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Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival Interviews #3 Birds and the Beasts

Ahead of performing at this year’s Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival, taking place from 10 to 12 May, we were delighted to have interview, in partnership with “Last Night I Dreamt Of…”, Leo and Anna from alternative pop/folk duo Birds and the Beasts.

Q. How did Birds and the Beasts come about and where did the band’s name come from? 

Leo – As well as loving music we are equally passionate about animals. We have always enjoyed nature documentaries and getting out in the wild areas around us in Yorkshire and Anna’s native Germany. The first song we wrote for the project was about how albatross remain monogamous and find each other on their island homes after their globe spanning migrations.

Anna – Once we had written this song and found we really enjoyed singing together we put together Birds and Beasts and started writing more songs. Once we realised what a great source of inspiration we had found the name just seemed obvious.

Q. Tell us more about animal themed pop?

Anna – Our songs are written to put the listener in the animal’s position. We try to focus on the things that make us the same as animals; our family lives, our struggles, triumphs and determination. We find the animal kingdom is a massive well of ideas we can draw upon but we like to keep it all relatable to the human experience too. Leo – We love a lot of different genres of music – folk, rock and roll, blues, jazz, reggae. We like the ‘pop’ label as it can encompass so many different styles. 

Q. How would you describe your music in five words?

Fun, engaging, joyful, thought provoking.

Q. What inspires you as band?

Leo – Aside from the obvious animal inspiration, the thing that keeps us going is that we love spending time together and sharing our musical journey.

Anna – Meeting audience members who love our songs is very special. Having someone tell you how a song made them feel is magic. Our last single about crows’ family lives and how they respond to a loss in the family is one of our most affecting songs and seems to connect with people. 

Q. What can audience members expect from your set as part of the Hebden Folk Roots Festival?

Leo – We take our audience on a journey. You will visit the deep ocean, tall mountains, barren desert and dense jungle. You will find yourself singing along with songs you have only just heard and joining in with the actions for our squirrel song. There will be songs that make you laugh and songs that make you cry. 

Q. What’s your favourite song to perform as part of your set and why?

Leo – I like Deep Down, the tale of a scorpion searching for a mate. I love to sing this part, the music puts me in a spaghetti western mood and it reminds me of the teenage years; out in town looking for love.

https://youtu.be/QlnMUCeOphs

Anna – My favourite is Torn Apart, because it does not have the usual verse – chorus structure and it build and builds and goes proper bonkers at the end. 

Q. Who else would you recommend festival goers seeing during the festival?

We love the Magic Numbers and Michele Stobart is fantastic, we cannot wait to see her. We also love a good sing-a-long so recommend The LandLubbers for a rousing shanty. 

Q. What do you love most about performing on the festival circuit?

Leo – Meeting people and just getting the chance to perform, it is a real privilege. 

Anna – The excitement of playing and meeting many lovely people and being able to watch other performers as well.

Q. What can fans expect from your album Entwined and what was it like mastering your record at the legendary Abbey Road Studios?

Leo – It has some of our most emotional and heartfelt songs on it. If the album were a season it would be winter as the themes are – struggle, determination, family, loss and ultimately rebirth. The cover yin yang picture sums it up nicely as the balance between light and dark, endings and beginnings.

Anna – Recording and producing ourselves was really fun and it was very nerve racking putting the final touches on it and cutting the vinyl masters at Abbey Road. Quite a journey from our studio to Abbey Road Studios. We celebrated with a drink in the canteen afterwards. We were very star struck to be on such hallowed ground!

Q. What’s coming up next for the band?

Leo – we are working on some summer sounds, exploring ways to realise different arrangements and moods with just the two of us. We have a lot of material to record and are writing new songs all the time.

Anna – there are some very exciting plans coming up for later this year, we have been filming a few music videos and really performing our sound. We have a few gigs over the summer and we have lots of things coming up…watch this space!

