Foxes! are husband and wife team Adam Bell and Kayla Bell, joined by Al Grice and Matthew Thwaites. Together they create beguiling indie music accompanied by some great lo-fi visuals. Dance along to the sing along likes of Who Killed Rob? or exhilarate in the rolling rock of Oh Rosie. From the creation of their own record label, Big Salad Records, to their fun homemade videos, here’s a band doing it their way… Adam answered my questions.

Your new album was launched earlier this month, what has been the response so far?
Yes, it has been exciting and the response has been really interesting, we’ve had some very detailed reviews and writers seem to have found nice words to say and things that have made us think about our music and what we are doing. Releasing an album in January is quite a difficult task, as the press and retail outlets tend to be quiet in the new year. In that sense, I feel that we’ve started 2012 with something that will grow, I’m hoping the album will be heard by the right people and settle into something that is appreciated on a wider scale than we’ve known before, having existed as a DIY band for some time. I suppose what we are doing isn’t necessarily in line with the big popular sounds of today and so we do rely on keen eared enthusiasts to get the ball rolling and tell everyone to love us! Saying that, there’s good signs of progress already, with great press and some old fans coming out of the woodwork to show support, which has been lovely.

Foxes! by Gemma Cotterell.

Your music is a beguiling mix of twee indie and rockier vibes, what are your influences and would you say this is fair description? if not what would you prefer?
Well, the twee influence and tag which seems heavily associated with the band is an interesting one because none of us would say that we are big fans of that genre. Personally, the bands that influence me the most would be Elephant 6 Collective acts like The Apples In Stereo, Of Montreal and Neutral Milk Hotel, as well as Yo La Tengo, Weezer, The La’s, The Unicorns, The Flaming Lips and so on. I like the lo-fi aesthetic and the idea of writing a melody or phrase that catches in your mind and goes round and round, that’s an important thing to try to grasp and a great challenge, which I always find very rewarding. I like to think of us as a rock band who write pop songs that don’t necessarily follow the most expected path. I think there’s space to be both strange and popular, if you have good pop ideas, there’s so much you can do beyond the basic presentation of a song. As we tend to write communally, there’s four minds for each idea to pass through, which gives each song a chance to pick up a variety of styles before its finished.
 

Click here to view the embedded video.

You recently relocated to Brighton, what was the lure?
We started as a three piece in Oxford back in 2005 and moved to Brighton after the summer of 2007. Kayla and our original bass player Dan were studying in Oxford and finished their courses that summer. We were drawn to Brighton by the past to some extent, as I had lived in Brighton during my teenage years, and Kayla had immediately loved it when she first moved over from Canada in 2001. It felt like coming home when we moved back, although Oxford was very good to us and we did love it there as well.
 

Foxes! by Zoey Hardwick.

You’ve also set up your own label Big Salad Records, what prompted this move?
It’s a combination of factors – ever since we played with the folks behind Fence Records when Kayla and I lived in St Andrews, I’ve been inspired by how strong the inspiration is when a group of people work together in a kind of collective. In Brighton, we know some very talented musicians and all of us seem to be involved in lots of projects, most of which never see the light of day and end up stuck on hard drives in people’s bedrooms.
 

Big Salad Records was created as a way to encourage friends to get their music into the public domain and hopefully to build a similar collective to, say, the Elephant Six or Anticon labels in America. For Foxes!, we had worked with a few different labels, releasing singles and EPs but I think we reached the point where we just wanted the album out and felt we had enough contacts and experience to do that with the new label. I’m really excited about it and there’s some great things in the pipeline for Big Salad Records.
 

FOXES! by Lottie Pencheon.

What is it like working as a husband and wife team?
Well it can be intense at times, but usually it’s great fun. Recently Matt and Alan seem to bicker more than we do. I’ll always believe there’s something magical between us when we work together and it’s overwhelming sometimes to think what a great creative partnership we have managed to uncover. A lot of the new songs are more directly written about our marriage and the crazy times we have been through. We are going to record the second record later this year and try to bring it all together into one piece of writing, set to the backdrop of an aquatic drama. It could make or break us!
 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Where can fans catch you in 2012?
We currently have three gigs scheduled. The first is a headline show at Pavilion Theatre in Brighton on 16th February. Then we are back in Oxford for the first time in a while at The Cellar on 10th March. We are also playing a London show for Odd Box Promotions at The Wilmington Arms on 16th March.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Foxes! by Foxes! is out now on Big Salad Records.

