Articles - Interviews

David Holmes on Hollywood, Techno, and Superstar DJs

“Music to me isn’t about what goes on in clubs, it’s about what goes on in your life. If something goes on in my life that I find really interesting musically wise and I want to bring it in the clubs and people can dance to it, then great.”

Nowadays rightly revered both as an a list soundtrack producer and fiercely individualistic artist in his own right, David Holmes first gained recognition as one the best techno Djs in the UK scene of 1993 and 1994. Headlining regularly alongside future superstar spinners like Sven Vath and Jeff Mills, he stepped off the circuit suddenly, never to return.

“It wasn’t just a case of me saying, hey I don’t want to listen to dance music anymore, because I’ve never actually stopped listening to dance music. I just got bored listening to it all the time, it just became like a job to me,” he explains.

“I remember in the mid ’90’s I used to turn up in clubs and play Public Image next to Miles Davis and Can and the Velvet Underground and I was getting threatened,” he chuckles.

“Once I had to get escorted out of one club. People were saying to me ‘what the f**k are you doing? This is rubbish!’ Thankfully people are a lot more open minded these days.”

He’s also cheerfully content about missing out on what might have been, though he’s careful not to slate his erstwhile peers.

“The whole ‘superstar DJ’ thing is so far removed from what I do; just the term makes me cringe,” he says, “Commercialism enters into the equation, I think. You have to appeal to the masses.”

Ironically, he ended up appealing directly to the masses via Hollywood film director Steven Soderbergh (the director of Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Traffic, and the Ocean's Eleven series’) and changing his life via his interest in cinema.

“I started getting deeper and deeper into films as a form of inspiration, I started looking for things and before I knew it I made an album, it was called “This Film is Crap, Let’s Slash the Seats”,” says David.

“It was almost like a calling card for producers and film directors, my music started to be picked up for films and before I knew it I was working on my first feature film score and no sooner had I finished that, I got a call from Steven Soderbergh.

There was a lot of faith involved and being at the right place at the right time. It gave me a lot of security because it reinforced my belief in wanting to make music and nothing else for the rest of my life. Before I had this fear of the ‘real life’; of having to do a job that I wasn’t happy doing and I love music so much that I just could never see myself doing anything else.”

Skrufff (Benedetta Ferraro): Your new album is called the Holy Pictures: how much importance do you give to titles generally? And this one in particular?

David Holmes: “I came up with the name for this album, like most of the names I got for my other albums, which is when I’m reading or sitting in bars. In this case, I was sitting talking to a man who was a really good friend of my father’s and he told me of this little bar where they used to drink at, called the Holy Pictures Club. That wasn’t its official name, and the reason why it was called that was because the bar was basically a room and the décor in the room was filled with holy pictures of Jesus and various saints. When I heard that, I immediately knew I had a title for the album. I thought it worked on many different levels. First of all, it was the name of the bar my dad used to drink at, in the city where I grew up. Secondly, every track on the album was to me a holy picture, of my father, my mother… it also had a very cinematic quality to it. So this title is very personal, it felt good immediately.”

Skrufff: On the press release you say the album was inspired by the death of your mother in 1996: it’s now 12 years later: I guess it was a difficult process?

David Holmes: “Yes, it was, but I don’t look at these things in such a way. I mean, I wasn’t getting the razor blades out! Dealing with the death of your parents is a very subtle process. I was closer to my mother than my father, but even though she died before him I felt very different when I lost him, because losing him felt like I suddenly was on my own, I became the man of the house. In a way you kind of take it for granted all your life when they’re around. I loved them and respected them so much and in a way I always wanted to please them, then suddenly they’re not there anymore and you feel like you’re taking on all the responsibilities.”

Skrufff: This also could happen when you become a parent yourself…

David Holmes: “Well, I have nine brothers and sisters you see, believe you me my parents went through the mill bringing up all those kids in Belfast, in the 70’s. Those were very difficult years. They definitely had many sleepless night; just waiting for their kids to come home. I have just one daughter and often I think how on earth did they manage to bring up ten kids? This was before washing machines, disposable nappies, microwaves, dishwashers and you know, times were tough compare to how people live now.”