Q. And finally, if you could turn into any bird or beast which would you choose and why?

Anna – I would become a wolf because they are such beautiful animals and live in such fantastically remote places. Their family lives are also fascinating.

Leo – I would regret choosing anything that could not fly so if not a flying squirrel or fish it’s going to have to be a bird. Following that logic I am going to select the condor, the world’s biggest flying bird. Riding the thermals high up in the clouds would be amazing

Birds and the Beasts will be performing at the Trades Club at 7pm on Sunday 12 May as part of Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival. For further information on Birds and the Beasts visit www.birdsandbeasts.net. For further information on the Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival visit www.hebdenfolkroots.org.

As mentioned, this interview was in partnership with Last Night I Dreamt, a website dedicated to art and theatre in South Yorkshire. For further information visit http://www.lastnightidreamtof.co.uk

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Folk Music Interviews

Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival Interviews #2 Merry Hell

Ahead of performing at this year’s Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival, taking place from 10 to 12 May, we were delighted to interview, in partnership with Folk Phenomena, the folk rock sensation that is Merry Hell.

Q. For those who haven’t come across Merry Hell tell us more about yourselves and how you came about?

Merry Hell come from the North West of England, mainly Wigan and offer joyful folk-rock with energy, passion and a message of hope and togetherness for these troubled times. The band emerged Phoenix-like from the ashes of the much loved, much missed folk-punk band The Tansads, who played some reunion gigs after a 10 year break. However, some of the original members couldn’t carry on and we didn’t want to be simply a tribute band to our old selves, playing only the old songs, we wanted to play the new music we had written as well as that of new members, like our female lead singer, Virginia, who also writes quite a few of our songs. We decided in order to do that, we should change the name to reflect our new energy, new hopes and new ideas, built on the old band but not dictated by it.

Q. How would you describe your music in five words?

Joyful folk-rock, with a message. (That’s 5 if you count the hyphenated words as one!!

Q. What inspires you as band?

Quite simply, we are inspired by what we do, making and sharing music with good people who enjoy what we do. What else would a group of musicians want than to have people care enough about their music to sing it along with us when we perform?

Q. What can audience members expect from your set in the Trades Club as part of the Hebden Folk Roots Festival?

At the risk of getting repetitive, we will share our energy, our joy and our hope, our songs in a way that will involve all the people there, not simply standing on the stage and expecting people to watch us – that’s not what we are about. We hope that people will go away feeling uplifted and a little more hopeful about the direction in which we are travelling together.

Q. What’s your favourite song to perform as part of your set and why?

Ooh, that’s like asking which is your favourite child!! There are different moods within the set, so each has a purpose – so the only real answer is the one that we are playing at the time!

Q. Who else would you recommend festival goers seeing during the festival?

Take in as much original music as you can. A special mention for our friends Vision Thing, currently rejoicing in being Folking.Com Rising Stars Award winners and the wonderful Katie Spencer.

Q. What do you love most about performing on the festival circuit?

There’s so many things – meeting old friends, making new friends, travelling around the country, celebrating both our differences and what binds us together but ultimately nothing beats that real sense of community when the band and the audience really come together, wherever that happens to be.

Q. What’s coming up next for the band?

Apart from lots of gigs?? We have made a documentary about a year in the life of the band – what goes on, what we are about, an opportunity for people to know us just that little bit better a people and to see some of what goes on behind the curtain!! That will be coming out soon. We are also starting to record a new album and bring new songs into the set, so there’s plenty for us and hopefully our friends to get excited about.

Q. Have any of the band ever been in love with a “Baker’s Daughter”?

Yes and no!! None of us have specifically been in love with the daughter of a baker (unless there are some untold stories). However, the song is also about loving someone enough to want to change enough to make a partnership work. To that extent, we have all been in love with a Baker’s Daughter!

