Some call it fortune, others call it serendipity. Terminology aside, it really was a match made in heaven when DJ and producer Hannah Holland came into touch with multidisciplinary artist Bruce LaBruce, known for his highly political, radical, and transgressive work across film, writing, and photography. The two paired up for The Visitor, LaBruce’s latest feature film, for which Hannah has made the score.
Growing up in the underground scene of ‘90s London and debuting as a DJ in the early ‘00s, Hannah Holland knows a thing or two about queer spaces, DIY culture, and clubbing. All of these experiences inform the way she approaches her work behind the DJ booth to make an audience dance, but it has also informed her latest movie score. Interchanging ideas and references with Bruce, where they’ve merged the religious with the sexual and sweaty, Holland has made a twenty-one-songs record that is out now for everyone to listen.
Hi Hannah, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. What is the first thing you do when you wake up? And what does a ‘normal’ day in your life look like?
Hi, pleasure to speak with you too! First things first: coffee and more coffee. Most days I write morning pages, it’s a mediative practice that helps me focus intentions, sorts my thoughts out and digs deep into creative ideas. Then I walk my dog and get into the studio, where I’ll either be digging for music or working on tracks, or both. That’s usually a typical day.
You started working in the music industry in the mid-noughties in London. How do you remember the scene back then? Almost twenty years later, what do you feel has changed the most and what has remained almost untouched (if anything)?
The scene was very different in that you had a club night happening every day of the week. The biggest nights to go out were Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. No social media meant you went out to connect to your friends and community, and scenes felt more underground—you had to seek out the music! Everything was so much cheaper, generally. Those are the biggest changes I think. The spirit of raving and creativity within the queer scene has not changed, and just got stronger and stronger.
I have the impression you were sort of rebellious back then, sneaking into clubs in your teens to experience the wonders of the London night scene. What do you recall from those times? Any specific anecdote worth a highlight?
My teenage years were the mid to late ‘90s, so I got to experience jungle first time round, and legendary rave haunts like Bagleys warehouse and The Fridge. Goldie’s Metalheadz at The Blue Note was one of the most memorable nights. I used to sneak in with a fake ID, it was incredible; the most futuristic, energetic music you’ve ever heard, and the basement was like being inside a speaker. Bass in your bones, sonics in ya soul. It definitely imprinted in me an experience that influences how I want a crowd to feel. London was so amazing in the ‘90s, it felt so free and creative, nighttime was lawless and insanely hedonistic looking back.
You’ve recently participated in producing the score of Bruce LaBruce’s latest film, The Visitor. When did you meet him personally, and how did you get involved in the project?
I met Bruce briefly with my friend Plannintorock in Berlin around 2010, when they were working on a theatre show together. Then, around a year ago during the filming of The Visitor, Kurtis Lincoln, who stars in the film (and who I have worked in the studio with), suggested to Bruce about me scoring it, as they were looking for a London-based composer who worked with dance music. And one thing lead to another! I’ve known about legendary Bruce since watching the the iconic Hustler White in the late ‘90s, so it was a real honour to come on board.
His oeuvre across film, photography, and writing is often labelled as provocative, transgressive, polemic, and even radical. In what ways do you feel your work connects with Bruce’s?
I come from a very DIY, independent way of working, which allows me to really understand and riff off an artist like Bruce in a collaborative way. Coming from a pretty radical queer scene obviously makes a strong connection!
In The Visitor, LaBruce re-makes Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Teorema (1968) in his own way. Were you familiar with that film prior to engaging with Bruce’s new take on it? What were your first thoughts?
Weirdly, my friend Jonjo Jury (who I’ve collaborated on a track on the score) watched Teorema for the first time days before I spoke to Bruce about it. I had no idea it was going to be a reimagining of it. My first thoughts were, WTF, this is crazy synchronicity! And also perfect for Bruce’s work—sexy, surreal, and political.
To create the score, you paid attention to Ennio Morricone’s work for Teorema. With both films being alike but different, how would you say your score is also alike but different from Morricone’s?
The main theme throughout the film was a riff on Morricone’s atonal avant-garde and experimental original score. I took these ideas and created them in my way using synths instead of strings and modern ways of achieving ideas, resampling, effects peddles, etc. There’s a religious undertone in some of the cues; ‘catholic sex music’ was the term Bruce was using.
We certainly had some hilarious email exchanges on the notes for those ones! For example, Bruce saying, oh, and do you think it’s possible to make the track that accompanies the Jesus dildo scene more religious somehow, maybe with some choral voices or even church bells? Particularly over the ass-fucking part.
