Mark Hollis (musician)

Mark David Hollis (born 4 January 1955) is an English former musician and singer-songwriter. He achieved commercial success in the 1980s as a singer with the synthpop/post-rock band Talk Talk, but retired from the music industry shortly after releasing his 1998 solo debut album.

Early career

Hollis was born in Tottenham, London. The younger brother of Ed Hollis, a disc jockey and producer who went on to manage bands such as Eddie and the Hot Rods, Mark Hollis moved to Muswell High at the age of 18, and originally planned to become a child psychologist but in 1975 left university to relocate to London, but as he says "It was really boring. I thought when I decided to do it, that would be a fascinating subject to learn, most of the stuff didn't really measured up to what I hoped for. To be quiet honest they might, they might used a lot of long words, but all adds up to pain common sense. So I decided to leave and get a job! Because although I'd gone in for a bit of an academic life, I really wanted to be in a group!" After that he went to work as a laboratory technician, which he found was equally boring. "I could never wait to get home and start writing songs and lyrics" he says "All day long I'd be joining ideas down on bits of paper and just waiting for the moment when I could put it all down and tape!" He had a good incentive in his older brother "He'd managed pop groups and I watched at work and it all very exciting. Especially when I got to go the theatres where the groups were playing and I managed to meet them and talk to them about the pop business. I was determinated it was all I wanted to really do!" And then it was when he eventually formed a band called The Reaction. In 1977, The Reaction recorded a demo for Island Records; among the tracks was a Hollis original titled "Talk Talk Talk" which later surfaced on the Beggars Banquet punk compilation Streets. After just one single, 1978's "I Can't Resist," The Reaction disbanded, and through his brother, Hollis was first introduced to musicians Paul Webb, Lee Harris and Simon Brenner, with whom he formed Talk Talk in 1981, soon signing to the EMI label.

Talk Talk

Hollis is most famous as the lead singer and primary songwriter of the band Talk Talk, and was praised for his "always remarkable voice." It was he, along with unofficial Talk Talk member Tim Friese-Greene, who took the lead in evolving the band's style from New Romantic into what would later become known as post-rock.

Solo work

In 1998, he released an eponymous solo debut album, Mark Hollis, and participated in occasional musical projects, including playing melodica and bass guitar on Anja Garbarek's 2001 album Smiling & Waving, as well as producing it. He has now retired from the music industry. He has stated about his decision to retire from performing, "I choose for my family. Maybe others are capable of doing it, but I can't go on tour and be a good dad at the same time." Despite Hollis's absence from the public eye, he (as well as Talk Talk) continue to be mentioned in the press, inside Britain and outside, often as an example of an artist who refused to sacrifice his artistic ambition to commercial success and as a yardstick for current artists.

In 2004, Hollis resurfaced briefly to receive a Broadcast Music Inc. Award for having written "It's My Life". His withdrawal from the public continues to fascinate music critics. By the time his solo album was released Hollis had moved back from the countryside to London, to provide his two sons with a more cosmopolitan environment.

In 2012, a piece of specially commissioned music, entitled "ARB Section 1", was used in the television series Boss.

• Mark Hollis (1998)

• Hollis played the solo track 'Piano' from the 1998 minimalist album AV 1, by Phill Brown and Dave Allinson, under the pseudonym John Cope, which was later included on the 2001 Talk Talk compilation album Missing Pieces.
• Hollis played piano on and co-wrote the track "Chaos" on the 1998 trip hop album Psyence Fiction by Unkle (he later asked for his name to be removed from the album credits).
• Hollis produced, arranged one track ("The Gown") and produced and arranged another ("Big Mouth") on Anja Garbarek's 2001 album Smiling & Waving.