James Levy may need something of an introduction, but his cohort Allison Pierce has already risen to fame as one half of The Pierces (read my welcome back interview here). Not that James Levy hasn’t paid his dues… after touring extensively in the mid 2000s with his previous band Levy he almost kicked it all in before deciding to make one last ditch attempt with his music. Picking over an extensive songwriting back catalogue he chose the best tracks and enlisted Allison to duet with him. The result is a richly satisfying album of songs that reek of infidelity and betrayal: James Levy’s throaty growl is perfectly complemented by Allison’s honeyed vocals on tunes which whisper of folk, old school romance, big band and country influences.

James Levy & The Blood Red Rose by James Grover.

Firstly, how did you two hook up?
I’ve known Allison for about 7 years or so, we were good friends at times, and at other times the currents blew us in different directions. I knew her from around, but ultimately she heard my music on myspace. We tried to sing together over the years, but it never seemed like the right moment until now.

Why is Allison known as the Blood Red Rose? (it does refer to her right?)
Yes, it refers to her. I suppose the Blood Red Rose is the muse, the angel hovering above.

How would you describe the style of music on Pray to be Free?
I would like to think that it has the swoony arrangements of great crooner records, but I hope it’s modern too. We all tried to keep the spirits of the gentle bedroom demos, and tried not to add melodies or sounds that weren’t intended from the beginning. The strings and horns are a big part of the songs.

James Levy & Allison Pierce by Elizabeth Hudson.

What inspired the lyrics?
Death, love, relationships, and the death of relationships.

What was it like to work with Guy Berryman of Coldplay fame?
Having Guy produce our album was a great experience. He knows what he wants and how to get it, and truly does it for the love of it. He’s a kind soul and a good friend.

James Levy and the Blood Red Rose by Abi Stevens.

You’ve been on the alternative gig circuit for some time, what have you learnt over the years?
Don’t try too hard. Nothing good can come from it. Though, maybe I didn’t try hard enough! Oh, and be nice to people.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Any anecdotes you can tell us from your days touring with the Maccabees?
Orlando and I gave turns giving each other sponge baths each night, as Hugo read to us. (er, really?!) That’s all I’ve got.

What next for James, and will you be collaborating with Allison again?
It seems to be in the cards, but I try not to think about it too much. Maybe a record on my own, maybe with Allison. There are always lots of ideas spinning, but one can’t control the wind 

Pray To Be Free by JAMES LEVY & THE BLOOD RED ROSE featuring Allison Pierce is released on Heavenly Recordings on February 6th 2012.

http://www.itstartshear.com makes no grand entrance: I Am Piano is the softest of openers, with quiet keys gradually joined by the curling sighs of a looped violin. The vocals only makes an appearance at the end, sliding easily into the next tune. Melody, whether picked out on violin, piano or guitar is the most essential component of this album, which I think is best listened to as a whole. Blue, written by Peter’s father, is deliciously light but it isn’t all airy fairy – the title track It Starts Hear references the website domain name of the album in the lyrics, complete with scratchy off beats and sampled trumpets. With Asleep things once again take a more secretive turn, female chorals creating a rolling lull in Colin. Peter then does a fair effort of singing in German for sparse Bad Words, despite confessing to a poor knowledge of the language (see below). With The Notes On Fire the album gathers speed again, with vocals entirely composed of la-las; who knew they could be so evocative? The album finishes on the beautifully sophorific Everything I Know, ending http://www.itstartshear.com with low key panache.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in Searsmont, Maine (USA) and raised mostly in Carlton, Oregon.

How did you find your way into music; was it an easy and natural process or has it been a struggle to make it happen?
Both of my parents are musicians, and both my older brother and sister as well, so I grew up in a house full of music and it felt natural, almost essential, for me to take up an instrument. I started taking lessons on the violin at age 7, and also tried to play whatever other instruments I could get my hands on.

