Mark Holmes doesn’t want to grow up.
Ever.
It would ruin his cred.
“It’s not my style,” said the lead singer of Platinum Blonde.
“I like to be about what’s next, what’s out there…. When it comes to artists and adulthood, it’s not good for any artist to take things seriously because your art suffers. I’m definitely not one of them and I think that’s helped my music for so long.”
The Canadian icon with English roots spoke with the Tri-City News last week in advance of Platinum Blonde’s show on July 2 as part of the Golden Spike Days Festival.
The image-conscious band that’s known for such hits as “Crying Over You,” “Situation Critical” and “Doesn’t Really Matter” headlines the third day of the free celebrations at Rocky Point Park. The festival is sponsored in part by the Tri-City News.
The Port Moody concert is one of only two events that band will play this year, Holmes said, making good on a promise to perform at the festival it had previously booked for during a pandemic year.
“I’m glad we’re doing this show,” Holmes said, “because it’s really been a long time since we played live. People are happy to be out again.”
He added, “It’s best for me to fulfill the obligations for the fans. They’re our life support system, and the last thing I’m going to do is to miss a show.”
Holmes said the Port Moody crowd will hear “all the usual hits,” as well as some new pieces he composed during the COVID-19 pandemic — one of which touches on another health concern in Canada: opioid addiction.
In his new single, he describes a friend who was at the top of her game, with a successful work and family life when she got in a cycling accident and became depended on the drug for pain relief. Right after she was released from rehab, she went back to the streets and never came home.
Holmes said he feels honoured to have recorded the song at Phase One Studios — one of the oldest recording centres in Canada — before it closed.
“The next day, everything was gone,” Holmes said. “It was fortuitous that we were the last band to record something in there, and something so meaningful.”
He said the single is Platinum Blonde’s first since 2012, when it released a 12-track album called Now & Never. That, as well as Crystal Castles’ remix, helped to bring the international spotlight back on Platinum Blonde.
“It’s so great when people get to hear music in their youth and the kids have rediscovered it,” Holmes said.
Still, he’s not overly pleased with what he’s hearing on the radio or streaming these days. Back in the 80s, he said, there was more diversity in the Top 5 positions; now, “all the bands sound the same. But that could change.”
As for his next steps, Holmes hopes to record an album with material he wrote during the pandemic.
“Right now, I like what life brings me,” he said. “And I am very grateful for having such a wild ride in this industry.”
Platinum Blonde hits the PCT Performance Stage at Rocky Point Park (2800-block of Murray Street) in Port Moody on July 2 at around 8:30 p.m. For the Golden Spike Days lineup, go to goldenspike.ca.
