b. 14 February 1969, Belfast, Northern Ireland. This leading house mixer, DJ, recording artist and sountrack composer is a former member of the Disco Evangelists. After the latter band's successes for Positiva Records ("De Niro", "A New Dawn"), he recorded his first solo effort, "Johnny Favourite", for Warp Records. An enormously popular DJ, Holmes also found time to collaborate with former Dub Federation musicians Andy Ellison and Pete Latham as one third of the Scubadevils. The latter two met him while performing at the Sugarsweet nightclub. Together they recorded "Celestial Symphony" for the Trance Europe Express compilation, which was also remixed for a Novamute Records 12-inch release. This was backed by Holmes solo on "Ministry" (credited to Death Before Disco). He has also recorded as the Well Charged Latinos ("Latin Prayer") and 4 Boy 1 Girl Action ("Hawaiian Death Stomp'). Holmes" remixing projects have included commissions for the Sandals ("We Wanna Live"), Robotman ("Do Da Doo"), Fortran 5 ("Persian Blues", "Time To Dream"), Freaky Realistic ("Koochie Ryder"), Secret Knowledge ("Sugar Daddy"), Abfahrt ("Come Into My Life"), Bahia Black ("Capitao Do Asfolto") and Sabres Of Paradise ("Smokebelch"). He was also partially behind Sugarsweet Records, the Belfast dance music label, run with Ian McCready and Jim McDonald. As Holmes explained at the time: "It's more of a front to feed our obsession with music, to put out what we like, when we like.' Releases on the label included the Arabic house excursions of Wah Wah Warrior (essentially Ian McCready), plus Holmes" Death Before Disco. However, when it was clear that Sugarsweet was not going to take off it was replaced by the Exploding Plastic Inevitable imprint.
In 1994, Holmes signed with Sabres Of Paradise as a solo artist, but when that label's Andrew Weatherall decided to rethink his strategy, he found a new home at Go! Discs. His debut album emerged in 1995, with Sarah Cracknell (Saint Etienne) contributing to the quasi-James Bond theme, "Gone", while elsewhere Holmes luxuriated in the possibilities of the long playing format by incorporating cinematic elements, Celtic flavours and ambient guitar (provided by Steve Hillage). The excellent follow-up Let's Get Killed expanded on the debut's sound, and provided enough of a breakthrough for Holmes to place two singles, "Don't Die Just Yet" and "My Mate Paul", in the UK Top 40.
In 1998, Holmes composed his first full-length movie score for Steven Soderbergh's highly acclaimed Out Of Sight. The superb Bow Down To The Exit Sign was recorded as the score for a screenplay in progress by Lisa Barros D'sa, with the two projects developing in tandem. Holmes eschewed the sample-heavy style of Let's Get Killed in favour of a heady stew of neo-funk and sleazy swamp rock, with vocals provided by Bobby Gillespie, Jon Spencer, Martina Topley-Bird, and poet Carl Hancock Rux. It was followed by a soundtrack for Gregor Jordan's Buffalo Soldiers and Holmes' second collaboration with Soderbergh on the director's remake of Ocean's Eleven.
Holmes then put together a new band, the funk-influenced Free Association, who made their debut on the mix album Come Get It I Got It. Their debut studio album was released in late 2002. Holmes subsequently returned to soundtrack duties, working on Harold Ramis' Analyze That, Bronwen Hughes' Stander, and Soderbergh's Ocean's Twelve.
