Amelia’s Magazine | Easter Biscuits from the Biscuiteers

Biscuiteers Easter egg biscuit tin
Biscuiteers Easter egg biscuit tin.

Think buttered icing is over-rated? Fed up with cupcakes? Sick of chocolate eggs? Then how about trying something a little different this Easter? Biscuiteers have a knack of producing wonderful decorated biscuits for every occasion.

Biscuiteers Easter Biscuits-crown
Easter Egg Biscuits by Holly Rogers
Easter Egg Biscuits by Holly Rogers.

And in the run up to Easter the nice folks at Biscuiteers have sent me a delightful selection of Faberge inspired Easter eggs to sample. The tin contains nine gorgeous decorated biscuits, sick thick with sugary icing, crystals and crunchy baubles – my favourite ones feature crown designs. The Easter Egg mini collection costs £30 but if you feel like splashing out there is also the Easter Family Tin for £38.50, containing bunnies, ducklings and lambs alongside the eggs – a sure fire hit for the kids.

Biscuiteers Easter Egg Biscuits mini collection

Or, for those on a smaller budget there is also an Easter Bunny Card, with two bunnies for £9. In true Easter style the biscuits are chocolate flavoured. My one quibble would be that it’s a shame the tin is decorated with very pretty Easter illustrations that have been printed onto stickers rather than integrated into the tin so that it can easily be washed and re-used: something for the future?

Biscuiteers Easter Biscuits-bunny tin

For the monarchists out there there is also the Royal Wedding Tin, which contains crowns, Union Jacks, sparkly heels fit for a princess, a cake, a wedding dress (possibly not THE ONE, whatever that might be) and the world famous engagement ring. These biscuits come on a vanilla flavoured base as a tin of 16 for £40. Perfect if you feel like celebrating… for whatever reason.

Royal Wedding Biscuits by Rosemary Cunningham
Royal Wedding Biscuits by Rosemary Cunningham.

NEWS JUST IN: use the discount code AMELIA when ordering to get 10% off the Biscuiteers Easter range up until midday on Thursday 21st April 2011.

Categories ,Biscuiteers, ,Biscuits, ,chocolate, ,Crown, ,Cupcake, ,Easter, ,Easter Bunny Card, ,Easter Egg mini collection, ,Easter Eggs, ,Easter Family Tin, ,Engagement Ring, ,Holly Rogers, ,Icing, ,Princess, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Royal Wedding, ,Royal Wedding Tin, ,Union Jack, ,Wedding Dress

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Tim Plester, director of Way of the Morris

(Alt) Way of the Morris by Rosemary Cunningham
Way of the Morris by Rosemary Cunningham.

Actor and film director Tim Plester has produced a beautiful documentary film inspired by his childhood antagonism towards the reignited Adderbury village cult of Morris Dancing. Modern footage is interspersed with old recordings as Way of the Morris follows the lives of current Adderbury Village Morris Men: the film is a touching look at the current renaissance of Morris Dancing in modern lives, adiposity put together with wonderful camera work that catches the Morris Men mid motion like brightly costumed village warriors.

WOTM-Tim Plester dressed as a Morris Dancer
Tim Plester dressed as a Morris Dancer.

What inspired you to make this film? Was there one particular thing that finally kick started the idea into action, pills and if so what was it?
There’s a single Polaroid photograph that has haunted me for most of my life. Taken in April 1976, price it shows me (aged just 5-and-a-half years old), stood outside the family home in Oxfordshire, dressed-up as a Morrisman. There’s a corn-dolly pinned to my breast and there are coloured ribbons tied about my knees. The photo shows me looking towards the camera’s lens with a smile stretched across my unblemished face. But looking at that instant image now, the smile I see displayed there betrays itself as something else entirely. For looking at that photograph now, the captured smile is clearly more of a grimace. It’s a simian smile born only of fear. The rictus grin of a scared and hairless ape. The look of someone who’s unable to turn and face his own destiny. I’ve been running away from my Morris dancing roots ever since the day that photograph was first taken.

Morris Dancers by Faye West
Morris Dancers by Faye West.

What finally stopped me in my tracks and forced me to confront my birthright, was the decision I took to travel to Northern France in the summer of 2008. I’d been invited to visit The Somme as a guest of the Adderbury Village Morris Men (a revival side which my Father and Uncle helped found in the self-same year that the Polaroid image of me was taken); there to commemorate the lives of those village dancers who lost their lives in the stinking trenches of World War One. Of the young fresh-faced team that volunteered to fight for King & Country, only one was to ever return home again. Finding out about that Lost Generation of Morrismen provided me with all the kick-start I ever needed.

WOTM-brothers

How long did it take to make, and how did you manage your other career as an actor around it?
I lost 2-and-a-half years of my life making WAY OF THE MORRIS, and had to juggle any acting work around the filming and lengthy post-production period. On-screen, my hair changes colour 2 or 3 times over the course of the documentary’s 64 minute running-time; the result of a couple of roles elsewhere, that had required a significant change of appearance. I can only recall one instance when the documentary and my acting “day-job” came into direct conflict with each other. Luckily, I have a very understanding agent. And luckily the documentary won out.

Morris Dancer by Erica Sharp
Morris Dancer by Erica Sharp.

What inspired the look of the film, which features lots of old photos and videos interspersed with some new imagery that has also been given an old patina? What feeling were you hoping to achieve?
All of the vintage super-8 used in the film was shot by my late grandfather Harold Jeffrey Plester, who I was very close to. As a child, growing up in Adderbury, I spent almost as much time with him and my paternal Grandmother as I did with my own parents. There’s something potent and magical about the flicker-flicker of 8-millimetre footage. It carries with it an in-built nostalgia. A nostalgia underpinned by melancholy. A homesickness if you like. A lament for lost lands. WAY OF THE MORRIS also features contemporary super-8 footage shot by me, my Father and my Uncle James. The idea here was to keep things in the family whilst helping echo and enforce recurring motifs of circles and cycles and death and rebirth. And finally, in a bid to counteract all of that whilst also acknowledging the reckoning of time, there is some digital HD Flip camera footage to be found right at the very tail-end of the film. This being the modern home-movie equivalent of the footage my grandfather shot. If President John Fitzgerald Kennedy were to be assassinated in public today, then I’d like to think he’d be assassinated on a HD Flip camera.

WOTM-hobby horseWOTM-triv

How easy was it to research everything? Any tales of woe?
The research was the easy part of the process really. Coming from the village, and having known all the major-players my entire life gave me an unquestioned access-all-areas pass. I am extremely grateful to Barry Davis (an old school-friend of my Father’s) for allowing me to trawl though his extensive collection of archival photographs, and also to Bryan Sheppard, the long-standing Fool of the Adderbury Village Morris Men, who kept a meticulous log-book during the team’s fledgling years, and who also (along with his sister), helped unearth all of the information we have regarding that young team that went to war. One poignant aspect of the filmmaking process that I remember clearly, (though not technically a part of the research or a tale of woe) is my initial response to visiting the WW1 memorials in Northern France.

Way_of_the_Morris_1908_by_Karla_Pérez_Manrique
Way of the Morris by Karla Pérez Manrique.

I was expecting to be moved by those great towering monoliths and the far-too-many names painstakingly carved upon their stone white walls. But what actually grabbed me by the gut, was the gently rolling countryside that surrounds them on all sides. Scalped, sodomized, and maimed beyond all recognition, those farmer’s fields were left in tatters by the 4 years of abject misery rained down upon them (1914-18). And yet today, the topsoil and the wildlife have long since returned, whilst the nearby villages of Pozières and Albert have been rebuilt brick-by-brick. The old landscape was lost beneath the blood and the clay. Only to be reborn anew. Much like the Morris dancing itself.

WOTM-fiddle

Did you find it hard to direct and feature in the film together?
For this I have to give thanks to my co-director Rob Curry of Fifth Column Films. Rob was always on hand whenever I was needed on the flip-side of the camera, and therefore in danger of neglecting any directorial duties. Amongst other things, Rob must also take a lot of the credit for the way in which we ended-up shooting the raw footage of the Adderbury dancers. Rob has long held this belief that The Morris is, in some strange way, a kind of arcane English martial art. For that reason we shot the dancing mainly in close-up, and tried to capture the kinetic energy of what it’s like to be caught-up within the maelstrom of oscillating willow-sticks and flying pocket-hankies, rather than being on the outside simply looking in.

