#held by trees

[burlveneer-music]

Held By Trees - Solace - it’s out now, the closest thing to a new Talk Talk album we’ll get now that Mark Hollis has passed on. And it’s gorgeous.

Held By Trees is a post-rock project from England, featuring the talents of Robbie McIntosh, Martin Ditcham, Simon Edwards, Eric Bibb, Tim Renwick and many more superb musicians. Inspired by Talk Talk/Mark Hollis, Pink Floyd and minimal/abstract neo-classical composures like Morton Feldman, Ryuichi Sakamoto and John Cage. 

[heldbytreesblog]

2022 was a year when several strands clicked into place in quick succession. In April, our debut album ‘Solace’ was released to very positive reviews from the music press and listeners. I called upon three of the central contributors to the album to create a live iteration of Held By Trees. I was overjoyed that Robbie McIntosh, Laurence Pendrous and Andy Panayi were up for giving it a go. All three had worked with Mark Hollis and Robbie had worked with Talk Talk as far back as 1983, and brought delightful guitar parts to most of their albums. Augmenting them and myself, Paul Beavis was Robbie’s recommendation for the drums stool. I knew of Paul from his work with Andy Fairweather-Low and the Low Riders, and was aware he’d worked with The Waterboys and Bill Wyman. He was an inspired choice, as his feel on the drums was perfect for expanding on the ideas on the album and also developing new material. Also joining the project, my dear friend James Grant on bass. James and I have been in bands together since 2003 and he is an incredibly creative and dexterous musician. He diligently learned the parts originally played by Simon Edwards and Ben Taylor on Solace, and as soon as we started to form new material, brought his usual flair to the music.

We first met on a dark and cold January evening in London, and before I had even had time to start directing anything, we had begun to interpret the pieces from Solace in an exciting way. This is what happens when professional musicians come together and lend their immense talent to music they have a sense of affinity with. By the end of the session, I was convinced that we could bring Held By Trees to a live audience.

We began to meet twice monthly, and before long had worked out how to play most of Solace. I had some new ideas and a concept for a record; a suite of music that would soundtrack the transition from daylight to night time; taking in the changing mood of evening. This group of pieces includes an instrumental version of a song James and I had developed in Bosh, one of our previous bands; ‘Grow Dark’.

With Bill, our enthusiastic manager, we had a champion who was talking about us to his many contacts in the music world. Before we had even played our first gig, we had an offer on the table from an American company called Inner Sleeve, an online record store. They wanted to try their hand at being a record label. They asked us to submit some ideas as to how we could record a ‘live studio album’ for them. I came up with various solutions, from cheap and cheerful, to high-end expensive. To my astonishment, they went with the plan to record at Peter Gabriel’s world-renowned Real World Studios, and have the resulting recordings mixed once again by Phill Brown. Two days were booked in the November of 2022, just a week after our first run of gigs came to a close.

We rehearsed and developed the new music through the spring and summer whilst Solace continued to get great reviews. It truly felt like momentum was building for Held By Trees in a way I’d never known in any of my previous projects.

October came and our first gig at The Half Moon in Putney, London was upon us. It was the right choice of venue - well respected for hosting some of the world’s greatest bands and musicians. Tickets sold well, and we had a full room to play to. The performance was extremely gratifying, as all our hard work paid off. We were joined by Gary Alesbrook on trumpet, who had played so beautifully on Solace, and a young saxophonist named Daniel Newberry. The audience were utterly delightful and I came off the stage feeling very happy. As I was leaving, I went to say ‘see you tomorrow’ to Laurence, and saw he was talking to a young chap who looked familiar somehow. Knowing that Laurence had taught Mark Hollis’ two sons piano back in the 90s, I started to wonder, but couldn’t possibly believe… until… ‘Dave, this is Charlie Hollis’. I nearly fell over. Mark’s family are rightly very private and don’t owe anyone anything. I never knew they were even aware of Held By Trees. Charlie had simply seen that Laurence was musically active again and had been intrigued by what we were doing. He bought himself and a friend a ticket and came to the concert. It was the icing on the cake to meet him and he kindly gave me his email address. I was blown away that my humble project that was openly a homage to Mark and his music had connected to his family. It felt like such a gift of affirmation for us all.

