brighton – Page 6 – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Martha Tilston, A Musical Goddess

Illustration by Emma Block

From student life to Vogue fame in one action packed year, here Daisy Knights’ creations have already been snapped up by our most loved style icons and proved that ethically responsible jewellery can still be achingly cool.

Splitting her time between the simple life in the countryside and the rush of her production process, Daisy tells us a little bit more about the passion and inspiration behind her jewellery collections and what the future holds for this wonderfully British label.

Your collection has taken off at incredible speed, how does that feel?
It’s great, I’m so happy that people want to buy and wear my designs! I saw my bracelets in Vogue this month and had a moment of “wow, this time last year, I was at university and now my jewellery is in Vogue!”

Illustration by Holly Trill

Two of your pieces, the Oxidised Feather ring and the 22 Karat Skull ring have recently been worn by Daisy Lowe and Alexa Chung, two of the UK’s biggest style icons. Did they approach you personally or was it just a wonderful surprise?
Well, we share the same publicist who made them aware of my pieces and happily, they seemed to love them!

Which inspirations lie behind your jewellery designs?
Every collection is named after a friend and I use them as a muse for that collection. I aim to embody that person in the collection, My new one is Talullah, after my friend Tallulah Harlech.

You pride yourself on having an ethically responsible ethos throughout your collection, is this something you have always had a strong belief in?
My workshop is in Britain and even my pouches are made here. I really try to be responsible but it’s not possible yet to get everything transparent sourced, which is what I hope for one day! There are so many grey areas within the industry in regards to where things come from. Keeping things in Britain means I know every person working for me, I know exactly how things are made and every person in my workshop is a highly skilled craftsman/woman. It means that my prices are higher than if I used a factory in India or China but I think the kind of people who buy my jewellery respect that it is very high quality and British made.

Illustration by Matilde Sazio

Each one of your pieces is hand made from recycled materials, which is becoming increasingly popular in a society where everything seems so disposable. Is this something you aim to maintain and something you think your buyers appreciate above anything else?
I don’t want the main aspect of my jewellery to be that it is recycled. For my brand, it’s about the design and the recycled silver is just a plus! Not every piece is recycled silver but the majority is. For example, the chain is not recycled because it’s not possible to obtain. I would love my jewellery to be made from ethically mined silver rather than recycled but right now, not enough is produced and I’m not even sure it is possible yet, so right now recycled is better than nothing. I do hope, however, for it to be ethically mined silver one day in the future. My fine jewellery and bespoke engagement rings are ethically mined gold and diamonds.

You personally make one of your designs, the Studded Wrap Around ring, at your home workshop away from production, is there any particular reason as to why you chose this one to work on alone?
I don’t ever want to be separated from the making process and this is a very popular piece so it’s nice to feel involved. I also make the Michelle stacking rings and a few others. It keeps my skills up for when I make engagement rings and bespoke pieces! I hate being away from the bench and I’m constantly making new samples for collections or adding pieces to existing ones.

Illustration by Cat Palairet

Are there any designers out there that you would compare yourself and your work to?
At this early stage in my career, (I only graduated from Central Saint Martins last year) I’m not sure I could compare myself to anyone yet! However, my favourite designer is Matthew Williamson and I like to think my jewellery matches his clothing quite well!

Which of your pieces are you the most fond of?
My favourite piece has to be the new skull ring that I’ve done in an exclusive collection for Urban Outfitters… it’s not out yet though so you will have to wait and see!

What do you get up to in the spare time that you have away from designing?
I live in the Cotswolds and I love going for country walks with my boyfriend and our dog, Ace Ventura Pet Detective (Ace for short). There’s a great pub in my village called the Falcon Inn which serves amazing locally sourced food and I love sitting by the fire there. I also love to sail and surf and when my boyfriend is back from work (he’s a pilot in the RAF) we go on surf trips together. I also love going to the British Museum and the V&A.

What does the future hold for Daisy Knights?
Well hopefully it holds a long and happy career. But for the immediate future keep your eyes peeled for my new Spring/Summer collection…

Illustration by Emma Block

From student life to Vogue fame in one action packed year, more about Daisy Knights’ creations have already been snapped up by our most loved style icons and proved that ethically responsible jewellery can still be achingly cool.

Splitting her time between the simple life in the countryside and the rush of her production process, approved Daisy tells us a little bit more about the passion and inspiration behind her jewellery collections and what the future holds for this wonderfully British label.

Your collection has taken off at incredible speed, visit this how does that feel?
It’s great, I’m so happy that people want to buy and wear my designs! I saw my bracelets in Vogue this month and had a moment of “wow, this time last year, I was at university and now my jewellery is in Vogue!”

Illustration by Holly Trill

Illustration by Cat Palairet

From student life to Vogue fame in one action packed year, dosage Daisy Knights’ creations have already been snapped up by our most loved style icons and proved that ethically responsible jewellery can still be achingly cool.

Illustration by Holly Trill

Illustration by Matilde Sazio

Illustration by Cat Palairet

Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

If you’re feeling a bit delicate and would quite like to be wafted by a soft feathery fan type device, no rx as you contemplate, viagra Martha Tilston is for you. With songs entitled; Wild Swimming, Rockpools, Space and Firefly, she is all about sweet country and looking out from under the covers. But with the protection of delicate notes and kindness.