WOTM-melodeon

??What’s the best thing about coming from a small village in England? What do you have that others can only dream of or aspire to?
I left The Shire many years ago, and have lived in North London for longer than I ever lived amidst the wheatfields. But Adderbury is still the place I go to when I daydream. She’s my own private Avalon. A place where landscape and melody entwine. The locally-brewed Hook Norton beer takes some beating that’s for sure. Sweet, full-bodied and devilishly fruity, Old Hooky is a hallowed ale, brewed-up by a benevolent Malt Giant and his 9 steam-powered billow maidens. So God speed the ploughshare and drink of it deep good people. And give thanks to birthplace and to rural brotherhood. If that in any way shape or form answers your question?

WOTM-hillsidepromo

What’s the best way to encourage community, if Morris Dancing is not an option?
In an age of interactive widescreen 3D television screens, Morris dancing is definitely one way of encouraging community spirit whilst helping maintain a strong connection with one’s cultural identity. But there are certainly others. There’s egg-yarping for one. And cheese-rolling for another. Hastings has its Jack-In-The Green sacrifice, whilst Hallaton and Medbourne have their once-yearly Hare Pie scramble and bottle-kicking fixture. And then of course there’s traditional tar-barrel racing, Tutti-kissing and various seasonal Mumming activities to consider.

Adderbury Morris Dan

How’s the Morris Dancing these days?
It’s enjoying something of a renaissance, truth be told. There are a number of younger teams springing-up around the country, and in Adderbury itself there are currently more people dancing the old ancestral dances than there were during the glory days of the longhaired 1970’s. Dances to make the crops grow tall. Dances to honour the resurrection. For Herne The Hunter and spritely Robin Goodfellow. Dances to hold up the very sky. Or, in the words of the English composer Gustav Holst; Ye who dance not, know not what we are knowing. Here endeth the lesson.

Way of the Morris poster

Tim Plester’s short film ENGLISH LANGUAGE (With English Subtitles) premiered at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival, and has gone on to screen at over 45 film festivals worldwide, picking-up 5 awards along the way. The world premiere of Way of the Morris took place at SXSW. You can catch him at the UK premiere of Way of the Morris this Sunday 15th May at 2pm as part of the London International Documentary Festival at the Barbican, where he will also be answering a Q&A. All the details of the Way of the Morris premiere can be found in this listing here.

Watch the trailers here:

Visit the Way of the Morris website for more information on further screenings.
Keep up with the Adderbury Village Morris Men on Facebook.

Way of the Morris by Karla Pérez Manrique
Way of the Morris by Karla Pérez Manrique.

Categories ,Actor, ,Adderbury, ,Adderbury Village Morris Men, ,barbican, ,Bryan Sheppard, ,cheese-rolling, ,community, ,director, ,egg-yarping, ,ENGLISH LANGUAGE [With English Subtitles], ,Erica Sharp, ,Faye West, ,Fifth Column Films, ,film, ,Gustav Holst, ,Hallaton, ,Harold Jeffrey Plester, ,HD Flip, ,Herne The Hunter, ,Hook Norton, ,interview, ,Karla Pérez Manrique, ,London International Documentary Festival, ,Los Angeles Film Festival, ,Medbourne, ,Morris Dancing, ,Morrisman, ,Mumming, ,Old Hooky, ,Oxfordshire, ,Premiere, ,Rob Curry, ,Robin Goodfellow, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Super 8, ,sxsw, ,Tim Plester, ,Way of the Morris, ,Wolf Marloh, ,World War One

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Tim Plester, director of Way of the Morris

(Alt) Way of the Morris by Rosemary Cunningham
Way of the Morris by Rosemary Cunningham.

Actor and film director Tim Plester has produced a beautiful documentary film inspired by his childhood antagonism towards the reignited Adderbury village cult of Morris Dancing. Modern footage is interspersed with old recordings as Way of the Morris follows the lives of current Adderbury Village Morris Men: the film is a touching look at the current renaissance of Morris Dancing in modern lives, adiposity put together with wonderful camera work that catches the Morris Men mid motion like brightly costumed village warriors.

WOTM-Tim Plester dressed as a Morris Dancer
Tim Plester dressed as a Morris Dancer.

What inspired you to make this film? Was there one particular thing that finally kick started the idea into action, pills and if so what was it?
There’s a single Polaroid photograph that has haunted me for most of my life. Taken in April 1976, price it shows me (aged just 5-and-a-half years old), stood outside the family home in Oxfordshire, dressed-up as a Morrisman. There’s a corn-dolly pinned to my breast and there are coloured ribbons tied about my knees. The photo shows me looking towards the camera’s lens with a smile stretched across my unblemished face. But looking at that instant image now, the smile I see displayed there betrays itself as something else entirely. For looking at that photograph now, the captured smile is clearly more of a grimace. It’s a simian smile born only of fear. The rictus grin of a scared and hairless ape. The look of someone who’s unable to turn and face his own destiny. I’ve been running away from my Morris dancing roots ever since the day that photograph was first taken.

Morris Dancers by Faye West
Morris Dancers by Faye West.

What finally stopped me in my tracks and forced me to confront my birthright, was the decision I took to travel to Northern France in the summer of 2008. I’d been invited to visit The Somme as a guest of the Adderbury Village Morris Men (a revival side which my Father and Uncle helped found in the self-same year that the Polaroid image of me was taken); there to commemorate the lives of those village dancers who lost their lives in the stinking trenches of World War One. Of the young fresh-faced team that volunteered to fight for King & Country, only one was to ever return home again. Finding out about that Lost Generation of Morrismen provided me with all the kick-start I ever needed.

WOTM-brothers

How long did it take to make, and how did you manage your other career as an actor around it?
I lost 2-and-a-half years of my life making WAY OF THE MORRIS, and had to juggle any acting work around the filming and lengthy post-production period. On-screen, my hair changes colour 2 or 3 times over the course of the documentary’s 64 minute running-time; the result of a couple of roles elsewhere, that had required a significant change of appearance. I can only recall one instance when the documentary and my acting “day-job” came into direct conflict with each other. Luckily, I have a very understanding agent. And luckily the documentary won out.

Morris Dancer by Erica Sharp
Morris Dancer by Erica Sharp.

What inspired the look of the film, which features lots of old photos and videos interspersed with some new imagery that has also been given an old patina? What feeling were you hoping to achieve?
All of the vintage super-8 used in the film was shot by my late grandfather Harold Jeffrey Plester, who I was very close to. As a child, growing up in Adderbury, I spent almost as much time with him and my paternal Grandmother as I did with my own parents. There’s something potent and magical about the flicker-flicker of 8-millimetre footage. It carries with it an in-built nostalgia. A nostalgia underpinned by melancholy. A homesickness if you like. A lament for lost lands. WAY OF THE MORRIS also features contemporary super-8 footage shot by me, my Father and my Uncle James. The idea here was to keep things in the family whilst helping echo and enforce recurring motifs of circles and cycles and death and rebirth. And finally, in a bid to counteract all of that whilst also acknowledging the reckoning of time, there is some digital HD Flip camera footage to be found right at the very tail-end of the film. This being the modern home-movie equivalent of the footage my grandfather shot. If President John Fitzgerald Kennedy were to be assassinated in public today, then I’d like to think he’d be assassinated on a HD Flip camera.

WOTM-hobby horseWOTM-triv

How easy was it to research everything? Any tales of woe?
The research was the easy part of the process really. Coming from the village, and having known all the major-players my entire life gave me an unquestioned access-all-areas pass. I am extremely grateful to Barry Davis (an old school-friend of my Father’s) for allowing me to trawl though his extensive collection of archival photographs, and also to Bryan Sheppard, the long-standing Fool of the Adderbury Village Morris Men, who kept a meticulous log-book during the team’s fledgling years, and who also (along with his sister), helped unearth all of the information we have regarding that young team that went to war. One poignant aspect of the filmmaking process that I remember clearly, (though not technically a part of the research or a tale of woe) is my initial response to visiting the WW1 memorials in Northern France.

Way_of_the_Morris_1908_by_Karla_Pérez_Manrique
Way of the Morris by Karla Pérez Manrique.

I was expecting to be moved by those great towering monoliths and the far-too-many names painstakingly carved upon their stone white walls. But what actually grabbed me by the gut, was the gently rolling countryside that surrounds them on all sides. Scalped, sodomized, and maimed beyond all recognition, those farmer’s fields were left in tatters by the 4 years of abject misery rained down upon them (1914-18). And yet today, the topsoil and the wildlife have long since returned, whilst the nearby villages of Pozières and Albert have been rebuilt brick-by-brick. The old landscape was lost beneath the blood and the clay. Only to be reborn anew. Much like the Morris dancing itself.