When was this album put together and what frame of mind were you in when you wrote it?
I started recording the first notes for the new album in January, 2009 . . . and from there it was a long and surprisingly complicated journey before I was able to call it finished. I think my frame of mind went through many phases and changes in those few years… everything from ecstatic happiness to complete depression and all that’s in between.

Peter-Broderick. Image courtesy of Incubate.

You decided to release it via your website - what was the thinking behind this?
Well, when I first started recording the songs for this album, I realized that most of them had a real story they were based around, and I was imagining the finished album coming with some kind of book in which people could read all these ideas I wanted to share about the music. but then I thought . . . wait a minute . . . most people don’t get physical copies of music these days! Most of them just download it, so they’ll never see this book which, to me, would be a big part of the album. So I developed the website idea to be a place online where all listeners, no matter which format that they obtain the album in, can have access to the same notes and visuals that are meant to accompany the music. That’s the basic idea.

Peter Broderick by JL Illustration.

One of the songs on the album was written by your father when he was 19, which sounds incredibly romantic! What kind of musician is he?
My father is a closet musician . . . he is very passionate about music, and perhaps at one point he had his own dreams of building a career in music, but he’s terrified of performing in front of other people. I’ve actually never heard him sing, except for on this one cassette tape my mother kept with a recording session from 1979, where he plays the guitar and sings this one song that he wrote, called blue. I fell in love with this song when my mother played it for me in 2008, and dreamed about sharing it with the world somehow. So I recorded a cover version for this new album, plus a lovely label from Berlin, called Sonic Pieces, released his original version on a 7″ vinyl in December, 2011.

Another song is dedicated to a bird whose life you stole whilst driving – what did this make you feel and do you feel that amends can be made by means of expressing gratitude in incidences such as this?
The day I ran over that bird I felt absolutely awful… I remember feeling ashamed to be human, thinking it was so stupid that we roll around in these big machines on our smooth roads that destroy parts of nature. I wrote a long piece of text that day about how terrible I felt, and also wrote the song trespassing, and I think doing those things definitely helped me to make amends with the situation. It was an accident after all, and since I wasn’t able to go back in time and undo it, I did the best I could to express my sorrow and to somehow turn something tragic into something beautiful and positive.

Peter Broderick by Gareth A Hopkins.

You’ve had a somewhat difficult year, what with a recurring knee injury that left you unable to walk. What happened, if you don’t mind me asking? And how did you learn to cope?
There has been a great paradox in my life the last few years . . . because, the week before I moved to europe toward the end of 2007 (which is when I feel like my career in music really started), I had a very stupid accident in which I tripped over my suitcase and destroyed my right knee… and it took me a long time to figure out what was really wrong with it, and in that time I was traveling the world and doing all these amazing new things, but always feeling restrained by this physical problem. And since I waited so long before having the right operation for my knee, I developed a lot of strange habits in my body to compensate for the bad knee, and which sort of threw off the balance in my body. But I also have so many things to be thankful for, and in many ways these last years have been a dream come true, so I try to focus on the good things and to be grateful for all that I have.

How would you describe http://www.itstartshear.com and do you think that the website as a name of an album will work? (it confused me a little bit)
I’m sorry if it’s confusing! But I really like the idea of the website as a title . . . and not because I’m obsessed with the internet or anything. Actually, sometimes I really hate the internet, but no matter what I think, I can’t deny that it’s become a huge part of our lives and has made so much possible for me. So in a way I see the title as some kind of tribute to the internet, or maybe even a statement of how our virtual lives are seemingly becoming more and more prominent and possibly even pushing reality aside… but I like the web address as a title because it brings people to the site, which I have built it as a place where people can listen to the music and read about it and see images and videos associated with the music. Any time the album is written about, it will automatically become a link to this virtual place… in my mind it makes perfect sense! Of course there is another side of me that thinks the whole idea is ridiculous . . . but it was just one of those ideas that I felt I had to try out. You’ll never know how it works until you try it… (brilliant answer!)

Peter Broderick by Adrian Bischoff.