I first discovered Martha Tilston a few years ago and to be honest, I didn’t really want to tell anyone about her. She is my safety blanket and makes me feel at home. Back when she and I met, I had just left University in Cornwall and was at a loss as to what the hell to do next. My boyfriend and I moved to Bristol and temped for a hideous agency. All winter we were stuck working together inputting money off coupons for Tena Lady. Fabulous for any relationship. We’d cycle there, numb ourselves for eight hours, then cycle home. I kept a notebook by my desk and had my i pod streaming Tilston. I wrote loads in those endless, dark hours.

Then our bikes got stolen, we were laid off Tena Lady, our rented flat was put up for sale and I wrote even more. Tilston is good as a background to “Why is the world doing this to me?!” She restores faith. I give you Lucy:

Literally surrounded by art, Martha Tilston must have found it hard not be inspired as she grew up. She was born in the West Country and is the daughter of English folk singer, Steve Tilston. When her parents split, she moved to somewhere just outside London with her artist mother, who remarried a theatre director. As a teenager she would play the piano every night to the family. This led to Tilston writing songs and then picking up the guitar. Throughout she also visited Bristol, where her father and stepmother, Maggie Boyle– also a folk singer – lived. There she would spend time with folk legends like John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. Imagine! How could she not be arty?

Illustration by Karina Yarv

In 2000, she formed a duo, Mouse, with guitarist Nick Marshall. Releasing two albums, they became extremely popular with the more underground loving, festival goers. However, Tilston decided to go solo in 2002, supporting Damien Rice on a tour in Ireland. Then in 2005, she released her first full length album, Blimbling on her own label Squiggly. This album holds Brighton Song, (which is where she was living at the time) a song I adore and makes me think about my years growing up in the hills next to the coastal city. Ah – nostalgia. Bimbling was funded by selling the original canvases she had painted to provide the artwork for the CD.

Martha Bimbling

Bimbling album available on Squiggly Records – Art work by Martha Tilston

Tilston was nominated for Best New Act at the BBC Folk Awards in 2007. She has since become increasingly popular and has opened the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury. However, she still loves impromptu and small shows. Her love of music outshining any desire for glitz. Her latest album Lucy and The Wolves, (Squiggly Records through Proper) is out now. It features her glorious band; The Woods, comprising of a host of instruments, including the mandolin, cello, violin and double bass. They truly add and compliment the atmospheric, delicate sound. Favourites include the aforementioned; Wild Swimming and Rockppols. The former, a slow, purposeful song full of delicious lust and feeling. The simile of liberating and beautiful night swimming, illustrating the purity of her love. Whilst Rockpools is also dedication to love and nature, it is centered more on her comfort found in the landscapes and nuggets of beauty. Eyes clapping on a tiny piece of peace, that at that second is shining only for you to see.

Martha Lucy and the Wolves

Lucy and The Wolves available on Squiggly Records through Proper. Art work by Martha Tilston

To summarise; Tilston is thought out, dancing on the hills, living in yurts complete with outdoor fires, English folk. If you like artists like Mary Hampton, Alela Diane and gentle Bellowhead, and you don’t know about Martha Tilston already, then you really should listen. If you don’t like folk, listen anyway, as she will make you feel wrapped up and safe on a blustery January day. Like today.

Martha Tilston‘s albums are available on Squiggly Records and she is touring in May, with dates to be released – Watch out for listings on Amelia’s Magazine.

Written by Helen Martin on Friday January 14th, 2011 4:53 pm

Categories ,Alela Diane, ,Bellowhead, ,Bert Jansch, ,Bimbling, ,brighton, ,bristol, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Helen Martin, ,John Renbourn, ,Karina Yarv, ,london, ,Lucy and The Wolves, ,Maggie Boyle, ,Martha Tilston, ,mary hampton, ,Mouse, ,Proper, ,Squiggly Records, ,Steve Tilston, ,Tena Lady

Amelia’s Magazine | Festival Review: The Great Escape

Sleighbell Illustration by June Chanpoomidole

I love the idea of city festivals. To me the idea of being confined to a field, stranded miles from the nearest off license and unable to charge my mobile is not fun. A city festival combines the best of both worlds; killer music and civilisation.

That’s partly why I love The Great Escape, but the festival isn’t without its flaws. The downside to city festivals is that you face massive queues to get into venues that are much smaller than they’d ever play normally. If you get in, you can worm your way to the front and feel pretty smug about it, but if you don’t it really is a bit shit.

That’s the only thing I can fault The Great Escape on, but something you can avoid with a delegate’s pass.

It’s more than a queue jump pass; delegates get access to parties and can sit in on talks as part of the convention. You can basically go to the industry events during the day and then run around town checking out gigs at night. Sounds great in theory, but hangovers and late nights get in the way somewhat.

For the first day I was a little bleary eyed, having made the most of the free drinks at the launch part on Wednesday night. The main band was Pope Joan, who I am not a fan of. They put so much energy and passion into their set but no one was really feeling it, except for a few girls at the front. I don’t understand why they’ve got a seemingly big Brighton following.

Thursday was the day I eased myself into The Great Escape madness. I went to a talk about digital marketing, which was clearly aimed at people who had zero knowledge of the internet and completely missed the audience of people who probably tweeted their way through the talk. After checking out a few venues and not stumbling across anything inspiring, I ended up at the Corn Exchange where I watched Surfer Blood play a set that was, at best, uninspiring. It felt like their set went on for twice as long as it should have.