WOTM-fiddle

Did you find it hard to direct and feature in the film together?
For this I have to give thanks to my co-director Rob Curry of Fifth Column Films. Rob was always on hand whenever I was needed on the flip-side of the camera, and therefore in danger of neglecting any directorial duties. Amongst other things, Rob must also take a lot of the credit for the way in which we ended-up shooting the raw footage of the Adderbury dancers. Rob has long held this belief that The Morris is, in some strange way, a kind of arcane English martial art. For that reason we shot the dancing mainly in close-up, and tried to capture the kinetic energy of what it’s like to be caught-up within the maelstrom of oscillating willow-sticks and flying pocket-hankies, rather than being on the outside simply looking in.

WOTM-melodeon

??What’s the best thing about coming from a small village in England? What do you have that others can only dream of or aspire to?
I left The Shire many years ago, and have lived in North London for longer than I ever lived amidst the wheatfields. But Adderbury is still the place I go to when I daydream. She’s my own private Avalon. A place where landscape and melody entwine. The locally-brewed Hook Norton beer takes some beating that’s for sure. Sweet, full-bodied and devilishly fruity, Old Hooky is a hallowed ale, brewed-up by a benevolent Malt Giant and his 9 steam-powered billow maidens. So God speed the ploughshare and drink of it deep good people. And give thanks to birthplace and to rural brotherhood. If that in any way shape or form answers your question?

WOTM-hillsidepromo

What’s the best way to encourage community, if Morris Dancing is not an option?
In an age of interactive widescreen 3D television screens, Morris dancing is definitely one way of encouraging community spirit whilst helping maintain a strong connection with one’s cultural identity. But there are certainly others. There’s egg-yarping for one. And cheese-rolling for another. Hastings has its Jack-In-The Green sacrifice, whilst Hallaton and Medbourne have their once-yearly Hare Pie scramble and bottle-kicking fixture. And then of course there’s traditional tar-barrel racing, Tutti-kissing and various seasonal Mumming activities to consider.

Adderbury Morris Dan

How’s the Morris Dancing these days?
It’s enjoying something of a renaissance, truth be told. There are a number of younger teams springing-up around the country, and in Adderbury itself there are currently more people dancing the old ancestral dances than there were during the glory days of the longhaired 1970’s. Dances to make the crops grow tall. Dances to honour the resurrection. For Herne The Hunter and spritely Robin Goodfellow. Dances to hold up the very sky. Or, in the words of the English composer Gustav Holst; Ye who dance not, know not what we are knowing. Here endeth the lesson.

Way of the Morris poster

Tim Plester’s short film ENGLISH LANGUAGE (With English Subtitles) premiered at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival, and has gone on to screen at over 45 film festivals worldwide, picking-up 5 awards along the way. The world premiere of Way of the Morris took place at SXSW. You can catch him at the UK premiere of Way of the Morris this Sunday 15th May at 2pm as part of the London International Documentary Festival at the Barbican, where he will also be answering a Q&A. All the details of the Way of the Morris premiere can be found in this listing here.

Watch the trailers here:

Visit the Way of the Morris website for more information on further screenings.
Keep up with the Adderbury Village Morris Men on Facebook.

Way of the Morris by Karla Pérez Manrique
Way of the Morris by Karla Pérez Manrique.

Categories ,Actor, ,Adderbury, ,Adderbury Village Morris Men, ,barbican, ,Bryan Sheppard, ,cheese-rolling, ,community, ,director, ,egg-yarping, ,ENGLISH LANGUAGE [With English Subtitles], ,Erica Sharp, ,Faye West, ,Fifth Column Films, ,film, ,Gustav Holst, ,Hallaton, ,Harold Jeffrey Plester, ,HD Flip, ,Herne The Hunter, ,Hook Norton, ,interview, ,Karla Pérez Manrique, ,London International Documentary Festival, ,Los Angeles Film Festival, ,Medbourne, ,Morris Dancing, ,Morrisman, ,Mumming, ,Old Hooky, ,Oxfordshire, ,Premiere, ,Rob Curry, ,Robin Goodfellow, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Super 8, ,sxsw, ,Tim Plester, ,Way of the Morris, ,Wolf Marloh, ,World War One

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | London 2012 Olympic Games Team GB Illustrated

Kristian Thomas by Tim Parker
Kristian Thomas by Tim Parker.

The Olympics are in town in case you haven’t noticed, and I’ve been lucky enough to get along to a few events in person. It was at the weightlifting that I became a big fan of feisty young contender Zoe Smith (although she didn’t place she went on to break the British record) and decided to put together an illustrated tribute. I loved Zoe Smith’s dedication to glam: her triangular stud earrings a defiant statement of femininity in the face of twitter abuse directed against her choice of sport.

Zoe Smith by Rosemary Cunningham
Zoe Smith by Rosemary Cunningham. ‘It’s a bit epic, but I was going for a kind of vague superhero type vibe, whilst keeping a nice retro Olympic feel.’

Since then I’ve watched seven hours of live fencing (and still have no clue how it works) and a good dose of Greco-Roman Wrestling (not a British sport – it seems to be almost entirely dominated by Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the US and Cuba) and like many people around the world I’ve seen a fair amount on the telly. Gymnastics and synchronised diving? LOVE them. Particularly the men’s…

Louis_Smith_by_Claire_Corstorphine
Louis Smith by Claire Corstorphine.

Yes, the Olympics have screwed up parts of East London and there are some crazy ass sponsorship rules, not to mention some half-assed nods towards sustainability or a useful legacy that actually benefits the local area. A cyclist has sadly died even as we shine in the Velodrome, and yet… it’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement, especially when you’re in a real audience, watching it all unfold in front of you.

Bradley_Wiggins_by_Gabriela_Larios
Bradley Wiggins by Gabriela Larios.

The Olympic medal tally for Great Britain is at present really quite amazing for such a comparatively small country. Let’s hope it inspires us to get a lot fitter because as a nation of biscuit troughing sofa surfers we really need to. Here, then are some illustrated responses to the inspiring talent of our very own Team GB.

Jessica Ennis - Warrior - by James Pitman
Jessica Ennis – Warrior – by James Pitman. ‘I wanted to create something that showed her (and athletes/competitors in general) warrior spirit, and I wanted to create thoughts of the comparison between society now and society thousands of years ago and what role athletes may have taken then even though now their expertise in physical activity is just for ‘fun’. But then I also want to still show her feminine beauty, particularly to contrast against the ‘warrior’ concept.’

Daniel Purvis by Adam Pryce
Daniel Purvis by Adam Pryce.

Bradley-Wiggins-By-Jake-Snellin
Bradley-Wiggins-By-Jake-Snellin
Bradley Wiggins by Jake Snellin.

Greg-Rutherford-by-Sam-Ailey
Greg Rutherford by Sam Ailey.

Olympics 2012 Mo Farah by Kristina Vasiljeva
Olympics 2012 Mo Farah by Kristina Vasiljeva.

Victoria Pendleton by Scarlett Tierney
Victoria Pendleton by Scarlett Tierney.

tom james by livi gosling
Tom James by Livi Gosling. ‘After winning a medal in Beijing he greeted his girlfriend with a kiss that mirrored that of the famous sailor/nurse kiss on V-Day. I added daffodils as he’s Welsh and the composition is meant to be reminiscent of a cote-de-arms.’

Helen Gorrill synchro image
Jenna & Olivia, Team GB Synchronised Swimmers, 2012 Olympics by Helen Gorrill. Currently on show with DegreeArt.

Kristian Thomas by Adam Pryce
Kristian Thomas by Adam Pryce.

Olympics 2012 Women Cycling by Kristina Vasiljeva
Olympics 2012 Women Cycling (Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell) by Kristina Vasiljeva.

Bradley-Wiggins-by-Victoria-Haynes
Bradley Wiggins by Victoria Haynes.

Zoe Smith by Emma Black
Zoe Smith by Emma Black. ‘I saw on twitter that Zoe celebrated after her weightlifting by going out for a Big Mac, which I thought was quite amusing! I referenced the food off a photo she posted on her twitter feed.’

Stott and Baillie by Scarlett Tierney
Stott and Baillie by Scarlett Tierney.

