Mulholland Jive is the brainchild of Irish musician Ben Mulholland, a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Cambridge. Featuring a nine-person rotating roster of some of the most talented musicians around, ‘Thunderfunk’ is the group’s latest offering, and it’s an EP unlike any I’ve heard in some time. Funky, jazzy, rocky, and deeply eclectic, it genuinely blew me away!
Interested to learn more about Ben and his musical background, I was stoked when he agreed to an interview! Chatting with us about the creation of ‘Thunderfunk’, his love for artists like Bob Dylan, Matt Bellamy, and Jack White, and the upcoming EP launch gig at The Spice Of Life in London, please welcome our new friend Ben Mulholland!
Hi Ben, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us! Let’s kick things off with an easy one…Who is Ben Mulholland and when did your love affair with music begin?
Hello! I’m an Irish-born, Cambridge-based pianist and composer who spends his days helping teenagers make noise (I’m a secondary school music teacher). I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t obsessed with music – I started having piano lessons when I was 7, but I was making up my own tunes and working out how to play songs I heard on the radio long before that! As I grew up, music went from a casual hobby to a full-on obsession. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone when I ended up having a career in music!
I’ve been extremely fortunate to have gotten a sneak peek at your brand new EP ‘Thunderfunk’, and it’s a record that I’ve fallen deeply in love with! It’s one of the most eclectic and interesting offerings I’ve heard recently! Is there an overall theme to the EP or does each song stand on its own?
Thank you, that’s so lovely, glad you like it! I try to make each tune I write unique and hope that they each tell their own story. In saying that, there is definitely an OTT-melodramatic-end-of-the-world vibe that runs through Mulholland Jive tunes! Subtle they are not!
‘Thunderfunk’ is a word I made up that I thought perfectly describes the sound of Mulholland Jive! Making instrumental music can sometimes be a bit of a hard sell. Some people wrongly presume that instrumental means boring or – heaven forbid! – classical. These same people are always pleasantly surprised after listening to Mulholland Jive. Hopefully the 5 tracks on ‘Thunderfunk’ prove that instrumental music can be just as engaging and awesome as any song (even without a chorus you can sing along to!)
I imagine that working with a nine-piece band of rotating artists brings with it some challenges. Could you tell us about the positives and potential negatives of working in such an environment?
Trying to fit us all on the stage can be a challenge! I’m very fortunate to work with absolutely outstanding musicians, all of whom bring something different to the mix. They give me invaluable feedback on things I’ve written. It’s great having someone who is an expert on their instrument telling me what works, what could be tweaked, and what is physically impossible (I once wrote a drum part that I was later informed would require a drummer with at least four arms in order to play it!)
Who are some of your biggest musical influences? Who did you grow up listening to? And would you say that your tastes have changed over the years?
A real melting pot of influences, which probably explains why Mulholland Jive tunes can be so eclectic! Bob Dylan is my absolute idol. I grew up listening to him from a very early age due to my parents always playing his music. My admiration for (or, more accurately, my obsession with) him has only grown as I’ve got older.
Aside from Bob, I’ve always been interested in jazz. This has evolved into a love for bands and artists such as Snarky Puppy, Vulfpeck, Jacob Collier and GoGo Penguin. I have a lot of time for the bands Muse and The White Stripes (Matt Bellamy and Jack White are actual Gods!) and I love Bon Iver too. Chopin and Rachmaninoff make me want to be a better pianist. I also think Taylor Swift is one of the greatest songwriters of modern times…and I will die on that hill!
Now, I know this is a toughie, and possibly like asking you to pick a favourite child, but which tune of yours are you most proud of to date, and why?
They’re all genuinely my favourites! They’ve each got so many special memories attached to them from performances, recording sessions, rehearsals and writing them. ‘Levitate’ stands out as one of the early ones that people latched on to and it got nominated for a bunch of awards which was lovely and unexpected. ‘Beast Mode’ (from the new EP!) got a lot of attention from BBC Introducing, Fresh On The Net and the New Music Generator which was great. And ‘Adrenaline Junkie’ is just a solid bop that people seem to enjoy hearing as much as I enjoy playing!
When you’re not creating music, what keeps you busy and happy? Walk us through a non-musical day in the life of Ben Mulholland.
Being a music teacher means I have very few non-musical days, but on the rare occasions I do, my 6-year-old keeps me pretty busy! She’s started playing the drums so even my non-musical days end up being musical. Maybe one day she’ll join Mulholland Jive!
If you were given the chance to collaborate with any musician or band, who would you choose?
Bob Dylan would be number 1 – obviously! It would be immense to jam with Snarky Puppy or do some ridiculously OTT space rock with Muse. If Taylor Swift ever wants to make a funk-jazz-rock album then I’m 100% up for that!
Ben, it’s been an absolute pleasure! Thanks again for taking the time! Now that ‘Thunderfunk’ is out in the world, what do you have planned next?
Thanks so much for having me! Next up is the EP launch gig at The Spice Of Life in London on 24th July. Playing all of ‘Thunderfunk’ plus all the Mulholland Jive favourites. It’s going to be epic, I can’t wait!
Tickets are available here
You should come!