Skrufff: How much of an active help was your mother in developing your musical career?

David Holmes: “My mother was really supportive of me. My father was more old school instead, of the type ‘get a real job, get a trade’, but that was just the way he was brought up and also he wasn’t so much in touch with the times, whereas my mother was. She would still be up at 3 in the morning and listen to mixes I did on radio. And she would tell me how great she thought they were. I think she really enjoyed having me, she had been through so much and learned so much from life that by the time she had me she just went ‘just go and do what you want’. Just follow your heart, follow your dream, life’s too short. For a much older woman, she was born in 1924, she was such a visionary; she kept up with the times, she followed music, she encouraged me all the way.”

Skrufff: Did you ever take her out to clubs? (how much did you approve of you DJing, with the drug culture associated with clubs?)

David Holmes: “We never spoke about the drugs or anything like that. Of course she knew about that, but we never discussed it. There was an element of trust from her part. I never took her to clubs though; you have to draw the line somewhere. She just let me get on with it.”

Skrufff: How much do commercial considerations figure in the album? How conscious are you of making any tracks deliberately radio friendly?

David Holmes: “None. When you make a record, you can only make what’s from your heart and I set out with that in my sights. No one can take that away from you then. I don’t even know how anyone can make a record with commercial considerations in mind, you’re either that way inclined or not. To me, you can’t walk in the studio one day saying ‘today I’m going to make a single’. Luckily “X Factor” isn’t the world we’re living in, it’s just a part of it. People can still be free to express themselves and that’s what I try to do, express myself.”

Skrufff: Virtually every electronic producer sees soundtracks as the holy grail- and particularly lucrative: how much did entering the soundtrack world change your life?

David Holmes: “If you’re asking in a general sense, first of all I can tell you that making soundtracks is something I’ve always dreamt of doing. Growing up in Belfast in the early 70’s you didn’t have many options. There was a lot of dark shit happening outside, which meant you would spend a lot of time inside, you have a lot of time and I would spend mine constantly watching films and getting into the music. I fell into the whole film thing very accidentally, but it was also very natural. When I first started making music a lot of it was inspired by films, though at the time the last thing I would have thought was to make music for films. I never thought that my music had a cinematic quality to it. That’s what other people said and then I started thinking but I never forced it.

“Doing more work for Soderbergh gave me more space and therefore the feeling that I didn’t need to put out albums all the time. It brought me some security, the possibility to experiment and work in a great studio. It’s a totally inspiring artwork that also enriches and informs my own work as a DJ and vice versa. If I had to take one out of the equation I think I’d really suffer, that’s why I still DJ and I still put out my own records.”

Skrufff: What about the lucrative aspect of it? Are you a millionaire now?

David Holmes: “It’s funny, everybody thinks that. I was lucky to have made films like ‘Ocean’ for example and I’d be lying if I’d said they weren’t lucrative. All movies aren’t like that though; I’m in the middle of making a score for one that doesn’t pay hardly anything actually. It swings around. The most important movies that I have done and continue to do don’t pay that much at all. On the one hand it can be a lucrative business, but ironically the real pay off is in the smaller films. I loved doing ‘Ocean’, I worked with amazing musicians, an amazing director. These films are what they are, big Hollywood blockbusters where the impossible is achieved most of the times, and they are so much fun to work on. If you want to work with a thirty-piece orchestra, it’s done. Those are the real ‘pinch yourself’ moments, you know?”

Skrufff: Going back into your DJing: I remember you spinning techno at Club UK back in the early 90s: what made you decide to quit techno? And never go back to it?

