Well, I was interested in it, I knew it was an extraordinarily dramatic period of history and I thought that it would be as good a prompt as any to try and write some music around. I knew there was footage around that we could use and it was just another step forward in time which appealed to me, a bit closer to our own time. I wanted to keep things moving forward, another step closer to the present. When I first heard your track Te Other Side, I broke down in tears. It’s the human element, about hope and trust, and just the best song. Is that one of your favourites on the album? It’s not that bad is it? Ha ha! I have to say I’m very touched and surprised by people’s reaction to that track. As I was putting it together I though it was good and engaging and was much more literal in the matching of the story and music than other tracks on the album but I didn’t expect it to connect with people in the way that it has. So it’s been a lovely surprise that it has. It’s turned into the highlight for a lot of people. For me, the one I knew I could do something with right from the beginning when I heard the
samples was Go. As soon as I’d written it, I knew it was good. Te rest of them you tend to have question marks over; some days you think they’re alright, other days terrible, but with Go I thought it was quite good. You don’t feel that very often! I wanted to ask you about the fact that obviously as you are using old footage, it is mainly men’s voices that we hear in your work. I know you used Te Smoke Fairies on your track Valentina, which seemed fitting, but has it been hard to find female newscasters from the past? It’s very hard. Sadly it’s an unfortunate by-product of looking at this period of history. I did toy with the idea of looking at the astronauts’ wives; imagine if that was your husband going round the dark side of the moon, listening to the loss of signal. Tat must have been absolutely petrifying, not to mention the press demands on them. But there just wasn’t enough material there for us to use unfortunately. Women’s voices were more marginalised and more silent back then. I think as we keep working our way through recent history we’ll be able to redress that balance. Do you know what your next project’s going to be? Yes, but it’s top secret! You must learn an awful lot from researching for your music. You’d think so, but no, it’s all in one ear and out the other! Especially for Wriggles. If he did a quiz on space he’d know Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin and he’d be able to tell you Valentina’s first name but I’d be amazed if he knew her surname. I saw you at Latitude this summer; How did you find the crowd? Do you find your live show works better in a venue or in a festival environment? Tat was a good one! Latitude was definitely a highlight of the year for
“Sometimes I look down at my fingers and I think what would happen if I forgot what to play next”
me. It was a great crowd with a really good, warm, friendly, positive feeling in the tent. And the noise was incredible! Earlier that week we’d played to 10 people in Norway so it was a bit low to high. Te good thing about our show is it works well in different ways in both venues and festivals. We’re able to scale up and down well. It must be pretty nerve wracking playing live as there is so much equipment on stage that you rely on working together at the right time. Do you suffer from stage fright, or have you ever? Tat’s the only element of it that is nerve wracking. Sometimes I look down at my fingers and I think what would happen if I forgot what to play next, but luckily your brain takes over and knows what to do so you just let it get on with it. In terms of the technical stuff, there have been a couple of disasters but nothing too high profile thankfully. It’s been a learning process really because no one really does what we do the way we do, on a slightly tight budget, and there are always ways to improve.
Lizz Page
INFORMATION Public Service Broadcasting play at OPEN’s Banking Hall on 21st November. Tickets available from
ueaticketbookings.co.uk
Read this interview in full over at
outlineonline.co.uk
outlineonline.co.uk / November 2015 / 25
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