NoMeansNo

Tom Holliston is no stranger to the road. Touring heavily with the likes of NoMeansNo and The Hanson Brothers, Holliston also takes any spare time he has to work on his solo project. He just completed a Canadian tour in support of his latest album, Rotherhithe, and shows no signs of slowing down.

At the tail of his tour, Steven Farkas sent him a few questions over email to see what the left-handed guitarist had been up. Read on to find out.

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Q. You’ve just wrapped up a series of shows across Western Canada, how did that go?

A: Very well, thank you. Most of the shows were really good.

Q. Along with some major cities you also played some much smaller places this time around, was that a deliberate choice?

A: Yes; quite often the turnout is better when one gets off the beaten path. People are less blase in smaller towns.

Q. How did it feel to be back onstage on your own for the first time since 2008?

A: Nerve wracking at first but I got past that quickly…some places I played there was no stage!

Q. You’re working on your 5th solo album, did you use this tour to showcase new material on the audience?

A: I am writing/working on another solo effort. I’ll get around to recording it sometime next year. I have a specific locale in mind but not 100% set on it. I played 4 new tunes each night. Quite a few people out there were not familiar with my stuff so anything I played was new to them.

Q. Do you find audiences requesting NMN or Hanson tracks at your shows? And if so, do you have a particular method for dealing with ‘hecklers’?

A: No one asked for a Hansons or NMN tune. Some guys asked me if I had any NMN t shirts and I said no, I was playing solo this time around and he may have understood. Hecklers….first thing you want to do is see how much bigger than you they are and take it from there. Most people do not display a great passion for music and thus one is often pressed to play over the noise volumn created by a large amount of people talking about thier hair or what they did last weekend. This is a shame as it can spoil things a little for those who actually come to a venue to specifically listen to music that is proferred without a recognizable percussive device.

Q. I read that you planned to sit for these recent shows, were there any gigs that managed to get you out of your seat?

A: I sat through them all. In Kimberley, BC I left the stage with my guitar and sat at a table occupied by a trio of tools who had set themselves right down in front and were talking very loudly.

Q. You mentioned in a previous interview that you are terrible at remembering your own lyrics? Any forgetful moments on stage during this latest tour?

A: Every night! Plenty of malapropisms, spoonerisms…Just say, oh yeah, baby in a quivering vibrato and one will get by.

Q. Your last solo record  Rotherhithe contained a cover of the theme to the Black Klansmen film. Where did the idea for that come from?

A: Years ago Biafra gave me a tape with some interesting music on it; I was enthralled by the Black Klansman song and tried, with no success, to convince the Show Biz Giants to play it. I ended up changing the arrangement around – getting rid of guitars and, instead, playing three bass tracks.

Q. On this tour you offered fans a personalised mix tape from your own collection. Thats a cool idea, how did that go down at the shows?

A: Very well! I started at home with AC/DC and worked my way through the alphabet, recording one song from everything I own: 45’s, CD’s, cassettes and LP’s. Someone out there got an awful lot of Paul Lewis’ complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas but no one complained.

Q. And why cassettes only? People of a certain age will not even have a way to play them!

A: People watch films about dinosaurs and never pass one on the street. If someone does not know what a cassette tape is or has no means to play it then so be it.

Q. Speaking of people of a certain age, what is the diversity of the audience like at your solo shows? Do you get longtime NMN and Hanson fans bringing their kids now?

A; All ages. No particular age group at all.

Q. I’m based overseas so was pleased to hear you have plans for some European solo shows next year – will that include a trip to the UK?

A: I really hope to visit the UK solo. I am not sure when I will be over but it WILL be in 2014. Rob and John tend not to reply to questions about future plans some times so I am going to go ahead and get something sorted out soon.

Q. I understand you prefer baseball over hockey. Does that mean we can expect you to form a new side project based on America’s past time? Maybe based on characters from a famous baseball movie? The Bull Durhams maybe? Or The WC Fields of Dreams?

A: I have no interest in the NHL at all. I like the sport of ice hockey. One has only so much time and so I choose to follow one sport which is baseball. Over time my interest in all sport has waned considerably. I do not have cable television and I have zero interest in TV anyway. I can not stand tv sports with all the inane advertising attendant to them. This past summer in Minnesota I went to lots of local, town ball games. Much preferable to large stadiums vending over priced beverages and hot dogs, generating huge piles of garbage. My wife and I enjoyed many lovely summer evenings watching local guys play ball. One can HEAR the sounds of the game this way.

Q. Have you ever watched Cricket? I’ve been in the UK for 12 years and I still can’t get my head around a game that lasts 5 days and has breaks for tea.

A: I have never sat down and watched the game, no.

Q. How does the writing process differ from NMN to being on your own? Do you find stuff that comes out of NMN sessions kind of works better as a solo track?

A: I can’t really answer that question as there is no one way it works.

Q. Is there any particular theme or style you’d like to incorporate into your next record?

A: I have some ideas but I am going to wait on them until I can figure out exactly where and when and with whom I would record.

Q. Finally, whats next for you?

A: I have to pee.