When punk duo Slaves burst onto the scene 10 years ago, they likely had no idea that they were to accrue a crowd of devoted fans that would help catapult their alternative music into the mainstream charts. Fast-forward to 2022, and one half of the Kent pair has gone solo.
Isaac Holman, known for his forceful drum-hammering and powerfully loud vocal, released his first solo album ‘Monkey Brain’ under the name Baby Dave earlier this month, and the 12-track debut is like nothing you have heard from the Slaves frontman before.
After finding himself in the grip of mental illness, Holman moved back in with his parents and began writing music, purely as a way to help him cope. As time went on, he found himself sat on a collection of tunes, including recent singles ‘29’, ‘Gen Z Baby’ and ‘Too Shy For Tennis’.
In need of a producer, he reached out to none other than Blur frontman and Gorillaz mastermind, Damon Albarn – who he had previously worked with Slaves. As a result, 'Monkey Brain' was born.
As the album’s release date quickly approaches, Isaac Holman sat down with Clash to talk about the creative process of the record, selling out a show in his hometown and how he hopes others will find solace through his honesty.
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I wanted to first say how much I love and appreciate ‘Monkey Brain’, it’s such a compelling body of work. How are you feeling as we approach the release?
I feel good! I feel proud of myself for finally putting it out. It’s weird to think that this time last year it didn’t exist and now it’s gonna be heard by other people. I’m just itching to get it out there. I’ve spent so long listening to it alone and now I’m just ready for everyone else to hear to it.
I’m guessing it’s a totally different vibe releasing a solo project after being in a band for so long… Can you talk about the emotions that come with releasing something alone and not having the security of having a friend alongside? Is there a level of pressure?
I think there definitely is a level of pressure. All the creative decisions lie on you. Like you said, there is some kind of security or someone to lean on when you’re in a band – or in my case, one other person [Laurie Vincent]. I guess there are pros and cons to it. It is nice to have that full creative control but it’s also harder, especially as I’m the kind of person that just completely obsesses and fixates on things, so it takes longer cause I’m looking into it so much. I do think, though, I have learned a lot from working alone.
Anything in particular you have learned that you could share with us?
I learned a lot about home recording. I didn’t have any like gear or decent software so the bones of it were recorded on GarageBand. So, I guess I got pretty nifty at GarageBand!
You have bravely shared that this record was written shortly after a period where you were struggling with your mental health. How did the experience of going through mental illness incite the writing process of ‘Monkey Brain’?
The process of writing this record started whilst I was really unwell. I was living with my parents and couldn’t do much at all due to my mental health. I didn’t really know that I was making an album, I was just making tunes because it was sorting me out a bit. It wasn’t till much later, like maybe even a couple of years later, that I realised that I had a project.
It sounds like writing music is almost a form of therapy for you. Has that always been the case or was it something that came to surface when you were going through that difficult period?
I think it’s always been the case. In a way, I was surprised that I was able to make music because I was so unwell. I think that shows how strong the need to make music was for me. I have always made music, like my whole life – so I think it did become a form of therapy for me when I was struggling. It’s probably why the record has come out so honest.
This may be a loaded question, but do you feel this is something we still struggle to talk about? Especially with men where its often seldom spoken about.
Yes. Totally. For years, I bottled everything up and didn’t speak about it. I think that probably played a big part as to why I ended up having a breakdown because I never spoke about the feelings I was having. I think with this record, I have made it a mission to be totally honest and open about this stuff and encourage others to do the same. It’s not just with music either, I have taken it into all areas of my life. I just want to be open about things and maybe encourage others to do the same.
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In the press note, you said you “don’t know where the project would be if it wasn’t for Damon Albarn”, who co-produced the record. Tell us about the creative collaboration between you and Damon.
The collaboration with Damon was mad! On one hand, it was super chill but on the other – I kept kind of disassociating and thinking ‘fucking hell, this mad!’ – We had already worked with him before with Slaves, but when I found myself with all these demos and tunes, I realised I needed a producer and someone who could make it sound better, so I just took a long shot and contacted his manager. I sent the tunes to her and she sent them to him and he was up for working on it.
We honestly did everything in like two days. I was expecting him to say I had to rerecord everything because I felt it was still super rough, but he liked the sound of it. He did his own thing over the top of what I had already done and told me he liked it the way it was, which was mad to hear because I thought what I had sent was just purely demos. If it wasn’t for him saying that I probably wouldn’t have continued recording it in the same way and it wouldn’t have turned out how it has.
Stylistically there seems to be a clear disparity between what you have done in the past with Slaves. Was it a deliberate move for you to create a project that displays such a different sound? Or was it a case of just organically experimenting?
This is literally just what came out when I started working on my own. I had no plan in terms of a genre or a particular sound. With Slaves, we wanted to be a punk band, but with this project – I just wanted to see what was gonna come out. I still have no idea what genre I would call this and I’m quite happy with that.
Thinking about the recent single, ‘29’. You said there wasn’t much of a story behind this and that it was written whilst on an “uneventful” bus journey. But I’m wondering, how do you make art out of something as routine as taking the bus?
I’ve always been interested in the concept of writing a tune about something that’s quite boring. I think sometimes you can try be clever and overthink writing lyrics. But with 29, we got on the bus and I had my laptop with me so I decided to see if I could write a tune. I was just writing about things my friend was saying to me and what was going on around us. I want to keep doing stuff like that because I like writing tunes about mundane things.
‘29’ also comes with a fun video. Can I ask about the visuals for the record? Did you have any kind of vision in mind when it came to artwork and videos?
So, all the videos, bar one, were done by my friend Jude Harrison. He’s a local skater from Tunbridge Wells. He was 17 when he did all those videos! I used to see him in town with his camcorder recording all the skaters and I was too scared to ask him if he wanted to shoot a video for me. Then, I put this post up on social media saying I was looking for a local videographer and he messaged me straight away. I’m gonna get him to do more videos for this because I just love his style.
I had this plan to get a brain scan and have that as that as the artwork. I went and booked one privately, but when I was filling out the forms there was a question about symptoms. I have OCD and part of it is that I literally cannot lie, so I didn’t go through with it. Instead, I bought a monkey costume on Amazon last minute and asked my mate who is a photographer to shoot some photos – and that’s how the artwork came about.
You had a sold-out show on the day of the album’s release in your hometown of Tunbridge Wells. What’s it like having such a loyal fanbase, many of whom probably came from Slaves, respond so positively to Baby Dave?
I’m just so grateful to be able to go straight out and play busy shows. I spent years playing to no one, so to sell out a show is something I don’t take for granted. The forum at home is my favourite venue in the world. I played my first gig there when I was like 14 and it will never get old. I’m buzzing for it.
I know you have some festival appearances lined up, but will we have a tour or any more shows to look forward to?
That’s definitely the plan. I think once the album is out and people have had it for a bit, I’m gonna try set a tour up, maybe in the summer or something.
Finally, we touched on this earlier, but is there anything you hope people will take from this record, considering it highlights themes and issues others may find solace or relate to in some way?
That’s exactly it – something to relate to. Hopefully it may help someone feel less alone or encourage people to talk about things. If anything, I hope people just enjoy it and maybe forget about the shit their going through for a bit and just, yeah, enjoy the tunes.
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‘Monkey Brain’ is out now.
Words: Isabella Miller
Photo Credit: Harvey Williams-Fairley
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