Saturday night and I find myself in the front row of NYC's 'The Jazz Gallery', an intimate upstairs space at 290 Hudson Street. This is a special occasion, not only because Gretchen Parlato and Taylor Eigsti have only played a handful of shows as a duo, but it's likely the last time either of them will perform at this historical spot again due to venue relocation.
The pair start off the evening with a rendition of Herbie Hancock's 'Butterfly' and go on to play their soothing version of Simply Red's 'Holding Back The Years' to the audience's satisfaction. Throughout the set we are struck by the musical bond between Gretchen and Taylor, who we are told are "very fond of each other".
Gretchen reflects on The Jazz Gallery's near-future move, saying, "It's very true, home is where the heart is so whatever venue they find we will create it and fill it with love. But it is nice to just appreciate this space because historically I'm sure we'll all walk by this corner and be like 'I remember when that was a jazz club'. And it's very special but we can definitely create this elsewhere."
Regulars are holding their breath for news on where the jazz hub will live next year. Wednesday night's second fundraiser concert, with performances from Brad Mehldau amongst others, could be the night when Deborah Steinglass, Executive Director, announces this.
Parlato's popular cover of 'Holding Back The Years'
Tonight most of the Big Apple's boys are huddled in bachelor pads cracking open bottles of beer and chomping chicken legs; it's the Yankees' end of season playoff. But New York City's Roseland Ballroom, teeming with giggling girls, has managed to kidnap the odd begrudging boyfriend for the next two hours. By the time The Temper Trap have finished, the game will be a distant musing to them.
There's a subdued atmosphere after a short set from support act 'The Neighbourhood' doesn't exactly end with a bang. The clock is ticking and we're restless for our Aussie sweethearts to assemble on stage. And when they do rock up, boy do we know it. Flashes of red and a heavy bass that could knock out an elephant hit us. We look up, noses vibrating, to see silhouettes slinking in and out of the strobe lighting.
TTT pull out material from their 2012 self-titled second album to welcoming ears. Songs like 'London's Burning' and 'Trembling Hands' are performed with awe-inspiring showmanship and conviction by lead singer Dougy Mandagi. And of course old favourites 'Love Lost' and 'Fader' result in screams of joy.
Time flies and soon enough we are pleading for the encore. "Thank you for sticking it out with us...I know (the second album) was a bit different" exclaims Dougy. The final stint of the show includes the usual water drumming, a heart-wrenching rendition of 'I'm Gonna Wait' and the classic 'Sweet Disposition'.
A good job well done by The Temper Trap. And the New York Yankees didn't come off too shabbily either, beating the Baltimore Orioles 3-1.
Days after my return from Shambala and I am still finding decorative gems in unusual places, like the back of
my left calf. How these globules of colour got there, well that’s for me to know, but they certainly serve as
small reminders of the eclectic life that lay within the festival grounds…
It began with the usual tent
pitching and friendly chitchat to next-tent neighbours but the vibe was
different to other festivals I’ve been to. A blend of hippy, reggae, family-friendliness
was in the air. Lightly roaming the grounds I saw two toddler girls jovially
chasing each other in their knickers, lovers picnicking by the lake and the ‘Shambarber’ offering bleaching of the
backside. An usual mix but it all seemed quite magical.
In need of a decent cuppa I
slumped onto a chair in The Hurly Burly,
a large tee-pee with a raised counter of treats. The mug of tea turned out to
be more than decent and was accompanied by a wedge of really (and I mean really) good Victoria sponge cake. As I
shoved the last bite into my gob the seven servery girls sprang onto the train-track
backed platform and began to dance. Probably the most memorable tea-time
session I’ve ever had.
A wander and a half later and for
the night before the real entertainment begins I’m pleasantly surprised to be
bouncing along to feel-good group Ska’d
For Life in Chai Wallahs. This is
decidedly the best venue of the weekend in terms of atmosphere and music. The
team of ska-jazzers play a cover of ‘Don’t
Worry Be Happy’ to much delight and the gathered Shamballans are all smiles.
