Namvula is a singer and songwriter whose artistic journey is an exploration of cultural intersections and heartfelt storytelling. Her music reflects the nuances and complexities of her mixed Zambian and Scottish heritage, and a restlessness born of her diasporic upbringing.
Namvula will be coming to Suffolk in June to play for Sonic Wave, a series of music nights championing grassroots music crossing over folk, world, jazz, electronic and contemporary genres. Hayley Clapperton had the opportunity to interview Namvula.
HC: Your music is a delightful fusion of genres, how would you describe it in a sentence?
Namvula: I’d describe it as an extension of my world, of all the sounds, people and ideas that have populated it.
HC: Could you delve into your process of weaving it together and what draws you to this fusion?
Namvula: I don’t have a conscious process for choosing the sounds that I use for any particular song or album. Certain songs call for certain sounds, and that’s the way it’s always been. I lean into the worlds that I am inspired by, sound-worlds that I grew up within, sound-worlds that I have since fallen in love with. When I worked on my first album, you can probably hear all the various influences as clearer strands, but there’s been a natural evolution in my sound over time, as I matured as a musician, as my interests shifted, and as I became more comfortable in my own skin as an artist. Also, I’m blessed to work with incredible musicians, some since the beginning of my career, who all bring their own soundscapes into my music, and help shape the sound.
HC: Many musicians point to a formative experience that ignited their passion. Was there a specific moment that set you on your musical path?
Namvula: I started playing music quite young, but was always quite self-conscious and so it took me a long time (into my 20s) to actively consider becoming a “real musician”. It was spending time with a Zambian aunt, Maureen Lilanda, who is a renowned singer-songwriter in Zambia, that finally gave me the courage to consider writing and releasing my first album.
HC: What role does improvisation or experimentation play in your song writing or performance process? Can you share an instance where an unexpected musical moment led to something significant?
Namvula: I believe that every honest creation, in whichever art form, starts from a place of improvisation, of experimentation. You start from a place of nothing, you have to open yourself to the unknown, lean into trust, and then catch the thread of something floating by you. In my process, what comes after that point is the crafting, the mining and refining, the pulling apart and reshaping. My latest project Chasing Shadows leans more into the improvisational, with currents of improvisation flowing in between islands of songs.
Collaborative vocal improvisation is a big love of my creative life, and there are other projects that I’m involved in, such as PASCOL, which are fully improvisational, but they are their own distinct things.
HC: How would you describe the evolution of your sound from your first album ‘Shiwezwa’ in 2014 to now, with your current EP ‘All Shades of the Sun’?
Namvula: In Shiwezwa, I feel that I was exploring all the different elements that made up my musical landscape. I felt a real need to connect with my Zambian heritage, and so a lot of my songs were written in my mother’s tongue, Lenje. The second album, Quiet Revolutions, was a transition album musically: I felt more able to move freely within and between sonic worlds. By the time of All Shades of the Sun, I was actively trying to shed the “world music’ label that I had found myself placed within, as I found it creatively limiting. I wanted to be able to explore and express freely, and traverse sounds as I felt interesting and inspiring, and which served the song rather than any particular pre-determined sound. Perhaps becoming a mother also made me more self-assured, less concerned about fitting into a specific sonic world.
HC: What is the influence/back story to ‘All Shades of the Sun’, and what were you feeling when you wrote it?
Namvula: I was thinking about the shattered state of our world, and bringing my two boys into this uncertain time, a time that feels fractured and fraught and violent on so many different levels. I was thinking about the increasingly urgent need for collective love, collective courage in the face of what can at times feel like overwhelming and insurmountable global problems, about the need for collective re\humanising, and how, in the face of everything, we need to find a way for our hearts to keep breaking, to remain soft, to remain vulnerable, to remain strong and courageous. And how our capacity for this, for love, is one of the most important lessons that I can offer my boys. As I wrote ‘All Shades’, I felt such a huge, wide variety of emotions : sometimes despair and anger, sometimes hopefulness and softness. Perhaps all of those things all the time, maybe just in different hues and intensity.
HC: What feelings or ideas do you hope to communicate to your audience?
Namvula: My biggest hope is always that listeners are moved in some way, that they feel a connection to the essence, the heartbeat of the music even if they may not understand the words. That they feel they’ve been on some sort of journey with us, across landscapes and soundscapes and feeling-scapes. And that all of our hearts are collectively a little more open, and a little more tender, and a little more emboldened.
HC: How do you navigate the balance between personal expression and the potential interpretation of your music by your audience? Is listener reception something you actively consider?
