When Amelia’s Magazine first met CocknBullkid she stood out as a unique singer, purchase flying far from any obvious pigeon hole. I was impressed. Now, case a couple of years later, ambulance Anita Blay is back with a much bigger anthemic sound on second album Adulthood, confidence emanating from every danceable tune. Anita may now be ready to embrace the life of a grown up, yet Adulthood still retains a good dose of the individualistic charm that appealed to me in the first place, all sung in the honeyed vocals that attracted industry attention when as a teenager she took part in Hackney youth music project Tribal Tree. I caught up with the inimitable East Londoner on the release of her album, which came out today.
Firstly, hello, how are you, it’s been awhile! What have you been up to since you were last featured in Amelia’s Magazine.
Learning loads, writing loads and the obligatory bit of soul searching, of course.
Why the name change? I’m getting a wee bit confused…
I just wanted to make it more concise really. Nothing more elaborate than that. I didn’t even think anyone would notice!
I love your voice, what was your training? Did you sing as a little girl, and do you think your voice has changed over the years and if so how?
Thank you. I think it takes most singers years to find their true voice. We are all influenced by our surroundings and what we hear so it’s easy to start singing in an affected voice. I hear so many singers do it and they don’t even realise. Part of my going away was to really scratch away at all the affectations. And hopefully I’ve done that. As for training – I haven’t had a singing lesson in a years. Which I’m not proud of. Even if you can sing you still need to learn how to improve and protect your voice.
Hold on to your Misery.
How was Tribal Tree formative in your development as a musician and a person? What did being part of it give to you?
It was great in terms of learning how to use software and discipline yourself into writing all the time. We also used to do X Factor style showcases every month. We’d play to a bunch of A&Rs in a room the size of a shoe box and listen to their criticism of the performance. It helped in growing thick skin.
You are influenced by The Knife and Morrissey. How would you say these most diverse of influences feeds into your current songwriting process? Morrissey has influenced my lyrical approach massively. I’d always been into lyrics foremost but it wasn’t until I discovered him that I understood that I had the freedom I had to write about anything I wanted. Regardless of how dark it was. The Knife were quite an early influence for me in terms of their experimental style. When I first started trying to make music on my laptop I was fascinated with how they played with vocals and sonics.
One Eye Closed.
Your music is much bigger now, why did you feel it was important to get away from minimal home grown electro? How did you ensure you retained that personal charm?
I’ve always believed that I’m not an artist that will be a slave to a genre. Hopefully, my appeal comes from who I am and my lyrics. So even if I decided to make a country record ,as long as the lyrics were still ‘me’ then people shouldn’t feel too alienated. Also, when you listen to a lot of the earlier stuff, you’re actually listening to me trying t figure out how to write a song. I had a lot of things I wanted to say but didn’t know how to get it out in the most coherent way. I hope I’ve achieved that on this album. I think that is what pop music is and does.
Asthma Attack is quite a party tune, who do you hope will listen to it, and in what situation?
Anyone. It’s for anyone in any situation.
Asthma Attack.
Why are you anti Diva?
Most of the time it’s unnecessary BUT there are times when you need to get a message across and if no one is listening to you you may have to make a noise. I wouldn’t say that’s being a diva though. If it was a man he would be called ‘assertive’.
Your live shows sound exciting, can you tell us a little bit about what we might expect from these?
I’ve been told by people that the live show is completely different to what you hear on the record and I think it is. It takes me a while to really connect in a vocal booth. I’m a quite visual person so when I’m on stage it’s a completely different experience. It’s visual, it’s adrenaline fuelled. I come alive.
Returning to the fray following the demise of Teesside favourites The Chapman Family, Kingsley Chapman has decided to take a subtly different musical approach. Whereas his previous band were an intense guitar driven experience, Chapman has now opted for a more, if not orchestral, then certainly expansive sound (his current seven piece band, The Murder, squeezing on to the bijou stage in Bethnal Green’s Sebright Arms was evidence of that).
