Who are you listening to at the moment?
Right now, I am really enjoying Jade Bird’s new album. She’s a powerhouse. Andrew Bird and Gabriel Kahane too – they all craft really beautiful arrangements and lyrics. However, most of the time I am listening to traditional tunes and folk songs. The contemporary scene for that is really healthy and exciting at the moment, so I tend to listen to a nice mix of the traditional stuff and the more recent ones too. The musicians I always go back to are John Martyn and Pentangle, but I also have to have my fill of pop and show tunes. There are simply not enough hours in the day to listen to it all!
What do you love about Bristol?
The vibrant nights, the quiet early mornings and the bustling day times – you never want to sleep in fear of missing everything. There is so much going on, so much music and art and also compassion and kindness. My two favourite locations are the Watershed for the workspace, the good food and drink and The Old Duke for the quality of music and socialising. I think if a creative person’s mind was a city, it would definitely be Bristol. There is so much space to breathe creatively here and if you wanted to try anything out, there are also people around to help you out with that.
Why Songwriting?
For me, it is an exploratory thing. Through the course at BIMM, it has allowed me to learn so much about myself as a person and I’ve grown through that process. The songwriting has evolved with me which makes me feel even closer to it as a form of storytelling. I’m a literature fiend, but never took to writing books, so songwriting seemed like the next logical thing. I originally wrote on guitar, but songwriting has challenged me, and continues to challenge me to write on lots of different instruments which is always a rewarding thing.
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