Namvula: When I write, I try my utmost to remain writing in honour of the song, of the story or the person that I am trying to tell. The moment I start to think about the listener at this stage, I lose my way and begin to feel profoundly disconnected to the music. When that has happened I’ve often had to pull myself right back to the source. When I do actively consider the listener is once that writing work is done, which is when I start to think about the shape of the offering – where songs fit within an album, the arc of a show, and what journey I want to take the listener on.
HC: In a world filled with music, what do you believe is the unique power or responsibility of a musician?
Namvula: I believe that art, in any form, but particularly music, has the potency to move us beyond ourselves, and in so doing it reminds us of the smallness and fragility of our existence, the largeness of our spirits, and the commonality of our humanness. You do not need to understand my words, or the story I am sharing, or the moments where there are no words, for you to be moved to dance, or to stillness, or to tears, or to open porousness. There is such power in that – and that can be used both for the good, or the opposite.
HC: Could you offer insight into your song writing process? Where do your ideas typically originate, and how do they develop into finished pieces?
Namvula: The vast majority of my songs are rooted in the lives or experiences of people I know, or have met, or have heard about. I have bursts where I will write a whole lot of terrible songs, and of those there will be a handful that have a golden heart. Some will take form, and some remain as unshaped nuggets – either not yet ready to become a song yet, or they just never were meant to be. A few songs have come almost fully formed, but most I have to sit with, edit, re-edit lyric and melody. My writing has become increasingly collaborative, which has felt very musically satisfying for me, so in my latest project Chasing Shadows, the musicians were offered starting prompts for mood and soundscape, but a lot of freedom from that point onwards, which I think (hope!) has led to a very rich and beautiful body of work.
HC: What challenges have you encountered in your musical career, and what strategies have you developed to overcome them?
Namvula: I’ve had so many no’s (or no’s through silence), that I’ve lost count: no’s to funding, or to gigs or festivals. I’m a DIY musician, and I’ve made it work without label, management or agents for years, which can be tough when I believe my music can hold its space but you keep having to knock on doors that don’t seem to open. Financially, it can also be really challenging trying to make the tour books balance, particularly post-Brexit/Covid where the landscape has shifted so far. And it’s also been hard spinning around being a mama to little ones, and trying to keep my career going. But there are certain things that I do, or believe, or that I’m learning:
send the festival / funding proposal / whatever, and then forget about it, I’ve done my bit. But I send it, I have a something percent chance if I do, a zero percent chance if I don’t.
there are no deadlines to being creative / making your art / releasing a project. Take the time it needs, there’s a whole heap of life still to be lived around it
stay off social media
turn up to my practice
collaborate, and ask for help
the to-do list never gets shorter, the mountain never smaller (especially when battling with mountains of laundry as well!). But I write things down, and then cross them out, so it feels like I’m moving. And then I make myself a cup of tea to celebrate.
take time to reflect on my progress (I should do this more often).
HC: Looking back at your musical journey so far, what song or project are you most proud of, and why?
Namvula: I’m proud of every project for different reasons. Shiwezwa, because it was my first offering, and I knew nothing, and still did something. Quiet Revolutions, because I honoured the stories of so many women, and I recorded and released it whilst becoming a mama. All Shades of the Sun, because it was hard times with Covid, and Brexit, and I released it whilst becoming a mama for the second time. And now Chasing Shadows, because it is my most vulnerable piece of work yet, I believe.
HC: How do you stay inspired and avoid creative blocks? Are there any rituals or practices you find particularly helpful?
Namvula: There have been times in my career when I’ve felt profoundly bored with my music and my music-making. I don’t think it’s a block as such, more of a feeling of being static and dissatisfied, and not knowing how or in which direction to expand. Collaborative vocal improvisation has continuously been one source for filling my creative well in those moments, of offering me a creative spark, or a reminder of where to tap into (inwardly) and tune into my creativity. Sometimes I’m just too busy with admin, or the day-to-day busyness of being a mum, and it feels as though my creative brain has had the off-switch hit. In those times, I often walk a lot, try to free-write a lot, try to rest more, and try to be much more intentional about turning up to writing or playing practice (even if it’s just 15 or 20 minutes) daily.
HC: Tell me briefly of the workshops you facilitate…
Namvula: I run a couple of local singing groups for parents near my home in Oxford, as well as facilitating perinatal mental health singing groups in London.
HC: For aspiring musicians who admire your work, what is one piece of advice you would offer them on their own musical path? Namvula: Be persistent, and consistent, and offer yourself a whole heap of grace, always.
HC: When you are not making music, what hobbies do you enjoy?
Namvula: I’m really enjoying spending time in my garden, growing things, and trying to keep our 5 chickens from destroying it! I love reading, when I have the time, and baking, when I remember to buy the flour.
HC: Do you have a non-musical skill or talent you can reveal to me?
Namvula: I’m a great events organiser (with a friend we set up Film Africa, which is now one of the biggest festivals of African film in the UK), and I was once, in a previous lifetime, a social documentary photographer.
