Following hot on the heels of some great puppetry at the London International Mime Festival, the Barbican is hosting the new show, The Devil and Mister Punch, from the renowned Improbable theatre company.

Founded in 1996 by four artistic directors, this production was put together by Julian Crouch and is based on an ongoing obsession with the tradition of Punch and Judy. Here he picks apart the darker aspects of this strangest of British traditions… I mean, think about it: a man who beats his daughter and his wife? A rampaging crocodile, here in the UK?!

The Devil And Mr Punch by Gareth A Hopkins.

An assortment of strange characters joins the more familiar cast, including dancing piglets, a typing dog, a singing bull and a scarily oversized Punch. The cliches of puppetry are picked apart with delightful knowing, the live folk music which accompanies the action is exquisite, the staging is incredibly clever and best of all it’s very funny!

The Devil and Mister Punch by Mat Pringle.

The Devil and Mister Punch by Jason Lear.

I can’t remember when I last saw a Punch and Judy show: just when it looks as though this strange tale may be in danger of dying out the Improbable performance is a timely reminder of the stories that have shaped our national psyche. Look out especially for the underwater scene and a body popping skeleton – some of the more surreal tangents ensure that not all of it makes sense, but The Devil and Mister Punch is a great way to spend an evening.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Devil and Mister Punch plays in The Pit until the 25th February and is a must see for anyone interested in history, morality or social mores as well as contemporary set design and staging. More details can be found on the Barbican website.

The Devil And Mr Punch by Gareth A Hopkins.

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.

I’m always a bit of a sucker for pearlescent materials: Chris Wood (also with Byard) favours the medium of Dichroic glass for angular abstract patterns.

It’s great to see an upsurge of interest in textile art. Claire Moynihan works in detailed felt and embroidery, and is best admired up close – her ‘moth balls’ are beautiful.

On the second floor of the exhibition I was able to pop in on Justin Hammond, hosting a display of great new Catlin Guide commissioned art pieces.

My favourites have to be Hannah Harkes (with a cowboy snogging an Indian) and the naif folk art of Tom Howse.

Next door Chris Pensa of Love Art London talked me through some of his upcoming tours – check out their website for ideas, I fancy me a tour with the fossil hunter! Read my review of an earlier tour here.

A strong theme of disaffection unsurprisingly runs through many artworks, including Laura Jordan’s Run Riot Run, an intricate map of the riots, shown with Galleryone.

Oona Hassim took as the starting point for her oil painting a photo of the Anti Cuts Demo in March 2011 in Piccadilly Circus. If I’m not much mistaken this is the UK Uncut parade that led to Fortnum & Mason – despite the blurry feel I recognise it, because I was there – those flags are a dead giveaway. The pieces are oddly energetic and beautiful but how odd to see direct action flogged as fine art!

Click here to view the embedded video.

At Woolff there was lots of upcycling going on. Special mention goes to Joanne Tinker who created rows of goblets out of sweet wrappers.

Susila Bailey-Bond is another butterfly papercut artist, concentrating on their decorative qualities.

Jess Littlewood at The Contemporary London collages together monochrome otherworldly scenes that are very ‘now’. Like a lot.

Porcelain, ink and wool are the preferred medium of artist Juz Kitson, who created wall installations of skulls, pulsating hearts and corals.

For the Cynthia Corbett Gallery Ghost of a Dream have produced an amazing collaboration that I first spotted at the graduate art fairs that I visited in abundance last year. The installation uses lottery tickets and the covers of romance novels, which are glued in patterns onto panels, mirrors and chandeliers.

Irish/Carribean artist and film director Zak Ove at Vigo Gallery cobbles together found objects to create religiously inspired ensembles.

At Bearspace I recognised Reginald S Aloysius from the 2011 Jerwood Drawing Prize. His overgrown temples are intersected by the paths of cross atlantic planes.

Jane Ward imagined a disturbed dystopian future of exploding buildings. I hope we don’t end up there!

Lastly I can’t go without mentioning the huge Nomad light sculpture by Beau McClellan in the entrance to the design centre: yours for just 250,000 euros. One for those Russian oligarchs me thinks.

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.

You may remember from my previous blog that the launch of The Catlin Guide for the best graduate artists took place at the London Art Fair last week. I popped along to the Islington Business Design Centre to check out the completed guide, suss out which galleries are showcasing the best new talent, and find out what trends are hot in the art world right now.

Annie Whiles, detail.

First up at Danielle Arnaud I loved work by Annie Whiles, using simple line to create iconic shapes.

Simon Lewty, detail.