Then The Cribs came onstage, to play a mammoth set in front of a rammed crowd. There’s not much you can say about the Cribs that hasn’t already been said. They played well and they played good songs, but they didn’t steal the weekend for me. The venue felt too big; I prefer the band playing smaller, more raucous gigs and it just felt a bit distant at the Corn Exchange.

Silver Columns illustration by Donna McKenzie

When they finished, we stumbled across to Digital to try and catch one of about a hundred gigs that Fenech-Soler played, but we couldn’t get in. Instead we went to Jam, where we caught the last half of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s set. The tiny venue was filled with people who only seemed to properly come alive when they played ‘Dance the Way I Feel’. It was the perfect way to end the first night, but a shame the venue was closing so early.

Friday began with an even bigger hangover, and plans made early to ensure we would get into the biggest gig of the night. Organisation is the secret weapon to tackling The Great Escape.
I went off for a talk about the future of music radio, which was endlessly interesting. Putting the geeky stuff aside, I met some friends and we went to the French Music Party. There was a band on stage who were pretty good, but I didn’t catch their name. The singer was dressed like someone out of a western. It was strange. There was also plenty of free Ricard, which was very tasty, and plenty of CDs on offer. I swiped the Revolver album and I adore it. I’m pretty sad I missed them play the festival.

We didn’t get in to see Warpaint that evening, and my friend was pretty pissed at me, so I promised to endure at least half of HURTS playing at Coalition. I don’t understand why people like that band. When I first heard their album I thought a PR company was having a joke, but kudos to Theo for being a lovely guy, and easily the most accessible musician over the weekend. Him and Mr. Dawin Deez were examples of how to be crazy popular and also friendly to fans.

Thanks to my inability to endure a whole Hurts set, we left early and headed to the Pavillion Theatre for the gig of the night; Wild Beasts. I’m a massive fan, and made sure we got there in plenty of time. It meant we had secured some floor space for the headliners, but had to endure a full set from Fiery Furnaces and that was not pleasant. After nodding my way through a breathtaking performance by Wild Beasts we shot back to Coalition and ended our night with the very talented Silver Columns.

Wild Beasts illustration on Abi Daker

The next morning started with trying to kill the hangover sat, looking at the Pier with some Canadians, at Terraces on the seafront. We checked out part of the Canadian Blast event, but the bands weren’t much to get excited about. In a desperate bid to find something interesting happening, we checked out a Japanese music party, but left after the opening riffs because my head was about to explode.

Saturday was my favourite day for music. We caught the mega-hyped Frankie and the Heartstrings who were even better than I expected. Frankie is the perfect front man. They were followed by Summer Camp – a band I like listening to, but whose vocals didn’t really hold up live.

Angus and Julia Stone were playing across the road, and we managed to get in, but the layout of Terraces meant that anyone at the back half of the room couldn’t see anything and chatted through the whole set. It was frustrating, because they’re an incredible acoustic band, so we went to watch a tiresome Chateau Marmont. They aren’t a bad band, but I just felt the music wasn’t that interesting; it simply wasn’t my thing. Sleighbells however ended the festival on a complete high. I’d never heard them before, but I completely fell in love with their unique mix of heavy rock riffs and Crystal Castles-esque vocals and danced my heart out.

There really is no other festival like The Great Escape, and I’ve certainly spent the past few days pining now that it’s over. I’ve found one way to cure the post-TGE blues though; drinking Red Stripe with my pass around my neck and dancing to music at home. It’s not quite the real thing, but if you try hard enough, you can almost hear the seagulls in the distance ….

I’ll see you at the Queens Hotel for next year’s festival.

Written by Laura Nineham on Tuesday June 1st, 2010 5:28 pm

Categories ,brighton, ,festival, ,review, ,Sleigh Bells, ,The Cribs, ,The Great Escape Festival, ,Warpaint, ,Wild Beasts

Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with The Miserable Rich about their spooky new album Miss You In The Days

The Miserable Rich by Kathryn Corlett.

Miss You in the Days is the new album from The Miserable Rich, a fabulous collection of songs inspired by ghosts, ghouls… and possession. In other words, the perfect musical accompaniment for Halloween and beyond. I got in touch with lead singer James De Malplaquet to find out what inspired this theatrical tour de force.

The Miserable Rich bed
Why do you think your music is referred to as Chamber Pop and is there anything else you would prefer to be called or that you use to describe yourselves better?
It would seem a little churlish to deny that there are both pop and chamber music elements to our music – but the term ‘chamber pop’ is just one consonant away from ‘chamber pot’ – a little too close for comfort in my humble…. We certainly use some traditional chamber music instruments – violin, cello, double bass, that kind of thing. I’m told the idea of chamber music was that it went against the tyranny of the orchestral hall – it was music that could be played anywhere, in any room, or chamber. We certainly fit in with that, having played in all kinds of places from churches to parks, palaces to (I ‘kid’ you not) creches.

Taking the songs Pisshead, Hungover and Chestnut Sunday (about cocaine addiction), and our propensity for liquor, we started off calling it ‘bar-room chamber music’ – but that didn’t really fit with the song for my mother (I hope). We do think there’s a bit of intensity in the music and the lyrical subject matter though – a bit of fire in the belly – and so we’re toying with ‘fiery chamber music for (song) lovers’ at the mo. There’ll probably be a new one in a month or two, mind.

