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TOM HOLLISTON Biography

June 6, 2008 |

Tom Holliston is a self-taught independent rock musician and songwriter from Vancouver, B.C., who has released solo works under various names,as well as being an essential member of the Canadian punk bands NOMEANSNO and the HANSON BROTHERS. His solo work (under his own name and his band SHOW BUSINESS GIANTS) are generally humorous alternative rock songs, characterized by considerable musical variance with playful and obscure pop-culture themes. His playful sense of humor has worked constantly to shroud himself in willful obscurity, as he has diligently created press materials filled with misinformation, parody, satire and in-jokes specifically designed to give those ‘in the know’ a laugh.

Tom Holliston was born on April 21, 1960 in Victoria, Canada, into a musical family; his earliest musical memories were of Frank Crumit, John McCormack, and Pablo Casals. His older brother Robert pursued a career in classical music as an accompanist and chamber player, performing with Eugene Fodor, Richard Margison and others. Tom remained uninterested in music until a sports injury kept him away from school for a month, during which he became absorbed by the Beatles White album, leading his siblings to give him more of their music to study.

The Victoria scene was heavily inspired by the Ramones and the exuberance emergence of D.O.A. as a ‘local’ punk band, spawning countless young bands in a short period of time (including the influential NoMeansNo and Dayglo Abortions). Tom, self-taught on bass guitar, played in his first band - Pat Bay and the Malahats - in 1978, which Tom has described as ‘one of a thousand score bad punk bands’. There are mercifully no recordings known. As NoMeansno’s local and national popularity grew, Tom found himself being often mistaken for NMN guitarist Andy Kerr, who lived in the same Victoria neighborhood and looked vaguely similar; leading eventually to their meeting in 1984.

Tom became fascinated by home recording, and began work on a collection of songs that would eventually emerge in 1989 under the name of ‘Gold Love’, attributed to the Show Business Giants, nd a more developed follow-up with 1990’s The Benevolent Horn, both released on cassette only. At this time NoMeansNo decided to perform a Hallowe’en show in Vancouver as tribute to the Ramones, and asked Tom to join on guitar. ‘NoMeansNo Clones The Ramones’ was promoted with a poster of the first Ramones album cover, with happy faces pasted over those of the Ramones; the concert featured the first two Ramones albums played breathlessly in sequence. The concert received a delerious reception, planting the seeds of the Nomeansno’ side project The Hanson Brothers.

Andy Kerr and John Wright from NoMeansNo both joined Tom on the recording of 1991’s ‘I Thought It Was A Fig’ by the Show Business Giants, and both occasionally performed as part of the SBG ensemble. Concurrently NoMeansNo created a new act called ‘The Hanson Brothers’, combining the music of the Ramones with the imagery of the cult hockey movie ‘Slapshot’, appearing with D.O.A. and SNFU as part of a ‘Hockey Night at the Commodore’ concert series. Again enormously recieved, the Hanson Brothers, including ‘Tommy Hanson’ on guitar, recorded a debut album for Alternative Tentacles; and began touring hockey-mad Canada as the Hanson Brothers. Tommy’s Hanson’s bespectacled half-wit persona has become an integral part of the Hanson Brothers identity, as have his one-note guitar solos and incredible ability to drool at length.

Tom continued to record as the Show Business Giants, who now regularly included such local luminaries as guitarist/producer Scott Henderson, multi-instrumentalist Ford Pier, bassist Keith Rose, as well as NoMeansNo’s John Wright on drums. After releasing ‘Maybe It’s Just Me’ in 1993; Tom was asked by NoMeansNo to fill in the lead guitar position vacated by Andy Kerr, who had decided to retire from that band to marry and live in Europe. Tom was initially reluctant, given the enormous void created in the band by the loss of the eclectic and talented Kerr, but agreed to join the band, after receiving relentless guitar instruction from Rob Wright, first learning Kerr’s guitar parts by rote, then eventually developing into a solid contributing partner in the band.

In 1995 Virgin Records made a distribution deal with Vancouver independent label Essential Noise, which released albums by D.O.A., Hanson Brothers, and ‘Let’s Have A Talk With the Dead’ by Show BUsiness Giants. ‘Let’s Have A Talk’ was warmly received by Canadian college radio, with several tracks getting considerable rotation; however Virgin was unable to market the album (or any other Essential Noise release), outside of Canada, leading to the dissolution of the distribution agreement. However the interest generated by the album enabled the Show Business Giants to finally begin touring, leading to performances across Canada, into the United States, and some European dates. Three more Show Business Giants albums were released in the next 3 years, 1997’s Will There Be Corn, 2000’s Self-Aggrandizement Keeps Us Going, and the 2001 internet-only release ‘When Wrestling Meant Something’.

In 2002 Tom began releasing records under his own name, developing a rootsier, less punk approach. ‘Tom Holliston & His Opportunists’ was released in 2002, followed by 2003 ‘I Want You To Twist With Me’ and 2005’s excellent ‘Boy in Tub; Rabbit’. All were released independently by Holliston in North America, while being distributed overseas. by independent Smoeff records, leading to more tour dates in Europe. Future plans for Holliston include another solo album, another NOMeansNo album, and he has not ruled out the possibility of future Show Business Giants recordings; all of which is good news for his growing fan base.


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