Jessica Ennis by EdieOP
Jessica Ennis by EdieOP

Whats leffe for Bradley Wiggins by neonflower
Whats leffe for Bradley Wiggins? by neonflower* ‘As well as asking the question where Bradley goes next, it’s essentially a nod to all the road cyclists out there partial to a spot of Belgian beer (there are plenty of them – including my bf and ALL his cycling chums!) – and we all know that Bradley hit the pop last night. Good on him!’

Andy Murray by Gareth A Hopkins
Andy Murray by Gareth A Hopkins. ‘I like the fact that andy Murray doesn’t really fit the mould of an Olympian… It’s not that he doesn’t do anything that others like Jessica Ennis or Tom Daly do, it’s just that there’s something about him which excludes him from being a Team GB poster boy. I think it’s that he’s not out there for the country, he’s out there for himself, despite enormous pressure to conform to an image of a national sports hero. He’s almost an anti-hero, and I can’t help admiring that.’

TeamGB Olympics by Isher Dhiman
TeamGB Olympic Gold Winners by Isher Dhiman. Cycling Track – Sir Chris Hoy, Rowing – Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, Athletics – Jessica Ennis, Cycling Road – Bradley Wiggins, Sailing – Ben Ainslie, Tennis – Andy Murray, Equestrian – Brash, Charles, Maher and Skelton, Shooting – Peter Wilson

Bradley Wiggins by Bish
Bradley Wiggins by Bish.

Helen Glover by Bish
Helen Glover by Bish.

Nick Skelton by Bish
Nick Skelton by Bish.

Olympic Park by Bish
Olympic Park by Bish. ‘Drawings were done on the 1st of August at the Olympic Park when Helen Glover and Heather Stanning got the first gold Bradley Wiggins got Gold at the time trial, and the 5th August at the Greenwich Park for the Showjumping the day before GB got Gold.’

YouTube Preview ImageOlympic animation by Rosemary Cunningham.

Adlington by May van Millingen
Adlington by May van Millingen.

Wiggins by May van Millingen
Wiggins by May van Millingen.

Divers by May van millingen
Divers by May van Millingen.

If you enjoyed this don’t forget to check in with Matt Bramford‘s pre-Olympics illustrated blog post too. Here’s to lots more wins before the week is out!

Categories ,Adam Pryce, ,Andy Murray, ,Bish, ,Bradley Wiggins, ,Claire Corstorphine, ,cycling, ,Dani King, ,Daniel Purvis, ,DegreeArt, ,EdieOP, ,Emma Black, ,Fencing, ,Gabriela Larios, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Greco-Roman Wrestling, ,Greg Rutherford, ,Gymnastics, ,Helen Glover, ,Helen Gorrill, ,illustration, ,Isher Dhiman, ,Jake Snellin, ,James Pitman, ,Jenna & Olivia, ,Jessica Ennis, ,Joanna Rowsell, ,Kristian Thomas, ,Kristina Vasiljeva, ,Laura Trott, ,Livi Gosling, ,Lizzie Campbell, ,London 2012, ,Louis Smith, ,May van Millingen, ,Mo Farah, ,neonflower, ,Nick Skelton, ,Olympics, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Sam Ailey, ,Scarlett Tierney, ,Synchronised Swimmers, ,Team GB, ,Tim Parker, ,Tom James, ,Velodrome, ,Victoria Haynes, ,Victoria Pendleton, ,Weightlifting, ,Wiggo, ,Zoe Smith

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | London 2012 Olympic Games Team GB Illustrated

Kristian Thomas by Tim Parker
Kristian Thomas by Tim Parker.

The Olympics are in town in case you haven’t noticed, and I’ve been lucky enough to get along to a few events in person. It was at the weightlifting that I became a big fan of feisty young contender Zoe Smith (although she didn’t place she went on to break the British record) and decided to put together an illustrated tribute. I loved Zoe Smith’s dedication to glam: her triangular stud earrings a defiant statement of femininity in the face of twitter abuse directed against her choice of sport.

Zoe Smith by Rosemary Cunningham
Zoe Smith by Rosemary Cunningham. ‘It’s a bit epic, but I was going for a kind of vague superhero type vibe, whilst keeping a nice retro Olympic feel.’

Since then I’ve watched seven hours of live fencing (and still have no clue how it works) and a good dose of Greco-Roman Wrestling (not a British sport – it seems to be almost entirely dominated by Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the US and Cuba) and like many people around the world I’ve seen a fair amount on the telly. Gymnastics and synchronised diving? LOVE them. Particularly the men’s…

Louis_Smith_by_Claire_Corstorphine
Louis Smith by Claire Corstorphine.

Yes, the Olympics have screwed up parts of East London and there are some crazy ass sponsorship rules, not to mention some half-assed nods towards sustainability or a useful legacy that actually benefits the local area. A cyclist has sadly died even as we shine in the Velodrome, and yet… it’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement, especially when you’re in a real audience, watching it all unfold in front of you.

Bradley_Wiggins_by_Gabriela_Larios
Bradley Wiggins by Gabriela Larios.

The Olympic medal tally for Great Britain is at present really quite amazing for such a comparatively small country. Let’s hope it inspires us to get a lot fitter because as a nation of biscuit troughing sofa surfers we really need to. Here, then are some illustrated responses to the inspiring talent of our very own Team GB.

Jessica Ennis - Warrior - by James Pitman
Jessica Ennis – Warrior – by James Pitman. ‘I wanted to create something that showed her (and athletes/competitors in general) warrior spirit, and I wanted to create thoughts of the comparison between society now and society thousands of years ago and what role athletes may have taken then even though now their expertise in physical activity is just for ‘fun’. But then I also want to still show her feminine beauty, particularly to contrast against the ‘warrior’ concept.’

Daniel Purvis by Adam Pryce
Daniel Purvis by Adam Pryce.

Bradley-Wiggins-By-Jake-Snellin
Bradley-Wiggins-By-Jake-Snellin
Bradley Wiggins by Jake Snellin.

Greg-Rutherford-by-Sam-Ailey
Greg Rutherford by Sam Ailey.

Olympics 2012 Mo Farah by Kristina Vasiljeva
Olympics 2012 Mo Farah by Kristina Vasiljeva.

Victoria Pendleton by Scarlett Tierney
Victoria Pendleton by Scarlett Tierney.

tom james by livi gosling
Tom James by Livi Gosling. ‘After winning a medal in Beijing he greeted his girlfriend with a kiss that mirrored that of the famous sailor/nurse kiss on V-Day. I added daffodils as he’s Welsh and the composition is meant to be reminiscent of a cote-de-arms.’

Helen Gorrill synchro image
Jenna & Olivia, Team GB Synchronised Swimmers, 2012 Olympics by Helen Gorrill. Currently on show with DegreeArt.

Kristian Thomas by Adam Pryce
Kristian Thomas by Adam Pryce.

Olympics 2012 Women Cycling by Kristina Vasiljeva
Olympics 2012 Women Cycling (Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell) by Kristina Vasiljeva.

Bradley-Wiggins-by-Victoria-Haynes
Bradley Wiggins by Victoria Haynes.

Zoe Smith by Emma Black
Zoe Smith by Emma Black. ‘I saw on twitter that Zoe celebrated after her weightlifting by going out for a Big Mac, which I thought was quite amusing! I referenced the food off a photo she posted on her twitter feed.’

Stott and Baillie by Scarlett Tierney
Stott and Baillie by Scarlett Tierney.

Jessica Ennis by EdieOP
Jessica Ennis by EdieOP

Whats leffe for Bradley Wiggins by neonflower
Whats leffe for Bradley Wiggins? by neonflower* ‘As well as asking the question where Bradley goes next, it’s essentially a nod to all the road cyclists out there partial to a spot of Belgian beer (there are plenty of them – including my bf and ALL his cycling chums!) – and we all know that Bradley hit the pop last night. Good on him!’

Andy Murray by Gareth A Hopkins
Andy Murray by Gareth A Hopkins. ‘I like the fact that andy Murray doesn’t really fit the mould of an Olympian… It’s not that he doesn’t do anything that others like Jessica Ennis or Tom Daly do, it’s just that there’s something about him which excludes him from being a Team GB poster boy. I think it’s that he’s not out there for the country, he’s out there for himself, despite enormous pressure to conform to an image of a national sports hero. He’s almost an anti-hero, and I can’t help admiring that.’

TeamGB Olympics by Isher Dhiman
TeamGB Olympic Gold Winners by Isher Dhiman. Cycling Track – Sir Chris Hoy, Rowing – Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, Athletics – Jessica Ennis, Cycling Road – Bradley Wiggins, Sailing – Ben Ainslie, Tennis – Andy Murray, Equestrian – Brash, Charles, Maher and Skelton, Shooting – Peter Wilson

Bradley Wiggins by Bish
Bradley Wiggins by Bish.