Miss You In The Days cover
Who inspires you musically – I think there’s a definite jaunt to your music that calls to mind the theatrical big band festival scene. Has this been a factor in your development?
I think you’re right; there is indeed a certain theatrical flourish to what we do. Not that we planned it – and apart from my soft spot for Kate Bush, Grace Jones and Peter Gabriel, it’s not really there in the bands that we like – Will loves Loney Dear, for example – hardly known for his overblown music or stage shows….. I don’t know – I guess it just sort of came out that way. I do remember talking to the band before some of our first shows and agreeing that it didn’t matter if we hit a few bum notes, as long as we put emotion into the playing. It’s probably ramping the emotion up that gives it this element of theatre. We might play one or two less bum notes nowadays (we might not), but we still try to maintain that level of intensity.On the other hand, it might just be because we’re an incorrigible bunch of drama queens, completely divorced from reality. Sounds much more fun that way.

The Miserable Rich by Beth Crowley.

How big is the current incarnation of your band – and who plays all the different instruments?
We’ve always been a five piece, with Will Calderbank on cello and occasional piano, Mike Siddell on violin and Rhys Lovell on double bass. This is the first time Ricky Pritchard has joined us on guitar and piano, and we added a drummer (!) this time round. Last album, we made a rule that we all had to play at least two instruments and sing on the album, so we shared the drumming, but on this album we got a real live drummer – David ‘Badlace’ Schechtriemen – to pitch in and help out. Myself, I used to play bits of piano, guitar, percussion and mandolin on the records, but they’ve gradually wrestled all the toys off me and made it clear I should just stick to singing….. Spoil sports.

Your album Miss You in the Days is described as “a collection of witty mischievous ghost stories” and is being released on Halloween. Have you always been fans of the otherworldly and the paranormal, and how or why did this love come about?
It was just one of those •spooky• coincidences, really. If we were going to record another album, I wanted us to go away and have an adventure – and so I came up with this idea of going to a haunted house and writing an album based on ghost stories. I’d noticed that we English – myself in particular – found it difficult to write about sex and death, and I thought this might be a good way of exorcising those particular lyrical demons. After I’d sold the idea to the band, I started reading only ghost stores and went around on tours in the UK and Europe, telling anyone who’d listen our plan, hoping someone would say ‘Come record at my house – it’s haunted as hell‘. In the end, a friend who had offered her haunted attic suddenly ‘remembered’ she was living next to Britain’s most haunted stately home, the Jacobean Palace of Blickling Hall – birthplace of Anne Boleyn. Introductions were sought, deals were cut with the National Trust, and off we went, hope in our hearts and ghouls in our heads.

Two rough diamonds from The Miserable Rich by Rhiannon Ladd.

You recorded parts of the album in the haunted Blickling Hall – any good stories from this period? Mysterious creaks, ghost sightings – or were the stories of the place enough to work on your imaginations?
Blickling is an amazing place, incredibly beautiful and evocative. Visiting its lonely windswept and tree-lined roads on our first visit, seeing the palace loom out of the darkness, it was easy to imagine people losing their wits in the deep dark Winters. Perhaps we did ourselves. David said he saw faces at the window on more than one occasion, the mics kept picking up German voices, and though the caretaker once told us in thick Glaswegian tones ‘The only spirits you’ll find here are whiskey, vodka and gin‘, Ricky and our manager Howard will tell you something very different about the unexplained voice they recorded late one Friday night in the West Turret Bedroom…….

Anything’s Possible

TheMiserableRich_AnythingsPossible_1000
Anything’s Possible cover art by illustrator Stanley Chow.

 How does the erotic element of the album present itself, and which songs is this felt in the most?
I had been thinking about how the word ‘possession’ is both a supernatural and a sexual term. We hope to possess or be possessed by our lovers, or by the act of lovemaking. I’d also been mulling a little playfully on the meaning of words like ‘moaning’ and ‘groaning’. If you hear someone moaning in an old, empty house, say, you might draw very different conclusions to those you might on hearing the same sound through a hotel room wall. These ideas, and the idea of ‘love across beyond the grave‘ are suggested in the songs Laid Up In Lavender, On A Certain Night, Honesty and True Love – but I hope it’s not too heavy-handed.

What is going on in On a Certain Night? The lyrics sound quite stalkerish… who or what inspired this tune, and whose house was the lucky venue for the video?
My first love was possessed. Many may believe this of their own experience, but in my case, these were her own words. She told me that a bright shiny light would enter the room, enter her body (as I hoped to do myself, but in quite a different way), and tell her what to do. I wasn’t sure if I believed her, or if I thought it a brilliant and elaborate method of getting out of responsibility for one’s actions…. When we started writing the album, many years later, I remembered the story and thought I’d write a slightly disturbing pop song from the perspective of this possessing spirit. There may be a little revenge in this – he is quite a lascivious devil, isn’t he? As for the video, it was all shot in one night, after hours in our new favourite Brighton pub, The Chequer Inn, run by a lovely and accommodating couple who had come up to me in various other pubs and told me they loved the band, and once memorably giving me a packet of twiglets.