Q. And finally, if you find yourselves there what would be your idea of the perfect merry hell?

Merry Hell implies a degree of good natured mischief, so the perfect merry hell would be to use our music and performances to inspire people to refuse to accept the present status quo and to bring about some positive change in whatever small way they can in that same spirit. Random acts of kindness are a good place to start and we try to include those in whatever we do!

Merry Hell will be performing at The Traders Club at 9.30pm on Friday 10 May as part of Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival. For further information on Merry Hell visit www.merryhell.co.uk. For further information on the Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival visit www.hebdenfolkroots.org.

As mentioned, this interview was in partnership with “Last Night I Dream Of..”, a website dedicated to all things theatre in South Yorkshire. For further information visit:


http://www.lastnightidreamtof.co.uk/

Categories
Folk Music Interviews

Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival Interviews #1 Kathryn Williams

Interview – Kathryn Williams

Alongside our diligent reviewing partners “Last Night I Dream of..” we have the exception pleasure of bringing you a series of interviews with folk and roots artists coming to the jewel of West Yorkshire, Hebden Bridge ahead of the Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival (running from 10 to 12 May)

Our first interview is with folk/singer-songwriting superstar “Kathryn Williams” who is a headline at the upcoming event.

We remember hearing Kathryn Williams when we first dedicated to writing about folk. I remember tracking down a large number of her albums and doing a big bulk purchase. We have several of her albums and are particularly partial to “Crown Electric”,”The Quickening” and a very soft spot for her cover of “I started a joke” on “Relations” (it comes up in my top-rated songs list quite often!) Cerebral and clever but also breezy and accessible, Kathryn Williams has rated highly in our favourite singer-songwriters long before we moved over to the folk train.

So.. on to the questions!

Q. For those who haven’t come across you before, please describe you in a few sentences?

It’s hard to be asked to describe yourself… overdo it and you look arrogant under do it and you sell yourself short. I’m a bit folky but not folk, I’m a bit poppy but not pop, I’m a bit shy but foul mouthed,.. I am the best friend you’ll ever have.

Q. How would you describe your music in five words?

Thoughtful quiet unfolding punk rock.

Q. What inspires you as an artist?

Joy and pain, observing and imagining. 

Q. What can audience members expect from your set as part of the Hebden Folk Roots Festival?

A moment of calm in the eye of the storm. Space for their own thoughts, a few laughs x 

Q. What’s your favourite song to perform as part of your set and why?

I like playing songs people ask for or know even if I’ve not played them for a while. I like bringing the sea level down to the very quietest it can be. 

Q. Who else would you recommend festival goers seeing during the festival?

Michele Stodart. She’s my best friend

Q. What do you love most about performing on the festival circuit?

To be honest I find it hard. My music is small and fragile. Playing to people who might not have heard of me is good though x

Q. Your last album, Common Ground was arranged to pair alongside the experiences of the main character in Cass Wheeler’s “Greatest Hits”. How did this differ to your usual writing style and are there any other characters real or fictional you would love to base an album on?

Well I did the album Hypoxia before the Cass Wheeler one. I loved the constraints of looking through a characters eyes, but I’m ready to be free and me again x

Q. You have recorded with many illustrious folk artists over the years. Are there any stories you can share from these collaborations and is there anyone else you would love to work with?

If I told you all my stories, you would never sleep again! 

Q. What’s coming up next for you as an artist?

I have a 20cd box set coming out with one little Indian ( Bjork label) , I’m working on two new solo albums, an album with Michele Stodart, a collaboration with carol Ann Duffy and writing with other artists!

Kathryn Williams will be performing at Hope Baptist Church at 10pm on Saturday 11 May as part of Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival. For further information on Kathryn Williams visit https://kathrynwilliams.co.uk. For further information on the Hebden Bridge Folk Roots Festival visit www.hebdenfolkroots.org.

As mentioned, this interview was in partnership with “Last Night I Dreamt Of”, a website dedicated to theatre and performing arts. For further information visit http://www.lastnightidreamtof.co.uk/