Music is like all the drugs people are talking about : Ela Orleans
Polish musician and multi-instrumentalist, Ela Orleans is the first signing to the legendary Howie B's Label, HB Recordings, and her single The Sky and The Ghost is out on 27th April. We chat with Ela about her musical journey and feverish devotion to music.
Polish musician and multi-instrumentalist, Ela Orleans is the first signing to the legendary Howie B's Label, HB Recordings, and her single 'The Sky and The Ghost' is out on 27th April. We chat with Ela about her musical journey and feverish devotion to music.
When I was 8, my parents decided for me…
I had a good ear, so my dad took me for an audition to the local music school. I went to two primary schools at the same time: one regular, which I hated and the music school, which I loved. I loved it for being MUSIC school, but also for being a shelter for a little weirdo like me, who hated sports and school trips, I loved it because teachers there were way more stylish,
because it was "school bell free" and because I could be myself - quiet, serious and sensitive. The first thought of my regular school was stinky toilets; my first association with music school, big wooden, sound proof orchestra room. The choice was very easy.
The earliest memory is my mom playing Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald,
by Johann Strauss on piano. She had to play it a lot, poor thing. I also loved listening to the radio and audio books on tape. I knew one story so well, I memorised it backwards.
The first tune I learned.
Mozart’s “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” known also as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. My performance didn’t sound very good.
There is nothing more unique in the sound of the song than the sound of human voice,
and my favourite singers are : Billie Holiday, Mohammed Rafi, Roy Orbison, Neneh Cherry, Curtis Mayfield, Francoise Hardy, (there are more, I am sure)… their voices have everything I love: tenderness, easiness, clarity and strength.
My first instrument.
It was violin. Stradivarius actually. Size 1/8. It read inside “Anno Domini 1890”. It smelled of resin and for a while I believed there is a little family living inside it. My mum made me a shoulder rest from an old towel – not very stylish.
I am sure the violin had a great potential to sound wonderful, however, the only magical power it had, was making my family vanish from the house during my practicing hours. My second choice instrument was piano and later I picked the guitar. Now I am pretty much only using my midi keyboards and synths. But it is my vocal which is the most important instrument and probably the only one I know how to use. I was trained by a few opera singers in Poland. One of them, Olga Szwajgier, discovered I have quite unusual range while she was working on my speech difficulties. She was the one who encouraged me to sing.
When I lived in New York I would go to MET or Film Forum and be instantly blown away.
Whenever I am in London I always go to TATE Modern or Whitechapel Gallery… Nothing compares to those two cities. In Glasgow, where I live, I go to my favourite record store, Monorail and always come back home with something amazing. At the moment I am listening to Flying Lotus, Andy Stott and Polish artist Zamilska – I love everything that Awesome Tapes from Africa puts out. I have a few "cultural Willy Wonka” types of friends, who keep sending me music, inviting me to see great movies or texting art recommendations. So I am bombarded with ideas without even trying to find them. Internet can be great for that. When it comes to my music writing, Howie B opened up a whole new perspective into my creative process. Last but not least, without the support of my friends and family I would have given up long time ago; they gave me a proper, wholehearted kick.
I work from home, so being disciplined is quite a challenge.
I usually make a plan and try to stick to designated hours. I try to work Nick Cave style. No pyjamas in the office. I start with one or two (or three) espressos. I used to chain smoke but I quit five months ago, so my studio doesn’t smell decadent anymore, just Fabreeze or Dettol now. I spend about ten, twelve hours every day working in the front of the computer and my synth. Sometimes longer… Sometimes way longer. I often get my groceries online, so I don’t waste time on going out. I see people maybe twice a week these days. I have a lot of projects but also I have to prepare my live show which makes me sleepless. Next week I am moving to a rehearsal studio, so that will be me, being forced to fit all in eight hours.
I make a ton of notes, which I can’t understand the next day. I get carried away by listening to one little detail over and over again. Sometimes I will leave one beat on the loop until it brings in the tune or until it makes me sick. I truly hope my neighbours can’t hear it. I often hoover during the breaks, which is a great way to clear my head from sound clutter. My space is pretty organised, and I like to keep things very simple. I am not a gadget hoarder. I rely on a good software, which gives me endless opportunities. Having Howie B as a producer makes my life easier, but also there is a higher quality demand. There is no half-baked project bullshit with this guy. We are already discussing the next project. Considering my TV and film work, my workload is kinda bonkers.
