James Alexander Goodale Holden (born 7 June 1979) is an English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

artist and DJ. After beginning his career as a DJ and producer, Holden has moved extensively into live performance and founded his own record label, Border Community.

Early career

Holden grew up in

Market Bosworth Market Bosworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 1,906, increasing to 2,097 at the 2011 census. It is most famously near to the site of the decisive final battle of the ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, and was first introduced to electronic music by a physics teacher at school. Holden studied mathematics at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. He started his career in 1999 at age 19 and swiftly gained wider recognition with the release of trance single "Horizons", which he created with the freeware software Buzz. This "crossover anthem of the summer of 1999" was picked up by Pete Tong, John Digweed and Nick Warren, quickly propelling Holden to a wider audience. In the subsequent years Holden released numerous singles and remixes on various labels including Lost Language, Perfecto Recordings, and Positiva Recordings. He was also one-third of Mainline (alongside Duncan Ellis and Hywel Dunn-Davies) and worked with singer Julie Thompson as Holden & Thompson. His remix credits for this period include artists such as

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

, New Order,

Nathan Fake Nathan Fake (born 3 March 1983) is an English electronic music artist from Necton, Norfolk, England. He has released music on the Border Community, Ninja Tune, and Cambria Instruments labels (the latter a project by Fake and Wesley Matsell). ...

and

Kieran Hebden Kieran Miles David Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting and critically acc ...

Steve Reid Steve Reid (January 29, 1944 – April 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer who played with Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, James Brown, Fela Kuti, Kieran Hebden, and Sun Ra. He worked as a session drummer for Motown. Biography Born in ...

. In April 2006, his mix album ''James Holden At The Controls'' was ''Mixmag''s 'Album of the Month'.

Border Community

Holden's label Border Community was founded in 2003, and made its debut with Holden's single 'A Break in the Clouds'. Border Community has gone on to kickstart the careers of many young artists, including

, Fairmont, Luke Abbott and The MFA. James Holden often performed alongside his labelmates at his Border Community label nights at Corsica Studios in London. His 2004 remix of Nathan Fake's "The Sky Was Pink" garnered attention for both Holden, Fake and Border Community. The track was described as containing "an epic universalism that fans of any genre coalesce around" and was placed at number 10 in the Resident Advisor 'Top 100 Electronic Tracks of the '00s'. In 2006, Border Community released Holden's debut album ''The Idiots are Winning''. This album of "loose, twisted and atmospheric...electronic music" was described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as "the most astonishing debut in electronic music since

Boards of Canada Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of the brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin. Signing first to Skam Records, Skam followed by Warp (record label), Warp Records in the 1990s, they received recognition following th ...

's ''

Music Has the Right to Children ''Music Has the Right to Children'' is the debut studio album by Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada, released on 20 April 1998 in the United Kingdom by Warp (record label), Warp and Skam Records and in the United States by Matador Rec ...

''.'

Live performance

In 2013, Holden released his second album '' The Inheritors'', a "revealing and intriguing" album of "buzzy pastoral beauty and harsh rhythmic duress". After the record's release,

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

invited Holden to support Yorke's band

Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...

on their US tour. These shows consisted of Holden performing on modular synth alongside drummer Tom Page (of experimental electronic duo Rocketnumbernine and The Memory Band). This transition from DJing to live performance would be a significant development in Holden's career and would spark a long term musical relationship with Page. The significance of Holden's embracing of live performance was clear to see in his third album, ''The Animal Spirits''. Recorded at Holden's London studio Sacred Walls, the album saw Holden leading a five piece band spanning live drums, saxophone, other woodwinds and North African instruments. This array of musicians allowed Holden to create a “ spiritual jazz band playing folk / trance music” whilst keeping his "ever strident synth... front and centre". The music was recorded live, without edits or overdubs, and was influenced both in sound and concept by the works of Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane and

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

Collaborative releases

''Animal Spirits'' also drew on Holden's immersion in Moroccan Gnawa music. In 2014, Holden travelled to Morocco for a week-long artistic residency to study and collaborate with the late master

Mahmoud Guinia Mahmoud Guinia (, and rarely or ; also spelled Gania, Guinea or Khania; 1951 – 2 August 2015) was a Morocco, Moroccan Gnawa musician, singer and sintir, guembri player, who was traditionally regarded as a Maâllem (), i.e. master. The family na ...

, culminating in the collaborative EP "Marhaba''"''; one of many that Holden would release in this period. Other collaborative releases include ''Outdoor Museum of Fractals'' with Camilo Tirado, ''Three Live Takes'' with Houssam Gania and ''Long Weekend'' with Wacław Zimpel.