It was a pretty busy crowd, and the London Superfans, who I’m pretty sure I’ve seen at every Chapman Family gig I’ve been to, were once again in attendance (it turns out that a friend of mine knows one of them – small world, eh?). As the band took to the stage, Chapman sardonically announced “it’s great to be back in your lovely city”, before launching into opening song Olympians.
The sound may have a grander feel, incorporating piano, strings and trumpet, but lyrically Chapman hasn’t strayed too far from the subject matter of his Chapman Family days – a mix of heartfelt emotion coupled with righteous anger at the state of the nation. Guillotine had Morrissey-esque touches, followed by the sweeping Lovers. Begrudgingly getting into the festive spirit, Chapman also introduced their “Christmas song” – however, As The Stars Fall Down isn’t likely to get your dad jigging around the tree.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though, as Chapman joked that the set was a bit heavy on the ballads. I also noticed a fair bit of wine being consumed by various members of the band – clearly Kingsley Chapman and The Murder have a more refined palate than the average rock and roll band.
Chapman’s guitar amp gave up the ghost before the final song, which required, as he called it “plan B” which he also warned “might sound a bit strange” – a now piano led but none the less fierce Kill That Man, which ended up with The Murder’s percussionist not only sending his own kit flying, but the drummer’s as well.
With the Lovers single having had a fair bit of rotation of BBC6 and XFM this year, and recent reviews starting to make waves, perhaps 2016 will see the success that for Kingsley Chapman has been long overdue.
Written by Richard Pearmain on Tuesday December 1st, 2015 10:48 pm
I’ll put up my hands and admit that as a girl, healthmedications not yet a quarter of a century old, remedy talking about music is utterly intimidating. Yet I try. At some point in my life I’ll make a concerted effort to dance about architecture too. There is an endless wealth of information on bands that have already been, that I am never, ever going to be able to catch up on. Yet I try. As a music fan (enough to write about it), I’m embarrassed to admit that I only really discovered my, now, all time favourite band, Talking Heads within the last five years. I know, shoot me down. My convoluted point is that, as much as I try and piece it together, I can only imagine what The Slits releasing ‘Cut’ meant to the females and general youth and music fans of 1979. Yes there was a sex bomb fronted Blondie, intriguingly androgynous Patti Smith and unconventional Kate Bush, but an all female, punk rock band that posed naked on their album sleeve and generally didn’t give a f***. No one saw that coming and their influence has reverberated ever since.
Fast forward then 30 years and their new album, Trapped Animal, has been unleashed to a society that is certainly far from sorted. But can the music still have the same punch? The garage approach of Cut has inevitably given way to a slicker product all round. That same mixture of reggae rhythms, scratchy guitars, anger and mischief abounds. Rather than sounding like a band thirty years past their prime, as could be said of many a reunion album, there is a freshness that means you could be mistaken for thinking you’re hearing the latest South London council estate collective. This could be explained by the new multi-generational line-up that features Sex Pistol Paul Cook’s daughter, Hollie. You also get the impression that frontwoman Ari Up has as much energy as her fourteen year old self that met original member, Palmolive, at a Patti Smith gig.
Lyrically, the album doesn’t stretch the boundaries of the concept of rhyming but you wouldn’t hear Girls Aloud bemoaning of “Men who want us to be their mother/Men who hate us because of their mother.” Where the Pop Idol-ers are concerned with their “cappuccinos to go-o”, Up and her girls are hollering about ‘Peer Pressure’, “issues with child abuse” and eschewing the shackles of a nine to five: “We don’t pay rent with a passion, and we don’t wanna follow fashion.”
The fact that foul-mouthed Lily Allen launched her career on the wave of reggae-tinged pop is no accident. The Slits invented the model for anti-establishment, men-bashing, unselfconscious pop and even though this new offering will never live up to Cut standards, it’s a welcome return of punk’s finest.
Helping to keep the pressure on governments across the world, health activists in Australia held a mass action last week against Hazelwood Coal Power Station, erectile one of the dirtiest in the world. The climate camp held a day of planning and workshops, nurse followed by the day of action where a group of over 500 people placed a ‘Community Decommission Order’ on Hazelwood to switch on the renewable energy transition.
