Holli Scott is a jazz vocalist, composer and bandleader quickly establishing herself in the Australian music scene. Her music is eclectic, soulful and dark, and draws inspiration from a broad range of artists – from Billie Holiday and Nina Simone to Nick Cave and Tom Waits. Scott has honed a uniquely melancholic, rich sound, with lyrics that reflect real sparks of relatable emotion experienced in everyday life, with a focus on storytelling.
She has performed works internationally and currently works as a professional vocalist, composer, and educator based in Perth, Western Australia. Scott’s compositions are work-shopped and performed with a number of different personnel combinations throughout WA, with the bulk of her works being written for and showcased by group ‘Holli Scott & the Rush Hour Circus’, which consists of Jamie Oehlers (saxophone), Daniel Susnjar (drums), Ben Matthews (piano), and Karl Florisson (double bass).
Scott graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’ jazz performance program in 2015 with honours, and returned for a time in 2020 to teach the jazz voice students. Scott has performed works in Italy and the Czech Republic, and in 2014, was selected as a finalist in the James Morrison Generations in Jazz Vocal Scholarship. In 2016/18, Scott co-wrote and recorded themes for the soundtracks of THQ Nordic’s internationally acclaimed videogames ‘This is the Police’ and ‘This is the Police 2’. In 2019, Scott released her debut album of original compositions and arrangements entitled ‘DUST’, which gained traction on ABC jazz and local radio. Since the release, Scott has received multiple award nominations, including the jazz WAM Song of the Year Award (2020), WAM ‘best vocalist’ (2021), and WAM’s ‘best jazz act’ (2021), and was a winning finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (USA, 2020).