Helen Glover by Bish
Helen Glover by Bish.

Nick Skelton by Bish
Nick Skelton by Bish.

Olympic Park by Bish
Olympic Park by Bish. ‘Drawings were done on the 1st of August at the Olympic Park when Helen Glover and Heather Stanning got the first gold Bradley Wiggins got Gold at the time trial, and the 5th August at the Greenwich Park for the Showjumping the day before GB got Gold.’

YouTube Preview ImageOlympic animation by Rosemary Cunningham.

Adlington by May van Millingen
Adlington by May van Millingen.

Wiggins by May van Millingen
Wiggins by May van Millingen.

Divers by May van millingen
Divers by May van Millingen.

If you enjoyed this don’t forget to check in with Matt Bramford‘s pre-Olympics illustrated blog post too. Here’s to lots more wins before the week is out!

Categories ,Adam Pryce, ,Andy Murray, ,Bish, ,Bradley Wiggins, ,Claire Corstorphine, ,cycling, ,Dani King, ,Daniel Purvis, ,DegreeArt, ,EdieOP, ,Emma Black, ,Fencing, ,Gabriela Larios, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Greco-Roman Wrestling, ,Greg Rutherford, ,Gymnastics, ,Helen Glover, ,Helen Gorrill, ,illustration, ,Isher Dhiman, ,Jake Snellin, ,James Pitman, ,Jenna & Olivia, ,Jessica Ennis, ,Joanna Rowsell, ,Kristian Thomas, ,Kristina Vasiljeva, ,Laura Trott, ,Livi Gosling, ,Lizzie Campbell, ,London 2012, ,Louis Smith, ,May van Millingen, ,Mo Farah, ,neonflower, ,Nick Skelton, ,Olympics, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Sam Ailey, ,Scarlett Tierney, ,Synchronised Swimmers, ,Team GB, ,Tim Parker, ,Tom James, ,Velodrome, ,Victoria Haynes, ,Victoria Pendleton, ,Weightlifting, ,Wiggo, ,Zoe Smith

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Diamond Mine by Jon Hopkins and King Creosote. An interview with Kenny Anderson.

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Rosemary Cunningham
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Rosemary Cunningham.

In the second part of my attempt to delve into the creation of the amazing collaborative album Diamond Mine, physician Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) answers my questions with a frankness and candour that matches the genius of his songwriting. Thanks so much for your wonderful answers Kenny! And if you haven’t heard it yet, viagra you must get a copy of Diamond Mine by Jon Hopkins and King Creosote, out now on Domino Records.

Jon Hopkins and King Creosote by Sarah Alfarhan
Jon Hopkins and King Creosote by Sarah Alfarhan.

How did Jon first approach you and what were your first thoughts about his proposal?

Diamond Mine is the latest instalment of many years of different sorts of collaborations between JH and KC. In 2004 (I think) Jon approached me at a Fence Collective show in Pittenweem and asked if I’d re-record a version of a track called Your Own Spell with him. He’d heard the original on an old KC album, but he asked in a way that didn’t make me question the quality of my version, and I thought ‘what a clever, tactful chap’. 

YouTube Preview ImageYour Own Spell

He remixed a track called A Sad Ha Ha that I recorded with Magnetophone for 4AD, and that made me all teary at the end of a Homegame when I heard it.

YouTube Preview ImageThe Vice-like Gist of It

Next up he remixed The Vice-like Gist of It as a B-side which stopped Janice Forsyth in her tracks, and at the end of 2006′s Green Man Festival he played me And the Racket They Made. I shed real tears and instantly agreed to play at a stranger’s wedding because of it. 

YouTube Preview ImageAnd the Racket They Made

We started on a collaboration album proper late in 2006, and the initial efforts were drafted into Bombshell for 679 once we’d secured the producer’s job for Jon, and in 2008 he worked on a couple of the Flick the Vs songs.  

Even with all that under our collaborative belt, I think Jon felt he hadn’t quite made a true and genuine collaboration with my voice very much to the fore, band and record label concessions very much to the aft. Two years ago he called me back to London – this time there’d be no siphoning off of our labours.

King Creosote. Photo by Steve Gullick
King Creosote. Photo by Steve Gullick.

How well do you think you have both managed to evoke “space, longevity and timelessness”?

As a collection of songs spanning my entire songwriting history, sung in what is undoubtedly my best recorded singing voice to date, for my part I hope that was enough to push the record away from just the period leading up to a 2011 release. There’s everything from the naive views of an impatient student right through to the cynical musings of an impatient middle aged grump. Jon’ll tell you the in & outs of the music content, but most of what you hear is acoustic guitar, accordion, piano and voices – all of them timeless instruments I’d say. Jon’s given the whole thing a fairly light and airy touch.

Longevity … Well, I should be quite a few dozen listens ahead of our most ardent fans, and I still hear brand new sounds with every listen. The tracklisting still surprises me from time to time, and the album can take an hour to pass, sometimes just a few seconds. In brief, we’ve nailed it on all three counts :)

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Sam Parr
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Sam Parr.

How is middle age treating you? I like the way that you say you intend to make the most your “thinning hair and diet of white flour and sugar” but it can’t be all bad?

I’m enjoying middle age immensely. I’ve resigned myself to most of the physical wear and tear, but in my head it’s not as bad as when I actually see my ageing mush in a mirror. I only have to look at an Ampeg bass rig and my back starts to hurt, and so as a rule I avoid reflective surfaces and load ins.

YouTube Preview ImageJohn Taylor’s Month Away

What’s the best part about growing older?

There’s a certain smugness comes with the realisation that I was incredibly lucky to grow up in the 70s & 80s – not only had national service long ended, but we enjoyed immense freedoms. Being young in the 2010s with all these mobile phones, digital cameras, youtube, facebook and twitter sites tracking your every move has absolutely no appeal. Hahahahahahahaha! And we TREASURED records, making live gigs and the latest album releases real moments of excitement and joy.    

YouTube Preview ImageBubble

Some of these songs were written as long ago as 20 years and more. What did it feel like to dredge them up again? Did you experience lots of weird emotions?

I’ve re-recorded many of my songs for lots of different albums, so I’m used to it. It’s difficult to explain now just what Your Own Spell from 1988 is truly about, so I just say it’s a banal ‘be careful what you wish for’ type tale. I’ve got a better, more emotionally believable voice now than I did back then, so not so hard to get the mindset right. Thankfully there are no real happy songs on Diamond Mine – that’s the one emotion I haven’t cracked yet.

King Creosote by Victoria Haynes
King Creosote by Victoria Haynes.

How do you feel about modern technology?  

On one hand a genius from the modern age can come along and make something that sounds as good as Diamond Mine, but in general I find it a real drag and best avoided whenever possible. If technology results in a machine that drops one back into a pre-technological era, than I’m all for it. I’d punch 1974 into the dial and would probably expire in time for the millenium celebrations. 

YouTube Preview ImageBats in the Attic

You say that “being a dad lights the way out”. How do your family fit into the musical world? Do they join you, and do they take part in your projects in any way?   

My dad, uncle, brothers and cousins are all musical, but quite different in their approach, so it doesn’t feel like competition in any way. My daughter has an incredible ear for melody and a limitless memory for lyrics – she wants to do medicine, so she didn’t get my squeamish gene. I used to play with one of my brothers – Iain – in a bluegrass outfit yonks ago, and I’ve backed up the other brother Gordon on many live sets, but as we get older, the brothers and I tend to avoid interaction with each other’s music as much as possible, and stick to comedy impersonations of our dad, clicking heels and all. I’m a bigger fan of their music than they are of mine, so that helps!

YouTube Preview ImageYour Young Voice

My dad recently organised an Anderson showcase for charity. It was an incredibly surreal afternoon of many different musical styles played in front of a white haired audience, so not a chance of any of it landing up on youtube. 
And relax.

Thankyou so much for your wonderful answers Kenny!

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Laura Warecki
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Laura Warecki.

Diamond Mine is intended to be listened to in one sitting, so once you’ve had a chance to sample the tracks above make sure you grab a copy of the whole thing. Jon Hopkins and King Creosote will be back on tour in September. Full Diamond Mine tour listing information here. Don’t forget to also check out my interview with Jon Hopkins here.