Selected discography

Albums

*'' The Idiots Are Winning'' (2006, Border Community) *'' The Inheritors'' (2013, Border Community) *'' The Animal Spirits'' (2017, Border Community) *'' A Cambodian Spring'' (2019, Border Community) *'' Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities'' (2023, Border Community) *'' The Universe Will Take Care Of You'' (2025, Border Community)

Collaborations

*''Marhaba'' w/ Floating Points and Maalem Mahmoud Guinia (2015, Border Community) *''Outdoor Museum Of Fractals'' w/ Camilo Tirado (2016, Border Community) *''Three Live Takes'' EP w/Houssam Guinia (2018, Border Community) *''Long Weekend'' EP w/Waclaw Zimpel (2020, Border Community) *''The Universe Will Take Care Of You'' w/Waclaw Zimpel (2025, Border Community)

Singles

*"Horizons" (INCredible) *"One For You" (Direction Records, Silver Planet) *"Solstice/I Have Put Out the Light" (Silver Planet) *Holden & Thompson – "Nothing" ( Loaded Records) – UK #51 *"A Break in the Clouds" (Border Community) *Holden & Thompson – "Come To Me" (loaded) *Milky Globe & James Holden – "Sun Spots" (LoEB) *James Holden – "The Wheel" ( Cocoon Recordings) *"Renata" (Border Community)

Remixes

*3 Phase feat. Dr. Motte – "Der Klang Der Familie" (James Holden Wet & Fucked Mix) *Aaron-Carl – "Dance Naked" (James Holden Remix) *Accadia – "Into the Dawn" (James Holden Remix) *André Kraml – "Safari" (James Holden Remix) *Avus – "Fancy Arse" (James Holden's Sunday Night Remix) * Black Strobe – "Nazi Trance Fuck Off" (Holden Mix) * Blue Amazon – "Breathe" (James Holden Remix) * Blu Peter – "Funky Suite" (James Holden Remix) *

– "Breathe on Me" (Holden Dub) *Britney Spears – "Breathe on Me" (Holden Vocal Mix) *

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

– "Bowls" (Holden Remix) *The Coffee Boys – "The Touch" (James Holden Remix) *

– "The Darkest Star" (James Holden Remix/Dub) *Dextro – "Do You Need Help" (Holden Acoustic/Noise Tool) *Electrique Boutique – "Revelation" (James Holden Remix) * Joshua Ryan – "Pistolwhip" (James Holden Remix) *

and

– "The Sun Never Sets" (Holden Remix) *

Kirsty Hawkshaw Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 29 March 1969) is an English electronic music vocalist and songwriter. In addition to her work as a solo artist, she is known as the lead vocalist of early 1990s dance group Opus III (band), Opus III, and her collaborative ...

– "Fine Day" (James Holden Remix) *Loki – "NYC Underground" (James Holden Inertia Remix) *

– " Get Together" (James Holden Mix) *Meerkat – "Colours" (James Holden Re-edit) *

Mercury Rev Mercury Rev is an American rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York,
with Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...

– "The Sun Smells Too Loud" (Holden Mix) * Misstress Barbara – "Barcelona" (Holden Bass Tool) *Misstress Barbara – "Barcelona" (Holden Bell Dub) *

– "The Sky Was Pink" (Holden Remix) *Nathan Fake – "The Sky Was Pink" (Holden Noise Tool) * New Order – "Someone Like You" (James Holden Heavy Dub) *

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

– "Reckoner" (Holden Mix) 'Reckoner' Remix
*Roland Klinkenberg – "Inner Laugh" (James Holden Remix) *Solid Sessions – "Janeiro" (James Holden Remix) *System 7 – "Planet 7" (James Holden Remix) *

Timo Maas Timo Maas (born July 27, 1969) is a German DJ/ producer and remixer. His remix of Azzido Da Bass's single " Dooms Night" helped launch his career in 2000. In its wake, he also released ''Music for the Maases Volume 1'', a mix album consisting ...

presents Mad Dogs – "Better Make Room" (James Holden Remix) *Ultra Violet – "Heaven" (James Holden's Ariane Dub) *Watergate – "Heart of Asia" (James Holden Remix)

Mix albums

*''Fear of a Silver Planet'' ( Silver Planet) *''Balance 005'' (EQ (Grey)) *''At the Controls'' ( Resist Music) *''

Dj-Kicks ''DJ-Kicks'' (styled ''DJ-KiCKS'' on all cover artwork) is a series of DJ mix albums, mixed by various artists for the independent record label !K7 Records. History ''DJ-Kicks'' started out in 1993 as a compilation of electronic DJ-style mi ...

: James Holden'' ( !K7)

References

External links

* *
Border Community official websiteLaptoprockers interviewRed Bull Music Academy InterviewJames Holden interview @ Soundwall.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, James 1979 births Living people Alumni of St John's College, Oxford English trance musicians English techno musicians English record producers Musicians from Leicestershire People from Market Bosworth English electronic dance music DJs British progressive house musicians INCredible artists Electronic composers