Music is…
Feeling safe while feeling feverish. I am quite awkward and uptight at times, but music lets all my guards go to hell. Some people take drugs to make music, but to me music is like all the drugs people are talking about, it makes me fly and trip and have nightmares and hear voices. It makes me mad and it makes me serene. It gives me the reason to wake up in the morning and stay up until the next day.
Rocket Girl Label: Eclectic Indie sounds at its best
Rocket Girl, a London based label that boasts one of the most eclectic rosters in the British music industry, emerged in 1997 as the brainchild of still owner Vinita Joshi
Rocket Girl, a London based label that boasts one of the most eclectic rosters in the British music industry, emerged in 1997 as the brainchild of still owner Vinita Joshi. In the years prior to Rocket Girl’s founding, Joshi worked in turning an emerging, Essex based rock scene into Ché Trading; a label that transformed the nomenclatural brilliance of Animals That Swim, Tripmaster Monkey and Bardo Pond into a string of releases. Rocket Girl continues this strong early venture into the odds and ends of indie music.
At the other end of the numerical and style spectrum, Pieter Nooten works with Rocket Girl in composing solely from his laptop. Born in the Netherlands, Nooten’s quality is rooted in a minimalistic style of composition that builds a real sense of tenderness with each layer, underlying piano and violin with fuzzy electronic touches. Nooten’s work is not limited to a string of releases, foremost of which is the 2013 release Haven, or even his place in exemplary 90s synth pop group, Clans of Xymox. His expansive back catalogue is regularly re-worked live and backed by the video works of Miryam Chachmany, who's conceptual pieces can be found in galleries from New Mexico to Amsterdam.
Generally understood as skirting round the peak of the curious fame of cult stardom, Television Personalities are a Rocket Girl signing cheerfully ripping up the manual of indie conventuality. Not only with a musical style that unashamedly mixes neo-psychedlia with pop and punk, but with a colourful history that has taken in addiction, homelessness, numerous line-up changes and a couple of nervous breakdowns. Not to be overshadowed by their personal lives, Television Personalities can also boast some truly wonderful records amongst their obscenely large discography, most recently A Memory Is Better Than Nothing.
Füxa (pronounced similar to the colour fuchsia) are a Detroit lo-fi outfit that pay testament to the longterm outlook of Rocket Girl. Formed in 1994, Füxa have worked with Joshi since their first LP, 3 Field Rotation, was released on Che in 1996. Their sound is more likely to be located to the East Coast, treated guitars and vintage synths blending together in a drone more reminiscent of Michigan grunge than the rich heritage of their hometown. Füxa’s swift accession to cult status shows such a cultural fusion to be no bad thing.
One of the labels most intriguing signings is Arms. Based in London, Arms represent the kind of band formation more often seen in the super-group heyday of the 70s. With five lead singers and four nationalities, Arms are six-strong collective formed of out of work solo artists who felt “that the collective sum of their parts could be best utilised as a single unit.” Testament of the group’s successful cohesion can be found in their pin-point lyricism, crisp production and recent LP, Are We All In This Together?
Rocket Girl
Catching up with Rachel Kennedy from FLOWERS
UK based trio Flowers released new album Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do earlier this year. As the band gets ready to start their UK tour we have a chat with Rachel (vocals, bass synths) on piano songs and her love for music
THE BEGINNING
I started playing piano when I was about 4, and have played music ever since though on a variety of different instruments.
I loved singing along to music with my mum in the car on long journeys or even just home from school... She always had loads of Dolly Parton, Nina Simone and Tom Waits CDs in her car, and all the Tarantino sound tracks, so it was always stuff like that. Also my dad is an amazing classical cellist, and I used to go stay at his flat on weekends, and I loved waking up listening to him practising the Bach cello suites on Sunday mornings.
FIRST LYRICS
"C The Cat"... Followed eventually by "D The Dog" (the first consisted of playing LOTS of "C" notes on the piano... You can guess the second!)
FASCINATED ABOUT…
I just always think it's amazing how someone can write a song and it come out so good... I don't even know how we do it when we write a song we like ourselves! It always seems like magic to me.