HC: What types of music do you enjoy listening to when you are not concentrating on your own creativity?
Namvula: I recently made a playlist of some artists that I’m finding particularly inspiring at the moment. It includes Liran Donin + Idris Rahman, Chief Adjuah, Germa Adan, Nala Sinephro, She and others.
I also love just sticking on fip (Radio France), as it’s usually got great stuff playing!
HC: What do you enjoy most about being a musician?
The making of the music – and the making sense of the world around me through lyric.
HC: You will be coming to rural Suffolk for the Sonic Wave night on 13th June, are you excited about coming to Suffolk? Have you been to the county before?
Namvula: I’ve heard great things about The Cut, so I’m really looking forward to playing in that venue, and also getting a chance to listen to Sunda Arc’s show after ours! We played in Suffolk years ago, and I haven’t been out that way for a while.
HC: Can you tell us about your performance for Sonic Wave, what can the audience expect?
Namvula: I’ll be playing a duo show with my long-term collaborator, the beautiful and virtuosic guitarist Giuliano Modarelli, who is the co-founder of award-winning Kefaya. Playing as a duo allows us to offer the music in a wonderfully intimate way, one that perhaps feels much more vulnerable and immediate than when playing with the full band.
Addictive TV plan to bring an eclectic palette of musical experiences to rural Suffolk in an exciting new initiative. Hayley Clapperton talks to Addictive TV’s Graham Daniels.
HC: Graham, tell me your position/role in Addictive TV and how did you get there? What is your background?
Graham: I’m creative director and work with my fellow director Françoise Lamy on all our projects, particularly our Orchestra of Samples, where we film and record musicians for sampling, collaborating with other music producers to create all the tracks. It’s been a long and twisty road to where I am now. Believe it or not I used to produce television – mainly arts and music series, and Françoise joined along the way as she used to curate and organise events. I then fell into VJing in my spare time, which then took over my life, performing visuals alongside DJs at festivals and clubs, which became making music with others, performing that internationally and that’s brought me to where I am now.
HC: ‘Orchestra of Samples’ is an amazing album and the result of an incredible project. For those that don’t already know, are you able to briefly tell us what it is.
Graham: Thanks for the kind words. It’s a project we started 15 years ago at a time when we were constantly touring and gigging internationally. We’ve recorded and filmed hundreds of musicians improvising everywhere we’ve performed, from India to Brazil, slowly building up an enormous archive of video recordings which we then sample, both audio and video, creating new music by bringing together instruments from all over the world. You see the samples on a big screen behind us, so what you hear is what you see, along with live musicians on stage.
HC: How long did it take to research and find these amazing performers around the world?
Graham: 15 years so far! We never stop looking and recording, and so everywhere we travel, we always look for local talent who are happy to join the project. Some of the performers are introduced to us by local friends, or even by the festivals or venues where we’re playing, and it can sometimes take a couple of weeks to connect with someone before we travel. We’ve had a few artist residencies in France, which really helped, as they connected us with musicians playing unusual or rare instruments, and then in the UK we received Arts Council funding to allow us to do more research. But there have been occasions while travelling that we fortuitously meet incredible musicians, and we always take those opportunities to organise a quick pop-up recording session.
HC: It must have taken thousands of hours – was there a point where you thought you might give up?
Graham: Orchestra of Samples is definitely a labour of love project, and I lost count of the thousands of hours we’ve dedicated to it long ago! And no, I’ve never wanted to give up, if anything I always want to do more… record more musicians and create more tracks! When we perform it’s always great to play new material, it’s hopefully more exciting for audiences too as many have come several times to the show now.
HC: What inspired you to kick off the project? What inspired you to continue with the project?
Graham: Partly the fact we were travelling so much and wanted to take the opportunity to meet and connect with local artists all over the world but mostly because of curiosity and our love of music. Inspiration always comes from listening to the samples and creating new tracks, it’s that goosebumps moment when you find samples that really blend. Piecing together this huge audiovisual jigsaw puzzle does it every time!
HC: From ‘Orchestra of Samples’ there have been more singles, tell me about those?
Graham: After our debut album in 2017, which took many years to craft, we decided to release a few singles on digital platforms only. They were released soon after the pandemic, as like many artists during Covid who couldn’t gig, we took the time to create and release more music. We’d like to put out more as we’re constantly creating new tracks for the live shows, but it can be a challenge to find the right team to work with in terms of releasing.
HC: What other musical projects have you been involved with?
