Meet Bren Holmes | musician/singer songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bren Holmes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bren, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I’d been very fortunate to have been a professional musician most of my life and when not doing that, I’m a photographer. So music has always been a work/life experience for me right down the middle. They say “do what you love, and you’ll never work day in your life”. Well let me tell you that there’s some truth to that, but in reality there’s a lot of work you have to put in to try make a living as an artist. I’m mainly talking about taking on various part time jobs to support my music habit, especially when things are slow gig wise. Since leaving my old band of 28 years, 4 years ago to pursue a solo career, it’s been a slow upward battle to say the least. So the balance has changed for sure but I’m hoping that I can become a full time musician again in the not too distant future. Either way, the drive to create new music and perform will always be a driving force within me…

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I was an original member/ bass player in an Irish rock band called ‘The Young Dubliners’ for almost 30 yrs. I was very fortunate to have toured the world with many big name acts. We ended up releasing 9 albums in total. Like most artists, success was not overnight and it took a lot of work and sacrifice to achieve any status and respect within the industry. Constant touring/playing shows to nobody/losing sleep/ crappy money were a daily thing…well we sure put in our 10.000 hours and more to attain some success.
After leaving my band 4 years ago (then covid hit) I’ve been trying to get my solo career off the ground. The industry has sure changed over the years and now you have to approach things from a different angle and be clever to gain any recognition. I hope to let the world hear my music and to entertain people, that and try put a few smiles on faces…

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Because I live in the Los Feliz area of LA, I’d be taking them to Griffith Park for one, here we have over 4000 acres of hiking and outdoor activities plus the Griffith Observatory! I’d be taking them down to Thai town which is a mile from my house, here they’d have to choose from over 100 restaurants in the area. I’d definitely be taking them to do a pub crawl around some of Hollywoods landmark bars…including The Frolic room, Burgundy room and Musso and Frank grill to name a few. To top things off we’d stop by the Dresden Room in Los Feliz village.

You have to do mexican food/tacos when you come to LA and there’s just too may to list but a few favs are Tu madre, Yuca’s and Home State. Hollywood bowl or the Greek Theater are great venues for live concerts too!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Gian Sardar

Website: www.brendopix.com (photography). www.brenholmesmusic (in progress)

Instagram: brenholmesmusic

Twitter: brenholmesmusic

Facebook: brenholmes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brenholmesmusic

Image Credits
Paul Carr, Michael Jacobson, David Gwennap