Focus Bob Holroyd

Article by Colin

Bob Holroyd is one the leading exponents of ambient/global/chill out in the UK today - his musc ranges from intense walls of percussive drumming, to delicate atmospheric soundscapes. Bob's music also includes influences from his extensive travels in Africa and Asia - he has recorded with the Kalahari Bushmen for the "Sanscapes" project to highlight the plight of these ancient and threatened people. He has also recorded the Muslim Call to Prayer within Regent's Park Mosque, writing a moving and dramatic piece around the haunting vocal, sung by Yusuf Islam.

His fifth studio album, Hollow Man, lies somewhere in between the atmospherics of Brian Eno's Music For Films and the classic trip-hop of Massive Attack's Mezzanine. To discuss this, and more, We7 caught up with Bob for a quick chat...

The interview

Hi Bob, how are you today?

Very well, thank you.

Tell us a bit about your music - do you have a particular style?

I always have problems categorising my music. It has been described variously as chill out, global electronica, dance, ambient, lounge, new age and even new classical in shops or on websites. But I see it more as a sort of collage of various different sounds and textures hopefully held together by a musical backdrop.

How did your travels to Asia and Africa influence your music?

Just hearing and experiencing such an enormous range of new sounds, sights, smells and lifestyles opened up a whole new world to me - it made me realise how limited much of western rock music was. As a result I wanted to incorporate some of these unusual sounds, different rhythms and instruments into my music. Also, just being in an environment that was radically different to the one that I was used to affected how I felt, and I'm sure that this has had a subconscious effect on what I write as well as a conscious one.

You were in a band called Beside the Point at college. What happened to the band? Did it encourage you to pursue a career in music?

We played quite a few local gigs but eventually I think we all wanted to go in different directions, and so we just sort of stopped. If I'm honest I used to feel quite exposed playing live - physically, and musically. I always wanted to be a front man until I was given the opportunity, and that is when I realised that I didn't feel particularly comfortable in the spotlight - even though I still wish I did to some extent.

I think the main influence from that period was going to a local studio and recording some of our songs. This gave us more opportunity for adding textures and arrangements which we just couldn't do live. I think from then on I just wanted to add more and more sounds and textures, so in that respect it definitely did have an influence on how my sound and style progressed.

You’ve covered Peter Gabriel on one of your albums - are you a fan?

Yes, definitely. He was one of only a few artists that I was aware of when I was younger who was not doing anything conventional. I remember when "Peter Gabriel 3" was released - it sounded so unusual. It was overly bare in places, then the opposite, with such different sound treatments, but also with so much feeling and emotion, albeit sometimes quite uncomfortable ones. I love the way his music is so onomatopoeic - I love his lyrics, they are so emotional and honest, and the music seems to suit them perfectly.

Another of my favourite albums of his is "Passion" - the music to the film "The Last Temptation of Christ" - has all the elements I have been talking about - amazing sounds, beautiful textures and so much feeling.

Your second album "Stages" features Yusuf Islam singing from Islamic text. How did this come about?

On various travels and/or holidays I had often heard the Islamic Call to Prayer and I always loved the sound, but didn't know much about Islam. For quite a while I had wanted to record it but was never sure if this was an acceptable thing to do, especially as at the time Salman Rushdie was in hiding with a fatwa on him for publishing "The Satanic Verses". After much deliberation I decided the best thing to do would be to visit the Mosque and explain what I wanted to do, and ask if this would be regarded as offensive or inappropriate in any way. The Imam that I met there was slightly curious but incredibly helpful, and seemed pleased that I was interested to find out more about the Prayer. He felt that the more people that heard it the better, and as long as it was produced in a respectful way he could see no problem with this. He even thought he could find someone to sing it reasonably well seeing as it was going to be recorded, and it was therefore agreed that we would come and set up some equipment inside the Mosque and record it that coming Saturday afternoon.

There was a very small sneaking part of me that hoped that it just might be Yusuf Islam who came to do the singing that Saturday, but, I thought to myself, in reality, how likely is that? So it was such a nice surprise when he did turn up, and was even more charming, helpful and enthusiastic than I could have possibly expected. He sang the Prayer beautifully, and all he asked in return was for me to write English translation on the sleeve notes of the album.

It was a very moving experience, and actually was a particularly good example of how music can overcome the seemingly enormous barriers between groups of peoples who actually are much more similar than they often will see or admit to.

What was your inspiration for your latest album Hollow Man?

For quite a while I have been using world-style sounds (for want of a better description), but on Hollow Man I wanted to make an album that, although it has various global influences, has more of a home feel. The album has more guitars on it than previous ones, and was virtually all recorded in my home town of Farnham - so I suppose my inspiration was more my immediate surroundings.

What have you got planned next?

I have two main projects planned at the moment. The first is a series of re-releases which will include tracks that have never been included on CD before such as 12" remixes, new guest remixes by some great artists including Nitin Sawhney, Frederic Galliano, Coldcut, Bardo State, dimmSummer, dZihan and Kamien, and also new tracks and remixes of previous tracks by myself.

Then, next year, hopefully in the spring a brand new album called "Glow".