David Holmes: “First of all I consider myself a music lover. I’ve been DJing since I was 14; that’s 24 years. When I first started DJing I used to play very rare soul, Rhythm and Blues and Northern Soul. I was always into music, not into ‘techno’. One of the best things about growing up in the ’80’s and the ’90’s was that there was so much music yet to be done, so much music yet to be discovered. Acid house and techno were just a part of the bigger picture. I love music whichever genre it is and I’ve always tried to be true to myself, but you can get distracted if something new comes along. When I started producing I got exposed to so much more music, especially being signed to Mute, you meet new people and what they’re doing inspires you. I just saw myself evolving. When I stopped playing full on dance music it was because my heart was somewhere else; at the time I remember people saying ‘are you mad?’ and I used to answer them that I was just following my heart.”

 “The beauty about the world we’re living in now is that there are no boundaries whatsoever. People can just go out and do and be what they want. There are so many clubs you can go to now and hear everything. In many ways that’s how I was brought up. The clubs in Belfast in the early ’80’s played everything, you heard the Clash next to the Jackson 5 next to The Cure next to The Cult, Prince Buster and Gene Vincent. They were the clubs I went to as a young boy. I admire people who are just into one thing, just don’t be judgemental. Don’t judge me if I want to play everything because I’m not judgemental towards your choices, I actually really respect people who are into just into one genre because I feel it takes so much, they must truly love it. In the end I’ve always followed my heart, sometimes it works out really well, sometimes it confuses people. But if you follow your heart nobody can take that away from you.”

Skrufff: Going into your Belfast days you said in an earlier interview ‘In Belfast, especially growing up in the Seventies, there was a lot of temptation for people to make the wrong choice and either join the army or join a paramilitary group’: how close did you come to either path?

David Holmes: “I wasn’t brought up that way. I mean I was born in ’69, the year when the troubles started. I was brought up to be non judgmental. My friends have always been of very mixed religion. With regards to that comment I made, that choice was there for anyone in the city, ultimately it all depends on your mindset and my thing has always been music. I still live in Belfast and I still see all my friends I grew up with, no one is involved in music though, it’s not like a normal job. Even I never thought this could be a career, it’s just that when I started earning from it, it just dawned on me that I could do this for a living. But I was obsessed, you know, obsessed! And I still am. I wasn’t more ambitious than anyone else. This is just part of my personality and when it started happening I didn’t want to let it go, because I had a taste of something magical: making money out of something that you love. That was a whole new experience for me.”

The Holy Pictures is out now

http://www.davidholmesofficial.com

Article by Benedetta Ferraro (Skrufff.com)

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Articles - Interviews

DIRTY SOUTH INTERVIEW

1)       What was your overall approach to constructing a Toolroom mix?

The tracks for this compilation were selected on the basis of tracks I was into and what I was playing at the time of selection. It also features some Toolroom releases and of course some of my productions. I keyed all the tracks and mixed both discs with Ableton Live.

2)       Do you feel that you’ve achieved what you set out to with the mix?

I am really happy with this mix. I would say it is my favourite compilation to date. I think I achieved exactly what I intended with it.

3)       How would you describe the sound of mix?

The sound of the mix varies throughout both discs. Disc 1 is little deeper, weirder and sexier, where the second disc is more big room sounding.

4)       How did you go about selecting tracks for the mix?

It was a mixture of tracks that I have been playing out, tracks that I really liked, some Toolroom releases and my productions.

5)       Would you say your musical policies as a DJ are accurately reflected?

Disc 1 sounds like something that I would play if I was to warm up for myself, and the second disc reflects more what I would actually play like in a dj set.

6)       You’ve been commissioned remix work for some big names in recent years, had a dance music award nomination, and a heap of singles released. Has there been a definitive career highlight for you so far?

i think being nominated for a Grammy would be up there for me along with many other happy moments in my life.

7)       Can we expect an artist album to be released in the coming years?

It is possible, but for now I will concentrate on singles and also starting my own label very soon.

8)       What do you feel about the house scene at the moment in terms of the quality of musical output?

