Holmes is Where the Heart Is

As well as producing quality solo records, the noughties found Belfast groove mechanic David Holmes scoring films as diverse as Ocean’s Eleven and Hunger, and also forming his own production company with Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn. The trio are currently at work on Good Vibrations, which tells the story of the titular Belfast record store and its legendary owner, Terri Hooley.

Virtually everyone who has met Hooley has an interesting tale to tell about their first encounter with the great man – does Holmer have his own story to relate?
“I’ve been buying records off Terri Hooley since I was 12,” he replies. “I used to go to his record shop, and he was always really friendly. But I just went there to buy music and hang out. I could tell you a load of other stories, but you should just wait and see the film, because it’s a fantastic script. Everyone that reads it wants to get involved, and it’s a really exciting project.”
Perhaps Holmes’ most high profile film collaborations have been with Steven Soderbergh, for whom he scored the aforementioned Ocean’s Eleven. Released in 2001, the movie notably made a hit of a previously obscure Elvis track, ‘A Little Less Conversation’, which became ubiquitous in the wake of the film’s success.
“Yeah, that was a shame,” reflects David. “It should never have been bastardised like that. I just put it in the movie, and then a lot of other people jumped on it and took advantage. I thought the remix was unnecessary and should never have been done. I mean, how can you remix Elvis? It’s just sacrilege. One of the beauties of that song is that sounded quite contemporary anyway. I wouldn’t have remixed, that’s for sure.”
Did working on Ocean’s Eleven represent a major step-up in terms of resources and budgets, etc?
“Well, I’d done Steven Soderbergh’s film Out Of Sight in Los Angeles,” explains David. “I knew what to expect, but I’d learnt a lot from the first experience – what studios to go into, which musicians to work with and so on. I was much more well prepared. But once I’d done Ocean’s Eleven it just opened out into this whole new thing. Once I’d met a couple of people, it opened the doors to meet all these other great people – a lot of the top players over there. We just had an amazing time working on a really good film, and we were treated so well.
“I had anything that I needed; if I wanted to work with an orchestra, I could. There was no real budget, because a blind man on a galloping horse could see that it was going to be a success. It was a great experience. And then right in the middle of it, 9/11 happened. So it went from everybody being on this great high to that happening. It was really weird from then on, but we were pretty much towards the end of the movie at that stage. But it was just very odd. I woke up to loads of messages going, turn on the television. And then I walked into the lobby and people were in tears. Very weird. But there you go.”
Moving on to lighter topics, did David meet all of the stars of the film – George Clooney, Matt Damon et al?
“Yeah, they were all super nice,” he enthuses. “They were all very welcoming and cool. Everybody was really sweet. You couldn’t fault it really. It was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences where everything goes really well from the start.”
Holmes also worked on the score for Steve McQueen’s incredibly powerful film about Bobby Sands, Hunger. The stark atmospherics of that piece could scarcely be further away from the fun and frolics of the Ocean’s series.
“The process couldn’t be more different,” acknowledges Holmes. “I went after Hunger; they didn’t come to me. I expressed that I’d grown up through that whole period, and it was stuff I was really interested in. Also, I had my own views on how the soundtrack should be – I felt it should be in done a particular way, rather than the glamorised Hollywood version. They sent me the script, and after I read it, I didn’t think the film needed any music, so I called them up and told them that. Ironically, that’s when they actually started getting interested in working with me.”
Holmes says he hit on the solution to the film’s sonic requirements when he presented some pieces he’d written on the hurdy-gurdy to the film’s director, McQueen, who was impressed with the drone-like sound produced by the instrument. An entirely different approach was called for when Holmes scored Analyse That, the comedy directed by Harold Ramis, whose various writing, acting and directorial credits encompass the likes of Animal House, Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day.
“That was kind of a favour,” says David. “Well, no, not really – I know someone in Warner Bros. It’s not a movie that I would normally have done... but Robert de Niro was in it! It was great to work with Harold Ramis, he’s a really brilliant guy and a real sweetheart. That was a different experience, cos we went to New York for a couple of months to work on that. I’m proud of the work I did on it, but it’s not a movie that I would put in my top five. Harold wanted a funkier, cooler score – stuff that had a bit more grit and a bit more of a vibe. It wasn’t rocket science.”
Always a man to keep busy, Holmer has a number of projects lined up for the New Year. In addition to Good Vibrations, he is also sprinkling sound-dust on the new record by Northern rockers Cashier No. 9, and has been working on sessions for the next Primal Scream album. In addition, he will also be working on music for Steven Soderbergh’s new film, Knockout, which will be shooting in Dublin in February. Holmes is remaining tight-lipped about the project, although the director himself has revealed that it will be a “realistic spy movie” featuring mixed martial arts star Gina Carano.
David may have built up a mightily impressive CV as a soundtrack composer over the past decade, but he stresses that he spends the majority of each year working on his music, and relishes the creative freedom he enjoys in this area. Funnily enough, one of the most influential dance production teams of the decade, DFA duo James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, met while working on a Holmes solo album.
“That was 11 or 12 years ago,” recalls David. “I don’t really know James, although we had a couple of months in New York together. But I know Tim, and I’ve a lot of respect for the guy. When we worked together, I learned so much from him. He’s an amazing talent, and LCD is kind of speaking for itself. I think they’re ready for world domination. I wasn’t surprised when those guys became such a force in music – I knew they would.
“They have a great studio, and Tim has a brilliant mind not just for music, but in general. And James, my God, he’s a pop star now. They’re really into great music, and they’re both great at what they do. If you can get on, then the rest is easy really.”
Finally, summing up the noughties, David says that , “It’s been a great ten years. You find yourself thinking, ‘Where the fuck did that go?!’”