Categories ,4ad, ,679 Recordings, ,A Sad Ha Ha, ,album, ,And the Racket They Made, ,Bats in the Attic, ,Bombshell, ,Bubble, ,Diamond Mine, ,Domino Records, ,Fence Records, ,Fife, ,Flick the Vs, ,interview, ,Janice Forsyth, ,John Taylor’s Month Away, ,Jon Hopkins, ,Kenny Anderson, ,King Creosote, ,Laura Warecki, ,Magnetophone, ,Pittenweem, ,review, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Sam Parr, ,Sarah Alfarhan, ,Steve Gullick, ,The Vice-like Gist of It, ,Victoria Haynes, ,Your Own Spell, ,Your Young Voice

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Diamond Mine by Jon Hopkins and King Creosote. An interview with Kenny Anderson.

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Rosemary Cunningham
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Rosemary Cunningham.

In the second part of my attempt to delve into the creation of the amazing collaborative album Diamond Mine, Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) answers my questions with a frankness and candour that matches the genius of his songwriting. Thanks so much for your wonderful answers Kenny! And if you haven’t heard it yet, you must get a copy of Diamond Mine by Jon Hopkins and King Creosote, out now on Domino Records.

Jon Hopkins and King Creosote by Sarah Alfarhan
Jon Hopkins and King Creosote by Sarah Alfarhan.

How did Jon first approach you and what were your first thoughts about his proposal?

Diamond Mine is the latest instalment of many years of different sorts of collaborations between JH and KC. In 2004 (I think) Jon approached me at a Fence Collective show in Pittenweem and asked if I’d re-record a version of a track called Your Own Spell with him. He’d heard the original on an old KC album, but he asked in a way that didn’t make me question the quality of my version, and I thought ‘what a clever, tactful chap’. 

YouTube Preview ImageYour Own Spell

He remixed a track called A Sad Ha Ha that I recorded with Magnetophone for 4AD, and that made me all teary at the end of a Homegame when I heard it.

YouTube Preview ImageThe Vice-like Gist of It

Next up he remixed The Vice-like Gist of It as a B-side which stopped Janice Forsyth in her tracks, and at the end of 2006’s Green Man Festival he played me And the Racket They Made. I shed real tears and instantly agreed to play at a stranger’s wedding because of it. 

YouTube Preview ImageAnd the Racket They Made

We started on a collaboration album proper late in 2006, and the initial efforts were drafted into Bombshell for 679 once we’d secured the producer’s job for Jon, and in 2008 he worked on a couple of the Flick the Vs songs.  

Even with all that under our collaborative belt, I think Jon felt he hadn’t quite made a true and genuine collaboration with my voice very much to the fore, band and record label concessions very much to the aft. Two years ago he called me back to London – this time there’d be no siphoning off of our labours.

King Creosote. Photo by Steve Gullick
King Creosote. Photo by Steve Gullick.

How well do you think you have both managed to evoke “space, longevity and timelessness”?

As a collection of songs spanning my entire songwriting history, sung in what is undoubtedly my best recorded singing voice to date, for my part I hope that was enough to push the record away from just the period leading up to a 2011 release. There’s everything from the naive views of an impatient student right through to the cynical musings of an impatient middle aged grump. Jon’ll tell you the in & outs of the music content, but most of what you hear is acoustic guitar, accordion, piano and voices – all of them timeless instruments I’d say. Jon’s given the whole thing a fairly light and airy touch.

Longevity … Well, I should be quite a few dozen listens ahead of our most ardent fans, and I still hear brand new sounds with every listen. The tracklisting still surprises me from time to time, and the album can take an hour to pass, sometimes just a few seconds. In brief, we’ve nailed it on all three counts :)

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Sam Parr
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Sam Parr.

How is middle age treating you? I like the way that you say you intend to make the most your “thinning hair and diet of white flour and sugar” but it can’t be all bad?

I’m enjoying middle age immensely. I’ve resigned myself to most of the physical wear and tear, but in my head it’s not as bad as when I actually see my ageing mush in a mirror. I only have to look at an Ampeg bass rig and my back starts to hurt, and so as a rule I avoid reflective surfaces and load ins.

YouTube Preview ImageJohn Taylor’s Month Away

What’s the best part about growing older?

There’s a certain smugness comes with the realisation that I was incredibly lucky to grow up in the 70s & 80s – not only had national service long ended, but we enjoyed immense freedoms. Being young in the 2010s with all these mobile phones, digital cameras, youtube, facebook and twitter sites tracking your every move has absolutely no appeal. Hahahahahahahaha! And we TREASURED records, making live gigs and the latest album releases real moments of excitement and joy.    

YouTube Preview ImageBubble

Some of these songs were written as long ago as 20 years and more. What did it feel like to dredge them up again? Did you experience lots of weird emotions?

I’ve re-recorded many of my songs for lots of different albums, so I’m used to it. It’s difficult to explain now just what Your Own Spell from 1988 is truly about, so I just say it’s a banal ‘be careful what you wish for’ type tale. I’ve got a better, more emotionally believable voice now than I did back then, so not so hard to get the mindset right. Thankfully there are no real happy songs on Diamond Mine – that’s the one emotion I haven’t cracked yet.

King Creosote by Victoria Haynes
King Creosote by Victoria Haynes.

How do you feel about modern technology?  

On one hand a genius from the modern age can come along and make something that sounds as good as Diamond Mine, but in general I find it a real drag and best avoided whenever possible. If technology results in a machine that drops one back into a pre-technological era, than I’m all for it. I’d punch 1974 into the dial and would probably expire in time for the millenium celebrations. 

YouTube Preview ImageBats in the Attic

You say that “being a dad lights the way out”. How do your family fit into the musical world? Do they join you, and do they take part in your projects in any way?   

My dad, uncle, brothers and cousins are all musical, but quite different in their approach, so it doesn’t feel like competition in any way. My daughter has an incredible ear for melody and a limitless memory for lyrics – she wants to do medicine, so she didn’t get my squeamish gene. I used to play with one of my brothers – Iain – in a bluegrass outfit yonks ago, and I’ve backed up the other brother Gordon on many live sets, but as we get older, the brothers and I tend to avoid interaction with each other’s music as much as possible, and stick to comedy impersonations of our dad, clicking heels and all. I’m a bigger fan of their music than they are of mine, so that helps!

YouTube Preview ImageYour Young Voice

My dad recently organised an Anderson showcase for charity. It was an incredibly surreal afternoon of many different musical styles played in front of a white haired audience, so not a chance of any of it landing up on youtube. 
And relax.

Thankyou so much for your wonderful answers Kenny!

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Laura Warecki
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins by Laura Warecki.

Diamond Mine is intended to be listened to in one sitting, so once you’ve had a chance to sample the tracks above make sure you grab a copy of the whole thing. Jon Hopkins and King Creosote will be back on tour in September. Full Diamond Mine tour listing information here. Don’t forget to also check out my interview with Jon Hopkins here.

Categories ,4ad, ,679 Recordings, ,A Sad Ha Ha, ,album, ,And the Racket They Made, ,Bats in the Attic, ,Bombshell, ,Bubble, ,Diamond Mine, ,Domino Records, ,Fence Records, ,Fife, ,Flick the Vs, ,interview, ,Janice Forsyth, ,John Taylor’s Month Away, ,Jon Hopkins, ,Kenny Anderson, ,King Creosote, ,Laura Warecki, ,Magnetophone, ,Pittenweem, ,review, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Sam Parr, ,Sarah Alfarhan, ,Steve Gullick, ,The Vice-like Gist of It, ,Victoria Haynes, ,Your Own Spell, ,Your Young Voice

Similar Posts:





Amelia’s Magazine | Album review: Lymes – Goodbye Bangkok, and interview with Richard Gilbert

Voodoo Doll - Lymes by Janneke de Jong
Lymes – Voodoo Doll by Janneke de Jong.

Goodbye Bangkok was one of those wonderful surprises that landed in my musical inbox late last year. From first single Train to Penang – a mournful tune backed by a full orchestra – to the twinkling horns and swooping cellos of Welcome, the album is an elegiac treasure chest of unusual tunes inspired by Richard Gilbert‘s occasionally difficult time in Thailand. Despite harrowing subject matter there is real beauty in this collection; highlights include the duelling banjos that introduce love song The Fool, and a husky male voice submerged by honeyed female vocals in Voodoo Doll. Every song is an unexpected delight. A real find of 2011.