Graham: I worked on a project for a couple of years with the amazing blind sitar player Baluji Shrivastav OBE, that combined music, dance and video called Antardrishti. The show premiered at London’s Southbank Centre for the Unlimited Festival, then we toured India along with members of his Innervision Orchestra, that was an incredible experience. And with Addictive TV, prior to concentrating on Orchestra of Samples, myself and two others toured a completely different audiovisual mash-up show for well over a decade, particularly remixing films, which took us to festivals and clubs all over the planet.
HC: Your work has received a huge amount of praise and you have performed around the world, are there any particular stand out memories? Or favourite locations?
Graham: There’s so many. We’ve played in beautiful historic buildings like the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Rome and even a 13th Century castle in rural France, but also in unusual locations, like a freezing outdoor town square in the Alps full of ski-loving holiday-makers right in front of the huge Mont Blanc mountain range! We’ve really been very fortunate to travel as much as we have, seeing the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal in India, the ancient Teotihuacan pyramids in Mexico, they all stay with you. Brazil though is always an amazing place to visit, and I remember once we were taken to cascading waterfall in a forest just outside the capital Brasilia, where there were no people, it was so peaceful and we all went for a swim, just an incredible place. Visiting the Pyramids too in Egypt, especially as we performed in Cairo during the revolution in 2011, so there were no tourists and at one point we were the only people visiting the Sphinx!
HC: From the global stage to rural Suffolk, I hear you’re taking Orchestra of Samples on the road around Suffolk, tell me how it came about and why rural Suffolk?
Graham: Now that I’ve lived in Suffolk for a few years, it seemed the right thing to do – taking the project with local guests to art centres and festivals around the county, especially as Suffolk is so spread out! Last year we began working with Creative Arts East who organise rural touring for projects across Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire, taking both music and theatre shows to communities in towns and villages that otherwise wouldn’t be able to see them.
HC: Tell me about the guest performers on the tour, how did you find them?
Graham: They’re a mixture of musicians we’ve worked with before and others we’ve since met or been introduced to in recent years. A wonderful percussionist we’re performing with is Gary Newland who’s been running the Drum Camp in Suffolk for 30 years, which is an amazing international percussion festival near Bungay! For the show in Lowestoft at The Seagull, both singer Kitty May will be joining us – she’s a fantastic artist from the area, and percussionist George Fothergill who founded the charity Status Creative supporting marginalised creatives in Suffolk. We’ll also be collaborating with virtuoso pianist Will Fergusson, which I’m particularly looking forward to! And joining me on all the tour are also our two regular musicians František Holčík on clarinet and Electronic Wind Instrument, which is a bit like a synth version of a clarinet, and Alejandro de Valera on one of his many custom-built fretless guitars!
HC: And your new project Sonic Wave, also in Suffolk, tell me more.
Graham: Since moving to rural Suffolk some time ago, we both noticed that a lot of interesting artists don’t perform here, as I’m sure they don’t in many rural areas of the country – it’s generally only the major cities. In East Anglia, some might perform in Ipswich or Norwich, but rarely in the smaller towns, so we want to try and change that, and as we live in the Waveney Valley we’ve decided to organise nights called Sonic Wave, starting in Halesworth at the fantastic venue The Cut, then in September in Bungay at The Fisher theatre, where we’ll remove all the seats to create a more gig-vibe dance floor. We’ve received funding from Arts Council England through their grassroots music scheme and this will really help kick start the project.
HC: When does it start?
Graham: June 13th with a special double bill at The Cut in Halesworth. The night will start with afro-folk singer Namvula and her very infectious grooves, followed by Sunda Arc, the brother duo from Mammal Hands, with their atmospheric and cinematic jazz electronica. Then on September 27th at The Fisher in Bungay, will be the very glamourous LatinX band Alex Etchart & Vientos with support from the amazing Irish singer-songwriter Emma O’Reilly who’s now based in Norwich.
ORCHESTRA OF SAMPLES ON TOUR:
Felixstowe, May 25 at Two Sisters Arts Centre
Aldeburgh, July 11 at Jubilee Hall
Lowestoft, July 17 at The Seagull
Maui Festival, August 23
Bungay Folk Festival, September 7
Glemsford Sudbury, September 20 at Glemsford Village Hall
Eliza Delf & The Wilderness have released their new single ‘Don’t Love Me Lightly’ ahead of their second album release ‘Feast’. Eliza was kind enough to take a phone interview with Hayley Clapperton:
HC: How did getting involved in a band come about?
Eliza: The way the band started was slightly unusual because of COVID. The order of my getting going with music was a bit strange as I recorded the album before I had a band and I did it with the producer John Looms who’s based in Yorkshire and it was largely done remotely. I’d written the songs, I sent him demos and he work on some ideas and then we e-mail about it but it’s quite an unusual way of getting your first album out there.
HC: Have you always wanted to be in a band?
