All the way up to 11

“Pardon me,” says David Holmes, stretching on the sofa, hands in his pockets, sleep still in his eyes. “There will be lots of yawning.” Just back from New York, the lost hours are showing as Holmes grabs the first cuppa and cigarette of the day.

Feeling more human yet?

“Yeah.”

Right then. Let’s begin. 2001 was a busy year for Homer – not that you’d be aware just yet. But over the next year the fruits of those varied labours will be winging their way to you. “Last year I just spent working on films.” he says, his absence explained. “I had sorta neglected the film work. I didn’t want people to forget about me really.”

Unlikely. For Holmes, music and film have always been of equal import – from the title of his debut This Film’s Crap, Let’s Slash The Seats to the concept soundtrack album Bow Down To The Exit Sign. So much so that in 1998 director Steven Soderberg (Traffic, Erin Brockovich) tracked Holmes down to score Out of Sight.

Holmes’ fresh and breezy choices knocked up much of the cheeky vibe of the film. So when Soderberg announced his designs on Ocean’s 11, it was little surprise that Holmes would again be cooking up the music.

So has it been two years of eating, sleeping and breathing the film?

“Yes and no,” he offers, colour seeping back into his face. “Even though I knew I was doing it didn’t mean I started work straight away. What I was doing was just sending Steven Soderberg lots of compilation CDs.”

Having worked with Soderberg before, did the job come with any particular instructions? Holmes shakes his head.

“Steven didn’t really ask me to do anything. We just set out to try and find a style and a pace for the movie. And a feel for it. One thing that I was quite adamant about was making sure it didn’t sound anything like Out Of Sight. And I tried to get the original movie out of my head because you can’t even compare the two films. The only likeness is the lead guy is called Danny Ocean and it’s about 11 guys who do a heist on several casinos in Las Vegas. But that’s it – the heist is executed differently, it’s stylised differently, the script and the dialogue’s different – it’s a much more complex gameplan.”

Whether it’s down to the jetlag or the lag time between a hyperactive brain and a unhurried tongue, Holmes words often trip over themselves in the rush to enthuse about this and that. Intentional or not, he often talks about music visually – a mindset that may explain his knack of marrying tunes to scenes.

“The first step was finding songs that I thought would look great in the movie,” he says, slipping into visual mode again. “We both agreed there’d be no rat pack influences and that even if it had a retro feel, the whole thing should sound completely modern as well. The first track that I sent Steven that he was really receptive to was the Elvis track ‘A Little Less Conversation’ which not a lot of people really know. When I was reading the script, he (Danny Ocean) goes through the first third of the movie finding the 11. And the track just springs to mind once he’d got there. It was like, let’s stop talking about this, let’s go to Vegas and do it – ‘A little less conversation, a little more action.’

Having shaken on the Elvis track, Holmes felt he’d set the precedent for the whole task.

“Once you get stuff like that nailed down you get a sense of how the whole thing’s coming together. Steven really liked the Quincy Jones track Blues In The Night and Arthur Lyman’s Caravan. Those records are in a lot of ways quite fucked up and for their time were ultra modern tunes.”

And so in between Percy Faith and Perry Como, Holmes produced a score that looked over its shoulder in respect to its elders but equally stomped all over them in a righteous jazzy and funky fit. To pull all this together, he hooked up with legendary Pharaoh Saunders bassist, Bobby Hurst and Steve Tavaglione, Sly Stone’s sax man, as well as the usual suspects Zach Danziger and Hugo Nicholson.

“I started looking at the instrumentation of those tracks and applying it to my own compositions.” he explains, “By doing that we were vibing off them but were also creating music that was our own. By having that connection between the instruments you’re creating this continuity that made everything swim together perfectly.”

As Holmes dutifully gives hotpress the best part of his Saturday afternoon – occasionally distracted by “a little bird that comes and cleans it ass on my drainpipe” – it’s entertaining to imagine his weekends last year hanging with A-list Hollywood.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t have to pinch myself every now and then and go ‘wow,’” he acknowledges, “They’re obviously a lot more famous and highly acclaimed but at the end of the day they’re human beings. I’m not going to get intimidated by them. To tell you the truth doing Ocean’s 11 was one of the best times of my life. Can you imagine we’re living in this amazing hotel. And we have this bar upstairs which is hugely entertaining. But it’s like everything in life. If you won the lottery tomorrow, in a year you wouldn’t be talking about it all the time. Believe it or not I am still like an excited little kid but I’m just better at containing it.”

So if it is a lottery, then why did David Holmes get so lucky?

“I work really hard at what I do.” he shrugs, as if that’s all that matters. “I suppose the harder you work, the luckier you get. And I really went after Ocean’s 11 – I saw a little caption in the Bizarre column in the Daily Mirror one night when I came in from a club. I just called Steven up straight away and told I’d just love to do this film and Steven responds to enthusiasm and passion.”