We certainly had some hilarious email exchanges on the notes for those ones! For example, Bruce saying, oh, and do you think it’s possible to make the track that accompanies the Jesus dildo scene more religious somehow, maybe with some choral voices or even church bells? Particularly over the ass-fucking part.
I’d like to delve a bit deeper into the process. It isn’t your first time producing the score for a film (you’ve previously worked on Channel 4 series Adult Material and award-winning indie feature Electrician), so what was working with Bruce like? Were you involved since the very beginning, when the film was just a concept and a storyboard, or did you jump into it a bit later?
Working with Bruce all felt really smooth and easy. We quickly established a music language and palette that worked, and luckily everything fell into place with amazing editor Judy. I came on board when eighty percent of the film had been shot; he had an unusual birthing of the film as it originally started off as an art project, not a feature film, so it really has been on this wild, organic journey.
I’ve recently watched a video of Danny Elfman breaking down some of his work making scores for Tim Burton movies. Speaking of Beetlejuice, he says that since the movie had a very small budget, the studio and the business people weren’t very worried or involved in the process and allowed them to create more freely. So I wanted to know, how free did you feel working on this project?
We also had a micro budget and I felt free to deliver what I wanted. I had lots of amazing references from Bruce, who is a total crazy film buff, and learnt about some cool scores and composers along the way, like Gil Mele and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers by Denny Zeitlin. I just ran with the ideas and created my versions, and thankfully it all felt great with the picture. Most of the club music existed already and there were tracks we could use for the film that had been made at various points over the last ten or so years. Some released and some not.
You’ve collaborated with artists like Roy Inc, Ghost Culture, Ziah Ziah, Joy Joseph, or Jonjo Jury. Why did you think it was important to include other voices?
All these artists are friends I’ve collaborated with over the years, huge talent from the queer scene, so it was fantastic to be able to use our work for this.
Among these collaborators, Josh Caffé stands out to me as you had previously worked with him on various projects, including the tracks Backroom Baby (2015), Fade to Me (2017), Black Magik Dawn (2018), and the three-way EP Pleasure Magnet (2024), including Sistrix. What is your personal and creative relationship with Josh like?
Josh and I became friends on the dance floor in East London in the early/mid ‘00s. I had just started DJing and we partied hard together at places like Secret Sundayz, Get Lost, Mulletover, and all the queer haunts like George and Dragon and my residency, Trailer Trash. Since then, we have always shared our love of music and played together around the world.
The first record we made together (Play With The Maid) was a homage to Roxy and Ride Committee, the legendary New York vocalist and producer. Our New York friends loved it so much they played it to Roxy and Louie, and we had some crazy nights out with them when we went over to New York. It was amazing and surreal to be with such heroes. Our friendship and creative relationship are one as we are always coming up with ideas!
The first record we made together (Play With The Maid) was a homage to Roxy and Ride Committee, the legendary New York vocalist and producer. Our New York friends loved it so much they played it to Roxy and Louie, and we had some crazy nights out with them when we went over to New York. It was amazing and surreal to be with such heroes. Our friendship and creative relationship are one as we are always coming up with ideas!
In what ways was working on Tweak similar and different from previous projects you had participated in together?
Tweak is a record we made after a night DJing b2b together. There was a certain moment in the night where we were like, let’s make a track like this! And went into the studio the next day and came up with Tweak. It ended up on I Love Acid compilation, and then later in The Visitor. I just love the journey of conception and then seeing where it goes.
During lockdown, Backroom Baby got played in a palace where Mozart had performed in Vienna. And Dirty Talk got played at a gay sex party recently in Melbourne, so these creations end up in a variety of wild places!
During lockdown, Backroom Baby got played in a palace where Mozart had performed in Vienna. And Dirty Talk got played at a gay sex party recently in Melbourne, so these creations end up in a variety of wild places!
After this release, what else is in store for you in the coming months?
Right now I’m working a film project with director Lydia Garnett; we’re creating a dyke cult classic art house short film that will be released with an album next year. Watch this space. I’ll be DJing at my residency Adonis, Good Room New York, ADE Amsterdam, Homobloc Manchester, and The Cause in the coming months.
And to finish, à la Letterboxd style, could you recommend us your four favourite movies?
Morvern Callar (2002) by Lynne Ramsay; Do The Right Thing (1989) by Spike Lee; Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Ford Coppola, and A Woman Under The Influence (1974) by John Cassavetes.