The easy-going mood has been set and as Friday rolls up we’re all ready for a
full day of fun.
The Mayflys
I catch The Mayflys, who have won their stage spot here in Chai Wallahs. The
foursome’s tunes are ultra catchy (e.g. ‘Don’t Mind If I Don’t’) and the sweet
yet powerful voice belonging to lead singer Aurelie is captivating. Her French
accent oozes out to make their songs sound really unique. Halfway through a Daft Punk medley the sound cuts out and
our disappointment testifies how much we were enjoying them. Perhaps that’s
what happens when you run a festival on 100% waste, vegetable oil, wind, sun
and pedal power. But the 2011 ‘A Greener
Festival’ winners manage to get the show back on the road eventually and we
jig along to the rest of The Mayflys’ set.
I head to the Shambala stage
(main stage) to see The Boxettes, a
five-piece a capella girl group. Their rich harmonies and beatboxing are novel
at first but their songs lack excitement and after a couple of numbers I’m more
interested in lunch. I lounge on my picnic mat at the back of the crowd and am satiated
by a succulent ‘moo pie’ from the Bristol based Pieminister.
I fancy chilling out and Sankofa’s
seems a fitting tent for laid back entertainment. Village Well are on
the bill. The trio fuse folk-violin with Indian tabla to create a mishmash of
sound that doesn't quite work. The tabla player scowls at the feedback from the
speakers but the sound team don't manage to rectify it. Chirpy Iraqi violinist,
Zirak Hamad, gets us singing along though and the floating branches, perched
birds and stars above us keep us on board.
Saturday morning now
and I'm in front of a big red breakfast bus by the lake. Swarms of bees
are buzzing around the honey intended for toast. I take a perch with my hot
choccy on a nearby table and next thing I know the man across from me jumps up,
stung by one of the little buzzers. So does the hot chocolate - onto my lap...
The Wonderful Sound of the Cinema Organ
I retreat to Chai Wallahs where 7-piece jazzy fizzlers
The Wonderful Sound Of The Cinema Organ are drawing in lots of
passers-by. Vocals similar to those of Maroon 5's Adam Levine, and their flips
from ska to reggae are stupefying. Clearly a group of seriously talented
musicians.
Later on I stroll past a mobile police rave
van on the way to see Bev Lee Harling, whose cover of 'Every Little
Thing She Does' caught my ear on Hype Machine. She stands tall and proud
behind her kitchen sink percussion, taking hold of an electric drill. This is
totally unnecessary in the piece she goes on to play and I'm disappointed
by her emphasis on the gimmicky side of the music. The typewriter she plays in
her next tune thankfully adds to the rhythm and her later mimicry of a guiro by
scraping a knife against a cheese grater comes off pretty well. More dulcet
ukele plucking next time please Bevsta!
Shambala's Saturday fancy dress parade
A late
afternoon siesta sees me inside my tent. Minutes later, I am roused by the
crescendo of crowd that has crept up on me. I pop my head out like a suspicious
meerkat to see multi-coloured balloons, Day of the Dead samba players and
middle-aged women frolicking past in fluorescent lycra. All in the spirit of Shambala’s
‘Celebration’ themed fancy dress parade.
As Saturday
night begins to fall I’m jiving here, Dosey Doeing there and generally
guffawing like there’s no tomorrow. Urban Folk Quartet are the agents of
this full-throttled merriment with their multi-cultural approach to the folk genre.
I’ve never seen so many fancy dress fanatics in one tent, let alone that many linking
arms and spinning about.
In The Enchanted Woodland
We approach
late evening and The Enchanted Woods are calling to me. I glide to the
lake and cross over a bridge into Shambala’s forest. Colours and shapes whizz
past the corners of my eyes. I spot a giant, pink jellyfish, a glowing peacock,
and metallic sculptures’ reflections in the surrounding water. The creative
masterpieces evoke an excited hubbub of voices from my fellow woodland pixies.
