33 f MARTIN ON ELIZA
“Eliza brings a different perspective to everything. Anything that broad- ens perspective on songs is worth having and her perspective is some- times worth its weight in gold. She always stretches me and as a result I do things I wouldn’t otherwise have thought of or considered I could do. She makes me think nothing is impossible. Some of the accompani- ments make perfect sense to me and it underlines the fact that great singing is to do with timing and accompanying is to do with under- standing that and following it and keeping it simple. I love the idea of following Eliza singing as closely on the guitar as I can and if I get it right it feels great. We share a notion of timing and when two people are doing something in unison the whole thing seems to swell and it sounds like more than two people. That’s nothing to do with volume, it’s to do with substance. There’s so much sub- stance and it’s a massive thrill. I’ve never had that with anyone else except Norma. It’s a big adventure singing and playing with Eliza.”
one told me they got rid of all the breaths. So what – you don’t do any breathing? I had this thing where I took a big breath at the start of every track because I thought it was really important. One of the nice things about the whole lo-fi movement is that everyone’s cleared the bowl out and now they are chucking the salad and the nuts back in. People spend so much time cleaning records up and then they stick broken instruments in to put the atmo- sphere back. ‘I need a filter to make it sound like a fucked speaker!’ Or you could just use a fucked speaker!”
P
“It’s all so beautifully recorded on these fabulous updated digital systems and then it’s all ‘oh shit, we need to take it outside and rub it on the ground before we give it to anybody. Here’s my incredible digital recorded disc, I’m just going to rub it on my armpit before I give it to you to put the stink back into it.’”
urity is certainly not a word that can be related to The Moral Of The Elephant, an album full of bruises, intensity and emotional surcharge. Both
are delighted with it. Martin, who’s not one given to hyperbole, describes it as “dangerous” and considers it one of the best things he’s ever done. Which, consid- ering his mammoth – and mammothly influential – output is a big statement. “To be doing something you can see is risky is very pleasing – a great feeling. I think of it as a real step up.”
Then again, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised either by the extremity of the approach or the demanding, left-field material they chose to include. Neither has ever opted for ‘safe’ when ‘risky’ was on the menu. Some of the things Martin did in his early days with Dave Swarbrick (and is in fact still doing with Swarbrick) still sounds mindbogglingly original and groundbreaking, while Eliza’s CV – from the Kings Of Calicutt to her own song - writing – is strewn with leaps of faith. Bel- lowhead’s Sam Sweeney tells us elsewhere in this issue how his whole attitude to English music was turned on its head by seeing Eliza Carthy playing with Jon Boden and John Spiers in the Ratcatchers.
“It’s weird to be using words like ‘risky’ when you’re talking about a fiddle / guitar album,” muses Eliza. It is weird but, with everyone banging on about the cur- rent crop of bright young things lacking soul, imagination and yes, risk-taking, it is exciting and somehow reassuring too.
And the good news is that they are inspired enough by it all to want to do more work together, although the rejuve- nated Eliza also has a million other pro- jects up her sleeve. An album and tour with Tim Eriksen, a second Carthy / Hardy / Farrell / Young album and numerous development projects connected to her new duties at The Sage in Gateshead (“the big peanut” according to her daughter) where she has recently taken up her new role as Folkworks Artistic Associate in suc- cession to Kathryn Tickell. Among them are an English fiddle symposium, summer schools and a European music project. Oh, and if you ever visit the Lush Spa in Liver- pool, you may hear her singing Fixing A Hole by the Beatles.
Life seemingly isn’t so bad when you get the hang of it…
eliza-carthy.com carthyonline.wordpress.com F
ELIZA ON MARTIN “One of the reasons I find it so easy to
play with Dad is because he under- stands my sense of rhythm, which I think I get from Mum. I haven’t always sung like that – I’ve been changing for 20 years but because he knows where that sense of rhythm comes from he can follow it and understands what it is I’m after. And generally what I’m after is an accom- panist to keep the beat so that I don’t have to and therefore I can dance all around it and he really gets that. So in a sense I can relax and don’t need to do any explaining. Various bands have responded to that in different ways over the years – it’s become part of the conversation I have with my bands. ‘You guys stay on the beat and let me run around with my jazz hands’. So that gives me a real com- fort zone which I’m not used to hav- ing. Singing with family and friends has become very important to me now and I’m really enjoying having known music for so long and feeling that everything’s not completely new and after 25 years I may be starting to understand some things, although I’ve still got a long way to go before I am a musician. Dad is a major part of that journey and knowing somebody so well is very valuable in music. It gives you a great springboard and confidence. I also get my bloody- mindedness from him!”
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