Sally Boy aces nostalgic-pop debut

A rising star in the music industry, Sally Boy brings in a fresh wave of sound to listeners everywhere, starting with his newest pop singles.

Erez Potok-Holmes, stage name Sally Boy, is a senior majoring in popular music and minoring in philosophy. Hailing from Philadelphia, Potok-Holmes brings a sincere style and voice to the lo-fi pop genre and employs skillful storytelling techniques in each of his songs, offering his genuine perspective of life to listeners.

Potok-Holmes’ self-titled debut single “Sally Boy” was released June 30 and was also the source of inspiration behind his artist name. With nostalgic lyrics and vocals, the song focuses on childhood, growing up and self-identity. 

The song reads like a stream of consciousness, with lyrics “I lost my way, ‘cause I’m falling to pieces / I’ve lost my way, how my body regrets” that show the artist’s pensive and rather somber thoughts on the series of changes he experienced after going off to college and living by himself.

Embedded with nostalgia, “Sally Boy” immediately appeals to listeners and has currently yielded more than 106,000 streams on Spotify.

While the popularity of his singles, three total to date, are ever growing, Potok-Holmes’ accomplishments took dedication and practice. His interest in music started at a young age and gradually became what he knew he wanted to pursue as a career. 

“I tend to believe that I sort of was never not interested in music. I mean, I started playing piano when I was two,” Potok-Holmes said. 

He then added that there has always been something that piqued his music interest. Both of his parents can play the piano, and their love for music encouraged Potok-Holmes to participate in all kinds of music-related activities throughout his childhood and adolescence. From elementary to high school, Potok-Holmes started from musical theatre and writing to performing his own music. Now in college, he is on tour and releasing music in different capacities.

At USC, Potok-Holmes is able to receive a variety of resources that have propelled his music career thus far. 

“I definitely found a lot of new music [by taking] different classes at USC,” Potok-Holmes said. “I [also] think USC really helped me meet the people that furthered my career. The best thing that USC has done for me was create my network. Without USC, I wouldn’t have everyone that I currently work with.”

For him, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Kanye West are among some of the most inspiring artists because they create their own sound while still finding a way to appeal to the masses. 

“I like artists who do whatever they want,” Potok-Holmes said. “They [have] their own sound. They create their own sound, but they find a way to still make an appeal to large masses of people.”

When it comes to songwriting, Potok-Holmes draws inspiration from reading novels, watching films and his personal life experiences. The latter is how Potok-Holmes came up with his debut single “Sally Boy,” as the song revolves around his personal growth over the past three years and his realization that he is no longer a kid.

“I still think you can still maintain certain pieces of childhood throughout your life, but the realities [now are different from the ones] I had as a child,” Potok-Holmes said. “I’ve mentally gone through that transition, so [it] just came out naturally with my music that I would speak about it, I’ll touch on how I would convey how I feel about the whole experience.”

Sean Lewow, a senior majoring in music industry, is one of Potok-Holmes’ co-managers. He talks about his impression of Sally Boy’s talent and belief in him as an artist. 

“We really feel like Erez is an unbelievably skilled musician director, who has a vision for his work and has things to say,”  Lewow said. “We want to make sure that, you know, he’s set up in a way to where it’s sustainable for him to continue doing this for a long time.”

Up until now, Potok-Holmes has released three songs: “Sally Boy,” “Stormy” and “Sippy Cup.” While the first two songs are more acoustic and have a reminiscing tone, “Sippy Cup” shows the versatility of his music style with playful and upbeat elements, accompanied by catchy lyrics.

“So I think I wanted to develop my first two songs to be like my future thing,” Potok-Holmes said. “I like two types of music: sad music and hype music. I like to go to two extremes. So I guess the first two songs versus ‘Sippy Cup’ are like the two different sides of me. ‘Sally Boy’ is definitely a very acoustic-centric song. ‘Stormy’ is more about showing the breadth of my skills. ‘Sippy Cup’ is just like pop music with exciting stuff.”

Potok-Holmes’ producer, Cole Mitchell, is a senior majoring in popular music. He said “Sally Boy” is one of his favorite productions.

“I think ‘Sally Boy’ will always have a place in my heart,” Mitchell said. “And it’s the first track we worked on together. And it started basically just a focus on him on guitar. The evolution of the song, it took, you know, a year and a half, almost two years to record. There’s just something very endearing about it.”

The styles of the music videos for the three singles are also good exhibitions of Potok-Holmes’ ideas through visual storytelling. 

As the line producer for “Stormy” and one of the actors in the “Sippy Cup” music video, co-manager John Van Liere, who is also a USC senior majoring in music industry, talked about the production process of Potok-Holmes’ two latest singles. He said the friendship between him and the artist, the way they talk together and joke around, is a sort of trademark which contributed to the fruition of the “Sippy Cup” music video.

“[The video] is really weird and pretty strange in the way that it goes from thing to thing,” Van Liere said. “I think ‘Stormy’ is more of a serious side of Erez’s. That song is a little bit more on the melancholy side. The vibe is different, so we want more of a cinematic and beautiful look to it. I think that our videos are just us trying to show the world, our world.”

Potok-Holmes also shared some of his suggestions for USC students who also plan to work in the music industry in the future. 

“I think the best way to say is that first of all, find your people because no matter what, no one’s gonna do this alone,” Potok-Holmes said. 

He then went on to explain the details.

“Secondly, be intentional with your process,” Potok-Holmes said. “I’m seeing a lot of people who just let their heart guide their writing, and I did the same thing initially. But I think it’s also wise to go back and look at what you’re saying and be intentional with everything you’re trying to do in production, from vocal tambor to what drum group you [use], don’t half-ass your art, because people know when you are not being real.”

Potok-Holmes had one last piece of advice for his listeners.

“Everybody should go register to vote, and check out my new music at the same time,” Potok-Holmes said. “Because Sally Boy’s music sounds really good when everyone registers to vote.”

Potok-Holmes’ seven-song EP project will be released on Oct. 28. According to Mitchell, the EP will be a dynamic production for listeners.