The next night we were in what we consider our hometown; Bournemouth. It’s not a town spoiled for choice when it comes to live music venues, so I had elected to host the gig at one of the churches where I work as a family minister. It turned out to be a good decision as we were able to bring in a great sound system, courtesy of our amazing soundman, Dave Wynn, who had joined the team - another of Robbie’s brilliant suggestions. We also had lights provided by one of our parishioners, a wonderful man named Martin Jennings. The show was a step-up from the night before, as we were all buoyed up by the feeling that we could indeed play well together live.

Next up was a trip to Bristol, a city where Bosh had made its debut performance way back in 1999. There were many friends and family in the audience that night and it felt like a futile ground for Held By Trees.

Hot off the back of these successful first performances, we arrived at Real World and set up in the ‘big room’. I was giddy with excitement as it felt like we had truly stepped into a new level as a band. The first day was spent tracking live versions of pieces from Solace, and the second day was entirely given to tracking the new compositions. Our American label partners Brian and Dan had flown in to attend the sessions and we had an absolute ball hanging out in the hallowed spaces of Real World. We actually only had three pieces of music going into the session for ‘Eventide’. On the day itself I felt we had time to complete the suit if we could come up with something to represent full daylight, and something to represent the time after the sun has set but it isn’t yet dark (known as the blue hour). The band were up for improvising and we discussed a vibe and some chord progressions and hit record. The tracks ‘Pure Sunlight’ and ‘The Blue Hour’ were essentially improvised on the day, with Laurence coming up with a brilliant chord progression to take us between two keys on The Blue Hour. It was flying by the seat of our pants, but we ended the two days with 10 different pieces tracked, some with multiple takes.

While we were there it was thrilling to learn Peter Gabriel himself was on site, finishing off his new album (which would be released the following year, the brilliant album I/O). We managed to get word to him that we’d like to say hello. Eventually, after most of the band and team had gone, Peter came down and generously spend most of an hour hanging out with James, myself and our photographer friend Nick Rutter who had been hired to document the sessions. It was an extraordinary moment for us as the three of us are genuinely huge admirers of his work. He was absolutely delightful to talk to and was very encouraging. He received a vinyl and CD copy of Solace and I was able to tell him how much some of his music and lyrics meant to me. James and I drove home walking on air. An unforgettable few days!

2022 closed out with going through the different takes from the Real World and preparing them for Phill Brown to mix. Looking back on that year, it felt as if the wind was in our sales and everything I had hoped for came together. Solace made several ‘album of the year’ lists in the music press and music blogs online. The Talk Talk fan community online had really understood the heart of the project and I am so grateful for their acceptance. It was a risky thing to do in many ways, because to go anywhere near their legacy intentionally or otherwise is to walk on a kind of musical sacred ground. The music was received in the same spirit in which it was made, which has given me confidence that you can load music with intention and it can be welcomed with it meeting its goal. I want to thank the delightful folk who spent their money on the album or coming to our shows. Without you, it would’ve been a passion project that would probably have been quickly overwhelmed and drowned out.

[quinncesar69]

For those of you who like Talk Talk / Mark Hollis...this should be right up your street

[ramblinman]

Solace, by Held By Trees. Album cover art by James Marsh.

[burlveneer-music]

Held By Trees - In the Trees - instrumental group with Talk Talk alumni, and yes it has THAT SOUND! Full album coming soon

Debut single from new post-rock project Held By Trees.

David Joseph - Piano, Electric Guitar, Baritone Acoustic Robbie McIntosh - Dobro Guitar Martin Ditcham - Drums & Percussion Ben Taylor - Double Bass Andreas Panayi - Flute & Clarinet Laurence Pendrous - Harmonium Chris Mears - Bowed Guitars

[adrianoesteves]

[adrianoesteves]