So it pays to stick your neck out then?

“Well, it’s all very well saying you’re gonna do this and you’re going to do that. But the bottom line is you’ve got to go out and do it. Whether it’s designing a car or building a house, you gotta put a lot of time and energy into your craft. I just don’t walk into a studio and go ‘Hey presto, let’s get it on!‘”

Having listened to Holmes spew forth fantastic on his ambitions for Ocean’s 11, you can imagine his embarrassment when, at the last film playback before he left LA, there was an almighty cock-up with the music. Holmes cringes even now:

“It sounded like a DJ mixing really badly. So I was sitting there watching it with all these people – Clooney, Soderberg, Jerry Weintraub and all these huge Hollywood producers – and I was like ‘What the fuck?’ I was completely mortified. But nobody really noticed. They’re obviously really focused on the film whereas I was just focusing on the music. But we got it fixed and when I went to the premier I was just so thrilled. Steven is so generous when it comes to the velocity of the music. He doesn’t bury it.”

Oh yeah, the premier in LA! In a town not particularly given to modesty, the Ocean’s 11 premier was still particularly lavish.

“It was fucking huge.” agrees Holmes. “There was a street of red carpet. I brought my whole family from Chicago up to see it – to them it was this huge Hollywood experience.”

Following the screening, Soderberg, Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon eschewed an evening of schmoozing to indulge in some good ol’ patriotism.

“Yeah.” Holmes smiles, clearly bemused, “They went to Turkey that night and showed the movie to the troops – as American as you like.”

But he’s spent too much time in the States to be a complete cynic:

“That country’s been hit hard. I’m just back from New York and I went down to the site. It’s fucking unbelievable the devastation. I love New York – it’s the best city in the world. I just hope that a lot of the younger people, who are such an important part of that city – they make the city, they keep it alive, they keep it exciting – I really hope it doesn’t scare them out of the place.”

It’s not surprising, given Homer’s love affair with the city, that one of the first acts signed to his own label 13 Amp are the NY band Joy Zipper. Just wrapping up their debut album, they’re the reason for Holmes’ jetlag.

“They’re like a cross between the Beach Boys, the Beatles and My Bloody Valentine.” declares Holmes, not intent on building them up too much. “It’s very melodic – very twisted psychedelic songs sung in a beautiful way. Some of it is quite ballsy and some of it quite mellow and I suppose quite fucked up.”

Holmes himself is signed to the label but gets no special treatment.

“I submitted a mix album to the label but they thought it was too short, so I’ve gotta go put more tracks on it,” he laughs. “Plus I’m doing this Family Fuch album with Steve Hilton. We’ve actually done a few bits and they sound really tasty. Once that’s done I’m going try to find a couple of good rappers and good poets to voice their choice.”

Holmes’ next film is every bit as top notch Hollywood as Ocean’s 11. Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind is the allegedly true story of Chuck Barris, a massively popular US gameshow host, who claims to have been a CIA hitman. Starring Clooney and Julia Roberts, and a Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) script, it’s to be Clooney’s first stab in the director’s chair.

“People say to me ‘Is it true, did he do it?’ I don’t know,” shrugs Holmes. “I want to believe him but on the other hand I actually don’t care because it’s such a genius idea. Imagine Bruce Forsythe doing the Generation Game and then going to Afghanistan to hunt down whoever. It’s just a brilliant idea.”

Actually David, that’s a terrible idea. Don’t you think that country’s been through enough? But anyway, sitting with Homer, I’m beginning to feel it would be rude not to ask him ‘So what’s Hollywood really like?’

“The first time I went out to LA I absolutely hated it,” he admits, “I couldn’t stand a lot of the people. But I really look forward to going back there now. Because I’ve made some really good friends – people like Soderberg and Clooney. You know I’ve met people on the street or in night-clubs that have got more attitude than they have. They’re actually just really really down to earth, level-headed artists who don’t stand for any bullshit or any sort of monkey business. They’re just into doing what they do and they’ve no time for gossip or bullshit.”

That’s all very well, but so far no dirt. What we really want to know is, are they actually any craic?

“Clooney’s a great craic man!” raves Holmes, his voice rising a couple octaves in respect to George’s company. “A complete star! We stayed in the Sunset Marquee and upstairs you had The Whiskey bar. On an average night in there you’d have Drew Barrymore, Forrest Whittaker and Hugh Hefner. “But you’d be sitting in The Whiskey and Clooney’d weigh in. And we’d just stand about and he’d be taking the piss. He’s just a regular guy, really funny. There’s no scandal. That was one of the most inspiring things – being around people like George and Steven who have no attitude and who have a lot of time for people. I’d be standing with Clooney having a couple of drinks and complete strangers would come over and introduce themselves. And he’d stand and chat to them. I thought that was inspiring.”

