You spoke about being a textile artist, how did you get into that?
Well I did a degree in textile art, so, sort of conceptual textiles. I did lots of stuff with pianos and felt. I covered one piano in felt and I burnt another piano, and I made a film. I took all the felt out of another piano and I explored the sounds of it without the felt inside. But the textiles I make now is much more, in a way, child-like I suppose. I just make pictures with my sewing machine. So it’s all free-hand embroidery. I make badges too and I sell them at my gigs.
But I’d like to explore conceptual textiles again, although I think that’s for a future time because the music and being a mum takes up all the time I have at the moment.
Do you think being a mother has influenced your approach to your work?
Yes, definitely.
The song I wrote about the ball…
Yes. 'Bounce The Ball'…
Exactly. I think there’s a beauty in simplicity and everybody can understand it whatever age you are. It doesn’t have to be patronising, childish things shouldn’t only appeal to children. I think that they can be universally enjoyed; and that’s something that I’ve learned from Ichi, my husband. His musical performance is very much universally enjoyed by children and adults — all ages and all cultures.
(The photos from here on were taken by Rachael Dadd!)
Speaking of Ichi, who you met in Japan, what made you go there initially?
Well, I had a label releasing my records when I was making my first albums and it was the only place in the world where I had that sort of support. Yet I didn’t know anything about the country or the people, I hadn’t met the guy who was releasing my music. But I needed an adventure because I’d never done anything really independent. So I thought it was about time that I went and explored somewhere different on my own. Also I had it in mind that I could do a few gigs over there so I took my guitar and my banjo.
When I arrived in Japan I was very nervous. I stayed with a family in Tokyo, the husband (Shimo Kitazawa) of whom ran the label (Angel’s Egg), and so could support me in many ways. And generally the people over there were so helpful and interested and wanted to hear my music. The different language was a big challenge, yet a challenge that I really needed, I think. And the way that people live in Japan…
...it’s quite difficult to explain in just a few sentences!
Take all the time you need…
Well, they have a really good life style tied in with the culture, with the food, the Japanese home with the Tatami and the low table. In the winter they have Kotatsu which is like a heater beneath the table and a duvet around the edge. Everybody sits underneath to keep warm and you drink hot Sake or hot tea.
And the scene in which I became immersed over there is like the D.I.Y. music scene, the D.I.Y cafe and shop scene, a kind of community where people worked really really well in collaboration with each other, supporting each other. Their mentality seems very much to be thinking about the good of ‘the group’; whereas more often I feel like in our culture it’s more about yourself, thinking about the self. And yeah, I was really impressed with how people seemed to operate in groups and communities supporting each other across the different areas, like music, art, cafe culture and galleries.
I did gigs in really interesting places over there too.
Could you describe one of them?
I had one gig on a moving train. A friend of mine Naoto Kawate who used to play in this band called Maher Shalal Hash Baz organised this beautiful tour for me, and he played his own solo project. So the most memorable gig of this tour was on the moving train. The audience had prepaid tickets and they all had a preordered drink and snack that was brought to them in their seats. The train went around the coast of Matsuyama in Shikoku, which is one of the islands fairly south of Japan.
What was it like performing within the train?
It was really quite claustrophobic! I had my banjo and my guitar and there was a band that played. It was interesting performing whilst the train was jiggling around. (laughs)
Shall we walk by the water?
Yes, okay.
Let's get into the setting of one of the songs on your newest release ('We Resonate').
Okay
Tell me about the song ‘Our Arms’. The atmosphere seems quite interesting?
Yes. I was strongly affected by the things that happened in Japan (Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, 2011) because I lived in Japan, in Nagoya, at that time. I mean I wasn’t affected at all personally and I didn’t know anybody who was killed or who suffered directly, but the whole of the nation was affected. Everybody was affected. So, just witnessing it as it happened, watching it unfold on the television… and I felt the earth quake too. The earthquake was 4 on the scale where we were. It was a strange earthquake because it lasted for a very long time and instead of moving up and down it was swaying from side to side, and so it was very eerie. We also watched on the television as the tsunami happened and then the nuclear power station blew up. So all of these experiences… I had my first hand experience and I also experienced it through Ichi, my husband, who was really deeply affected by it, and our friends, and their friends, and the whole of Japan. So you feel that so many people have been affected by these horrors, and I guess all that was underlying when I wrote 'Our Arms'.
Although it wasn’t about the tsunami in Japan. It was about my fear at the time of there being a flood because we had that crazy rainfall in Bristol. It was like two years ago and this river (River Avon) was nearly bursting it’s banks, and we live near here so..
…so I wrote that song, I was pregnant and when you’re pregnant you have quite a vivid imagination. You have to be responsible for another life so you wonder what you would do in certain scenarios.
Lastly, speaking of the river’s influence on your music, why do you consider this to be one of your favourite places in Bristol?
Well the more time I spend walking this way, the more I love it! I love it because it’s sort of untouched and nature is allowed to flourish. Also I like the fact that the river is really ancient. Well, actually, this is 'The Cut' which isn’t ancient because it was diverted from the harbour that they dug out. But the actual water — the ebb and the flow tracking in and out to sea — is really ancient and I like thinking about the past. I like to feel connected to the past and I feel this river gives me that.
Thank you Rachael for taking the time to speak with us!
You can find Rachael's website here