A blog of month what's on guides, music features, gig reviews, artist interviews and CD reviews from independent Brighton-based music journalist Tom Sayer
Showing posts with label Brighton Interviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brighton Interviews. Show all posts
Check out my interview with guitar legend Jon Gomm before his gig at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar last night, where he talks about crowdsourcing, his banjo pegs, his jazz education and much more.
He was a very lovely chap, even with his poor habit of feeding chips to the seagull on the seafront. His gig in the evening was a brilliant showcase of his guitar and vocal abilities, including a lesson for how to play drums on guitar and an insight into his background, playing in the working men's clubs of Blackpool ("The city Brighton could have been" he quipped in response to a heckler) to particularly unreceptive audiences of "confused Glaswegian pensioners on holiday" prompting him to bring out one of his trademark showpieces, his instrumental arrangement of Chaka Khan's 'Ain't Nobody'. For the rest of his tour dates and more information go to www.jongomm.com or @jongomm
After catching the end of a very
soothing soundcheck at The Hope in Brighton, I met up with Tom Hickox in a pub
around the corner to talk his music, merchandise and alternative career paths.
Did your parents’
background in classical music have any effect on your album? Are there any
particular records that you remember being played as a child?
Not specifically, no. I think that when you grow up
everything will have an influence on you, but any classical influences on my
album were not consciously made. I was not looking to make anything classical,
but with my background I guess you could say it’s an innate training, the music
is in my blood. I’m really grateful to have had that kind of upbringing.
In terms of
songwriting and orchestration, do you see these as separate things or do they
happen simultaneously?
I definitely keep the songwriting separate. I like to focus
on the key elements: the lyrics, melody and harmony first, to get the core of
the song down. Then I’ll think about the right ensemble to play it. I do the
majority of the orchestration and arranging myself but I think that it is
important not to get ahead of yourself: if you don’t give the song strong
foundations then it can never stand tall.
A lot of comparisons
are made between your voice and that of Leonard Cohen. How do you feel about
that? I personally think you more resemble Guy Garvey (Elbow) and Matt
Berninger (The National). Are you a fan of either of those?
I’m a big fan of Leonard Cohen. He has definitely been an
influence to me. You can tell within a millisecond if a song is his and that is
such a great thing. I think for artists it is so hard to find your voice, both
in the abstract and sonic senses but I am thrilled to be compared to such great
company. I really like Elbow and The National. They write beautifully crafted
music and have a lot to say. Recently one of my songs was played on Guy
Garvey’s radio show and he was very complimentary about it. It is so humbling
and surreal to have someone who you really admire become aware of your work and
become an advocate for it.
In terms of the album
artwork, it appears that you are having a conversation with yourself. Was that your
intention?
The main thing that I wanted the cover to convey was that I
was not just speaking from my point of view on the album; I was inhabiting
other people’s voices and telling their stories. I think that it is important to get the right
look for a record, taking care and effort to package it in the best way
possible. If the cover is symbiotic with the meaning of the record then it
really speaks to the people and transmits well.
You have quite an
interesting array of merchandise, including signed lyric handkerchiefs and
pocket mirrors? Are you aiming yourself at the middle-class or is it more a
style thing?
Not at all. I think I’m not the sort of musician whose
supporters would want a t-shirt of. I just don’t think that it suits my style
of music. The lyric handkerchief is something I really like because I think it
hasn’t ever been done before. And the idea behind the pocket mirror is owner is
looking back on themselves through it. Also, from a boring practical point of
view, both are light items which are easy to travel around with when on tour.
They seem to be selling really well though. We only have about 10 handkerchiefs
left (prior to the gig).
How has the tour been
going so far? Do you enjoy playing all across the country?
It’s been fantastic. I am always surprised by how different
the crowds are in different cities. The venues vary each night too. Some of the
shows were sell outs which is great. Others were pretty close to capacity and a
couple were a little more chilled but we’ve had a great reception so far. We’re
finishing the tour with a full band show in London in a few days. It’s always
nice to end with a home show. I could walk home afterwards if I didn’t have my
keyboard!
Besides music, do you
have any other big interests/hobbies?
I’m interested in art and culture; films, books, pictures,
anything that I can get ideas from for songs really. I also spend far too much
time watching football on TV, but that’s not been much use for writing a song
just yet!
