After their first visit to New York not many people say they want to go back, take some acid, hit the city’s hairiest streets and record some of the crazy people they’ve seen. But, not many people are deejay, producer & movie composer David Holmes. It was the start of one of his many musical careers.

Ibiza Unlocked is providing a rare opportunity to catch this unpredictable talent behind the decks. David plays Pikes tomorrow (Wednesday 25 September) and Hostal La Torre on Thursday (Last time he was in Ibiza was to deejay for Michael Fassbender’s private wedding party.) This time he promises three very different sets: at Pikes poolside from 9.30 pm, then in Freddies at midnight before finishing at Hostal La Torre at sunset.

Those risky recordings from the streets of New York were early steps on his road to Hollywood. Other music producers sampled Hollywood movie dialogue. David used his own recordings to create ‘Let’s Get Killed’, an album that’s so cinematic in scope that it grabbed the attention of director Steven Soderbergh who asked David to compose the music for the George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez blockbuster ‘Out of Sight’.

Although you wouldn’t guess it from his calm demeanour today, this must-have felt a huge step for the musician who’d got his first break aged 15 when he stepped in for the absent deejay at the Abercorn in his home town of Belfast. David had grown up in the war-torn city, the youngest of ten, at the height of the Troubles.

The breadth of his musical tastes is as big as his family. Each had their own passion, for one sister it was The Beatles, for his mother, film scores. Two brothers and an uncle in Chicago gave him access to the latest in house music. David’s own passion was for punk, but his love was always for the new and the different.

That’s reflected in his career which includes recordings which encompass just about every style of music, producing albums for the likes of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and creating scores for television and film ranging from art house to blockbusters such as ‘Oceans 11’.

‘I always wanted to express myself in many different ways, which is why I never really repeat myself,’ he tells Ibiza Unlocked’s Howard Boyle in a podcast. On the recording, you can also hear more about his latest project as the producer of the new film ‘Ordinary Love’ which is already seeing co-stars Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville being tipped for Oscar glory.

So what can we expect from David Holmes at Pikes and Hostal La Torre? Poolside he promises a set of downtempo, cinematic and unclassifiable in keeping with the hotel’s magical surroundings. Later as he moves inside to Freddies it’ll become more colourful, dynamic and sexy combining sounds from across the world. ‘It’ll be music in full technicolour,’ he says on the podcast.

Hostal La Torre will be his first time playing the Ibiza sunset. His excitement is palpable. ‘I’ve compiled a playlist,’ he says, ‘I think I’ve got 12 hours of music and I’m only playing for three hours. I’ve just got so many amazing soundtracks.’

You’ll have to be there to find out what David has in store. He plays Pikes on 25 September from 9.30 pm and Hostal La Torre at sunset on 26th September.
His Ibiza Unlocked podcast is available here.