The youngest of 10 children, Holmes began DJing in the pubs of his native Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two highly acclaimed and successful club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain. Famously, the dance group Orbital wrote the track "Belfast", released on their debut album Orbital, after playing at Sugar Sweet. __TOC__ Holmes released This Film's Crap Let's Slash the Seats, in 1995, and it received acclaim for its atmospheric, ambient sound. At the time he described the album as being inspired by movies and movie soundtracks, a recurring theme throughout Holmes' work. The opening track, "No Man's Land", features on the soundtrack to the film Pi, and was reportedly inspired by the Daniel Day-Lewis film In the Name of the Father. In the same year, he also provided the ambient links between the songs on the album Infernal Love by the Northern Irish rock band Therapy?.
In 1997, Holmes released Let's Get Killed. Many of the tracks feature people talking in the streets of New York, recorded by Holmes using a dictaphone. The album's first single, "My Mate Paul," was Holmes' first big commercial success.
In 1998, Danny DeVito commissioned him to do the score for Steven Soderbergh's film Out of Sight.
He scored a second film for Soderbergh in 2001, including some songs from Let's Get Killed and Bow Down to the Exit Sign on the Ocean's Eleven remake.
After releasing a mix album, Come Get It I Got It, in 2002, Holmes released David Holmes Presents The Free Association in 2003. This was a departure for the artist as all his previous work had been solo. The Free Association featured four other bandmates who toured with Holmes after the album was launched.
As a remixer he has reworked tracks by U2, Doves, The Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream, Page and Plant, and Ice Cube.
Before beginning his musical career, Holmes worked as a hairdresser and chef. He also briefly owned and ran a cafe called Mogwai near the Queen's University of Belfast.
In 2008, he composed the music for the "New iPhone" ad campaign. A new album, The Holy Pictures, was released on September 8, 2008.
In April 2009, he topped the Irish Times' "50 Best Irish Acts Right Now".
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