Eliza: I’ve always loved singing and then I started writing songs, not really with a big plan I just enjoyed writing and then I started to think ‘Oh you know I’m pretty much I’m writing an album’, and then because of COVID the only option was to record as we couldn’t play live. It was only when the songs were recorded I started to think I would like to share these songs and anyone who’s heard my songs would agree, they don’t suit being just me and maybe a piano I think they really work well with a band so it just was the natural next step.
HC: Where did the name ‘Wilderness’ come from?
Eliza: One of the songs on the first album is called ‘Into the Wilderness’ and it was written partly about lockdown. I really struggled with lockdown, I became very inward and struggled with leaving the house but then when you were supposed to get out, I still was really struggling with it. The song was a little bit about the idea of trying to reclaim the outside as a space I wanted to be in. Those themes were cropping up in the other songs I thought it would be a good title track for the album. When we were talking about the band we liked the idea of having my name to start and it came from that song and just like the image of it.
HC: Tell me who’s in the band and how did you find them?
Eliza: Tim Skinner is my percussionist I found him on the website for connecting musicians and we’re lucky we’re both local, went for coffee got on really well and he just loves the music which is the main thing! My celloist is Eva Wright, we went to university together. The guitarist Jacob Browne is actually my partner. He had previously been on bass in the band but is now on guitar.
HC: I do love the inclusion of the cello it adds such a different layer to the music
Eliza: It does have its classical roots and because I was classically trained the two sounds just marry really well together.
HC: What is your classical training?
Eliza: Classical singing. I started when I was about 11 years old, my piano teacher told me I should probably do singing instead and I was much happy doing that. I then got to the crossroads of did I want to continue with classical singing or my own music and I decided that I wanted to sing my own songs.
HC: Do you play any other instruments?
Eliza: A little bit of piano but I definitely don’t claim to be amazing at it, I can get by enough to do demos for sharing with the band. I think a lot of people actually feel more comfortable on stage with an instrument but for me I want to be focusing on my myself and my body and what I’m doing and not having to worry about an instrument as well.
HC: Your website describes your sound as “indie music with gothic folk noir in its veins and art rock in its heart” which is a wonderful description, but what does that mean to you?
Eliza: The question of genre comes up a lot. Those words are very carefully chosen because we really struggled to know how to describe our music. We’ve been described a lot as a bit genre-less so it’s not just us failing to think of something.
It is a long phrase and I think it has to be to do it justice. We do get a lot of comments that our music does stand out as not having a clear definition or clear genre. There’s the classical elements in my voice and there’s also a slightly folky tone to my voice at times but I’m definitely not a folk singer. The music has hints of pop, I do listen to pop music and I enjoy catchy music.
The noir side, the gothic is because the music and lyrics can get quite dark. There is a new song we’ve got coming out and there is a line that says ‘the skin and sinew from my skull’, it’s about your skin being ripped off your body. When people listen they at first think ‘that sounds nice’ and when they hear what I’m singing there like ‘oh’. I drew a lot on writer called Angela Carter who has quite colourful language but quite dark and I definitely have taken that influence on.
HC: Which leads very nicely to the next question: who were your influences growing up and have they changed today?
Eliza: Musically, I learned the lesson quite quickly that you might like your influences but don’t be consumed by them because when you first start writing songs it’s very easy to copycat and you have to stop yourself doing it.
We do get a lot of people mentioning Kate Bush, partly because I sing quite high and it’s slightly flamboyant, but it’s not necessarily someone I think I’ve been influenced by and then I’m like ‘Oh yeah I probably have been’. On a more personal level I’m massively influenced by feedback from people around me particularly my dad, he also manages the band, he’s the first person I send it to.
HC: With your father also your manager, how is that for you and are there other family members involved?
Eliza: I love working with him, we’re so in sync and because there’s that personal element to it, no one else will ever promote my music in the way he does.
Anyone that’s ever spoken to him knows his commitment to the band is incredible but I’m very lucky that he enjoys it and is happy to do it for free because I don’t have anything to give anyone so it’s amazing plus he’s one of my best friends.
Anyone who works in music knows it’s such a DIY thing unless you’re super super famous you’re getting by by the skin of your teeth. My brother is really good at photography so he does a great job taking photographs of the band and my mum is an accountant which is actually very useful, it’s been fantastic and she’s also comes along to the gigs and do the door and the tickets if the venue is not doing it.
HC: Was it a musical household growing up?
Eliza: There’s definitely musical roots that go back on both sides. My mum’s family is from Wales, a big singing culture, and my Nanna sung when she was younger and performed in a duo.
On my dad side again, very musical and they all loved to play instruments. My dad has a slightly different style, he loves punky music and was a big fan of The Damned. He was in a band when he was younger, he recently found some demos he made and put them on SoundCloud which I really enjoyed so I’m threatening him with doing a cover of one of them.