What are your plans for 2012?
2012 is a slowing-down year for me. I’ll be taking a break from touring, spending more time at home in Berlin, releasing this project which I’ve been working on for quite a while and following the progress (or anti-progress) of this album and website… and I’m trying to pay more attention to my body, which needs some love after these years of sitting in cars and planes and trains, carrying heavy equipment in and out of buildings, and eating different foods all the time. One goal I have for this year is to finally learn how to speak German! fingers crossed.

http://www.itstartshear.com is due for release on Bella Union on 20th February 2012.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Out today: the beautiful new album from Swedish sisters First Aid Kit. Every tune is a wonder… starting with first single The Lion’s Roar, a plaintive ode to the moon, cowardice, love and life.

Johanna takes lead vocals in this perfect example of First Aid Kit’s own particular blend of modern country folk. Then comes current single Emmylou, a song dominated by the gently pulsing pedal guitar in homage to their country heros. Klara takes on a whole verse, showcasing a newly confident voice that is full of sweet soul. Things take a more bittersweet turn with In The Hearts Of Men, whilst Blue opens with a chirpy glockenspiel that belies a tale of doubt, as do the glorious harmonies of To A Poet. The bigger sound showcased on this second album is perfected in I Found A Way, which features a backdrop of lush orchestration. The saddest of themes are given the slow pace of Dance To Another Tune, whilst the wonderful Wolf drives onward with a healthy beat and a jaunty singing style that marks it out as a possible next single. New Year’s Eve returns to more familiar acoustic territory – just Johanna’s soaring vocals and a strummed zither.

First Aid Kit by Becca Thorne.

The album finishes on the upbeat (it’s all relative in the Söderberg’s world!) King Of The World, which features a guest vocal from their hero Bright Eyes. It’s clear that these past two years on the road have heavily influenced The Lion’s Roar; inspiring and enriching these sisters’ extraordinary talents that put the over-produced auto-tuned pap that dominates our airwaves to shame. And the thing is, the Söderberg sisters are even better in the flesh, so if you have never seen them live make sure you do when they next swing by – you’re in for a real treat.

First Aid Kit – Emmylou by Hannah Lewis.

Make sure you read my recent interview with First Aid Kit, in which Klara describes the making of and inspiration behind the new album. The Lion’s Roar is released today on Wichita Recordings.

First Aid Kit – Emmylou by EdieOP.

Nedry excel in a vocal electro dub step mash up genre all of their own. In A Dim Light opens languidly with the blissed out vocals of Ayu Okakita, whist behind builds the soundscape of alternating tensions that characterises this album. One of my favourite tunes comes next: the clattering beats and saws of Post Six providing a lushly chaotic backdrop to the melody. Havana Nights rattles and buzzes with sighing atmosphere, and across nearly 7 minutes Float explores the wonder of the universe. These are melodies to get lost in… sprawling with a danceable yet mellow musical intrigue. I spoke with Chris Amblin, Matt Parker and Ayu.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You have been variously described as post-dubstep, dark electro-pop, leftfield and indie. You cross many genres, what do you think describes you best?
CHRIS: On record I’d like to think we carry on the tradition and attitude of early trip-hop, but with some modern twists: we really look up to bands like Portishead and Massive Attack. The post-dubstep tag has been quite handy, in that we initially aimed to blend our love of post-rock with dubstep and take that into a live setting, but since our first record, Condors, we’ve all further broadened our tastes and I think particularly in the live environment we’re a fusion of lots of flavours of dance music, with almost a rock band aesthetic. So I guess Modern-Trip-Hop works nicely!

Where do find inspiration for the rhythmic structures of your music?
CHRIS: I’m not sure if it’s such a conscious thing, but due to the fairly long winded way that we make tunes the rhythm can change from version to version. Quite often I’ll make a quite simple drum track for a song and Matt will subtly change the hi-hat pattern or where the snare falls and totally change the feel of the rhythm, then Ayu will sing on the off-beat or something or put together a very rhythmic backing vocal and by that point it’s difficult to understand where the actual rhythm has come from.

Clouded – Nedry by Claire Jones Art.