On a certain night cover
Some pretty nightmarish make up featured in the video too. Do you have any special plans for this Halloween and what will you be dressing up as?
Hideous, isn’t it? That’s what happens if I don’t have time to properly put my face on before going out……. At least it ensures the video doesn’t look like Losing My Religion…. Yes, there will indeed be a bit of dressing up – and for this tour we’ll be playing in some churches, crypts, castles and even palaces, so anyone who gets into the ‘spirit’ of the nights will get a special ‘ghost hour’ radio mix I’ve made. I think we’re going to be imprinting a lot of memories on this tour….

Hungover

The new single On A Certain Night is out on 24th October and the album Miss You in the Days is out, fittingly, on 31st October. Both on Humble Soul. Not to be missed. Check out The Miserable Rich soon! There are a few free tracks to download on Facebook here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday October 21st, 2011 12:03 pm

Categories ,album, ,Anything’s Possible, ,Beth Crowley, ,brighton, ,Chamber Pop, ,David ‘Badlace’ Schechtriemen, ,Dramatic, ,gothic, ,Hallowe’en, ,Humble Soul, ,Hungover, ,interview, ,James De Malplaquet, ,Kathryn Corlett, ,Mike Siddell, ,Possession, ,pub, ,review, ,Rhiannon Ladd, ,Rhys Lovell, ,Spooky, ,Stanley Chow, ,The Chequer Inn, ,The Chequers, ,The Miserable Rich, ,Theatrical, ,Will Calderbank

Amelia’s Magazine | Album review and interview – Mechanical Bride: Living With Ants

Mechanical Bride by Sam Parr.

Her debut album came out a few weeks ago and she’s been busy promoting it since then, adiposity but I’ve finally managed to secure an interview with Lauren Doss, shop better known as Mechanical Bride. At the root of Living With Ants is Lauren’s piano… sometimes dissonant, see sometimes mournful but always spare and well considered. The nuances of jazz and classical music are a welcome addition to this hauntingly beautiful collection of songs. Mechanical Bride will be performing live at Truck Festival in just a few short weeks and in the meantime you can hunt out Living With Ants on the excellent Transgressive label. Well worth it.

Mechanical Bride Living with Ants

You pretty much taught yourself the piano. Have you tried your hand at any other instruments, or are you tempted to learn anything else at some point, if so what?
I try my hand at a few other instruments, guitar and tuned percussion. But I’d really love to learn to play the cello, it’s such a beautiful instrument.

Mechanical Bride by Avril Kelly.

What kind of music did your parents play when you were little? Any particular fond memories?
There was some great 80’s/early 90’s music my mum used to play that I remember well from cassettes in the car – Bruce Hornsby, Don Henley, that’s nostalgic of my childhood. My mum bought me Jackie Wilson’s Reet Petite on 7” as I loved it so much when I was little.

Reet Petite

How did you hook up with Tommy who plays jazz piano on your album?
Tommy is my good friend and a great musician; we met whilst studying our Music and Visual Art course in Brighton.

Mechanical Bride by Faye West.

What is the spiritual aspect of your inspiration?
I’ve learnt a lot from my upbringing, people and loss through the last few years. I’ve learnt how important the art of overcoming is, and to have faith things will work out, trying to think positively and being patient. I also think about certain people that I’ve lost in my life and I like to think they look out for me and I have their strength and blessing.

Mechanical-Bride_by_Alison Day
Mechanical Bride by Alison Day.

How do music and art fit together in your life?
I love the feeling of being immersed: looking at something wonderful and hearing something wonderful, it’s simple and very sensual. I’ve realised that I’m not really happy unless my own music and visuals are unified in some way. I suppose it’s subconscious, feeling the need to express things visually and musically so that the two entwine. It’s an interesting process when the two cross over.

mechanical bride field

What are the stories you lean towards writing about and what places and moments inspire your ideas the most?
Mainly it depends on the mood I’m in and what imagery I’m seeing. I like travelling a lot and I find that’s an inspirational thing, particularly train journeys. And I collect imagery in a scrapbook. Nature and water are an endless source of inspiration… I guess that’s why I like living where I do, as there is lots of both.

Mechanical Bride Illustration by Joe Collins
Mechanical Bride by Joe Collins.

Why do you think that Transgressive liked your music so much?
I’ve been working with Transgressive since 2005, and at the time there weren’t quite as many female artists as there are now. I was doing whatever weird things came into my head so it must have caught their attention!

Mechanical Bride colour of fire

Any stories from the shooting of the Colour Of Fire video in Berlin? It’s a beautiful video, what’s it about?
It was such a fun video to shoot in such beautiful places. One of the locations was a derelict complex of rehabilitation hospitals for German soldiers in the 1st and 2nd world wars. It had an incredible feel to it, really eerie but full of beautiful ornate colours. The song has a lot to do with dancing and being freed of burdens, ideas of traditional Indian ceremonies with animals and colours.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vimeo.com/22985508" rel="noopener">http://www.vimeo.com/22985508</a>Colour Of Fire

With the video the concept was to create a dark fairytale/ mythological mood in the forest. There are these spirit-like creatures and you’re not sure if they’re bad or good, but they are otherworldy and dancing through an ominous beautiful space. You are not sure if I am one of them or not and they transform through dance and light and fire.

mechanical bride-karla-perez-manrique

Mechanical Bride by Karla Perez Manrique.