Lymes single cover
Your debut album came out last September, what has been the reaction? Any pleasant or unusual surprises?
Well, it has all been pleasant really in that it reached a couple of places I never expected it would – BBC 6 Music has played tracks off it a few times and Clint Boon of XFM made it his featured album of the day, which was very nice, as is he. It was a pleasure to simply be in touch with a pop star that features in my own record collection! I originally intended to record this album with my musical ‘other half’, Simon Andrew, and not promote it at all. It was just for our own enjoyment. It was intended to be a download only release with no marketing at all. We were artists in the purest sense! No bullshit, just the music. I still don’t feel comfortable pairing the 2 activities together. So it was my intention to leave it sitting there in cyberspace, ready for any random passersby to enjoy or not enjoy. Anyway, in the 11th hour, my arm was twisted, partly by me, into doing more of the promo work. And I started to enjoy it because it gave birth to Mollusc Records that I set up with a few mates and off we went. There is more to nurture now than just Lymes. The most pleasing thing for me is that, for those that have bought / received a copy of the album, they talk about the lyrics first of all. I was very anxious about the lyrics. They needed to be interesting and not vague because I knew I wanted to explore songs with upfront vocals and in a talking style.

Lymes - The Fool by Abi Hall
Lymes – The Fool by Abi Hall.

What was the name of the band that you were in during the 90s? And why did you decide to go it alone for awhile?
I was in a noisy band called The Mandelbrot Set. Loads of wah wah and distortion. I packed it in because we had not written any good songs for a few months. I was too impatient. And when I left the band, I realised I had a huge void in my life. I had no job, no degree. So off I went to get the quickest degree I could and then to Thailand, which certainly filled my life with colour.

Be My Dead Wife

The subject matter was inspired by your personal encounters whilst living in Thailand…. how did these find their way into a musical format?
This was a key concern for me. The music was writing itself nicely, with my multi-instrumentalist partner Simon and me with the recording gear. The songs were stockpiling with mumbled vocal takes and no finished lyrics. I needed a theme for inspiration and when I wrote one set of lyrics about Thailand, Be My Dead Wife, I was really happy with them. And I was able to write a set of lyrics very quickly. Often in one sitting. I was also very keen on storytelling in music as opposed to nebulous lyrical imagery, where the singer is another instrument…..I spent a lot of time listening to Johnny Cash whilst out there. This probably opened my mind to storytelling.

Lymes Goodbye Bangkok cover
What prompted the move to Thailand in the first place? You were there for 6 years which is a long time… can you tell us about some of your more interesting experiences? How did you stay alive, ie what was your work during that time?
As I said above, the big void left by not being in a band led me out of the country. It was supposed to be Argentina but I followed a mate to Bangkok after we did a TEFL course. I started off teaching English but quickly moved into market research in the grocery industry. Zzzzz. Some stories are in the album and the lyrics are all printed in the cover sheet. And there is no flowery stuff going on. Very direct I think. In addition to these? I have written a few things down here and deleted them. Sorry! It’s the usual stuff you would expect to see in Thailand; drugs, corruption, passport dealing, working without work permits, vehicle smuggling and ringing, prostitution, tourists and fresh expats getting duped, loutish behaviour, boiler rooms, grotesque sex shows (anybody care to see a go-go dancer shaking a coke bottle, sticking it up her bum, bending over and spraying the audience? No, thought not.), endless road traffic accidents and most sadly, child trading /smuggling. This is something that I could not put on the album. Although the lyrics are observational. the delivery and music add the appropriate vibe. I doubt I’d ever finish it if that were the story. To summarise, a sleezy English chap ran an English Language school but was also allegedly buying children from Orphanages on spec and selling them to Chinese people that were not able to have their own children. At least that is what I was told by others that knew him better than I. To just know the face and name of someone that might get involved in that troubles me. Writing songs about how great the food is and how lovely the people are doesn’t seem to work as well lyrically. But the food is amazing and the people are lovely!

Lymes by Rosemary Cunningham
Lymes by Rosemary Cunningham.

You have said that songs start life in your phone voicemail at about 6am in the morning. Is that because you phone yourself in a half asleep slumber? Has this occurred under any strange circumstances, or in a strange place?
Kind of! I often wake up with song parts going through my head. I am usually convinced they are someone else’s. I sing them into my own voicemail before I forget them, so yes I am barely awake when it happens and then I ask everyone later if they recognise it…… the cellos on Welcome, for example, came about in this way, as did the violins on Voodoo Doll.

Welcome

Voodoo Doll

Lymes_WindChimes By Jardley Jean-Louis
Lymes – Wind Chimes by Jardley Jean-Louis.

Your first live performance was with the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra in October, which is quite a major deal! How did that come about? Any special things you had to adapt when performing with such a large amount of musicians?
That was the hardest gig I ever did. First gig with Lymes and my first gig since the 90s. I wanted to do something special, not just play the local clubs. And several Lymes songs had orchestral parts in them that would have left the song bare without orchestral instruments. We started planning this show 3 years ago. It is really tough getting people to come together for your music when you have hardly any money. But the Hull Phil were really nice people to work with and it certainly opened everyone’s eyes seeing the 2 genres coming together when no one had done anything like it before. We ended up with a chamber orchestra of around 22 players. It was a great success in the end. Amazing really, because we had to manage the show ourselves and many things were going wrong, increasingly so on gig day….. and we were trying to focus on the music.

Lymes_by_Geiko_Louve
Lymes by Geiko Louve.

Who else is Lymes?
Ah. I’m glad you asked about that. Simon is the other one and the musical backbone to this album. He has a lever arch file with hundreds of songs in it and we still have not gone through them all to see which ones need to be worked on. The 2 best songs on the album are The Fool and Train To Penang. He wrote the music for both of them. He is a very good drummer, a good keyboard player and a competent guitarist. There is also musical pedigree in his family. His brother is perhaps my favourite drummer of all time and had some success with Kingmaker in the early 90s.

The Fool

Train To Penang

My favourite story about Simon is that, while watching his brother having a really good time in Kingmaker, opportunity knocked on his door in the shape of an invitation to a drumming audition for a World Party tour in America. And he turned it down because he thought their music was boring!

Lymes
When can people next see you live, and are you doing any festivals next summer?
We are planning another big show, this time with a gospel choir. We just need to find one that will not be too concerned about the lyrical content and lack of Jesus worship in our songs. We are also waiting to hear if we are on the bill for the Great Escape festival in Brighton in May. Fingers crossed on that one.

Goodbye Bangkok is out now on Mollusc Records.

Goodbye Bangkok

Categories ,Abi Hall, ,Clint Boon, ,English Language, ,Geiko Louve, ,Goodbye Bangkok, ,gospel, ,Great Escape, ,Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, ,interview, ,Janneke de Jong, ,Jardley Jean-Louis, ,Johnny Cash, ,Kingmaker, ,Lymes, ,Mollusc Records, ,review, ,Richard Gilbert, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Simon Andrew, ,Thailand, ,Thailand Be My Dead Wife, ,The Fool, ,The Mandelbrot Set, ,Train To Penang, ,Voodoo Doll, ,Wind Chimes, ,World Party, ,XFM

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with First Aid Kit about working with Mike Mogis on second album The Lion’s Roar

First Aid Kit by Michael Julings
First Aid Kit by Michael Julings.

The new album The Lion’s Roar from the wondrous Swedish band First Aid Kit is coming out later this month. In advance of my review, let’s catch up with the talented duo. Life has become much more busy in the past few years!

First Aid Kit Emmylou press shot
You’ve done 5 tours across America in the past 2 years, what has been the highlight?
All five tours have been highlights in their own ways. The first tour was especially exciting because everything was new and it felt like an adventure. We realized how big this country is, traveling through endless landscapes of of deserts, fields and forests. We sort of felt like we were on that epic american road-trip we’ve always dreamt of. Last September we went on tour with Bright Eyes, a dream come true for us. We got to spend two weeks with our favorite band. We went to Disney World, we went swimming in the ocean and sightseeing in D.C. We had plenty of free time and the weather was amazing. It was the perfect tour. Bright Eyes treated us so well, too. Every night was a party. Every night we played songs together. Mike Mogis played pedal steel on our song Emmylou, we sang Lua with Conor and two nights our dad even played the guitar solo in their song “One for you, one for me”! We couldn’t have imagined our own dad playing with Bright Eyes someday. We were very proud.

