Music Not Diving with Scuba #015 James Holden on playing live, coding swing, and what he really thinks of nightclubs
Jun 24, 2025
James Holden, UK electronic musician, producer and coder behind Border Community, talks live-improvised shows, moving away from DJ culture, and building tools like a Max for Live ‘humanizer’. He describes making dance without strict beats, collaborating with Wacław Zimpel, and the thrill and risk of real-time performance. Short, candid, and full of technical curiosity.
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Leaving DJ Booth After A Missing Record Bag
- James Holden describes quitting DJing after realising he no longer wanted to play Panorama Bar and felt like a fraud if not fully committed.
- He recounts leaving his record bag at home before Panorama Bar as a subconscious sign to stop, prompting a pivot to live performance.
Human Timing Preserves Live Musical Conversation
- Holden built a humanized timing plugin to preserve the push-and-pull interaction of live players rather than rigid quantized timing.
- The plugin listens to parts and shifts timing relative to each other, reproducing the iterative compensations musicians make in real time.
Chaos Generates Detail Better Than Virtuosity
- Holden argues virtuosic perfection isn't inherently valuable; building systems that generate detail from chaos yields more honest musical results.
- He contrasts hyper-edited classical recording culture with his preference for moments and imperfections.