What do you do to battle the stage fright?
I am still learning how to deal with it, but having a routine leading up to a performance helps. My friend Caroline who plays with me is good at calming me; she’s taught me some good breathing exercises and mini meditations to do when you start getting the fear. Also no caffeine and eating nuts helps!

What do you hope from the next year?
Well, I’d be happy if we could play some good shows, try and get the music heard in different places we’ve not been to. I’d like to start writing and recording some new music, do some other collaborations with people. Just hope for Good things please!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday July 6th, 2011 12:48 am

Categories ,80s, ,90s, ,album, ,Alison Day, ,Avril Kelly, ,berlin, ,brighton, ,Bruce Hornsby, ,classical, ,Colour of Fire, ,Don Henley, ,Faye West, ,Geiko Louve, ,interview, ,Jackie Wilson, ,jazz, ,Joe Collins, ,Karla Pérez Manrique, ,Lauren Doss, ,mechanical bride, ,Music and Visual Art, ,Reet Petite, ,review, ,Sam Parr, ,Transgressive Records, ,Truck Festival

Amelia’s Magazine | Remember Remember

22 year old Luciano Scherer is truly dedicated to his cause. Working 8-10 hours a day, more about 7 days week, he produces paintings, sculptures and animation until his back hurts too much to carry on. The Brazilian self-taught artist works alone as well as with a collective called ‘Upgrade do Macaco’, and has collaborated with Bruno 9li and Emerson Pingarilho. I found him to be much older than his years, with some very insightful and philosophical things to say about everything from art to life and the internet.

When did you realise you had creative talent?

When I was 8 years old my school had a drawing challenge for a children’s book, the teachers read the book to us and we should drew parts of it. My drawing was chosen, it was not the best, but it was the craziest, and the teachers said to me that I was very creative. I started to draw again when I was 15, and only seriously when I was 18.

Which artists or illustrators do you most admire?

From the past: Bosch, Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Crivelli, Albrecht Altdorfer, gothic art in general. I also like alchemical drawings, illuminated manuscripts, and popular art from my country. But my real influences are my artist friends, they helped me to transform my spirit, not just my art, modifying my inside shell, something that still happens everyday. They are: Carla Barth, Carlos Dias, Bruno 9li, Emerson Pingarilho, Talita Hoffmann, Upgrade do Macaco collective. My current master is Jaca, he is genius.

Who or what is your nemesis?

My nemesis is somebody with lot of dedication and creativity to create evil things, like guns, bombs, wars, murders, lies.

If you could time travel back or forward to any era, where would you go?

I would go to the late-gothic era, in the end of the 15th century and early 16th century, just to understand or comprehend a little better how artists can do those masterpieces. I want to know about the places, the woods, the people’s clothes, the churches, the religions and the spirituality of this time. It is my all time golden age of painting. They all invested years of dedication to each piece, the result of it is bigger than our current comprehension.

If we visited you in your home town, where would you take us?

My hometown is a very small city in the extreme south of Brazil, almost Uruguay. There’s no galleries, no museums, no cinema, no nothing! But there are very beautiful natural places, like mystery fog woods, beautiful beaches with nobody, lakes, fields, lots of different animals; I will take you to all these places.

To what extent is your work influenced by your religion or spirituality?

I’m a son of a catholic father who takes me to the church every Sunday, and a mystic mother who is deeply connected with questions of spirituality. All my life I’ve been in catholic schools, and the people that I know there appear to be dedicated to God with tons of saints in sculptures, bracelets, necklaces, flyers, but the rest of their lives they spend being so petty, earthly, extremely connected with just the image of faith, and the concepts of guilty, suffering and impotencies. This contradiction makes me feel revolted, and at the same time I too have been into spiritualism, a Christian based doctrine, but much more metaphysical. This time the metaphysical seems to me so curious, respectable and scary, very scary. So when I started to paint, the images of Catholicism caused a strange fusion of respect, fear, nostalgia, and anger. I felt I needed to work over them, to learn about them and get more intimate, question the images and dogmas and lose the fear. It was a period of destruction like a renaissance. For a year now I’ve found myself distant from the doctrines, but between all of them, mainly the oriental ones like Buddhism and Hinduism, I’m feeling more spiritualized than religious. But this is just the start; I have much more to learn and I’m trying to not answer all the questions but instead learning to live together with them. All of this reflects in my artwork.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing?

An artist’s assistant, or a curator, or a collector; art aside, I’d be a garden sculptor.

Where would you like to be in 10 years time?

Living in a self-sustainable vegetarian community, with all my friends and family, in a place not too hot and not too cold, with as many animals as possible, all of them free.

What advice would you give up and coming artists?

Over and over I’ve heard people say “art doesn’t make any money” or “what do you want to be an artist for, it’s so useless”. I’ve stopped listening to the cynics now though.

What was the last book you read?

I read the David Lynch book about transcendental meditation “Into Deep Water” (This is the name in Brazil), and the Krishnamurthy’s “Freedom from the Known”- it’s like a bible to me, I read it over and over. I’ve been reading H. P. Blavatsky “Voice of the Silence” and “Isis Unveiled” too. Now I’m reading Nietzsche’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, it’s awesome.

What piece of modern technology can you not live without?

The Internet. It’s my mail, my books, my telephone, my all time world museum 24-7.

What is your guilty pleasure?