There is a lot of music out there and it can be hard to find the secret weapons and new/fresh tracks because everyone with a laptop can make beats and sometimes that’s not a good thing for the quality of music being released, but its every DJs job to be on the hunt and lookout for the best tracks they can find

9)       On the back of the Album release, how packed is your DJ schedule looking?

The schedule is looking full on, with a European tour finally finishing end of September after being 4 months long. After that is the USA tour which will be followed by Australian tour. So its non –stop.

10)   Are there any upcoming shows that you’re particularly looking forward to?

I’m really enjoying my residency at Pacha, Ibiza with Subliminal nights and I have two more so I cannot wait for that. Also doing one of my favourite clubs in September, Ministry of Sound London for Steve Angelo’s Size party.

11)   Preferred method of mixing: Vinyl or CDs?

CD’s

12)   All-time Favourite Club to perform in?

Ministry of Sound London and Pacha (New York and Ibiza)

13)   Favourite Producer of the moment?

I like what the Swedish House Mafia are releasing, Tiger Stripes and Funkagenda at the moment.

14)   Secret weapon in your record box?

I always make new edits and bootlegs, plus I just finished a new track with Axwell called ‘Open Your Heart’.

15)   What’s your worst experience behind the decks?

I never have weird or uncomfortable moments behind decks, but the main thing that sucks for me when I’m playing is when the crowd is not there for the music.

Toolroom Knights mixed by Dirty South is released on 15th September 2008

(information provided by the pr company)

Articles - Interviews

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Articles - Interviews

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Articles - Interviews

Graham Gold: All that Glitters (Thailand, the Taxman & Mixmag C**ts)

Moving to Thailand 3 months ago after a 25 year career as one of Britain’s best known and most popular house DJs, Graham Gold has recently taken a radical leap, though he’s at pains to stress he’s happy with the move.

“I play the best parties in Thailand, including the Full and Half Moon parties where you see some of the most beautiful girls in the world here in Koh Phangan, plus I have two weekly residencies at the best clubs/bars in Samui and a monthly at Bangkok and Pattaya,” he enthuses, “Plus I still have my international gigs. After 15 years of flying at least twice a month to gigs, this is total paradise and I am loving my new life,” he says,

The erstwhile Kiss FM/ Peach promoter has mellowed out in recent years, back-tracking on labelling Mixmag hacks ‘a bunch of c**ts’ last week.

“I saw the first part of the article and it still sounds like I am angry; and I am not-it’s in the past,” says Graham, “I have finally learned not to hold grudges, I have way too many great things going on here.”

“Yes I WAS mad at the time when the first letter appeared (Graham famously called Mixmag a ‘bunch of cunts’ in 2006 after they teased him), but the Mixmag situation had been ongoing for years,” he explains,

“And yes, I did used to see Gavin (Herlihy) every Monday when I went to Kiss to do my show and always used to go and say Hi and talk about new music and we actually got on well-I certainly didn’t raid their CD collection show. Nice joke though, boys,” he laughs.

Mixmag man James Mowbray previously quipped that they’d ‘leave out a box of all our crappy, unwanted promo’ for Graham to sort through for his Kiss show though this week sounded surprisingly sensitive about being labelled a ‘minimal/ electro-tech DJ/ producer/ rising star’.

“In future can you please just quote me as ‘Mixmag publisher’ and leave out the other (bracketed) appendages,” James told Skrufff, “I've received more stick for that than my diss of Goldie,” he chuckled.

Media quibbles (and Mixmag) aside, Graham remains one of dance culture’s most entertaining and passionate characters; agreeably willing to talk about his trials and tribulations.

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): When did you make the move to Thailand – what made you decide to quit England- was there a last straw?

Graham Gold: “I moved three months ago. Basically nothing was happening in the UK, and after three divorces I wasn't as minted (wealthy) as people would believe. I was working my nuts off in the studio and whilst I had huge Paul Van Dyk and Armin Van Buuren support on the last track (Glorified which came out on Flux Delux) it wasn't bringing the gigs in.