One criticism that has been levelled against Soderberg is that rehashing old movies is just plain lazy. Holmes jumps to his defence:

“Do you want to know something, I actually get quite embarrassed when people come up to me and say ‘Is it as good as the original?’ The original is a piece of shit. The acting’s terrible, it’s all over the place. It’s just the rat pack in Vegas having a good time. Frank Sinatra would get on set at 5pm and only do one take and when the director would say ‘Can we do one more?’ he’s say ‘What are you on about? I only do one.’”

Can we have an unbiased opinion of the remake then?

“It’s one of those movies that people forgot to make. I think the last heist movie that was made before this was The Sting and The Italian Job before that. It’s very much that type of film – very tongue in cheek humour, very stylised. Great clothes, great lines and great situations – lots of intelligent sequences rather than explosions going off and people abseiling down buildings. What he’s done is made a very commercial film with an unbelievable cast but with substance and style.”

You’d better not be lying to us Holmes.

So having taken 2001 out to do Hollywood, what’s Holmes’ plans for 2002?

“I’ve got some really good ideas for my next album,” he says, forgetting his modesty. “I dunno if I should say really. Okay. All the vocals are gonna be done by girls. It’s gonna be very joyous and very emotional and hopefully very accessible as well. I’d like to make a record that appeals to more than one group of people. I’m talking to Carl Hancock Rocks about writing the songs but I want to tackle the music first cause the ideas I’ve got are quite strong.”

In 1998 Brian Eno spoke at the Belfast Festival of how joyfulness was a far more difficult emotion to capture in music than melancholy or despair. Holmes acknowledged this talk as inspiration for his ‘joyful racket’ Manic’s remix. So it appears that it’s carried over into his plans for the new record too.

“Do you want to know something?” he asks, “When I went to that Eno lecture, I actually set out to make my last album like that. But I went to live in NY and I ended up on this very dark and scary journey. The whole thing turned completely the other way. And that’s something you can’t really control. All the ideas that I’ve been collecting for my next record have been very up. But quite sort of sad and melancholy at the same time. I’d like to make a record that depending on the way you feel it will complement you. The stuff I’ve been sourcing has been these old Czech soundtracks. I’ve found bits that are the most incredible pieces of music that I’m gonna take and develop and elaborate on.”

He picks up some of records and starts flicking thorough them.

“Then Marquis de Sade by this guy Bruno Nicolai and Profundo Roso by Goblin. These records I bought, these are in my next album section for inspiration. A little bit of samples here and there, stuff that I can nick and distort and twist, bend, stretch and claim to be my own.”

The week before Christmas, Holmes turned up to DJ at Magennis’ in Belfast and dropped a big fat Britney track on the unsuspecting revellers.

“Too right!” he nods in indignation, “Slave For You is a tune! It’s the Neptunes – the production they did on that track was phenomenal. The way they got her to sing it’s just really sexy. People were genuinely shocked but I’m not apologising. Sometimes I play and people hate it. But you’ve got to be true to yourself.”

“I mean I hated the Strokes when they came out. But my girlfriend absolutely loves them and has them on in the car and I just ended up really loving them. Cause there’s not a lot of bands that have attitude anymore. It’s just so whimsy and nobody’s got anything to say and everybody’s afraid to speak their mind. Then these five kids from NY just come and fucking kick your door down. And I love the White Stripes. I love their look and I love the rumours. I dunno what to believe but fair play to them – their music’s got so much balls. And I really like the Hives.

“A lot of people in the industry don’t have to balls to take chances. Radiohead was the prime example of a band who just did exactly what they wanted. They didn’t care about success, they just took this massive risk and said – this is who we are, this is the music we believe in. Then there’s this great track on the last White Stripes album. You’re in your bedroom and you’re making this great music. Then suddenly you’re in this big studio and you find out you can’t do the same thing. So in order to get the soul and the confidence and the edge to your music sometimes you’re better off just staying in your bedroom.”

So is this why Holmes is still to be found at home in Belfast – still in effect making music in his bedroom?

“I stay in Belfast for a few reasons. I’m very fortunate in that I can go away – I was in LA doing Ocean’s for four months, I was in NY for seven months doing Bow Down. I can go there and I can be inspired and then I can come home. And while I’m at home I’m not being spoiled and going out every night and getting trashed and losing the plot. That’s the problem when you go and live in places like NY – there’s so many temptations and distractions. It’s not that I’m easily led or anything – I’m the one leading the charge.”

“But I love Belfast. It is what it is and it’s not trying to be anything else. And because I work in an industry where you meet people on a daily basis who are so full of shit it’s refreshing to come back and listen to people tell you how it is. I know I could move to London or NY or LA tomorrow but the fact is this works really well for me. I can sit in my house and read and watch films and work in my studio and listen to music without having distractions or being trailed out to a bar seven nights a week.”

Ocean’s Eleven: Music From The Motion Picture is available now on Warners