Time for a sit down, so I head to Sankofa’s where Chartwell
Dutiro is hypnotizing the gathered Shamballans with dreamy Shona music from
Zimbabwe. He looks like a chief and certainly has the command of our ears. My
eyelids flap up and down drowsily with the repetitious melodies of the mbira.
“I’m not going to give you words, just a melody,” he says as we join in with
the vocals. Gently lullabied, I drift back to my tent and into slumber.
Chartwell Dutiro, mbira in hand
I awake, and
after half a waffle bathed in maple syrup it’s time for some spoken word. Shoes
off, I tiptoe into the Wondering Word teepee to contemplate “historian
witchdoctor” and octopus admirer Al Cummins. The sounds coming out of
his mouth muddle me. But his secular blessing stays with me; “May your
headphones not be tangled”.
Spring in my
step, I mosey towards the full-bodied sound of folk trio Lau, who are
playing the main stage. “We’ve chosen a good place to inhabit this weekend,
weather-wise” they exclaim as I attempt to cover my ivory shoulders from the
sun.
Wandering Word tent
Throughout the
weekend, festival goers have placed chunks of wood into the lakeside’s tall
wooden teepee. Darkness takes hold of the sky and as I meander towards
Shambala’s Grand Finale Big Burn I pass an elderly life-loving stall
man. “It’s the 'special' flapjacks
making their last outing!” he declares.
The gathered Shamballans
huddle together to watch the first strike of a flaming arrow pierce the teepee’s
casing. Fireworks spritz into the
air above us and the flames blaze stronger, warming our skin. As this year’s whirl
of creativity in the English countryside nears its end I fondly anticipate
the bubbles, glitter and nipple tassels that will grace me with their presence
next year.
Family holidays in France usually involved in-car arguments about what music to listen to. But
thankfully my sister came to the rescue one year when she produced two albums -
‘Through The Windowpane’ and ‘Red’ by Guillemots.
I don’t go on family holidays of the same vein anymore but
if I were to I’m sure any family squabbling could be calmed by
Guillemots’ latest album ‘Hello Land!’. The foursome is to release three other
albums this year and the Norwegian countryside is their chosen recording site.
I was lucky to meet the mellow Fyfe Dangerfield this Summer
at RockNess. And in case you were wondering, he was fashioning a slightly less lion-like mane than I’ve
seen in the past!
Hello there there, Fyfe!
You’ve been known to use quite weird sounds in your music, like a
typewriter. Are there any other sounds that you’d like to use in the future?
The sound of a golden eagle maybe, yeh.
Would you ever think about actually going out to catch one?
I wouldn’t capture the golden eagle but I’d capture the
sound! There’s a lot of bird sound on our next record. We’re doing four records
this year. On the summer one we’ve got quite a lot of birdsong already. There’s
a bird called a yellow hammer and a fieldfare.
Why do you like birds so much?
I don’t know! My mum and dad got me in to them as a kid and
I was stuck.
What’s your favourite bird?
Well, that’s difficult. I can maybe give you a top
20. I did see a bird called the black woodpecker in Norway that I’ve never seen
before. It’s not my favourite bird but it’s quite exciting.
A black woodpecker!
What’s it like recording in Norway?
It’s just amazing.
We’re hidden away from everything in the hills in our own little zone. It’s
lovely. It’s gunna exhaust us this year but the Summer record’s
sounding good.
Why did you choose four albums this year?
Well it started as “Let’s do something each season”. It began as an
E.P. each season and then it turned into an album.
Is each one intended to reflect
a season?
It’s not songs about the seasons but the sounds of them.
How many songs will you have on
each album?
I thought it was gunna be eight on each but the Summer one’s gunna have
ten I think. It will be somewhere between eight and ten on each one.
So you’re not struggling to get
creative inspiration?