The excesses, in food, drink, work, sleep. Anytime I get too much of these things I feel so regretful, but I’m working on it.

Tell us something about Luciano Scherer that we didn’t know already.

I have a post-rap band, named Casiotron. And I’m working on my first individual exhibition, at Thomas Cohn Gallery next year.

This is certainly a young man full of promise.
As a purveyor of Steve Reich meets Daniel Johnston instrumental music, sickness Graeme Ronald, a.k.a. Remember Remember, is keen to take it to the stage as nature intended:
“I’ve put together a seven piece band for this tour. It’s hard to time it right but it’s worth it. Using a laptop isn’t the same as a live band is it?”

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Sitting in the back of a Brighton drinking den, Ronald exudes a boyish sense of wide- eyed enthusiasm. Currently touring with influential US noise crew, Growing, he’s rightfully proud of his self-titled debut album on Mogwai‘s Rock Action Records. Ronald’s sweet, Glasgow brogue suffuses our conversation as he gives me an insight into his formative days:
“I played with Mogwai as an additional keyboard player. I kept pestering them to let me join the band. I was working on my own stuff with a Loop station and started playing live regularly. Mogwai came down to hang out at one show and then offered to do an album”

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As it has afforded him so many opportunities, Ronald is proud of his home city:
“Glasgow does have a great music scene. It takes going away to appreciate what’s there. The art school or dole queue are great places to meet musicians. It’s a vibrant environment. Best steer clear of the Neds though”

The music of Remember Remember mirrors the urban, comfortingly grey, concrete beauty of Glasgow:
“It was a conscious decision to make a record that sounded Scottish. I hate it when people sing in American accents. Or think they’re German. There’s a sense of shame attached to being Scottish. Growing up, I was embarrassed by the Proclaimers, Rab C Nesbit, bag pipes. I saw Kurt Cobain on MTV and that was it! Getting older, you look to your own identity to create more honest art”

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Ronald is refreshingly grounded and deadpans:
“I’m not deluded enough to think I can become a pop star off of minimalist drone music. Making money is not a priority. Shouldn’t music be free? CDs, selling music – they’re all imposed business models.”

Forever the Modernist, he’s already got his sights on the future:
“The label wants me to promote this record more but I’m so keen to start working on new music. Touring’s new enough to be exciting but it’s still work. I’m quite up for doing a Brian Wilson and sending out other people to play my songs…”

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All photos by Ken Street

Written by Rich Hanscomb on Wednesday August 12th, 2009 2:32 pm

Categories ,Brighton, ,Electronica, ,Glasgow, ,Indie, ,Instrumental, ,Interview, ,Mogwai, ,Noise, ,Post-Rock

Amelia’s Magazine | Efterklang – The Asylum, Birmingham – Live Review

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This year the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2009 graces the walls of the Natural History Museum for another year and it’s safe to say this is one exhibition that cannot be missed. Owned by the museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine, view the competition is one that prides itself on exposing and celebrating the diversity of life on the planet.

The room dedicated to this exhibiton is dimly lit and you discover that this is to make way for the photographs themselves. Each one is displayed on a screen, cialis 40mg illuminated from behind so that they stand as
The competiton is divided into categories, first showing the winner and then a selection of those that are highly recommended.

Under the heading of ‘Urban and Garden Wildlife’ I find the corresponding winner to be something of a stroke of genius. The entries are required to be poignant, beautiful or striking comopositions of wild animals or plants in urban or suburban settings. The judges look for uncommonly good images of common subjects. It’s easy to see why ‘Respect’ by Igor Shilpenok (Russia) was the judges’ favourite. The centre of the photo is a stage for a stand off – one small domestic cat against a considerably bigger wild fox. This is one cat that clearly has a ________ complex. There’s something quite triumphant about this scene. You feel a sense of jubilation in his victory over the intruder. Shilpenok was working as a ranger in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka, Russia with his cat Ryska for company. He comments that, “One day Ryska, protecting me, ran to attack an approaching fox. The fox bottled it and Ryska instantly earned respect from the foxes – and me”.

In this exhibition, it’s not only the animals that are showcased – there are also categories committed to the plant kingdom. ‘Wild Places’ presents photographs that must show scenes that are wild and awe-inspiring. The judges look for beautiful light, a true feeling of wilderness and a sense of awe. The photograph of ‘The Fountain Of Ice’ by Floris Van Breugel is one that doesn’t quite register at first. It’s easy to read it as a digitally manipulated image and even after a closer glance it’s hard not see it in this way. Had I not known it’s origin, it could just be another picture in the same vein as other framed waterfall paintings found hung on the walls of a garishly decorated Seventies living room. But what makes this all the more impressive is that this is, without question, a completely bona fide photograph. Taken in the Bailey Range in Olympic National Park, Washington, is a challenging route with few trails. Scrambling and rock-climbing with a heavy pack, Floris was forced to stop short of his destination. But that didn’t matter, because close to where he camped, he discovered this miniature gem of an ice-cave and waterfall. The ice had melted to the thickness that allowed just the right amount of light to filter through and produce an otherworldly blue, illuminating the waterfall and waterside plants.
Last week a group of 21 activists from around the country stormed Didcot Power Station in an awe inspiring action that managed to force the power company to switch from burning coal to gas, ampoule a much cleaner power source, price dramatically reduce the output of the power station as well as inspiring protestors across the world.
A group locked on to the coal conveyor belts halting the supply of coal to the furnace and at the same time 9 protestors scaled the 600 ft chimney, occupied a room and pitched tents next to the chimney flues. Unfortunately the plan to camp in the flues for a week was impossible as it became apparent that they were too hot too stay in for any long period of time.