Short songs are not your forte, why do you prefer to create long tunes?
MATT: Well we have a few songs running under 5 minutes on our new album, a couple even verging on pop song length! We like making longer songs mostly because our music is all about creating mood and a sense of atmosphere and I believe you need to build a piece of music up to create that kind of vibe. 

Even though you create dance music you relish the act of recreating music live on stage, what can people expect of a Nedry gig?
CHRIS: The experience of playing live is very important to us so we put a lot of time and effort into making the performance of each song interesting and exciting for us and most importantly for the audience. We’re all keen gig goers and have seen some fantastic live performances and also awful ones so we often reflect on these experiences and try to better what we do and take on board the things we like and discard the things that we don’t. It’s important to me to make the live experience different to the album and things are definitely more upbeat and energetic and if we’re lucky with the sound system the beats are more powerful and the sub bass is deep.

Nedrymakesmusic by Fort Rixon.

Your vocalist Ayu Okakita hails from Japan, how did you all get together?
AYU: I met Matt and Chris through the internet (myspace), I was living in East London then and we happened to be neighbours.

How do the three of you work together? How does a song come about and who brings what to the mix?
MATT: Every song is different and approached differently although there is a lot of file sharing online that goes on, passing Ableton sessions from one to another and working over the structure of a song. Ayu brings vocals to the mix (obviously) but she also contribute to melodies, piano playing, rhythmic and mood ideas. Myself and Chris work on everything and anything in between. Our creative process is really quite convoluted and it takes a long time to make a song feel right but I guess this is because as a band based solely in the electronic realm, it can be difficult to just get into a room and make something. Saying that though, a few of the tracks on the new album were created entirely in a live environment or at least born in that environment before being given the full studio treatment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Last year you played SXSW for the first time, what was the highlight and did you get a good response?
CHRIS: It was easily the craziest and most intense week of being in this band, the sheer amount of people and bands performing that week is impossible to describe. There was an amazing build up before we traveled to Austin, starting in November the previous year with our label (Monotreme) receiving the invite for us to play and then all of us working together to make it happen. So we spent a lot of the week in a bit of a haze of joy and relief and jetlag! The highlight for me was after playing our showcase gig at Latitude 30, when a small group of young Texans found us loading out in the back alley and told us that they’d been following Nedry and were over the moon to see us play in the flesh – we chatted for a while and signed a copy of our CD for them. It meant a lot to us and was the best response we could have wished for.

What are you looking forward to most in 2012?
MATT: I think we’re looking forward to seeing how people react to our album. It’s been two years since our last release and the musical landscape has shifted a lot since then.

Nedry release In A Dim Light on 12th March 2012 on Monotreme Records.

Diagrams by Gemma Cotterell.

This has been described as a stripped back experiment in minimalism after your time in Tunng, why did you want to get back to something more basic?
I didn’t have a specific sound in mind when I set out to make the record. Instead I had lots of ideas of things I’d like to try and directions I might want to go in. I was looking for a producer with a studio to work with and wanted to be guided by what ever type of sound that producer was especially good at creating. I really wanted to make a good quality record and for it to be different to what I’ve done before and I was flexible as to how that might happen. Maybe if I’d met a producer with a room full of strange acoustic instruments then I’d made a strange acoustic album. Instead I met Mark and he has a small programming studio and is amazing at precision recording and sequencing. We tried working together for a day and had a lot of fun and the sound developed from a combination of his production style and the songs and ideas I brought with me.

Sam Genders by Sarah-Jayne Draws.

You left Tunng to work on production for other bands and as a teacher in an inner city primary school for 3 years, what led to the decision to leave Tunng and why did you decide to teach?
It was songwriting more than production – I’m only really a producer in the creative sense… I’m not much use with logic as yet and when we play live I can just about get my head around Ableton! I started the primary school job before leaving Tunng purely because we were in a bit of a hiatus financially. I needed a bit of rent cash and so spent 10 minutes doing one of those online job centre searches. It promptly told me that I might want to consider working in a school and that there was a job going in one round the corner from my house. The closing day for applications was that day so I had about 4 hours to get a form, fill it in and drop it round. They agreed to give me the job (as a classroom teaching assistant) and also to give me days off for all my upcoming tour dates with Tunng. Once I started I found it to be a really interesting experience and I found it really challenging in a way that forced me to address some of my confidence issues and become a stronger person for it. I was quite unhappy at the time and although I loved the music and the people in Tunng I felt like I needed to do something different for a while and felt like the school was having a real impact on me as a person. So I left the band and focused on work for a while.

