Interview with Olivier Holland: The soul comes in when humans come together: Video

Jazz interview with jazz a bad musician, as if contrabassist, problematic person Olivier Holland. An interview by email in writing. 

JazzBluesNews.com: – First let’s start with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music?

Olivier Holland: – I feel that I grew up ‘twice’, especially musically, first in Germany, then in New Zealand; therefore please forgive me the long answer. First: “Herne”, a small-ish town in central / west Germany where I joined a church and picked up the guitar in my early teenage years, and bass soon after. I played in church, rock and fusion bands, then toured with a Rock’nRoll band in the late 80s, I studied jazz from 1991, first in Arnhem, Netherlands, then at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany.

Then in 2000, I left Germany and sailed to New Zealand where I arrived in late 2002. In 2004 I began teaching at the jazz dept. / University of Auckland. I still teach here since that time and am part of the NZ music scene.

JBN: – How did your sound evolve over time? What did you do to find and develop your sound?

OH: – I play upright and electric bass. Sound on either is of course a big topic. In my younger years, like most others, I simply aimed for ‘a’ good sound on both instruments and mostly focused on practicing content. As I grew up – musically – I first favored a rather low setup, on both electric and upright bass and the sound that comes with it.

From say my mid 30s onwards this changed and I raised the string action on the upright bass quite a bit. I favored a ‘punchy’ sound with warm ‘push’ at the beginning of the note, a darker, wooden center of the note. My electric bass now is strung with medium heavy strings, to bring E-bass closer to the upright bass.

In 2008 I embarked on doctoral studies (Doctor of Musical Arts) and made the development of a personal sound my research topic. The thesis title “The Personalisation of Technique on Jazz Bass” implies the optimization of playing technique, for both right and left hands, which opens the door for sound development.

JBN: – What practice routine or exercise have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical ability especially pertaining to rhythm?

OH: – One of the big outcomes from my doctoral project was the development of a right-hand pizzicato training regime. To cut a long story short: Think about drum pedagogy and how many paradiddels and patterns a good drummer has mastered. By comparison, the right hand of a bassists is rather neglected. My right-hand method begins with fine tuning the positions of the hand in relation to the strings and the instrument. It then proceeds to the aforementioned training regime that features drum-pattern-like exercises, often muting strings to sound like an actual drum. Such training of the right hand – that BTW includes odd meters – is my personal recipe for a strong rhythm and timing.

JBN: – How to prevent disparate influences from coloring what you’re doing?

OH: – I hardly use licks – pre-made ones, or from transcriptions. When I hear something interesting I try to isolate the concept behind it rather than copying what the other guy has played. This doesn’t mean I am not supporting transcription as such in my teaching; everyone is different.

JBN: – How do you prepare before your performances to help you maintain both spiritual and musical stamina?

OH: – Firstly, familiarizing myself with the music as good as possible, so the focus can be on actual music making. Secondly, an attitude to bass playing that “every note counts”, meaning to always play the best tone with the best time possible, especially when supporting others.

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JBN: – What’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

OH: – Intellect in music for me means a thorough theory foundation and a complete knowledge of compositional techniques. Soul comes in when humans come together to play it and the magic happens when a good group starts playing.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; you’re okay with giving the people what they want?

OH: – What do they want? I’d say – in the case of Gjazz5 – we play to the audience and they then find out that this IS what they want. I think music should be ‘convincing’.

JBN: – Please any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

OH: – Literally: Every gig with good musicians is special; I enjoy every note I play and get a buzz out of adding my bass notes to the band sound. But I have to say that the studio session with Gjazz5 in April 2018 was a surreal experience. Being in the same room for the first time and rehearsing with this highest-calibre band was mind-blowing. We also played a gig at the “Orange Jazz Club” in Hannover just prior to the recording and I have memories of Geoffrey Keezer poly-chording across ‘Prophet’, ‘Rhodes’ and Grand piano on my tune “For Heidi”. That gave me goose bumps.

JBN: – How can we get young people interested in jazz when most of the standard tunes are half a century old?

OH: – It’s surprising how many young people actually love the old standards. But, I feel that part of my job is to show them how to create versions that sound fresh and current, and then how to write their own music. One part of our core course work in the jazz dept. I teach is a so-called “Creative Repertoire Assessment” where students learn a tune, then create a unique arrangement of it. Anything is possible here!

JBN: – John Coltrane said that music was his spirit. How do you understand the spirit and the meaning of life?

OH: – Meaning of Life: I am a Christian and feel that, besides other things, god has chosen music for me. And I do feel that on the inside.

JBN: – If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

OH: – That gigs pay more (for everyone) than they currently do.

JBN: – Who do you find yourself listening to these days?

OH: – Kevin Field; Matt Penman; Karim Ziad; any good live gig.

JBN: – What is the message you choose to bring through your music?

OH: – Even if this sounds cheesy: ‘Love’ for people, for nature, for our world, the oceans etc.

JBN: – Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really wanna go?

OH: – Let’s say 80s …?! Spottify and digital platforms werent’ invented yet and people had more appreciation for music and live gigs.

JBN: – I have been asking you so far, now may I have a question from yourself…

OH: – I’d like to hear other artist’s stories. How are you? How are you holding up in these crazy times? Especially “How are you?” is becoming so important these days; it’s bringing people together.

JBN: – fine !!!

JBN: – So putting that all together, how are you able to harness that now?

OH: – One step at a time -per day, expect the unexpected, take each thing as it comes.

Interview by Simon Sargsyan