When both Peach and my show on Kiss FM finished, it was total devastation as I had committed everything to both. On Kiss, I’d always had one of their most successful shows, so I never considered it as so important to produce but that is where the scene went- it became totally producer led. So I spent the last three years learning Logic and having piano lessons, but maybe I did it too late. Went Kiss went, part of me went to. I just love radio. And Peach was just the most awesome gig to play every week. It did come back last year but I guess as it wasn't at Camden-it wasn't quite the same.”

Skrufff: Why did you choose Thailand as opposed to Ibiza or anywhere else?

Graham Gold: “Initially because I have friends in Koh Phangan who bought a dive school and I wanted to do my Dive Master (qualification). I also wanted to carry on playing and there are lots of opportunities here to DJ. In an ideal world, it would of been Ibiza, but I just couldn't afford to live there. The Canary Islands was also an option if I had got a show on one of the big stations there but I didn't work hard enough at making that happen-; stupid really because I just spent 4 years going to college to learn Spanish.”

Skrufff: And what prompted you to settle on Haad rin; the location of the infamous parties?

Graham Gold: “I don't live in Haad Rin and never would because whilst it’s the home of the Full Moon parties, it’s also not that nice. And actually the half moon parties are 1000 times better. People go there for the music whereas at the Full Moon parties it’s about getting as pissed (drunk) on buckets of beer as you can. And sadly I’ve done that too. I have only had 2 scooter accidents and they both happened when I came out of the BackYard after-party totally wankered.”

Skrufff: What do you make of the recent Foreign Office travel warning about local gangs launching ‘vicious unprovoked assaults’ on foreigners on the island, have you ever felt unsafe?

Graham Gold: “I have been at the last 3 Full Moon parties and DJed at them and I haven't seen any of this gang business. I did hear about someone going missing, and there were two recent fatalities, one of whom was an Indian, not a Westerner, but think about it; People get so pissed, every drug is available, and some westerners don't respect the Thai culture or the people. And Brits abroad, as we all know, can be a nightmare. If you are a hooligan who wants to fight with everyone, then if you start on the Thais, you will get hurt.

If you come to Phangan, have fun and are sensible you will have a great time. That said, there is good and bad in everyone all over the world, and some Thais are definitely not so friendly, just as some of the Spanish are not in Ibiza. There is resentment that their islands have been overrun by pissed up foreigners, and they tar us all with the same brush-just as the English do to the Eastern Europens who have now settled in the UK. Didn't I read last week that 4 people were murdered in London on just one day? I know where I would rather be.”

Skrufff: Have you personally ever felt unsafe there?

Graham Gold: “No never. I truly believe that that shit doesn’t happen to decent people here, it only happens to those who go looking for trouble. As we all know, the media only ever report the bad shit-good things don't make headlines. Or in the case of the Sun and the News Of The Fucking World they just write about who can they stitch up and try an ruin careers for doing a line of charlie, when all the fucking journos are on it themselves. Who gives a shit if a bloke from Blue Peter wants a nose up (line of cocaine); he didn't go on TV and say "here kids, here's one I chopped out earlier'.

The few attacks that happen DO happen around Full Moon are when there are 20,000 people on the beach at these parties from all over the world. Certainly some of the fights could be racially motivated and yes, there is a dark side to Haad Rin; a lot of the regulars here say it isn’t the same as it used to be. But in the next breath they say, that’s because it’s full of pissheads (drunks). And isn’t that a little déjà vu with what everyone said about Ibiza in ’99.”

Skrufff: Looking at your Myspace: you say ‘Financial Status; All gone on  divorces and taxman’”: what happened? How bad did it get?

Graham Gold: “Pretty shit, to be honest. I was faced with huge maintenance payments every month and a big mortgage, and, as I don't come from money I had no idea how to be shrewd. So I was always the first at the bar and the first to buy presents. Plus I got investigated for seven of the last nine years of trading by the taxman. They never found anything and my accounts were totally kosher: I even declared all my overseas fees, but I ended up having to pay large sums in additional accounting fees.”
 
Skrufff: How much is the DJ lifestyle incompatible with marriage?

Graham Gold: “It doesn't have to be incompatible if you marry the right person. John 00 Fleming is a perfect example-he is abroad at least two weekends out of four and he never strays, or even thinks about it. He has everything he wants at home-Selma (his wife) is a total babe-and if that is the case then I believe that people who marry their soulmates do NOT stray. I went out with a girl for 8 years on and off and I was never unfaithful to her. Yes I love to flirt, when you get older, you want to know you are still attractive but that’s as far as it went.

It’s not actually the being away at weekends that is the problem, anyway, it was when the summer seasons were 16 weeks long and I was literally never at home. Every week was Ibiza, Mallorca, Canary Island and Greece and to be honest I’d end up feeling totally fucking lonely. You play to all these people, see couples snogging (sometimes even seeing couples holding hands can get to you) then you go back to an empty hotel room.

I have even said to John 00, you don't need the money-take a weekend off every month and enjoy a bit of normal life, because when you are away so much, every waking moment when you are home is playing catch up, and then you are off again. Djing is the best job in the world, but I don't think anyone actually has a clue how tough it is-they only ever see the party side. Oh, the benefit of hindsight.”

Skrufff: What happened with the taxman specifically?

Skrufff: He went through old Mixmags and Ministry magazines etc and checked for advertisements where I was listed as playing and compared them to gigs I’d invoiced- though never read the 'on rotation' strap line. He also singled out car park receipts for £2.50 at the Central London NCP carpark when Peach was at the Café De Paris and asked why they were dated for the Saturday when the invoice for Peach was for the Friday. He just didn't get it. And there were loads of occasions when he saw adverts that said I was playing somewhere and the gigs didn't happen or they just used my name, but on all those dates I had already raised invoices for the clubs that I actually was playing at, but he never bothered to even check. On one occasion he told me I was playing in Germany at the Impulz festival, but it doesn't happen there, it’s in Holland and the invoice for that gig said that (on exactly the same date). The invoice was also already in his possession-what a cunt! And to think we pay these arseholes’ wages. He even went to Kiss FM to have a meeting with the Managing Director as he didn’t believe I didn't get paid for the Kiss compilation albums I did or consulted on.”
 
Skrufff: On your Myspace you talk happily about driving round Kog Panghan on a 110cc bike: what was the flashest car you ever owned??

Graham Gold: “I was never a flash car person to be honest, the flashest car I’ve owned was a top of the range Alfa 156 with white leather seats and big white wheelks- hardly a Ferrari.”

Skrufff: Was giving up DJing ever an option?

Graham Gold: “It never has been, and never will be, I LOVE my music, I love how it makes me feel and there is not bigheadedness in this next statement, but I know I am fucking good at my job. I believe I am actually playing the best sets I ever played now because I don't do drugs when I play. It shouldn't of been rocket science for me to have worked that out but it took a while.”

Skrufff: Any regrets?

Graham Gold: “For the move to Thailand, none at all. In an ideal world it wouldn't have happened as I would have still been working my tits off-that said, I am here too, and have landed some great residencies, and still not had the two days off a week I promised myself. But I had also never experienced Thai girls before or this whole island life. I totally love it. Of course, I miss my kids way more than i thought I would have. For work there’s just one- I never made Radio 1. Bastards (laughing).”

Skrufff: What have been the key lessons you’ve learned from the last 2 years?

Graham Gold: “Don't assume everything lasts forever. And if you work your arse off, take time out to enjoy the fruits of it all. And don't think that just because you are born in one particular country that you have to live there all your life-it’s a big world out there, and there are often a lot better places than home!! All you have to do is to take some risks.”

http://www.grahamgold.com (For details of Graham’s upcoming Full Moon Party gigs and more, click here)

Article by Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)

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