Chris Holmes

About

From About — DJ Chris Holmes:

Chris Holmes has been working at the intersection of music, technology, and culture for over two decades. Whether as a DJ, producer, composer, remixer, or brand consultant, he seeks to elevate how people experience music and the world around them through creative collaborations and solutions.

Chris spent the greater part of last 9 years touring the world with Sir Paul McCartney as his show-opening DJ, playing remixes of songs spanning McCartney’s career.  He has also toured djing with Radiohead and Daft Punk and played keyboards for the Smashing Pumpkins in the late 90s.  In the studio, Chris has worked with Joshua Radin, Felix da Housecat, Rachael Yamagata, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Dawes, and Har Mar Superstar and remixed everyone from The Beatles to Radiohead, David Bowie, Britney Spears, Hole, Fischerspooner and FUN. […]

From Paul McCartney’s touring DJ Chris Holmes uncovers Beatles’ magic with remixes (kcrw.com), July 3, 2020:

Holmes on being inspired by Black culture:

I wanted to tell a story through my set about how music can unite us and build bridges between cultures. This is a set of remixes and edits I’ve made while out on tour with Paul McCartney over the last ten years, of the Black American artists covering the songs of McCartney and The Beatles. These songs were directly inspired by some of the same Black American artists who shaped the sound, swagger, and style of The Beatles. These are covers by Little Richard, Fats Domino, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles. All of these artists have taken these songs and made them their own, continuing that amazing dialogue between cultures.

The Magic of Remixing The Beatles:

The second song in the set is my remix of twelve different covers of “Come Together.” I took twelve separate cover versions and tuned and timed every note together so they could all be playing in harmony with each other. I then switch the lead vocal to a different artist for every phrase. I had so much fun making this mix, and it’s great to hear all of these different styles of music all playing the same song, “Come Together,” as one. It’s something magical that you can only do with remixing. Another song in the mix, “Blackbird,” is a combination of two separate covers of Blackbird by “Let It Be” keyboardist and Apple Records recording artist Billy Preston, and a version by the Blood Sisters. Putting the two covers together created a unique combination with some beautiful moments.

Remembering opening for Sir Paul at Coachella 2009:

One of my favorite remixes on here is the first one I made for McCartney, for my opening set for his 2009 Coachella performance. It’s a cover of “Get Back” by The Deidre Wilson Tabac. It was the first time I took a cover of a Beatles song and added drums, percussion, and bass to it. It turned the song into something new. I love the breakdowns in it.

Last updated on March 28, 2021