James Holden —
The difference he makes

James Holden is different business. Anyone who's heard his Balance 005 mixed CD would testify to that. It was a rare moment of DJ magic where only after a good few weeks of constant listening could you begin to under-stand. Released eighteen months ago it is still as powerful as ever now, even in little old Osaka where so many people have come to Club Triangle to hear the guy who mixed it play live.

Standing above yet another strange crowd in yet another strange city Holden treats the jammed-packed dance floor to a completely unlikely mix of unnamable dance music. The look on the dancing punters is almost one of disbelief, as much for the strange qualities of his music and the way it's programmed as for how easy it is to be sucked in and swept away by it.

Meet James Holden and you'll find even more surprises in store. He's young, dressed simply, shy and softly spoken. It's an unlikely package for such a profound product, for he is a DJ, producer and record label boss, but every-thing about James Holden is unlikely, especially that music. He describes it on his own website as “Aphex Twin doing Ferry Corsten up the bum.” Taken metaphorically ... Aphex Twin: hardcore electronica geek, off-key melodics, strange sound scapes, industrial noise and twisted drum loops meets Ferry Corsten: Euro DJ, four to the floor trance, anthemic vocals, and cheesy synth breakdowns.

“It was only ever meant to be a laugh” James tells me. It is funny and it seems typical of what a 26 year old from the Midlands in England would say, but this particular Midlands lad has club residencies in Amsterdam, Barcelona and New York — home to some of the most educated and demanding dancing publics in the world.

It's not the way important DJs usually speak about themselves but spend some time with him and you quickly throw all preconceptions out the window.

One of the many wonders of Holden is his ability to create music that defies categorization. As a producer Holden says that his goal is to “… to break the computer, to try to make things go pop, to combine punk rock and electronic music in a dance-floor way, to create something that gets you emotionally …”.

In the context of house music which is famous (and infamous) for being so formulaic it is no wonder that this production aesthetic has placed the record label he owns and runs, Border Community, out on the wild frontier of the dance music scene. But in the best traditions of dance music it is this isolation from mainstream genres that has made him and his label so popular.

Holden's own productions feature regularly in the top tens of big name DJs but at the same time the artists he's signed to his label, like The MFA, Nathan Fake and Petter are helping him to disprove the formula that club promoters and market-driven record labels have been clinging to for so long. And then as he turns his back to mass-marketed dance music he goes and gives the Britney Spears single “Breathe on me” the twisted Holden remix treatment. It was a project he took on, he says, because it was a name that his mum knew-a motivation that contrasts his production genius with simple, modest ideals and makes you really like the guy.

Our brief chat concludes and a few minutes before his set is due to begin Holden is out meeting the many autograph hunters who have just bought copies of Balance 005 mix. He greets them quietly, brushing his long hair out of his jet lagged eyes, and obliges with a quick scribble. Three hours later, deep into his epic set, those same punters are out on the dance floor, looking around to see who else is gob smacked. They are beginning to see glimpses of the complex pattern that Holden weaves into his productions and DJ sets.

There were plenty of us who could be seen holding our jaws ajar that night. If you were there you'd know, if you weren't then
go find out.

Text: Ian Handsley • Photos: Hide-G