No, it’s not at all difficult to
get things going. The hard part’s always finishing things.
The first of four albums this year
What would Guillemots be if it were a country?
Narnia I think.
Why?
It seems like quite an exciting
place. I just haven’t found the wardrobe yet.
Are the Narnia chronicles your
favourite books?
I don’t know. I read them as a
kid. I should re-read them as an adult. I really liked them but I haven’t
re-visited them yet.
What’s your favourite current
book?
I really like Murakami, the
Japanese writer. I’ve been reading a lot of his stuff. There’s one called
‘Kafka on the Shore’ and ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle’…amazing. It’s the
everyday world but there are always these sort of parallel worlds going on.
What do you think about tweeting?
I sort of tweet sporadically. My ex-girlfriend actually joined me on to it. I
think she knew it’d be good, that I’d enjoy it but she just did it and then
wrote to a couple of people pretending to be me!
I think we have to be very careful with the way the world’s going
with all that ‘cos your brain just gets swamped with shit. I’m not anti the Internet but I
think you need to ration yourself. It’s dangerous otherwise.
What will the ratio of
instrumental to vocal tracks on your new albums be like?
In a way I’m trying to do less vocal
stuff but then it varies. I love both. I find it weird being known as a singer ‘cos I
always wanted to do music but I never planned to be a singer. It was just that
I wrote stuff and someone had to sing it. So I do try and make sure I do stuff
that isn’t about my voice. And Arista is singing a lot more at the moment.
Do you think your fans prefer
vocals to instrumentals?
I don’t know. You can’t pay too much attention thinking about what
people want from you because you get lost. I don’t mean it in a shitty way,
like “Fuck the audience”. I just mean I think people liked us in the first
place ‘cos we were doing our own thing.
A few years after the first album was out I felt like I started listening too
much to what people wanted us to do. It defeats the purpose of doing music in the first place, which is to
make a pure expression of something. As long as we’re really genuinely enjoying
what we’re doing I think that comes across and other people love it hopefully.
How does having members from four
different parts of the world affect the band?
We’re a bunch of
misfits and it helps us sound a bit different I guess because we didn’t grow up
in the same culture. I think I purposely tried to find a completely odd selection
of people ‘cos we fit in this strange way and we all connect with what
we like in music.
I'm overjoyed to report that my favourite current band, Little Comets, are on the new Radox ad. This should boost their fan-base to a more deserving figure. It's no surprise that someone has finally caught on to their catchy, feel-good tunes and 'Dancing Song' represents Radox's 'Come to life' slogan brilliantly. Good on you, lads!
I caught up with the trio earlier this Summer for an interview and a quick game of 'Would you rather...?'
Radox's 'Come to life' ad feat. Little Comets
What’s your earliest memory of music?
Robert: My mum and dad took home videos of me and Micky when
we were like 5 or 6 just being generally quite naughty and they put a
soundtrack over them so instead of us speaking to each other it would be music
that they liked and associated with that moment. So a track called ‘Beautiul
Boy’ by John Lennon. I always get a swell of something when I listen to that
song and I think it’s cos my dad associated that with me and Micky when we were
little.
Why do you guys think the North East is producing such good music at
the moment?
I don’t know. There are a lot of really good bands. We were
listening to Mammal Club yesterday. That’s just fantastic music. How
somebody hasn’t picked up on that I don’t know.
I think Newcastle is quite an isolated place and the North
East is pretty isolated so it has a real sense of identity in its music. And I
think we notice a lot of North East music has the same melodic intonations
from, like, Northumbria folk music. So if you listen to Sting or Dire Straits or, more recently, Maximo Park, you can hear certain phrases. It’s
not that people copy each other, it’s just inherent, it’s like from the land.
You almost inherit it.
You (Robert) use lots of different parts of your mouth to song and
that makes you guys sound really distinctive. How did you learn to use your
voice like that?