Twenty-two people were arrested on the day and, with the Governments lack of conviction, it seems many more are ready for the same sacrifice. As one secondary school teacher put it, “not such a big sacrifice in the scheme of things.” Looking at pictures and reports as well as listening to the radio report, it looks like a well planned day of disobedience. Affinity groups such as the Wombat Warriors, Radical Cheerleaders and Climate Clowns show great initiative. Apparently the police wouldn’t let “bikezilla”, a massive 8-person bike, join the protest though. Shame.
I caught up with Louise Morris, one of the organisers of the action to get her account of the action and see what’s in store for climate action in Australia.
How long have you been involved in the protest movement in Australia and was there a catalyst for getting involved?
I’ve been involved in campaigning in Australia for over a decade, starting off with the campaign to stop the Jabiluka Uranium mine in Kakadu National park and spending many years as a forest activist and blockader in Tasmania (as a result now one of the Gunns 20) and Western Australia.
I decided to devote my time to climate campaigning in 2006, as the realisation set in that no matter how many pieces of forest we saved through campaigning and blockades etc – if climate change is not dealt with, the climatic conditions forecast will spell the end for all the places we have campaigned for and protected over the years.
I grew up in mining towns in Western Australia, so am very aware of the sort of environmental and social scars the mining and logging industry inflict. My decision to work on climate issues has been heavily based on the mitigation angle. I am a strong believer in trying to solve a problem, rather than trying cope with the problem as best we can through adaptation measures. This has led me to focus strongly on coal issues and to work within the grassroots realm of climate campaigning. I really do think it’s in the grassroots community movement that we have the most power.
What was your personal experience on last weeks action?
I was one of the key organisers of the Switch off Hazelwood – Switch on Renewables weekend. My experience ranged from having to deal with the police in the lead up to the event and during the event with their complete over-reaction to the whole affair, talking with people who were prepared to be arrested and acting as media spokesperson for the group.
My experience of the action and watching other peoples reaction to the day was extremely positive.
This action was the first of it’s type for the Victorian Climate Movement. For the past few years people have lobbied, rallied in cities etc but never actually taken action at the site of the pollution and been prepared to be arrested.
We had 500-plus people from all possible walks of life turn up. A lot of families, older folk and a massive representation from the quite mainstream ‘Climate Action Group’ demographic that is strong in Australia. We had 22 people manage to scale the security fences and police lines that were put up prior to our action. In that list of arrestees are doctors, teachers, electricians, stay at home mums… the list goes on.
Our state government tried to label us as eco-terrorists in the lead up to the event. This failed dismally, as our lead up media campaign was very solutions focused (just transition to renewable energy) and we were very open in our aim of civil disobedience… this combined with images of the people who were at the action, got out to the wider world of so many kids, families, professionals and respected members of the community were taking action. We have had a lot of support from the public and arms of the mainstream media.
The feeling post this action is that people are ready for more peaceful community driven direct action, and more people are prepared to get arrested to push the government into some real action on climate change.
How did the mainstream media and the public react?
In the lead up to this event we put a lot of thought and energy into talking about our message of switching on a transition to renewable energy and switching off coal. Part of this outreach included a public meeting at the town of Morwell, which is the heart of coal country in our state. This was a ‘robust’ meeting but we got great feedback from everyone who came about the transition message and we were supported by unions representing coal workers that we were pushing for a just transition to renewable energy.
In terms of media – we ran a pretty tight messaging strategy around the fact that this is a community driven event that is calling for a switch from renewable energy and this requires that we switch off coal.
At first we got very little interest, but as the word that people were going to partake in peaceful mass civil disobedience got out, the interest grew. On the whole, we got a pretty fair run in the media in the lead up to the event. A lot of time was spent explaining what civil disobedience was, as Australia has not had a strong activist culture in recent years. Once again the core message that we were calling for a switch from coal to renewables, with a just transition was central in a lot of the willingness of commercial media to hear us out.
