that come about? Macka is a chap, a musician who I went to uni with, a dubstep artist and DJ, and he’s currently based in London. He just asked me if I’d sing him some of my songs, either with or without guitar. I just sang into his voice recorder, then he came up with this album of my stuff that I don’t even play myself, because sometimes I feel a bit funny about some of my songs, so I felt OK about giving them to him. But he’s done a marvellous thing! I don’t even know how he’s done it!
I was going to ask you about your musical loves – not your influencers, because I think your own music is something quite independent, but your musical loves that got you to this place now. Oh, a great variety of things; probably songs in particular, like Charles and Eddie’s ‘Would I Lie to You Baby’ – I loved that song when it came out! We used to have this wicker washing basket, I used to use a comic as a manuscript and a plastic guitar that my mum had brought me from Walthamstow market. I used to pretend that I was reading music and performing; it was all professional in my five-year old mind. China Black’s ‘Searching’ – it was lots of soul and pop, R&B kind of stuff. Ten I got older and got into Lauryn Hill – that whole ‘Miseducation…’ album. Michael Jackson was a huge part of my life; I had the History video and my Dad had a parquet floor in his living room and he had those shiny black loafers, which were like, size 10
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and I was a 13 year old child but I used to try and put them on. Tere was a line in your LinkedIn profile – see, I’ve really been snooping about – that said your music was fuelled on by a visit to your grandparents’ house in North Wales. I thought, ‘what happened in that mountainous region that ignited such musical talent?’ Well my Grandad used to have lots of vinyl – but I was never allowed to touch it, haha – but now he’s given it away – oh no! But he had lots of tapes as well, like Fleetwood Mac tapes, James Taylor, Andy Williams; we used to listen to them in the car, everywhere we went. My Grandad also had a guitar that he kept in the loft, but he’d bring it down when I came down. I think that’s where I learnt to sing harmonies, but I’ve always loved harmonies and prefer
to sing the harmony where I can. I learnt piano first; I had an amazing teacher who was a concert pianist but she scared the living daylights out of me! I’d be out playing on my bike and my Mum would call me in to go to her house, and I’d just pedal off in to the distance, like ‘No…..!’
So Raevennan, I have to ask you, if you’re comfortable with it, about your illness – - Oh yes, of course. I was like, ‘oh no, what’s she going to ask me? I’m feeling uncomfortable!!!’ [LAUGHS].
It’s just so crazy though; it’s an extraordinary and frightening tale of you losing your sight and hearing temporarily, at the same time. Tat seems so frightening – how did you know where you were, and who was with you? I didn’t; I knew when I first lost my sight and that was fine – obviously it wasn’t fine, but I’m very much like, ‘well it’s happened, let’s get on with it’, but it was scary because I had this skin condition where my skin was on fire, like the slightest touch was really painful. It was scary when they didn’t know what it was; I had about five teams looking after me and they were all very casual about my diagnosis and prognosis, like ‘well it could be a brain tumour, it
could be MS, ME, Meningitis’, but they were just kind of bandying terms around. Very luckily my Mum came down and she’s an ex-ward sister – she’s an artist, but she’s an ex-ward sister – and so at any opportunity she’d look through my notes. It was her who diagnosed me. I’ve never begged for anything in my life, but when I was admitted, I just begged to be given the night, and then everything start the next day, but they were like, ‘well we might not have the night, so we have to do it now.’ Tey had to sedate me, had to hold me down, everything. It was wild; I kinda feel like I was looking at myself from outside myself.
I’m reading a book called ‘A Train in the Night’ and it’s about a music journalist called Nick Coleman who loses his hearing practically overnight. He said that when he came home from hospital and was faced with his vast record collection, he just wanted to burn it, to let it melt down. You said yourself that you wanted to smash your guitar. What’s the approach back to loving music again? I think it was when I was moved to James Paget Hospital and I had a really lovely rheumatology consultant. My first appointment with her, I was like, ‘I like you.’ She’s fierce, like, on it like Sonic. And instead of her being like, ‘Oh dear, poor you’, she was really pragmatic, like ‘OK, what were you doing before this happened?’ And she wanted to hear me play and I felt like that genuine interest in wanting to hear me play kind of sparked me to not give it up so easily.
We’re so glad you picked it back up, and I just want to know now, what have you got planned for the immediate future? I’m still gigging this month and recording a lot and hoping to have an EP ready for early next year. But that’s another thing! I’m not used to thinking so far ahead any more! I should probably have like a six- month plan, or something, but I just think about tomorrow now when it comes.
Emma Garwood
Raevennan was the winner of Future Radio’s Next Big Ting Competition 2012, supported by Outline Magazine and OPEN Venue, Norwich. For all of Raevennan’s movements, check her out on
Facebook.com/raevennanhusbandes for the relevant links. Read the uncut interview online at
Outlineonline.co.uk
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