And finally, if you
couldn’t make music, what would your dream job be?
I’d be up front with Suarez, banging in the goals! That has
always been a dream of mine since I was little, to be a striker for Liverpool.
I enjoyed football from a young age but was never particularly sporty. But I am
so happy to be able to do what I love by making music. If I can keep making
more records with more amazing musicians, writing and recording music that I
really believe in and playing it to crowds who really appreciate it, then I
will be very happy indeed.
His stunning debut album War Peace and Diplomacy is out now.
I caught up with Canadian singer-songwriters Brenley
MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac, a.k.a Madison Violet, before their Americana Music Series gig at the PrinceAlbert, the Brighton of their recent UK tour, to talk to them about their upcoming
record, beautiful venues and floral preferences.
Firstly, I wanted to
ask you about the Canada folk scene. There seems to be a lot of Canadian songwriters
crossing over to the UK at the moment (notably Lindi Ortega and Basia Bulat in
the last few months). Is this a new thing?
I think there’s always been a pretty much non-stop export of
local artists from Canada coming over to the UK. In places like Toronto there
are a lot of international touring artists coming to play, so the music scene
there really thrives. Plus there are people like Bob Harris (BBC Radio 2) whose
show really gives the folk/Americana/roots music a platform to be heard from. If
there’s a market for it then people will come over and play the international
shows.
What is the main
difference between the audiences in Canada and America?
Well we don’t really play in America much, so the audiences
in Canada are a lot bigger! (They both laugh!) We had some trouble a few years
back trying to get into the US, which seems really silly because you can drive
it in a day. The Border Patrol between Canada and the US is really strict and
it can be hard to get work permits to cross, even to play a tour. It’s much
easier to come to Europe so we’ve just avoided the hassle. Of course, with the
new record when it comes out, there’s no reason that we’d avoid America. It
would be kind of hard to miss out because it’s such a big place!
What have you been up
to since your last studio album ‘The Good
in Goodbye’ back in 2011?
We recorded a live CD/DVD called ‘Come as You Are’ which we released in 2013. It was a filmed during a
show from our European Tour back in 2011, featuring 20 tracks played live in
concert. We recorded it in a beautiful church called Kulturkirche in Cologne.
After that we spent about 6 months on the new record, which we’ve taken 4
tracks from for this exclusive ‘Madison
Violet EP’ for the UK tour.
Speaking of the new
album, do you have any details for us about it yet? Title? Release date?
The title is tbc but it should be out in the fall in Canada
and the US and sometime just after in the UK and Europe. The record has 10 tracks
and has a lot more of an electronic influence. It’s got a kind of
vintage-modern sound, with a lot of layered vocals, even more tenor guitar and
more keyboards. Where we recorded there were piles of keyboards, like old JUNO’s
that we used on the record. The previous albums we only had a short time in the
studio, but this one we spent about 11 weeks getting it right, with a new
producer Tino Zolfo, who used to be in the band soulDecision which were pretty
big in America. We kind of felt like we were at our crossroads with our music
and we were looking for something new to do and Tino really helped us to change
what we were doing and the energy behind the record.
It seems that in the
UK at the moment, there are a lot more solo and acoustic acts getting noticed.
Have you picked up on a change in musical climate?
To be honest, we’ve never been any good at following trends
and if that’s the way things are going then we’re going in the other direction.
The new record is a lot more of a band record rather than a stripped back folk
sounding one like the previous albums. In North America people seem to love
bands like The Shins and Mumford & Sons. There are still
people like Jake Bugg who are coming through, but the general scene is a lot
more band-dominated, particularly in North America. It’s all the swinging of a
pendulum though. I’m sure it will change again soon.
What is the most
beautiful venue that you’ve played at?
Probably Massey Hall
in Toronto, or some of the old theatres in Quebec. Well they’re not old like
things are over here, more like built in the 1960’s! Those and the Kulturkirche
in Cologne where we recorded the live album.
And finally, as you
are named Madison Violet, what are your favourite types of flowers?
Tulips really brighten up the room and we love sunflowers
and daisies.
For a review of Madison Violet's 4-track self-titled EP, and my What's On guide for the next week, check out my blog on thebestofBrighton here. Don't forget, for all updates to subscribe to my blog, or follow me on twitter @tomsayeruk.