Black Light – Diagrams by Jardley Jean-Louis.

Prior to this you also made music with an album with The Accidental called These Were Wolves (which included singer Liam Bailey and a contribution from harpist Serafina Steer) which I thought was really wonderful. What happened to that project?
I really enjoyed being in The Accidental but it was always a bit of a get together of friends who were busy doing other projects. I wouldn’t rule out working with them again. Stephen Cracknell, whose production sound was such a huge part of that record is still making music that Accidental fans should seek out.

You put on the wonderful Thermal festival a couple of years ago, any plans to put on a similar event in the future?
Thankyou. I really glad you enjoyed it. Thermal was a lot of fun and I’d love to do it again. My favourite bit being sitting around a big camp fire in the Derbyshire woods with the guitar being passed around. I’m really just waiting for the right time to do it again so watch this space.

Aurora – Diagrams by Deborah Moon.

The lyrical imagery of Black Light will be instantly recognisable to fans of Tunng – where do you find inspiration for your songwriting? How have your experiences shaped the creation of this new album?
The themes which inspire me and run through most of my songs are nature, psychology and science. My experience of the last couple of years has been one of becoming more confident and of developing a more positive view of the world and myself and I think that more positive slant is apparent in the new songs.Perhaps doubt as a theme has been replaced to an extent by possibility.

The visual aspect of Diagrams is very important to you, why is that? What was the art direction and who created the graphics? They’re fab!
When I was little my favourite album was Revolver by The Beatles and I’m sure that was partly because it has such a great album cover. I’m quite artistic myself and I love good design so it’s important to me. The most exciting bit of making a record for me is that final moment when the vinyl is delivered and you open it up to see the artwork and the beautiful black disk inside. The art direction I initially gave was based on the work I’d seen by an artist I hadn’t been able to track down. A mixture of geometric scientific looking shapes and lines and natural imagery all mixed together in a cut out collage style that I’d seen in a magazine article about the human mind. After the label suggested a few other people they sent me some work by Chrissie Abbott and it included that piece I’d originally seen and loved so much. Since then she’s done all the artwork and is also involved at an art direction level.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What can people expect from a live Diagrams performance in 2012 and what are you most looking forward to this year?
The live shows are very feel good and a little (nicely) rougher round the edges than the record. Some of the electronic elements have been replaced by guitars and live drums so it’s a touch warmer perhaps. The brass and strings are all played live as well so there are quite a few of us on stage. 9 in total. It makes it a lot of fun for us and hopefully for the audience as well. I think I’m most looking forward to touring in March. We’ll be playing a longer set by then and we get to visit a few of my favourite venues around Europe. Should be fun!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Black Light by Diagrams is out now on Full Time Hobby. Sam Genders is doing a one off headline gig TONIGHT (Wednesday 18th January) at The Lexington, with support from Patterns and the excellent Fairewell. Tickets are available here, for more live dates check the Diagrams website.

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!

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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. 

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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.

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.*

Laura J Martin sets out her wares in the album title track and single The Hangman Tree, the sweetest of vocals twirling around languid drums, hand claps and a noodling kazoo. The beat builds to a flute embroidered finale which leads into the stunning Fire Horse, where upon Laura J Martin’s favourite wind instrument takes precedence with unusual and beautiful results. Other standouts on the 16 track album include the bouncy Jesse, the frantic spitfire interludes to the lilting Spy and campfire crackling meets rap of Kissabye Goodnight. You read our recent review of her live gig at the Lexington, and now it’s time to catch up with Liverpudlian musician Laura J Martin as she gears up to release her much anticipated debut album. The Hangman Tree is a gorgeous medley of folk, oriental and jazz influences that needs to be on your stereo soon.

Laura J Martin by Justyna Sowa.

