A Chat with Mal Holmes December 2008
What were your initial thoughts on playing together again in 2007 for the French TV performance?
I first thoughts were could I actually do it. I'd not long been out of hospital, after I was cut me open with a circular saw and given heart surgery. I couldn’t walk up the stairs and I'd been suffering from 'Post Traumatic Stress'. I was mentally and physically a wreck for almost 2 years. So my main fear was 'was I going to fall over in the middle 8 of Enola Gay' ..... Did a paramedic need to be standing by with a 20,000 volts to spark me up if it all went pear shaped. It gave me great confidence when I had finished the show. It was the first step for me to playing for OMD again.
Did you have any reservations about getting back together with the rest of the band for the French TV performance?
I had no reservations at all. OMD had always been the best years of my life so to be able to revisit something so wonderfully positive was a gift from heaven. I knew how lucky I was just to be alive, so I was really going to enjoy this second time around. The first time we all got into the rehearsal room it was like we had never been away from each other. The same as we were when we where into front of TV cameras, it was completely natural for us all, it's what we do.
Back in 2007 did you have any desire to go on tour?
The tour was my goal, it was my complete focus from once I knew we were going to do it. Nothing else mattered. I hadn’t played professionally for sometime although I was teaching drums before my heart said 'Slow Down Mal'. To play with OMD not only was I going to I have to build my stamina, but I also had to be completely solid against the click track I would be playing to. There is no margin for error playing drums with OMD. If I come in out of time with a click then everything is out, music, keyboards, bass, computer sequence, the projections and there's no way you can get back in sync unless we start the song again. To me that's not an option. If I was going to do this again then I wanted to be better, stronger and more 'on the money' than I ever had been.
Any fond memories of the 2007 tour like gigs you remember that went well, etc..?
Madrid and Barcelona where just so cool. We we're on a festival bill with all the hip kids in town, Chemical Bros, Kaiser Chiefs, Air, The Gossip and there was little old OMD playing in a big tent. I must say I was a bit worried how we would go down with a festival audience, but we just killed them. One of my all time favorites, hearing 5,000 people singing along to Enola Gay was just amazing
Any favorite stops on the 2008 tour?
Strangely I think Dublin was my favourite, even though the PA broke down and Ryanair lost my suitcase with my stage clothes, playing shoes and spare snare drum in it. I guess I didn’t really think to much about the gig I was so wound up about playing in the same clothes I'd just got off the flight in and if my stage snare went down then it would take some time to fix it. I think I went a little crazy that night and beat the living s*** out the of my kit. For some strange reason that was my favorite gig. Liverpool is always cool to play and even better this time because we were in the new arena. The bigger the gig for me the better. It was a little strange the 2008 tour because it was over before it had begun. I was just starting to loosen up on stage and get into it when it stopped. I wasn’t really happy with how I was played on the tour. We'd had more time in production rehearsals for the 2008 tour, which meant I'd settled in to my on stage sound which is really important for me. If I'm struggling with a balance on stage then it affects my performance, same with all the guys. It was only in London at the last gig where I had a good sound on stage.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by “struggling with a balance on state”?
****That's balance on 'stage' Pat.*****
Yeah, it's what I hear in the speakers (we call them monitors) I have right next to me and what I hear in my ear phones (we call them ears). What I hear is very, very, very different to what the audience hears, its also very different to what the other guys in the band hear in there speakers and ears phones. I'll have a lot of click track in my ears but not in my monitors. The rest of band and the audience don't hear the click track. It would drive you crazy if you did. I listen to lots of click track, tons of my kick drum and snare drum, loads of the computer sequences, a healthy amount of Mart and Paul's keyboards and a bit of vocals.
What is your "routine" before a gig?
I generally go back to the hotel ,after the sound check if I can. I catch a bit of chillin' out time and some space before the show. Sometimes the guys come back but normally they will stay at the gig and have dinner at about 6 ish with all the crew. I can't eat at that time with just a couple of hours before the show, so I'll grab something to munch from the dressing room and nip back to the hotel with a lift from the runner or tour manager. Then back to the gig an hour before show time and have a quick look at the audience from side stage maybe check out a song or 2 from the support act. Then 30 mins before show time we're all in the dressing room getting changed and putting our ears in. They are the in ear monitors we have. About 15 mins before show time Stuart our out front sound guy always comes back stage to say 'have a good um' or 'let em av'it' or 'rock em'' or 'kick ass' to all of us and shakes our hand. My reply to him is generally 'see ya later mate' or 'are the drums loud enough mate'. 5 mins before show time the tour manger takes us to the side of the stage, the house lights go down and its the intro to the show. Andy will always shake our hands and wishes good luck. I think he does it anti-clockwise, who ever is standing on his right at time he'll shake his hand first. We all shake hands and my reply generally is 'Nail um' ........ Then it's show time no turning back we all just go and give it 150% and I hope hear I Click, Click, Click, Click 1,2,3,4 in my ears!
Speaking of sound check, what exactly do you do or what are you looking/listening for?
A lot of bands don't do a sound check. They just come and plug there guitars in and they're away. Not much can go wrong with a guitar, may be you break a string or something like that. It's not gonna stop the show. OMD have a ton of technology, computers that the band has to sync to to get the images on the screens doing what they should do at the right time. As the 'driver of the sync train' if you like, I have to follow the computer and the band follows me. We always like to check the tech stuff and our sound on stage to make sure there are no gremlins that are going to happen that night. At festivals we don't have time to do this, so it make things a little hairy. Also Stuart Kerrison, the sound guy, wants to make us sound the best he can every night, so he'll be checking the sound of us playing in the venue before we do the show for real. It's at the sound check where he 'tunes' the PA to suit the room or hall we are in that evening.