HC: What challenges do you currently face in the music industry?
Eliza: I’ve touched on it a bit but being really transparent the financial side is really difficult. Currently I’m doing a couple of jobs part-time but then I’m also self-employed as a musician, it’s full on. I think I’m making peace with the fact that it’s not really an industry I’m expecting to ever feel financially stable in, it’s not that kind of industry but if you love it you do anyway.
It’s not easy we we’re really lucky that we’ve had some amazing people who support us and buy CDs, because merch and CDs actually is where you make some money, you don’t make it from places like Spotify at all.
Also the organisation, there is a lot of us making the music and you have to really be organised because you definitely don’t want to be flaky and make a bad impression with a venue or an artist you’re supporting, for example. Luckily I’m quite organised but it’s a lot of plates to keep spinning.
HC: You’re about to release your second album and we will talk about that, but I saw that you used crowdfunding for your album? How did that come about?
Eliza: We did a Kickstarter for the first album and people were really generous and wanted to get involved so when it came to the second album I thought we’d do it again. What’s great about Kickstarter is that in some ways for some people it’s a show of faith, they can make a donation but I’ll give them a CD or maybe like a T-shirt or something when it comes out. It is people helping me make a commitment to making music and giving me the confidence to commit to it, which is fantastic. People are so generous at a time when no one’s feeling super flush right now. It’s really lovely the way people will support us.
HC: How do you enjoy working and recording within a studio?
Eliza: I love it. I mean I love being in the studio, I feel so at home there. We recorded the second album with Adam Bowers who’s based in Ipswich at the Boathouse Studio which is by the edge of the water, it is beautiful. We spent a week there, when you’re in a studio it does become this little microcosm and you are all completely obsessed with the music and you get to spend a week just being creative and trying things. I enjoyed it so much.
HC: Tell me about the song writing process?
Eliza: I will write a song, lyrics, chords and structure so it’ll be a song but there is a lot of potential left with it. I’ll essentially have a rough demo and then I’ll bring it to my band and I’ll show it to them or play it on the piano and I’ll say ‘OK what do you think?’
They’ll come up with ideas for their instrument, make suggestions and it is such a collaborative process which we really enjoy.
Obviously with the first album it was more me just saying here are the songs, but with this album the songs were much more raw, there was so much space for them to come up with ideas for their instruments. It makes it very exciting when I get to bring a song to them as I know it’s going to be a much better song by the time we’ve all worked on it, so that’s always really fun.
HC: One of your strengths is conveying the emotion in a song and the lyrics, I have seen you perform live and you really bring the songs to life. It seems such an emotive experience for us the audience, is it for you?
Eliza: It’s obviously really great to hear that because with performing, there is an element where it does come more naturally to some people and the fact that I enjoy it is great. I’ve worked hard to be better at it and there was a point last Christmas where we reached the end of the year and I’d done quite a few gigs but I realised there’s definitely room for improvement.
We did a gig in February and a lot of people commented that there was a switch in the way I was performing as it was a lot more wild. I made that commitment, I know what I want to be doing on stage and I have to let go of some of the inhibitions that stop you from just being a bit crazy on stage.
That process has been so worthwhile because you’re right I think the gigs we do now are more of a show, it’s very intense. It’s intense for me performing as there are some songs that are very personal even if it’s not obvious to the audience how personal they are. On stage you’re making yourself quite emotionally vulnerable. It’s quite emotional for me, that’s what I love, I love getting on stage and just really letting loose and enjoying it and I think it makes it a much better show.
HC: Your new song that’s is out now ‘Don’t Love Me Lightly’ what is that back story to it?
Eliza: It’s actually about the fear of death, I wrote it about feeling quite overwhelmed by the thought of dying and the people around me dying. The idea of the song was that when I feel like that, the thing that does make me feel better is thinking about people in love and the connections you have in life. It’s easy to spiral and you have to ground yourself, not go down a rabbit hole in your head. A line in the song ‘don’t hold back because I can deal with the weight’ it’s saying I want you to love me with your whole being.
HC: ‘Don’t Love Me Lightly’ is the third track release off your second album, which is going to be released on 23rd May – are there going to be more singles coming out?
Eliza: No, this is the last single before the album comes out. It’s slightly DIY with a release date, it’s not guaranteed because of the streaming platforms.
HC: The album is called ‘Feast’ can you tell me about it as a whole?
Eliza: There was definitely a little bit of a shift in sound with this album because it was recorded in a more live way so it was real people playing instruments pretty much in its entirety and there’s an energy to recording in that way which was captured really well by Adam.
The songs themselves do range so much, I’m not one for really confessional song writing so even when a song is about me I don’t want it to be, so it’s quite layered up with imagery and metaphor to keep people guessing.