Simon Lewty for Art First showed amazing inked drawings: it’s well worth checking out the rest of his work.

Annie Morris, detail.

At Pertwee, Anderson & Gold, the first in a common theme was evident, rows of stuff: in this case hundreds of pegs, each decorated with a crudely drawn female figure. This Peg Piece was created by artist Annie Morris, who rose to fame after illustrating the children’s book The Man With the Dancing Eyes by Sophie Dahl.

Andrea Mastrovito, detail.

At Foley Gallery Andrea Mastrovito used intricate collaged paper for the Gulliver’s Travels series, which imagines a brightly coloured world of little people and puppet hands.

Diamond dust is hot news for use in prints, favoured by the likes of Damian Hirst, Peter Blake, and Justine Smith at TAG Fine Arts. Her lovely limited edition print of a bank note British Isles features oodles of the stuff. Common glitter was also a favourite enhancement for many artists.

Also at TAG I loved the work of Claire Brewster. The Harbingers featured exquisitely cut and mounted birds, created from old maps: Maps are another massive trend, reworked into any manner of different outcomes. Good to see so much upcycling!

Tobias Till showed a fabulous set of prints – the London A-Z, available as a boxed set and selling very well if the red dots were anything to go by.

Witness – Detail, by Rachel Shaw Ashton.

Of course TAG also host the work of Rob Ryan (read a review of his TAG art exhibition in 2010 here). More beautiful papercutting (still a massive trend) came from Rachel Shaw Ashton, showing with JaggedArt. She layers paper with pins to create simple shapes in pure white to great affect.

I was also drawn to the 3D sculpture by Tracey Bush. Little Clod of Earth is a clump of wild plants made from the dog ends of paper packaging – oddly beautiful and strange.

JaggedArt also hosts the work of Francisca Prieto, who once more works with old atlases and maps to create beautiful 3D repetitive works of art. We wrote about her recent exhibition Unbound.

USA based artist Charles Fazzino creates astonishing scenes with layers of paper. He calls it 3D pop art; showing with Galerie Olivier Waltman from Paris.

On a completely different tangent I was surprised to see the work of fashion photographer Derrick Santini, who showed lenticular artwork with Scream. Forget those cheesy Jesus postcards, these artworks feature an astonishing amount of different angles. I can see city types absolutely loving one of these on their penthouse apartment walls!

Russian Bear by Karen Nicol.

The Rebecca Hossack gallery always hosts interesting craft based artworks: Karen Nicol’s Thread Bear utilised a vintage piece of French needlepoint as the basis, into which pieces have been embroidered and appliqued. I have a bad photo so here’s another similar piece.

Rebecca Coles also shows with Rebecca Hossack – you can read our extensive interview with this paper artist who specialises in butterflies here.

Rounding a corner I was pleased to see a wall of artwork by Simone Lia, who sells prints with Jealous Gallery. Her infamous Hello Sausage Hello Chicken has just been reissued in a new colour range. The gallery are also the purveyors of the prints from the Ghosts of Gone Birds exhibition, including the fab Ralph Steadman birds (read my review here).

More coming up shortly… don’t go away! *here’s part two of my review*

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.

The London International Mime Festival has quickly become one of my January highlights – c’mon, what else is there to get excited about during this miserable (taxing) month? – and my first performance of the season was a puppetry show at the London Roundhouse. The puppetry shows are always appealing because they invariably showcase some stunning leftfield creativity of the type that would never find its way onto a bigger theatre stage. And the Mime Festival picks out the cream of the crop so you are almost certainly assured of an interesting performance.

Plucked… a true fairy tale was created by new company Invisible Thread, directed by Liz Walker, who is a former director of the Faulty Optic theatre of animation. She brings her expertise in creating ‘cronky mechanical sets‘ and odd animated figures to her new project, which features a couple of bird people, a baby train, a little person with a hammer in its head and a wolf with a detachable penis that looks like a hallucinogenic mushroom.

Plucked, invisible thread by Katie Chappell.

The story (such as there is one) sprawls across two scenes, with near life size figures manipulated by Liz and cohorts. Despite the fact that the puppeteers are very much part of the stage you soon loose sight of them and concentrate on the oddball puppet characters instead, who take us on a meandering story that is explained by poetry and a beautiful lightbox paint brush animation.

The allegorical story told by Plucked is by turns touching, amusing (puppet shagging is a first for me, as is puppet birth) and thought provoking. Suffice to say that our love affair with television has a lot to answer for! Keep an eye on Invisible Thread to follow their next projects. This show ends on Sunday 22nd January, but there are plenty of other shows to see at the Mime Festival.

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.