Obviously on the day of the action some of the conservative media ran the ‘rowdy protester’ line and showed the fence shaking but considering the sort of coverage we usually get in the mainstream Australian press, I think we have seen a shift in how community protest and civil disobedience is being covered. That said, the large representation of families and ‘ordinary looking folk’ really did help that.
Do you think Australia is ready for a broader movement relating to climate change and what do you think the comparison is to movements across the world?
Yes. We had our first climate camp last year in Newcastle [NSW] and from this it was decided that in 2009 we would have state based events, of which the Switch off Hazelwood event was one. The reasons for this were many, including the fact that Australia is so geographically large that it’s not feasible (financially or environmentally) for people to trek across the country to come to a single climate camp.
For the next 3 months there will be Climate Camp style events across the country from South Australia, New South Wales to Western Australia. The interest and willingness is there for a movement that is prepared to take action at the site of the big polluters and put some targeted pressure on government and the big polluters who are shaping the climate policy.
In terms of the broader movement relating to climate change there is definitely a lot more scope for more varied forms of action and campaigning. We are currently organising a bunch of movement building events and workshops using the lessons learnt from many countries and campaigns, including elements of the Obama community mobilisation strategy.
Comparisons are hard to make as we live in a massive continent with quite a sparse population, in comparison to many other countries who have strong climate movements. We also have a populace that has been alienated from the concepts of protest, civil disobedience and strong social movements from previous (and still current) governments who have demonised such things as ‘Anti-Australian.’
As one of the organisers of the action, what have you learnt from the process?
Honestly, the importance of networks, community and talking to people face-to-face to get them involved and part of creating the event they want to be a part of. Another lesson we always learn from these events is that people need to have fun organising and being part of events like this – best way to keep them coming back and get more people involved.
The Affinity Group and Working Group model was central in making a lot of elements of this event work. From the public meeting, the promotions, independent media to the action itself.
What’s next for Climate Camp in Australia?
There are still a number of state based Climate Camps to come in the next few months across Australia after the ‘Switch off Hazelwood – Switch on Renewables’ event. The next immediate one is in South Australia and after that is the one at the Helensbugh coal mine in NSW. So much more Climate Camp action is on the cards. And here in Victoria we are looking ahead to what is next in the lead up to Copenhagen as a national climate event.
Looks like a lot going on in Australia, shame it would have to be a carbon intensive flight away, that or a 6 month cycle mission, hmmm.. now thats an idea.
MATT AND KIM are a destructive dance duo hailing from Brooklyn, pilule NYC. There are very few bands that can always guarantee you a real good time with one single push of a button, but Matt & Kim never let me down. Ever. We caught this Brooklyn duo live back in June and they knocked our socks off.
Yeah, there are tons of happy-go-lucky bands with that high-energy, high-on-life exuberance, throwing shapes and keeping their toothy smiles fixed, verging on the robotic and the slightly scary. But there’s always the inevitable grating after a few listens as the cheer morphs into a cheesy mess of slobbery, over-enthusiastic group hugs and high-fives that leave you backing away into the safety of Morrissey‘s comforting drones, vowing never to venture away again. Promise.
The weird thing is, Matt & Kim are super cheesy, but they seem so genuinely fun and unaffected that it’s tough not to abandon any self-concious hang-ups and just leap along with their carefree charm. And if their new tracks are anything to go by, they show no sign of quietening down and getting all mature on us.
As the jaunty keys and sharp, tapping sticks that start ‘Daylight”s introduction trip and pop, the call and response of “We cut the legs off of our pants/Threw our shoes into the ocean/Sit back and wave through the daylight/Sit back and wave through the daylight” gets louder and fuller, there an immediate hit of teenage nostalgia. It’s a reminder to never grow up too much and when that alarm rings to get you out of bed in the morning – it’s time to wake up.
Watch the duo having fun in their DIY-esque video here:
‘Daylight’ is out on 28th September on Fader Label/Nettwerk.
Written by Liv Willars on Thursday September 17th, 2009 4:40 pm
Hold on to your Misery.
One Eye Closed.