First-aid-kit-the-lions-roar-packshot
Your new album The Lion’s Roar is out soon and was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska with producer Mike Mogis – how did that come about, how long were you there for and how easy was it to slot into working with a big American producer?
When I (Klara) was twelve years old I heard Bright Eyes for the first time. I loved the simplicity and honesty in their songs. Their music was a revelation for me. It opened up the door for us to folk and country music. I got a guitar pretty quickly after that. Inspired by Bright Eyes I started writing songs. We met Mike for the first time when we played in Austin, TX in october. Conor Oberst came to our show, and introduced us to Mike. He saw us the next day at the Austin City Limits festival and after we had played he wrote us saying; ‘I’d love to make a record with you.’ We couldn’t believe it.

First Aid Kit by Rosemary Cunningham
First Aid Kit by Rosemary Cunningham.

In May we went to Omaha, Nebraska to record the album. We stayed for a month, spending the first two weeks doing mostly live takes and then the rest of the two mixing the record. Working with a big American producer could be scary depending on who you work with, but Mike might be one of the most humble persons we have ever met. We understood each other from the get-go and we were on the same page musically. He knew what kind of record we wanted to make. Mike made sure that our vocals and lyrics always were the focal point. We worked together to find arrangements that would enhance the emotions we wanted to evoke, and not to just take up space. It was a fun and surprisingly easy process. 

First Aid Kit on log
What has been the most memorable place that you have visited on tour (worldwide) and why?
We were in Tokyo just a couple of weeks ago and that was memorable to say the least. The culture is so vastly different. We felt a bit alienated and different (mostly just very tall), but it was an interesting feeling we’re not used to. The Japanese were incredibly polite. When we stepped into our label’s office everybody there came to meet us and bowed in-front of us. It made you feel respected and made us treat everyone with the same respect. We did 22 interviews in two days so we were quite busy, but they took care of us well. We would love to go back to Japan and play shows there someday soon.

First Aid Kit by Sam Parr
First Aid Kit by Sam Parr.

Have you managed to retain contact with your friends back home in Sweden or do you feel your lives have diverged drastically? How much do you rely on a close sisterly relationship?
Luckily we have friends who understand why we have to be away so much and who are supportive of what we do. Of course it’s hard sometimes, not being able to be there for the people you love, but that’s a sacrifice we have to make. Having your sister around you is quite special. It always makes us feel like we’re home, having each other around. Our dad does the sound our shows, so he comes with us too. That keeps us from becoming too homesick. At the end of the day we get to do what we love the most, which is playing music, so we can’t really complain.

First_aid_kit_by_Geiko_Louve
First Aid Kit by Geiko Louve.

Do you remember the first time you sang in harmony, when was it? It must be incredible to have such a strong connection with someone you grew up with.
It was probably on one of our first demos, Johanna just tried out some harmonies and it sounded great. We have evolved a lot from back then though. We’re getting better and better at harmonizing everyday. Singing with your sister is awesome. Our voices are so similar it’s almost like singing with yourself. It’s easy. We’re so in tune with how we phrase and time words, so it always feels very natural. Singing with a non-relative is more of a challenge. You have to adjust to their way of singing and ‘get’ their voice. It’s not the same thing.

First Aid Kit forest
You recorded the cover single Universal Soldier with Jack White in Nashville and you have just toured with Lykke Li. How did these come about and who else would you like to work with?
We have no idea of how these cool cats heard of us, we’re just very lucky that they did. Lykke Li had asked us a couple of times to play and last november we finally got to play together. It was amazing to see her powerful performance on stage every night.

First Aid Kit_Emmylou_PS
When we were on our second tour in the US, playing in Nashville Jack White called to say he wanted us to come into his studio and record two songs with him. Totally unexpected. We spent a couple of hours there the next day. It was the first time we ever recorded in a real studio with a full band. We love what we recorded, especially the traditional blues song It Hurts Me Too. Jack White brought out something new in us we didn’t know we had. It definitely has a Jack White sound but it’s still very much us. It inspired us to have a full band on the new record. We’d love to do something more with Jack White someday, it was really inspiring working with him and we both share a love for old Americana. We would also love to collaborate with Laura Marling or Dylan Leblanc, two amazing songwriters and singers in our age who are making similar music.

First Aid Kit by Wiji Lacsamana
First Aid Kit by Wiji Lacsamana.

Your voices and musical knowledge have been widening, who or what has been the greatest influence in the past two years and do you have your sights set on any other genres and styles?
The past two years, while writing for this new record there are two people that specifically come to mind when talking about inspiration – Townes Van Zandt and Joni Mitchell. Townes Van Zandt has a way of writing songs that seem timeless. His songs are often tall tales, mystical but at the same time serene and simple. His phrasing is really specific and it gives the lyrics another dimension. Writing for the record, these were all things that influenced us, both things we were aware of and things we’ve heard, listening back to the record, now.

First Aid Kit_portrait
We got a little Joni obsessed when working on this record. Her lyrics are often like private diary entries, if everybody wrote amazingly poetic and clever diary entires, that is. There is something so honest, it almost hurts to listen to her music sometimes. For The Lion’s Roar, we knew we wanted to write songs that had a more personal touch. We wrote more about our own experiences and things we were going through. A lot of people write that our lyrics are ‘too mature‘ for our age, which is so absurd to us. We just write what we feel, we’ve never had any intention to sound older or more mature, we’re just ourselves in our music. We’re actually not very mature at all, haha.

You have said that you prefer to sing sad songs: why do you think this is?
It’s not really a preference, it just that we happen to write songs when we’re sad. Songwriting for us is a form of therapy, of catharsis. It’s a way of turning the negative thoughts in our head into something positive and creative. When we’re feeling like shit we listen to melancholy music, because knowing that someone else has felt the same way or even worse makes us feel less alone in these emotions. It’s strangely comforting. Hopefully our music could have a similar kind of effect for our listeners. Like a plaster for the soul.

YouTube Preview ImageEmmylou

What was the story behind the video for the new single Emmylou? It has a glorious outback feel that goes with the country twang.
Thank you! The song Emmylou is a homage to our favourite country acts – Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash and June Carter. It seemed perfect to go to Joshua Tree because we knew it was Gram Parsons‘ favourite place in the world. When we got there we understood why. We’ve also always been intrigued by the desert and had always wanted to make something in that kind of landscape, so now we got the chance. We worked with an amazing director called Maximilla Lukacs. We wanted it to have a 70′s psychedelic dreamy feel to it. She and her team totally got our vision. 

YouTube Preview ImageThe Lion’s Roar

Where can people see you live in the UK over 2012? Any particular dates or festivals that you are looking forward to?
We’ll be playing a few club shows in February. We can’t wait to play the new songs! We’ll also play the End of The Road Festival this year, which we’re totally psyched about. We love that festival. We played there 2009 and it had an incredible folk-oriented line-up. We saw Alela Diane, Blitzen Trapper, Tallest Man On Earth and FleetFoxes. In other words, our favourite bands. Good times! 

First Aid Kit by Estelle Morris
First Aid Kit by Estelle Morris.

Lastly, since we last met I have discovered that your dad used to play in a band with my mum’s Swedish first cousin, Matts Alsberg. It’s a small world, do you remember him?
Oh my god! That’s so weird, haha. It’s a tiny world, indeed. Of course we remember him, our dad’s band was a big part of our childhood. They were called Lolita Pop and were quite successful in Sweden during the 80′s. Their music was not like ours at all. It was punk and new wave inspired by Velvet Underground, Patti Smith and Television. Our dad was a guitarist and songwriter in the band. He quit the band just when we were born. Their music and tales from their tours were always around us growing up. I think we looked up to our father a lot and the fact that he had been a professional musician inspired us to take a similar path. Now dad’s working with us full time and it’s great having someone with so much previous experience on the road with us. He probably never thought he’d be touring all over the world with his daughters.

The Lion’s Roar is released on 23rd January on Wichita. *You can read my full album review here.*

Categories ,Alela Diane, ,Austin City Limits, ,Blitzen Trapper, ,Bright Eyes, ,Conor Oberst, ,Dylan LeBlanc, ,Emmylou Harris, ,End Of The Road Festival, ,Estelle Morris, ,First Aid Kit, ,fleetfoxes, ,Geiko Louve, ,Gram Parsons, ,It Hurts Me Too, ,Jack White, ,Johnny Cash, ,Joni Mitchell, ,Joshua Tree, ,June Carter, ,Laura Marling, ,Lolita Pop, ,Lykke Li, ,Matts Alsberg, ,Maximilla Lukacs, ,Michael Julings, ,Mike Mogis, ,Nebraska, ,Omaha, ,Rosemary Cunningham, ,Sam Parr, ,Tallest Man On Earth, ,Townes van Zandt, ,Wichita, ,Wiji Lacsamana

Similar Posts: