Hello lovers…
Will you be our valentine? Of course you will. Because if music be the food of love then GOD DAMN we’re gonna stuff you (it’s a pun, don’t be like that).
This morning we have a man who has been involved in the playing of, the production of, the scoring of, and the making of extremely good music for thirty years, helping to deliver everything from squelchy underground techno to Unloved, from Ocean’s Eleven to Killing Eve, from Andrew Weatherall to Noel Gallagher: David Holmes. He told Ted (that’s me, writing about myself in the third person like a weirdo) all about mycology, why making a good film is like winning the Champions League, the one thing that the director Steve McQueen told him that changed his entire creative direction, and much more.
You can read that below. And if you enjoy this free edition but do not subscribe to receive all three weekly New Cues, then please. That button below can help you. Otherwise, feel free to share this and any edition that you enjoy.
See you on Wednesday for more larks,
Ted, Niall and Chris
Start The Week With…David Holmes
David Holmes grew up with nine siblings in Belfast in the 1970s and ‘80s, a music and film nut from an extremely young age. He was a teenage DJ in his home town, but came to wider acclaim initially as one of the illustrious techno crew, Disco Evangelists. Since then, he has delivered a vast catalogue of work, both as an artist under his own name, with his group named Unloved, and as a remixer and producer who has worked with pretty much every interesting act of the last twenty-odd years. He’s also highly prized as a composer of film and television scores, working regularly with Steven Soderbergh, on the likes of Out Of Sight and the Ocean’s Eleven films, with Steve McQueen on The Hunger, and on several TV series, most notably deploying Unloved on all of the Killing Eve seasons. He has a new single under his own name released today by Heavenly called It’s Over, If We Run Out Of Love.
Ted called David at home to talk about that, as well as all kinds of other stuff, but he didn’t answer. So he tried again the next day at the same time.
Hi David, are you?
I’m fine, thanks. I’m so sorry I missed you, been working on a lot of things at once and kinda took my eye off the ball.
No worries, how come you’re so busy?
I’m just working on a few things at once and they’re all at different stages. One was ending as one was starting. It’s all good, it’s turned out really well.
Can you share any of it or is it top secret?
I’m down to the last episode of the last season of Killing Eve and I’m also doing Michael Winterbottom’s This Sceptred Isle, which is about Britain’s handling of Covid.
That sounds a hard thing to do as we’re still in it.
Well, no, it’s over a year. It’s Boris Johnson getting into power and then Covid happens. It’s the missing of the Cobra meetings and all that. I can’t say too much, but I will say that it’s a masterpiece. Absolutely incredible. We’ve all lived through this historic moment, so there are no spoilers, but he’s done it so well. And Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson is fucking amazing.
I imagine that’s kept you busy.
I’ve also been finishing the new Unloved album. Killing Eve has created such a great platform for our band, we’ve managed to become really popular without having any hits.
I liked the last album, Heartbreak.
The new one’s the best one by far. There’s some good collaborations. There’s a duet with Jarvis Cocker, and John Spencer, and Etienne Daho. I’m singing on a few with the girls. We just got together between lockdowns, I went to France, they came here. We managed to get it finished and we’re really excited about it.
So lockdown didn’t affect your work.
Like everyone, I was so caught up in everything that was going on, just becoming more angry. It was actually good for me in that it put fire back in my belly. I wrote the songs for [2008 solo album] The Holy Pictures because my mum and dad had both died. Because nobody else could have. So when I make a record with my voice on it’s because I want to say something, and the last couple of years have completely inspired this new solo record. Also, reflecting on the world that we were living in before this happened and the toxicity of social media…We weren’t living in a very happy society. At all. It was ugly. Listen, I lived through The Troubles. It was on my doorstep. The shit I grew up with wasn’t normal. As we’ve had this distance from it we can reflect how insane it was. But also we found happiness then too. There were mods, punks, rockabillies, goths all congregating for music. I feel that social media makes everything the same. I had all that in mind and then Covid came along and reminded me how great everything that we love is.
A reality check.
It reminded me how lucky I am. I hope the world will be a happier place. When I have been out you can see there’s a lot of joy and love in the air. A sense of perspective.
You played records at The Social last week, didn’t you? Was that the atmosphere?
It was, absolutely. The whole room was full of love. But it was the launch of an Andrew Weatherall remix album and Andrew’s spirit was in the air. I don’t want to use the term ‘waking up’ in this day and age, but there was that kind of realisation how lucky we are to be alive. As Kurt Vonnegut said, we should help each other get through this thing whatever it is.
Just so I’m clear, you’re doing a solo album and an Unloved album?
Yeah, the solo album is just something I’ve been working on through the last couple of years. It’s not finished. I have another single after this one and by then it may all be finished. Unloved will come out this year and the solo album probably next.
It’s Over, If We Run Out Of Love is a great title.
This track is actually a collaboration with Noel Gallagher. We’re not making a big fuss about it, you know what I mean? It was a track we did a while ago but it always resonated with me so I asked him if I could pick it up. The lyrics really resonated with 2022. It goes well alongside Hope Is the Last Thing To Die, which was the last single.
Couple of excellent slogans there.
Well, hate isn’t working. And I don’t want to be a part of it either. I don’t want to be part of that negativity. That was always my attitude in The Troubles. We were dirt poor but I always found something to be obsessed by as a kid, in a good way.
Well, let me ask you about that. You were a 15 year-old mod in Belfast playing records at the Abercorn Mod Club. What were your were aspirations then?
I was a mod, I was. There’s a book by Richard Barnes called Mods. I read that book at least fifty times. Kids now have iPhones, but in Belfast in the ‘70s, ‘80s I had my imagination and I would disappear in that book’s world. I was just really into stuff. I had nine brothers and sisters, so I heard so much music. I listened to The Sex Pistols at, like, seven because we had ten people plus my mum and dad living in a three bedroom house. There was a gramophone with a stack of singles, so we all listened. It all went in. I had a teenage sister living in London and bringing stuff back, punk and so forth. Then my next obsession was Quadrophenia, seeing that film. But looking back now you see it’s all the same thing: punks, mods, acid house. The only things that change are the wardrobe and technology. It’s the same desire to be part of something that is yours. It’s how we grew up, isn’t it?
When did soundtracks become an idea for you?
Living with The Troubles on your doorstep meant that there were times you just couldn’t go outside, you know? So with the advent of VHS and Betamax videos I watched so many films. That was real entertainment. We had so little that what we had we immersed ourselves in. I’d watch three films a day. That’s all I did, watch films, listen to music. My mum didn’t have many records, but she had good ones. Sound Of Philadelphia compilation, Midnight Cowboy soundtrack, Gladys Knight, Once Upon A Time In America soundtrack…so I was noticing music in films from an early age. When I started DJing I started playing with that and it became something I focussed on. Andrew Weatherall told me not to be the derivative of the derivative, find your own world to exist in. Cinema was definitely that for me. There’s an emotional thing with what I do that makes it feel cinematic, but ultimately it’s all just music. My first film was Resurrection Man, which is loosely based on the Shankhill butchers so I felt at ease with that, it felt natural to me. Then Steven Soderbergh got in touch to work on Out Of Sight and then, wooosh! After the Oceans movies I got offered so much work that I mostly turned down. 99.9% of it.
Really?
Yeah, including very foolishly, The Hangover. Guys getting hammered in Vegas, I don’t know. Nobody knew the actors then. Obviously, I was totally wrong. Give a shit. After that it was doing smaller, more challenging movies, stuff that really interests and stretches me.
What was working with Steve McQueen like?
I learnt more sitting with him for ten minutes than in the previous five years, just something he said made me think in a way I’d never thought before.
What did he say?!
He didn’t ask me to do Hunger. I saw that he was doing it. Most films about Belfast and The Troubles are terrible, but I thought if he was doing it then he’ll do it brilliantly. So I asked if I could read the script and I was like, fucking hell. This film doesn’t need any music. All the music is in the silence. I told them that and they were said, ‘Oh well, Steve would like to meet you.’ That’s what you get for honesty! I asked him what he was thinking and he said he wanted the music to be really emotional but non-musical. OK! I learnt so much from that one thing because it’s helped me in so many other projects, that you can hit that really raw emotion without being really emotional. That’s the power of the drone. Things like accordions where you just hold a chord, these harmonics come in. You put that against the right images and you don’t need anything else, and it’s actually way more powerful than a thirty-piece orchestra.
You must be a patient collaborator. What’s the secret to collaboration?
Everyone has to sing from the same hymn-sheet from the start. Everyone has to listen to each other. It’s important to like each other. Steven Soderbergh is an absolute genius at telling you exactly what he wants from you in one sentence, letting you know the sweet spot. I have tremendous respect for anyone making a movie because there’s so many moving parts to think about. Directing a good film is so hard, it’s a bit like winning the Champions League.
Was your work with Noel Gallagher a bit like acting as a film director?
Well, he wanted someone to make him think about making music differently so that’s what I did. I was giving vibes and loops to play off, new things. There’s no point trying to make him something that he’s not, but it’s worth thinking about music differently maybe. He’s brilliant at making sounds, like really great. The master of guitar pedals. I really enjoyed working with him.
I asked Jeff Barrett of Heavenly if there was anything I should ask of you in particular. He texted back ‘chocolate’. What did he mean?
Ah. I got really into mycology, the world of mushrooms. And Heavenly are very good at… they introduced me to mushroom chocolate. So, a little joke from Jeff but…mushrooms are the future!
Tell me more. I was recently offered a mushroom capsule but I turned down because it weirded me out.
I know what that is. Someone invented this stack which is part psilocybin, part lion’s mane, and part dioxin. It’s a microdose. There are stories of grown men doing things with their bodies that they haven’t done for twenty years, in terms of agility, movement. It’s also great for your memory. It’s tiny. If you’re ever given one, just take it. With two or three you can get a buzz, but one – you’ll feel something but it won’t be like tripping out. And one of those with a few drinks is actually quite good fun. You’ve nothing to worry about, trust me.
What have you been listening to?
Do you know the Kelley Stoltz album, Antique Glow? It’s a really beautiful psychedelic experience.
This is a really good record too, by Greg Foat, it’s called The Mage. Fantastic record.
Do you know Philip Lewin? Am I Really Here All Alone. It’s a reissue from 1973, he’s a beautiful guitarist. New Jeff Mills record is really great. That’ll keep you busy.
It certainly will. Thanks for your time David, and good luck with everything.
My pleasure, good talking to you. Don’t fear the mushroom stacks!
TK