FESTIVAL MUSIC | Previews
Y R R E B M A P
WITHERED HAND Father / label boss / alt-rock-pop-folk ‘cult’ songwriter Dan Willson fields some questions from The List
Who / what is Withered Hand? I am. And if I play with friends, we are.
As a musician, do you have an ‘ethos’?
Somewhere between ‘be as truthful as you can’ and ‘cut your coat according to your cloth’. I like to see an underdog bare it’s teeth. What’s the plan for your Queen’s Hall show?
I revamped the band early this summer. It meant saying farewell to two good, old friends and hello to a couple more. This is my third festival show at the Queen’s Hall and each has been quite special – I try to invite guests I’d like to see or pay respect to. This year I invited Eugene Kelly and The Second Hand Marching Band, and there will be a few other surprises, including some new WH songs.
You have two kids – what do they make of their dad’s music? Haha, they know my songs better than I do sometimes. We’ve had some interesting discussions about the more colourful lyrics. I can rely on them to give the most honest reviews.
You also run your own label, Brother & Dad – how important is it to be independent and have creative control over your work? Although I didn’t set out to run my own label, I found it made sense quite quickly. I can say what I want and dance to my own tune, even if sometimes it’s like nobody is listening. The trade-off is you stay ‘cult’ and resign yourself to a very modest level of what most people would call success.
You’ve been busy recording this summer. When can we expect to hear the fruits of your labour? Yes I finally recorded my second album with producer Tony Doogan in Glasgow earlier this year. Unless anything changes, I’ll release it on my own label in early 2014. This sequence of songs is about love I suppose. It’s a defiant, joyful record. This time it’s not all about the sadness. (Nina Glencross)
■ Queen’s Hall, 668 2019, 10 Aug, 8pm, £12.
70 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2013
TWONKEY’S BLUE CADABRA Ivor Cutlerian nonsense from the warped and wonky mind of Vickers
Tell us, Mr Twonkey, what’s a Blue Cadabra? ‘It’s an enchanted cloth and known aphrodisiac from Casablanca.’ And what’s its story? ‘First we learn about a planet populated entirely by jockeys, which leads to a horse race and some high jinx. Next up we hear about the talking oven as the clock strikes afraid o’clock. Soon I am procrastinating about Stan Laurel’s road to sexual ecstasy and what it means to a sleepy Cumbrian backwater. The show features songs and puppets and some mind reading.’ Well done if you’re still with us on your first journey into the world of Twonkey, the continuing
adventure from Edinburgh storyteller and musician Paul Vickers, an artist who probably gets away with being described as ‘madcap’. ‘My main skill is my imagination. I could win a war with it,’ says the former singer with John Peel-cherished, NME Brat Award-nominated Dawn of the Replicants and current mastermind of the cataclysmic Paul Vickers and the Leg. ‘I have always wanted to try every single area of the arts before I die. Life is too short to spend it just singing in an indie rock band.’
These sweet, surreal, sometimes action-packed fairytales are certainly a volte face. ‘People that enjoy warped storytelling in the vein of Ivor Cutler,’ he says when asked who his target audience comprises. ‘People of all ages seem to enjoy my show from about 18 to 75 but it’s all about letting go and floating down a strange river. If you don’t want to get wet and see the blood red turtle fish don’t come.’ Fraught Fringe reviewers also take heed: Mr Twonkey’s Daily Helpline for Journalists (dailypanichelplineforjournalists.blogspot.co.uk) will be active throughout August. Seek professional help now. (David Pollock) ■ Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 477 7001, until 25 Aug (not 20), 7.30pm, free.
ADMIRAL FALLOW Flautist Sarah Haynes from Glasgow’s chamber pop quintet and recent SAY Award nominees, Admiral Fallow talks to The List Congratulations on your SAY nomination! It was an honour. The nomination was also special as the SAY places emphasis on ‘The Album’ as a cohesive whole – that means a lot to us as a band. What’s planned for your Queen’s Hall show? That’d be telling! Actually, additional musicians, songs we don’t often perform, and reworking an oldie or two. AF recently announced a special concert at Paisley Abbey with the Twilight Sad and the RSNO. How did that come about? That’s a very special event indeed. It was the brain- child of Ally McCrae (of Radio One and Detour fame), to get these bands collaborating with the RSNO, in this beautiful setting. It’ll be something totally different for us; a unique opportunity to make the songs bigger, and experiment with the many colours and textures that a full orchestra can bring. Tell us about your solo project . . . I recently self-released a 4-track EP of traditional mu- sic, a mix of tunes old and new. I’ve loved folk music from a young age.The EP is more a first footing than a grand entrance; but I’m really enjoying playing solo again. It can be tricky juggling it all, but I like to think they inform each other. (Nina Glencross) ■ See list.co.uk for a longer version of this interview. Queen’s Hall,13 Aug, 8pm, £14.