robots can never do that. Not the emotions. But I’ve got shit in me that a robot can’t do and I need to show it more, basically.
So 2.5 million views on that tweet. It felt like everybody saw that and I think it was important.
I know other bands have referenced it and talked about it. Do you feel like there’s a place for AI in the music scene if it’s labeled as such, or do you feel like it’s a “keep it to the real people”?
Good question, because it is very nuanced. I’m super woke and I’m super with a lot of progressive thought. AI is horrible in many, many ways, and I’m very violently opposed to it in many ways. I do also know that it will never go away. I do also know that it will have positive benefits in some regards. So ultimately, it’s not like AI is something I’m entirely condemning, but I think we need to start implementing rules and laws in these spaces.
At the end of the day, with AI music, Spotify want more clicks on their app. They want people to spend more time on their app. They want more attention. To do that, they need more songs. Now this new technology has come around and we can make a million songs a day. Spotify isn’t going to ban that. But we need transparency, because I’ve seen fans of ours who are getting these shit bands in their suggested searches because they’ve swallowed our catalog and made songs that sound like us, and they don’t know.
I’m reading comments of people who are truly sad because they like this music. Imagine loving a band and finding out that it isn’t real and you can’t go see them live. And these lyrics are fake and all these melodies you love weren’t done from the heart. It’s truly the most treacherous sort of form of betrayal I can imagine.
But please, for the love of God, can we just have a little badge at the bottom that says “AI,” at the very least. And that isn’t me giving in, but I know we will never win this battle. We just need to control rules around it.
If every band on Warped Tour canceled because we’re trying to make a statement about AI, I think that makes some waves. But I think the music industry sadly doesn’t advocate for itself in that way, and I think we need to change that a little bit.
I know after you put out your statement other bands (like Dayseeker) were like, “you know, this is a real thing” and backing what you were saying.
Which is crazy, because I feel like Rory texts me every month with an update on the band in question’s monthly listeners and how they’re going down. So he’s like, “Yo dude, they’ve gone down another hundred thousand.” So me and him have a good relationship on that stupid topic. That’s why I’m glad that I spoke out, because I’m the first person who’s been swallowed by this scenario and I kind of want to warn other bands that it’s coming.
I hope people aren’t shocked when it happens, because we know it’s coming. It sucks and we’ve got to fight back in different ways now.
So other than the streams, how do you guys measure your success compared to where you were a couple years ago to where you are now?
There’s only a few ways you can measure success without being a bit of a narcissist. For me, streams are great and seeing those numbers go up is great, but seeing people in the crowd, you know what I mean? That’ll always be the one. Always, always, always will be number one. And even more now that robots can’t perform shows. Something like this – the bigger crowd you pull, the better it’ll be.
So for me it’s seeing the shows grow, it’s so special. That’ll always be number one. Come and say hi at a show.
A big chunk of 2025, you did a tour in the beginning, and there’s been a lot of speculation on new music here and there. Without getting in trouble, what can you share? What’s coming, what are we working on?
I can’t share too much, as you assume. But we’ve been working hard and we’ve been taking time out. To be honest, we’ve never done that before.
I tell people, being a musician is many jobs. I’m a content creator, I’m an artist, I’m a visual performer. I feel like an athlete some mornings. I have to jump around and kick. So there’s all these different jobs.
I think sometimes when you’re touring and then you’re writing and then you’re touring and you’re writing, it’s like asking a footballer to go and become a painter in his spare time. It’s not really healthy. So this is the first time we’ve taken time out, but the future is bright as always. We’re not going anywhere. I think that’s the main thing.
Well, you’re not going anywhere because you have Sonic Temple next year. Any other touring plans?
We’ve got Sonic Temple, we’ve got other stuff. I actually don’t know what’s been announced. (laughs) But we love America so much and I think the culture here for live music is so… there’s such a reverence. People love it here. People love it back home, but people love it en masse out here.
I do want to say to our UK and Europe family, we are not hiding away from the UK in any way. I know a lot of people are waiting very much for our next European tour and it’s very much coming, but America’s just so much bigger. You can do stuff out here you can’t back home. I can’t really do Europe twice a year without essentially… we lose money. It’s a very different situation.
Whereas when we go to America, we can still be a healthy kind of band that can make a living, and then it means that we can do Europe without worrying about going bankrupt. So there’s so many costs we’re in, but lots to look forward to next year. That’s the main thing.
Of everything you have announced and unannounced, what are you most excited about or looking forward to?
Getting back on the road, yes, and spreading music with people. I like seeing our fans and friends as well. We’re a real two-way street. People come and say hi. We just did a meet and greet. People come and say hi, and I’m as happy to see them as they are to see us.
When I’m stuck at home, I’ll see a fan in Cardiff or in a music shop in Cardiff, and it makes my month. So if I can do that every night, I’m happy and excited.
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