You are a multi-talented musician with a range of musical instruments at your disposal. How many do you play?
My main instruments are flute and piano, but I dabble with the mandolin and other pipes too. 
 

You have said that the flute is your main instrument of choice – has it ever been hard to accommodate a wind instrument and voice in your songs: how do you prioritise what works best?
Aha! Well the loop station was brought on board because of this reason. I have recently incorporated piano regularly into my live shows and recordings as it does more naturally support the vocal, but I do love layering up the flute especially when I go Mellotron / Strawberry Fields style.

What has inspired the lyrics to the tunes on your debut album The Hangman Tree?
Tributes to good people I know and have known, pets, stories relating to my gypsy heritage and flawed relationships.
 
You grew up in Liverpool: how did this urban environment produce someone so bohemian? Did your parents encourage your music and if so in what way?
Well I grew up in one of the dullest suburbs of Liverpool so we were forced to make our own entertainment. My parents have always been pretty supportive. They followed the Catholic tradition of having more than 2.4 kids so they probably lost focus with me maybe! In all seriousness they have been very encouraging, my Dad is sometimes my personal caddie too. Music has always been important to the Martin family. My Grandad was a pianist so he planted the seed.
 

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The Hangman Tree has been some time coming: we’ve been championing you for over 2 years on Amelia’s Magazine. Has it been hard to get the album out and what have the biggest frustrations and joys of the process been?
Yes, tell me about it!! The joys of the process are creating the songs and the satisfaction of completing them and being able to perform them live. It can be frustrating having to wait that length of time before releasing an album, but if you leave songs to settle you are able to pick out the strongest ones and ruthlessly erase the ones that don’t cut the mustard.
 
How did you hook up with record label Static Caravan?
Through Marc Riley, I have a lot to thank him for. Well saying that I met Marc through Euros Childs and Norman when touring with Jonny. Those fine chaps saved my life!
 

Where can our readers see you perform live in 2012?
Well some dates are coming together in the UK. Please see my website for details: laurajmartin.com I have also been working with Richard James so there should be some dates on the board for that soon too.
 

Any top tips for other musical acts to look out for this year?
I’ve been digging out some old stuff to be honest. Geoff from Static Caravan gave me a Johnny Harris LP for christmas and it’s a beast! New stuff? I think Y Niwl are terrific, Serafina Steer, Clinic have just released a new album which I am looking forward to listening to.

The Hangman Tree by Laura J Martin is out on Static Caravan on 23rd January 2012. See also our recent review of her performance at the Lexington here.

At a time of year when live music is usually thin on the ground, Fortuna Pop’s trio of Winter Sprinters at the Lexington gave the grateful gig-goer a chance to shelter from a damp and dismal early January evening. Nestled on a first night’s set list, between the rockabilly of the Werewandas and the acerbic laments of the Singing Adams, was the gifted Laura J Martin.

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I’d first caught Laura J Martin last year, supporting Hannah Peel at the Windmill and then Misty’s Big Adventure at 93 Feet East, and both times was amazed. She’d subsequently picked up ringing endorsements from DJs Marc Riley and Rob Da Bank (having already graced the pages of Amelia’s Magazine), and a chance to see her play live again (with the added bonus of an impending album release) was not to be missed.

Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

Things got underway with the sprightly Doki Doki, as a swirling, stomping Martin built up looped layers of flute. She is an engaging performer, with a fragile voice rather reminiscent of a young Kate Bush, and she deftly switches between flute, mandolin and keyboards whilst backed by assorted samples and her trusty loop station. Martin may be from a folk background, but her music is infused with contemporary influences (as her collaborations with Canadian MC Buck 65 and former Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci frontman Euros Childs show). A new piano-based number gave way to Fire Horse, inspired by Martin’s time living in Japan and learning of the story of Yaoya Oshichi. A Lalo Schifrin-esque flute intro announced the arrival of the slinky Spy, whilst Martin entranced the crowd with the lilting Tom. She closed her set with Salamander, switching between mandolin and flute and building to a hypnotic finish.

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As she heads off on a mini-tour and with her album, The Hangman Tree, hitting the stores in a couple of weeks, it looks like 2012 will be the year that Laura J Martin will astound an even greater audience!