MY INSTRUMENTS
My first instrument was my piano... I still have it today, had to get a winch to get it out of our old flat into this one through the window! It's over 100 years old now so it sounds very soft but it still sounds bell-like and beautiful. Currently my favourite instrument to play with is a Fender Jazzmaster... I'm really bad at guitar but the neck on the Jazzmaster really fits my hand well and it just sounds great so it's helping me get better at guitar, along with lots of help from Sam!
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO…
We go through periods of listening to different albums over and over, so the answer to the question is always different... But the last few days we've been listening to Closer by Joy Division lots, as well as Ramones (we always listen to lots of them) and Evans The Death's new album which we think is brilliant.
STAYING CREATIVE
For me anyway that's not really a conscious thing or something I have any control over even... I feel like I've always had bursts of feeling very creative and wanting to make something (not always music necessarily), and some days I just don't feel like it. I never try and force it because if I'm having an uninspired sort of day and I try and make myself write a song or paint a picture it won't come out so good. Luckily, most days we feel like writing songs so we have a lot of them!
A DAY IN THE STUDIO…
Mostly our home is our studio so we just sit down with some tea and have fun making noises and eventually a song comes out! We usually write them very quickly and record as we're writing so that all happens very quickly and spontaneously. Once the song is recorded the process of mixing starts (which mostly falls to Sam as he's much more technically apt than I am) and that's a very concentrated few hours and usually we end up with big headaches and tired eyes, but also with a new song to be excited about.
MUSIC IS…
Pretty much everything. Music and the people (and dog) I love are my whole life.
LAST WORDS
We're on tour tomorrow, and very excited about it!
TOUR DATES
Tue 3 March - BRIGHTON - The Prince Albert
Wed 4 March - FALMOUTH - Shipwrights
Thur 5 March - BRISTOL - Roll to The Soul
Fri 6 March - MANCHESTER - The Castle
Sun 8 March - BIRMINGHAM - Hare and Hounds
Mon 9 March - NEWCASTLE - The Cluny
Tue 10 March - YORK - The Basement
Wed 11 March - LEICESTER - Magic Tea Pot
Thur 12 March - RASMGATE - Music Hall
Viet Cong -Viet Cong
Canadian band Viet Cong manage to blend it all into something scattershot yet coherent, unified by a strong stylistic through-line and an abundance of energy. They've filled this album -Viet Cong- with cool but addictive melodies, distortion and sewing sounds together, guitar work that can sooth or bludgeon at will, and plenty of sonic atmosphere. They're making it clear they have the talent and smarts to become a major force in Canada's indie community.
TOUR DATES:
[all tix + tour dates: jagjaguwar.com/tour]
01.28.15 – Union Pool – Brooklyn, NY **
01.29.15 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
01.30.15 – Bar Le Ritz PDB – Montreal, QC ^
01.31.15 – The Garrison – Toronto, ON
02.04.15 – Oslo – London, UK
02.05.15 – The Deaf Institute – Manchester, UK
02.06.15 – Broadcast – Glasgow, UK
02.07.15 – Brudenell Social – Leeds, UK
02.08.15 – Green Door Store – Brighton, UK
02.09.15 – Le Point FMR (Ephemere) Paris, FR
02.10.15 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL
02.11.15 – West Germany – Berlin, DE
02.12.15 – Loppen – Copenhagen, DK
02.13.15 – Pokalen – Oslo, NO
02.14.15 – Mejeriet – Lund, SE
02.15.15 – Hafenklang – Hamburg, DE
02.16.15 – Rotown – Rotterdam, NL
02.17.15 – De Kreun – Kortrijk, BE
02.18.15 – Le Botanique – Brussels, BE
02.26.15 – Commonwealth – Calgary, AB
02.27.15 – The Artery – Edmonton, AB
02.28.15 – Amigos Cantina – Saskatoon, SK
03.03.15 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
03.05.15 – Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA
03.06.15 – Echo – Los Angeles, CA
03.07.15 – Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
03.08.15 – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ
03.11.15 – Record Bar – Kansas City, MO
03.12.15 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
03.14.15 – Dionysus Club at Oberlin College – Oberlin, OH
03.24.15 – Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
03.25.15 – Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT
03.26.15 – Treefort Music Fest – Boise, ID
03.27.15 – Barboza – Seattle, WA
* w/ Ought
** w/ Honey, PC Worship
^ w/ PC Worship, Unblonde