Although the Didcot Power Station protest may ostensibly have come to a rather unsatisfactory and anticlimactic end, with the nine remaining protesters arrested when they descended last Wednesday having failed to disrupt power generation for a week as planned, the protesters achieved something more important in successfully raising more awareness of the threat of climate change.

The group met at climate camp London this year, and are not just an obscure group of radicals shrouded in secrecy, but just ordinary individuals from all sorts of trades and professions who felt compelled to do something. Initiatives for environmental action are constantly being developed by normal people who happen to meet, and agree that something needs to be done.

While the action did not gain quite the level of publicity it perhaps hoped for, given its dramatic and unusual nature, there was a reasonable degree of press coverage.

What is surprising however, and perhaps indicative of heightened public concern regarding environmental issues, was that rather condemning the protest as the work of misguided hippies, coverage in the BBC, the Guardian, the Independent, and even the Daily Mail seemed at worst objective, and at best sympathetic.

Although a mainstream newspaper clearly cannot condone ‘unlawful’ protests outright, the Guardian’s article condemning ‘punitive pre-charge bail conditions’, while not compromising its own position, showed a certain solidarity by emphasising the increasingly dubious actions of law-enforcers.

The article’s inflammatory title, ‘Didcot demonstration: Police use bail restrictions to stifle climate protest’ carefully negotiates a pro-environment position that put the actions of police, not protesters, in the spotlight.

Of course, there will still be those who dismiss these facts as irrelevant, or outweighed by the jobs and electricity Didcot provides. But crucially debate is being provoked, and it is becoming increasingly clear that provocateurs are not extremists, they are people who feel that the current circumstances require extreme action. The demystification of environmental protest – making it seem more inclusive, distilling it down to an issue of personal choices just like any other political issue – will hopefully encourage others.

In a BBC article, John Rainford of RWE power is quoted as saying, “Sitting on top of a chimney isn’t going to affect climate change. The people who can – and do – really make a difference are the people at the bottom of the chimney – the power station workers. They are deeply passionate and absolutely committed to cutting emissions. These are the people who work in the community, live in the community and care about their community”. While it is true that sitting on a chimney did not stop climate change instantly and directly, there is more truth to his words than he knows. Protests are changing public opinion, and if wasn’t for public opinion there would be no call or incentive for a cut in emissions. It is small actions of the builders, receptionists and power station workers which together will determine the survival or demise of coal power in Britain.

Efterklang are a seven-piece from the tiny Danish island of Als who have big ideas involving strings, information pills brass and symphonic harmonies, viagra approved refusing to let a lack of classical training serve as a deterrent. We’ve heard and loved the album, Performing Parades, now it is time for the live experience with Nancy Elizabeth in support.

“Strong as a silk thread”

With songs like spider’s webs, Nancy Elizabeth takes the stage and casts spells. The silences between the music were broken only by the kerching of the bar cash register. A most incongruous sound against Elizabeth‘s songs, almost taunting her that her beautiful, Beth Gibbons style, delicate folk compositions will not earn her the living she deserves. Shamefully the record buying public will not embrace this artist as they should, will not clasp her to their collective bosom and give her a fraction of the kudos they heap upon the myriad of less inspired female singer songwriters. Elizabeth‘s ethereal vocal dominates the set and for several tracks is the only instrument used, to astounding effect. Elements of Cocteau Twins, Low, Portishead and perhaps even Aphex Twin, writhe and coil towards our ears, wrapping around our brain stems, poisoning us with the spaces between words.

“This world is for the birds”

Efterklang, here represented by seven human beings and their many instruments, are enormous. Each tune they play makes you feel slightly better about yourself. The exuberance and their sheer joy in playing this stripped down set wakes you up, running you through countless emotions. All the best ones, anyway. I say stripped down, they have been playing with a full orchestra, which bizarrely makes a stage crammed with seven bodies and multitudinous pieces of hardware ‘stripped down’.

“You wrote a novel, I gave it’s tune.”

On stage they talk and banter between each other and the audience in good nature, telling a story about a man called Bear and the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” I couldn’t tell you much more than that through the accent and mispronunciations, but how well do you get by in Danish? Lines from songs free themselves from their constraints and hurl themselves at me, lodging in my temporal lobe. They stayed there safe, until now when they spill across my page, headlining and bookending these words.

“I know we didn’t kiss”

They are many gigantic shades of joy and gorgeousness. They fill the room from floor to ceiling with music. Explosive, expansive music that excites you. Ethereal, angelic sounds that stay just on the right side of “soundscapes”. A solid mass of sound that will crush you, press you down, seep into you through your pores. It hurts.

Seeing this band live hurts. But in the good way.

Efterklang is the danish word for remembrance and reverberation, the album helped solidify that fact, the live experience makes the name ever more apt.

Written by Wolfdisguisedasmonk on Wednesday November 4th, 2009 6:51 pm

Categories ,aphew twin, ,brighton, ,Cocteau Twins, ,efterklang, ,gig, ,live, ,low, ,nancy elizabeth, ,review, ,sigur ros

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