What about after a gig, any special kind of routine that you go through?
First thing is a beer in the dressing room. I don't have a drink before the show so I really enjoy it. Then get changed. Andy and Paul will probably meet some guests in the catering room for a little while. Maybe I'll wonder down there to meet some friends. Then back to the hotel. Andy and Paul will do some autographs and photos outside the stage door and Mart and I will probably try and sneak off to the bus. It’s not that we don't want to sign autographs but I hate hanging around outside waiting for someone to ask me. If someone wants my autograph they will always find me somehow. Then back to the hotel for a beer or 2 with the lads, Stewart and the tour manager.
As the hardest working guy in the band, how do you feel after a 2 hour gig, are you completely wiped out?
I think we all work hard on stage. Mart and Paul may not run around but they have plenty do, with different sounds coming up in different places on there keyboards everyone has to be 'on the money'. Andy runs around giving it all, as if it was our first gig. But for me, I'm really tried and just slump into a comfy chair in the dressing room when I come off for 10 minutes or so. The last 20 -25 mins of the set is physically the hardest because that's when we ramp it up. It comes fast and furious and I really start to give it full power on the kit. I suppose its like running in a marathon, you have to keep a little in reserve for the last 1 mile if you want to win. Electricity is the real killer. Not only is it 140-150 BPM but I also play the white noise 8 note part on a pad which kills the forearm of my right arm. Believe me I'm really glad when I get to the last couple of bars of the song, it like its the end of the race and the jobs done.
Do you do anything to get in physical condition to tour?
I play basically. On the 2007 tour I went to a gym and I started playing months before at home on a Roland TD 20 electric kit to the 'OMD best of' with a pair of head phones. I'd get a bin bag and cut a couple of holes in it for my arms and wear it like a t-shirt to build up a sweat. It works really well. Then I would play for hours and hours, over and over. On the 2008 tour I would be in the rehearsal room by myself some days. We have made a CD which is us playing live with no drums and a click track. This means I can practice when the other guys aren’t there and I'm playing to the real thing, Andy, Paul and Mart doing their stuff. Sometimes Mart will come too and pair of us will go through a few things playing to the CD or the Pro Tools sequences. I started 10 days early than everyone else in the rehearsal room this time to get my kit sorted out and to start building up my stamina. The rehearsal room isn’t one of the prettiest places to go on a Sunday afternoon by yourself.
What is it that makes a great drummer?
Someone who can interpret the song in their own way. Not the text book way. Someone, that when he or she plays, you know it’s them.
Who do you consider to be great drummers today?
Not many really. Richie Haywood, Jim Keltner and the late great John Bonham, now he was the best.
What are you and the band discussing as far as plans for 2009?
Top secret. If I told you I would have to kill you Pat!
Have you done any work or contributed to new tracks on the new album that is rumored to be in the works?
No, but I'm sure I'll get a call nearer the time to come and make some noise for the guys if they want me to.
If so, what thoughts can you share with us?
It all depends on if and what the guys want me to play on. They may be happy with the programmed loops or drums they have already put down on the sequences. For me, I'd want to create fresh sounds and use & record the kit in an unusual way like we always did, instead of the same old drum loops and 4 on the floor, anyone can do that and it doesn’t really flick my creative drum switches anymore. The likes of the Maid, that's a great drum part you never hear sounds or grooves like that, and it’s still valid after 25 years. That's the sort of thing I would want to contribute to an OMD album. There's a million great drummers around who play exactly like the next great drummer, they've been thought all the same things at the same drum academy by the same tutor and all sound exactly the same. There's nothing new, creative or inspiring about them and it just doesn’t do anything for me. I wouldn’t want to emulate them. My days of wanting to be Phil Collins or the best drummer in the World are long gone. What I do is what I do, it sounds like me and I'm happy with that.
Changing gears a bit, tell me about what you are doing with Fin Music?
Finmusic is one of those things that's just not going to go away.
What does it take to start up your own recording label?
Well first thing is you need to be a bit crazy.
What have you learned from your years in OMD about the music business that help you run Fin?
Music is all I've done since I was 18. Its the only thing I know. OMD have taught me so much, I wouldn’t know where start. I suppose the most important thing is that anyone with great music ideas can have success selling records. They need the right people behind them, that's important. But you don't need Simon Cowell you just need belief in your music, oh and a little bit of luck really helps.
Have you ever read some of the stuff on the Official OMD forum?
I read the OMD forum all the time. It shows that there is a really wide spectrum of OMD fans who can like different eras of OMD. I must say that sometimes I wonder whether some of the people who post actually like OMD. I've seen things written that I've not liked, which is a little strange because some of these people will come and ask me for a photo or an autograph. But generally it's a great site that PB and Co created and it helps keeps the whole OMD thing keep alive.
Would you ever consider signing up and posting on a public OMD forum?
I am signed up PB sorted it out a while ago, but I've forgotten my login (it's a drummer thing) and I prefer just to look from a far. I'm all for an easy life!
Anything you would like to say to the OMD fans reading this?
It’s cool to see so many happy faces from my kit when we're playing live. I remember sitting outside the Glasgow gig in 2007 watching the people going into the gig. It was weird, these where just regular people, with mortgages and kids, they looked the same as the crowd of people on any High St on any Saturday afternoon. Then when I got on stage and I could see the same people, they looked so different. The big screen behind me light everyone up, I could see the whites of peoples eyes. The crowd went crazy, we took everyone away from the real World for an hour and a half and those same people where somewhere else. It’s a great site.
You should never write OMD off, if you do there is a good chance you will be proved wrong. Just when you think it’s all over, OMD will come back and bite your ass. It's what they do.