Mark Hollis (musician)

Mark Hollis
Mark Hollis in 1991
Background information
Birth name	Mark David Hollis
Born	(1955-01-04) 4 January 1955
Origin	Tottenham, London, England
Genres	New Romantic, new wave, synthpop, art rock, post-rock, folk, jazz, ambient
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, organ, melodica, bass guitar
Years active	1977–1998
Associated acts	Talk Talk, Unkle, Anja Garbarek
Notable instruments
Gretsch Country Gentleman Ibanez AS200

Mark David Hollis (born 4 January 1955) is an English former musician and singer-songwriter. He achieved commercial success in the 1980s as a singer with the synthpop/post-rock band Talk Talk, but retired from the music industry shortly after releasing his 1998 solo debut album.

Biography

Early career

Hollis was born in Tottenham, London. The younger brother of Ed Hollis, a disc jockey and producer who went on to manage bands such as Eddie and the Hot Rods, Mark Hollis originally planned to become a child psychologist but in 1975 left university to relocate to London, where he eventually formed a band called The Reaction. In 1977, The Reaction recorded a demo for Island Records; among the tracks was a Hollis original titled "Talk Talk" which later surfaced on the Beggars Banquet punk compilation Streets. After just one single, 1978's "I Can't Resist," The Reaction disbanded, and through his brother, Hollis was first introduced to musicians Paul Webb, Lee Harris and Simon Brenner, with whom he formed Talk Talk in 1981, soon signing to the EMI label.

Talk Talk

Hollis is most famous as the lead singer and primary songwriter of the band Talk Talk, and was praised for his "always remarkable voice."^[1] It was he, along with unofficial Talk Talk member Tim Friese-Greene, who took the lead in evolving the band's style from New Romantic into what would later become known as post-rock.

	"The Colour of Spring" Excerpt from "The Colour of Spring", the opening track from Hollis' solo album
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Solo work

In 1998, he released an eponymous solo debut album, Mark Hollis,^[2] and participated in occasional musical projects, including playing melodica and bass guitar on Anja Garbarek's 2001 album Smiling & Waving, as well as producing it.^[3] He has now retired from the music industry.^[4] He has stated about his decision to retire from performing, "I choose for my family. Maybe others are capable of doing it, but I can't go on tour and be a good dad at the same time."^[5] Despite Hollis's absence from the public eye, he (as well as Talk Talk) continue to be mentioned in the press, inside Britain and outside, often as an example of an artist who refused to sacrifice his artistic ambition to commercial success and as a yardstick for current artists.^[6][7][8]

In 2004, Hollis resurfaced briefly to receive a Broadcast Music Inc. Award for having written "It's My Life".^[9] His withdrawal from the public continues to fascinate music critics.^[4][10] By the time his solo album was released Hollis had moved back from the countryside to London, to provide his two sons with a more cosmopolitan environment.^[11]

In 2012, a piece of specially commissioned music, entitled "ARB Section 1", was used in the television series Boss.^[12]

Solo discography

• Mark Hollis (1998)

Collaborations

• Hollis played the solo track 'Piano' from the 1998 minimalist album AV 1, by Phill Brown and Dave Allinson, under the pseudonym John Cope, which was later included on the 2001 Talk Talk compilation album Missing Pieces.
• Hollis played piano on and co-wrote the track "Chaos" on the 1998 trip hop album Psyence Fiction by Unkle (he later asked for his name to be removed from the album credits).
• Hollis produced, arranged one track ("The Gown") and produced and arranged another ("Big Mouth") on Anja Garbarek's 2001 album Smiling & Waving.

References