Permanent Vacation was born in Rome, Italy. It’s the music project of U.K. singer/songwriter Chris Marks and U.S. writer/vocalist Juliette Rapp. The two met in Rome at an unlikely time, right before the global pandemic brought the world to it’s knees and stopped time.
During Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the two found themselves staring out the window at cobblestone streets, trapped inside with so much world surrounding them to be explored. Chris had been working on his own musical project at the time, titled Lake Michigan, when he asked Juliette to record some backing vocals.
After finishing work on that particular release and exploring new influences and creative methods, a new and collaborative project began to materialize.
Permanent Vacation is intimate, raw and meditative, comprising of field recordings from the streets of Rome as a backdrop. Their songs are stories about daily life and the human condition.
So far they released two singles and an e.p., “Blue Moon”.
Their new single “Caretakers” will be on their debut album coming out with Z Tapes in a few weeks.

What They Say: Blue Moon Starts in the dizzying, static haze of Roman summer and travels to the southernmost point of Italy, meeting hostile stray dogs in the early hours as weary travellers find respite beneath aging olive trees. It climbs Mt. Etna – Europe’s largest active volcano – And arrives to the blue moon in October – looking forward towards an uncertain future with patience, perseverence and gratitude. Blue Moon was recorded in a mini-appartamento in Rome utilising minimal equipment, acoustic and electric guitar and voice. Special thanks to Aliki for supporting us and providing constructive insights and Alessandra (Francesca) for being a very tolerant neighbour.

Their Mixtape:

Nina Simone – Ain’t Got No, I Got Life
Bleak, powerful and urgent at the same time. A real call-to-arms song to wake you up and inspire you to see and feel your surroundings.

Hayley Heynderickx – No Face
I (Chris) discovered this album at a very important moment and it soundtracked a beautiful period for me. Gorgeous guitar playing and great, heartwarming songwriting in general.

Neil Young – Harvest Moon
Most roads can be traced back to Neil Young – definitely a lot of the newer music we’re influenced by. A beautiful melancholy shuffle of a song and obviously a total classic.

Yo La Tengo – Tears Are In Your Eyes
From a hugely influential guitar album, tones to die for and a vocal melody everyone wishes they would’ve written.

The Zombies – Time Of The Season
This is the song that plays when the film starts to get interesting. Someone has just fallen in love, is looking for trouble or is ready to make a change.

Joni Mitchell – Urge For Going
This song will always bring me (Juliette) back to my first autumn in Rome, waiting by the tram tracks and watching burnt orange leaves wafting leisurely above my head. Bittersweet in a way that only the fondest of memories can be.

Mac Miller – Circles
Sentimental in the most pure and bare way, Mac transcended genre barriers with this record and made something truly special that you can listen to on a good day, a bad day and any kind of day at all. RIP.

“Blue Moon“ and “Cartetakers” are out now. The debut album will be out on Z Tapes soon. “Look HERE for more information on Permanet Vacation.