HC: What are your musical plans for this year?
Eliza: We’re really quite busy now with gigs for the next couple of months
The Portland Arms, Cambridge – May 29th
Norwich Arts Centre – June 25th – official album launch
And plenty of exciting stuff, lots of festivals and I think we will just come to the end of the year and hopefully we’ve had an amazing summer playing loads and loads of live music which is really what I wanted from this year.
HC: What do you enjoy most about being a musician?
Eliza: It’s the performing, I love recording but there’s something, that energy you get from being on stage. You do you get a real high afterwards but actually for me it’s when you get to the end of the middle bit while having a really great time. People are enjoying themselves in front of you, you’re having a great time on stage and I look around the band are looking happy and then I can just relax and enjoy it.
HC: How would you describe your fans>
Eliza: I would describe them as dedicated because we’re not a massive band (yet) but the people who come across the music I’m always so blown away by how much they love it. It just gives me such a boost because it’s not easy, it’s a bit relentless sometimes trying to get your music out there and when people give feedback it’s nice to have a little bit of a boost.
HC: What hobbies do you enjoy?
Eliza: I love reading. I spend a lot of time with my partner, going for walks and he’s really good at cooking so my hobby is eating.
HC: Do you have any special skill outside of music that we don’t know about?
Eliza: I really love history. I’ve got a surprising amount of knowledge about Queen Victoria.
Thank you for your time, it’s been a great interview.
‘Don’t Love Me Lightly’ is out now and can be found on YouTube:
I have to admit I might be one of the few people who have not read the book (80 million copies sold) or even watch the film! Not quite sure how it passed me by.
However, it was for this very reason: to be able to watch the stage production of Da Vinci with fresh eyes was an amazing experience! The storyline was gripping, and I was transfixed all the way through.
The press summary:
Professor Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu embark on a pulse-pounding quest across Europe. When a brutal murder in the Louvre Museum uncovers hidden clues within Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpieces, the duo must unravel a web of intrigue that could alter the course of history… Uncover the twists and turns of ancient secrets, relentless rivals and coded messages in a quest to protect a secret that could change the world forever.
The initial thought is how do you adapt such a famous book, a dramatic Hollywood film into a stage production with limited space? Well, Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel have managed to capture the essence of the story whilst keeping the thrill and the drama along with Director Chelsea Walker and Designer Alys Whitehead who have created the fast-paced fluid nature of the Da Vinci environment.
Everyone needs praise for this production, the actors were high class brilliant actors who were enthralling, engaging and delightful. Particular mention for Joe Pitts as Silas with his convincing devotion to pain and suffering.
However, the top praise must go to the set and its capacity not only to represent multiple locations but to incorporate the numerous codes and clues with added dramatic effect to increase levels of intrigue.
Between the fluid set and the simple visual effects, the audience was able to be transported to many locations, which included galleries, churches and mansions. The big set of steps in the middle, the walkway and two side panels were seemingly the only fixed parts of the set, everything else moved around: screens and props were raised and lowered from the ceiling, panels were slid, moved, hidden and revealed to the point where we thought ‘where did that come from?’, minimal yet effective props were seamlessly brought onto the stage. Yes, there were some setting of scenes, however many flowed with the storyline and happened while your eyes were directed elsewhere.
The use of visual effects for the clues was simple and clever, and the display of Da Vinci paintings was essential and great to see. It was also used to show the audience close ups of the artefacts which was a bonus as we actually get to see what the actors were holding and talking about.
I completely enjoyed everything about this show, production and performance and I honestly cannot fault it. This is a highly recommended show and I urge you not to miss out.
Cast:
Robert Langdon – Joe Bannister
Sophie Neveu – Georgia-Mae Myers
Silas – Joe Pitts
Jacques Sauniere – Richard Clews
Sister Sandrine/Marie/Docent – Sherry Baines
Teabing – Philip Bretherton
Remy/Philip/The Clerk – Joshua Griffin
Bezu Fache – Anthony Ofoegbu
Collet/Vernet/Volunteer – Louise Mai Newberry
Photography by Manuel Harlan
Playing at Mercury Theatre Colchester until 24th May
A brand-new production of Michael Frayn’s classic comedy premiered at The New Wolsey Theatre this month before it embarks on a nationwide tour. Originally written in 1982, this comedy is often regarded as a masterpiece in farce construction, with an ingenious play-within-a-play structure. This production is truly a collaborative effort, with The New Wolsey being partnered by their first international co-producer, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, in addition to partnering with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Theatre by the Lake in Cumbria.
