Interview with Mulholland Jive: ‘If Muse ever asked me to go on tour with them, I’d die happy’

Cambridge-based funk rock instrumental band Mulholland Jive brought out their EP Intergalactic earlier this month, a magical musical journey through the world of sci-fi.

Mulholland Jive’s sound can best be described as very piano heavy, with a healthy dose of synths, sax and guitars thrown in, which seems fitting seeing that the man behind it, Irish multi-instrumentalist and composer Ben Mulholland, is also a music teacher. The name is a play on words on both his surname and the David Lynch film, Mulholland Drive: ‘It’s an amazing film. The more I watch it, the more confused I get!’ he said.

The five tracks on Intergalactic represent a hot pot of his influences, from the bombastic and riff-heavy sound of Muse and The White Stripes to the energetic and ‘jam band’ sound of Snarky Puppy and Vulfpeck and play homage to his love of all things sci-fi: ‘I’m a bit of a geek with sci-fi, I LOVE Star Wars. I wanted the artwork tied into this space thing. One of my students said my music is “out of this world” and I loved that. I want to write a song called ‘I Love Darth Vader’!’ The opening track, ‘Hyperspace’, kicks off the EP and sets the tone for what’s to come, an energetic amalgamation of piano, horns, drums, synths and guitars. It’s also a reference to Stars Wars and its intro would not be out of place during a lightsaber duel, before the jazzy piano and synths come in.

Another track is called ‘Adrenaline Junkie’ so I ask him if he is one and he laughs: ‘I’d like to think I am one but probably I’m not much of one at all! The track is so fast paced and intricate.’ It’s probably the most dramatic track on the EP, it makes you want to dance around energetically. ‘A student says it sounds playing Perfect Run on Mario Kart!’ He was aiming to encapsulate the sound of adrenaline running through the veins and it’s a bit of a wild ride for the instruments involved due to a number of devilishly demanding parts throughout.

‘You need to geek out when you play it, I tell them!’

He teaches music in Cambourne, just outside Cambridge, to secondary school students aged 13 to 16 and wrote these pieces for them as part of a school project: ‘The kids wanted something a bit different. Funkasaurus Flex was then first one I wrote for them and every couple of months I’d give them a new one. I had the idea that if the kids liked it, we could turn it into a regular thing. The kids knew it was going to be a geeky thing. You need to geek out when you play it, I tell them!’

Mulholland gives his students a lot of creative freedom: ‘Sometimes, they discuss how I compose a piece and they’d like to do with it when they play it.’

Another track, ‘Kryptonite’, is, as you would expect, a reference to Superman and I ask him if he’s a big fan: ‘Not as big a fan as of Star Wars but there’ll be plenty more where that’s from!’ It’s certainly one of the most melodramatic tracks and sounds as if it should be soundtracking a massive explosion in a film, climaxing with a blistering guitar solo. Mulholland says he has several other pieces in the works, which he would like to turn into a full-length album.

One of his favourite bands is Muse, who I also love: ‘I love songs like ‘New Born’ and ‘Plug in Baby’. They’re one of those bands I’ve seen live a couple of times and they’re better every time. Matt Bellamy is a god, it’s what you were just saying about how he moves from classical to rock so seamlessly. My students know that if they want to ge me off topic, they’ll mention Muse or Star Wars, they’ll say “Sir, what do you think of the latest Muse album?,’ he said laughing. He’s also a huge fan of  Snarky Puppy, an American instrumental ensemble led by bassist Michael League, which blends jazz, rock, world music and funk. His singer to watch is local songwriter Louise Harris, who sings ‘Dating me is like a Cambridge term’: ‘I did a piano cover of it and she posted a TikTok of it. She’s definitely going places.’ He also recommends local rock band Tom Lumley & The Brave Liaison: ‘They play very lively rock stuff, they’re really good.’ Mulholland sounds wistful and I realise that he’s never been able to perform his new EP other than at school. ‘It would be amazing to play a gig, to perform this stuff,’ he said.

I ask him who he’d most like to tour with, although I’m pretty sure what he’s going to say: ‘If Muse ever asked me to go on tour with them, I’d die happy. Or Bob Dylan, if he’s asking, why not?!’ He’s mulling which TV show he’d like to hear his music on: ‘Can I give you two answers? The geek in me says ‘Kryptonite’ or ‘Hyperspace’ in an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, when she’s jumping off a building or something cool! I’d love to hear ‘Levitate’ soundtrack something dramatic happening in The West Wing!’