Robert: I’ve just always sang how I’ve sang. I didn’t used
to be a singer. I used to be just a bass player who did backing vocals and then
the singer left. Cos we’d already written the songs and it was somebody else
singing our songs. And then when he left, which was in sixth form, no one else
wanted to sing so I did! And from singing really bad Bon Jovi covers when we
were 14. The more you do it the more you learn your way of doing it.
Did you ever have any lessons?
Robert: I did, I went for a bit cos I was having trouble a
few years ago looking after my voice. I’d be able to sing in the house but when
I went on stage I found my throat constricted and I found it really difficult
to hit certain notes. So I went to lessons for a few months and learnt loads of
vocal exercises. And I think more than anything else it was learning how to
breathe properly and relaxing and singing loads. I’m quite relaxed on stage now
cos I know that I’m not overstretching it. I think as a band we’re a lot more
relaxed. I think we’re a lot more comfortable.
If you could only eat one colour of food for the rest of your life what
would it be?
Robert: Green. It’s good for you. It would be harsh to do,
so if you did it you might as well do it for healthy reasons. Or you could
blend food together to make it green. Yellow food and blue food.
If Little Comets were a Disney character what would you be?
Oh dear…I don’t do Disney. What’s Monsters Inc, is that
Disney as well? One of them, the nice on in that, the big blue one.
Sully! Why?
Cos he’s big, fluffy and blue. Is there any more reason to
like anything!
The boys released their first album last year
Who came up with the idea of hanging the percussion instruments on a
rope above you while you play?
Robert: I did. It’s cos we figured that if we had to pick
them up you’d panic and just drop them when you’re finished with them. So you
could smash them. So it was more efficient to string them up because then we’d
get more use out of them.
I saw you had a book of knots before playing…
Matthew: Ah no, Biffy Clyro’s guitar tech was on the side
and he was like “Do you want a hand tying your knot, like?” And I was like “Oh
no I’m fine like, I love me knots, I quite like me knots.” And he was like “You’ll
like this” and just got a book of
knots out. I was like “That’s brilliant, we should get married!”
'Jennifer' from May's EP Jennifer and other short stories
We’ve got a quick game of Would You Rather.
Ohh we love this game. We’ve tested this game to absolute
destruction.
But we didn’t want to go too filthy (normally we probably would)… We’ll
start with some easy ones…
Would you rather…be a golf club or a cricket bat?
Cricket bat.
Would you rather…only ever wear orange or black?
Black.
Would you rather…be a king or a ninja?
A ninja.
Would you rather…drink a shot of someone else’s urine or a pint of your
own?
Robert: A pint of me own.
Michael: I think a shot of someone else’s, depends who.
Would you rather…constantly be crying or constantly be sneezing?
Unanimous: Sneezing. I quite like sneezing.
Would you rather…only
be able to shout or to whisper?
Unanimous: Whisper.
What’s the best ‘Would you rather…?’ that you guys have come up with?
Matthew: Oh no…not a good idea to ask us that question!
Robert: The one I’d like is would you rather go to prison
for life for a crime you didn’t commit or kill someone and get away with it?
Yep, that's right. He's a hottie. And I'm afraid I'm not referring to you this time, Giacomo. It's Sam who's looking unquestionably suave in the boys' new black & white video for 'I Need a Drink'. I heard (and loved) this number two years ago watching the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading Festival. They had a mad crowd that day and I've been waiting ever since to hear news that the lads have propelled their beats out of the studio to the masses.
This hasn't happened (yet?) but I have a big soft spot for the boys. The release of their EP 'Low' on iTunes this week will hopefully send them onwards and upwards. There's a real sense of depth in their music and the interactive 360 degree video for 'Dark Inside' from earlier this year visualises the disjointed, heavy-hitting emotions in the song. Their new vid is a juxtaposition in its simplicity. But this is what makes it mesmerising. We're forced to really listen to the words being expelled from Sam's mouth and see the creases of expression in his face. Beautiful stuff.