It was pleasing to see a full house of eager audience members of all ages, ready to be entertained on a hot Saturday afternoon, even though Ipswich Town Football Club were playing at home. The pastel stage set depicted a living room, complete with old-style rotary phone, and immediately set the scene for what seemed like a bygone era. The show opens with the cast onstage, furiously and haplessly rehearsing in the forlorn hope of being ready for opening night the following day. Hilary Maclean plays Dotty, the ageing actress who staggers in and out with endless plates of sardines but cannot seem to remember her part, much to the irritation of the director, Lloyd, played by Harry Long. We quickly meet the other cast members: sexy Brooke (Ailsa Joy), fragile Freddy (Hisham Abdel Razek), incoherent Garry who can’t finish a sentence (George Kemp), alcoholic Selsdon (Russell Richardson) and posh Belinda (Clare-Louise English). The overworked Tim (Ezra Alexander) and Poppy (Gemma Salter) officially provide stage management for the play, but are also expected to fix the set, buy endless bunches of flowers, babysit Selsdon and be ready at a moment’s notice to understudy any part!
Act I was deftly played by the whole cast as Frayn masterfully sets the groundwork for what is to follow. We are introduced to the complex and chaotic interconnections of this small touring company. Garry and Dotty are in a turbulent relationship, Freddy is devastated as his wife has left him, while Lloyd is cosying up to both Brooke and Poppy! Meanwhile, Selsdon cannot remember his lines, keeps disappearing and just wants to get drunk.
The pace really ramps up in Acts II and III which are laugh-out loud funny, with the talented cast demonstrating exceptional class and faultless timing as they juggle the on-stage action with the off-stage stories playing behind the scenes, brilliantly mimed by all of the actors. The chemistry between the cast is wonderful, complemented by hilarious slapstick comedy and a sense of escalating panic as they race in and out of the many doors on the set…trying and failing to keep the show on the road. We are reminded once again, “it’s all about doors and sardines”! The hilarious way that the jealous Garry manages to bounce up the stairs and navigate the stage with his shoe laces tied together really must be seen to be believed! George Kemp playing Garry stood out amongst a hugely impressive cast, utilising his tall stature and expressive face to drive the physical and slapstick comedy, to the delight of the audience.
While some aspects of the play itself, particularly around gender stereotypes and sexual power imbalances, can feel slightly uncomfortable when viewed through a post #MeToo lens, the farce is best regarded as of its era, especially as it was written more than 40 years ago. It’s fast, furious, and hysterically funny. And this cast are impeccable – grab a ticket while you still can for a couple of hours of pure escapism! Noises Off continues at The New Wolsey until 24 May 2025: Noises Off – New Wolsey Theatre
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s multi award-winning show has been performed hundreds and thousands of times around the world and has become one of the world’s most beloved family musicals.
From humble beginnings as a twenty-minute show to capture the imagination of children, it is the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis and his story as the son of Jacob, his coat of many colours, it is a tale of triumph against the odds, of love and hate, forgiveness and optimism and with a happy ending.
Joseph has always been geared towards children and the adaptations along the way have kept this at its heart. In order to encourage children to experience and enjoy theatre, this show is a sung-through musical, which means no speaking, just singing, with a variety of styles of music from pop to country and French Café to keep everyone engaged and entertained. Not of course forgetting the Pharaoh as Elvis – always a crowd pleaser.
To keep the children further engaged and the families entertained there is humour in the songs and acting. Plus indeed are the actual children performers who are always in the productions – if there were no children in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat then it really wouldn’t be Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!!
Within this performance the child actors were super! The all appeared to bring their A games providing a professional performance which showcased their talents, some of their voices were amazing!
It’s a big cast, not only due to the Joseph’s eleven brothers but to represent the communities in the story – this was a bonus as their collective voices boomed out the songs to every corner of the theatre and it was delightful chorus of wonderfulness.
With so many people on stage the props were barely there, however this wasn’t a negative, the space was made up by the different panels used, whether it was sheets of material, the jail wall, or the large feline structures. The best props however were the camel tricycles – they were a lot of fun. The costumes provided a colourful feast for the eyes and the Dreamcoat flowed outwards when Joseph spun or flicked it out – just as it’s supposed to.
The whole cast were fabulous, bringing their energies to bring delight to the audience.
I didn’t realise I knew every song, not word for word, but I hadn’t appreciated how much the songs of this musical have been part of society for so long that all the songs are familiar. Familiar but also fantastic. They still stand up. And yes the ‘Close Every Door to Me’ performance from Adam Filipe as Joseph was stunning – the children harmonising to this was amazing. Christina Bainco played the Narrator and had a stunning stage voice.
Surprisingly it is a short show for such a big, popular West End Production, however it does mean that the cast are fully prepared, willing and able for the song and dance medley mash up after the main story, where the audience are invited to stand, clap, dance and sing along.
Overall you can’t go wrong with this wonderful, colourful, family friendly musical for a brilliant night out and this current production ticked every box.
