Rural Design Concept is a piece of music I wrote for Distil in 2011, and this is my first ever animation! (Not the most advanced animation but I hope it makes you smile!) The string section on this recording is the very talented Patsy Reid.
My idea of the Rural Design Concept is that a new building in a rural area must approach the site and the landscape with absolute respect so that it is not intrusive but sensitive to it’s environment. Musically I have explored space through the chords, the rhythm, the textures and the harmony, leaving the melody as a later consideration to be anchored thoughtfully into the rich rural environment.
This piece of music was recorded on my latest 5 track ep, “Maggie West’s” and is available to download here http://mairearadgreen.bandcamp.com
Cycles is a series of repeating phrases that builds using first fiddle pizzicato, and then guitar, tenor guitar, glockenspiel and piano. It is inspired by cyclical rhythms in nature, and particularly seasonal changes.
I performed it live for the first time in December 2013 as part of the DecemberWell live tour. I used a Boss loop station to build the piece phrase by phrase. The challenge of performing it was trying to make each phrase very rhythmically tight so that they fitted together well, whilst also clicking foot switches at a fast rate, and remembering to have the glockenspiel nearby!
Cycles is track 9 from my 2012 release ‘DecemberWell’, which you can buy here.
We are about halfway through the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow and deep in the Showcase Scotland weekend where delegates from all over the world come to see and book acts. There are informal events all over the place, but having an official showcase is invaluable. This is a video of Fiona Hunter and the band performing at the Scots and Gaelic Showcase, for which we are indebted to Creative Scotland for setting up.
Yesterday was the Showcase Scotland trade fair, and this year was Unroofed’s first time exhibiting. We weren’t sure what to expect, but our memories from WOMEX reminded us that stall dressing is very important, as is having something people can take away with them.
Here are a few tips we picked up:
– it was worth putting effort into making a compilation of all the artists represented at the stall, and a homemade CD was fine.
I’d been concerned that our origami CD sleeves and computer-burned CDs would look unprofessionally cheap, but people pointed out that delegates collect a lot of CDs and these can get heavy. They really appreciate something light to carry and I suspect the specifically chosen tracks will seem more relevant when it comes to listening back. (We also had proper copies of albums on hand for any serious prospects, but the general supermarket sweep CD collectors could come away with something too without bankrupting us.) We included a simple front cover with the names of all the artists, their websites, and their representation details. On the back we put the track list. We got the template from here and the finished thing looked a bit like this. Another great idea Fi Vass (who was sharing our stall) was using was to provide printed postcards covered in image and blurb, with a free download code for the appropriate album attached. That eliminated the need for a physical CD at all, and certainly meant less late-night folding!
– it’s worth putting an effort into your performance outfit
People really liked the FHBand ‘team colours’. It was something people commented on at both WOMEX and Showcase Scotland, and even when we tried it out (in purple this time) for the Archive Project album launch. We feel that it makes a huge difference to the way people see a band and their professional look if they have made an effort with what they wear.
– an official showcase is really valuable, but informal ones are also effective.
The fact that Fiona had showcased the day before really benefited us as people came specifically to find us, recognised the team, and since we were organised enough to film the performance, we had something to show at our listening station. Because people were attracted to our stall for the Fiona Hunter effect, our other artists got to benefit from the attention as well. Fi Vass’s artists also benefited from working hard at the late night delegates’ sessions as Fi was able to make connections with people she had already met and consolidate potential bookings.
– the pop-up stand was worth the money
We hadn’t been sure about buying a Fiona Hunter pop-up stand as it was quite an expensive thing to invest in, but in the end it was definitely worth it. It looks lovely, and gave the whole set-up a much more professional feel. A lot of other stalls had them as well and I think it made the difference in how well-dressed the stalls looked.
– go for bribes on your table, but maybe not whisky and shortbread
Whisky at the stand seemed like a great idea at WOMEX where there was really only one Scotland stand, but here everyone had whisky and shortbread so it lost its novelty effect (except for those on the Showcase Scotland equivalent of a pub crawl). It was a great thing to have at the table, as it meant people would stand and talk to us as they finished their drink. Next year we might try something a bit different though. And possibly not alcoholic. Hair of the dog may have suited some of the delegates but it was still 10am!
– take-away blurbs are also worth the printing effort
I battled for hours with photoshop to put together a blurb sheet for all my artists, but it meant that delegates had all the information they needed to take with them, which will hopefully pay dividends later.
It will take a little while to see what benefits our Showcase Scotland exploits have had, but it was loads of fun and Fiona is already looking forward to some new gigs because of it. Tonight she and Mike are performing in the ‘Women of the World‘ concert alongside some fantastic singers from India and Australia.
Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin’s Archive Project (in partnership with the School of Scottish Studies Archives and supported by Creative Scotland) has been shortlisted for the Voluntary Arts Epic Award. This is exciting for us as it is the first project the both of us (Mike and Charlotte) worked on together (Charlotte as co-ordinator and Mike as musical director) and the album that was produced is the last release on Unroofed’s predecessor, Rusty Squash Horn Records.
The School of Scottish Studies, established in 1951 and featured in a recent BBC documentary, houses a treasure trove of recordings including traditional songs, music, and stories. It’s a fantastic resource and an important asset to Scottish heritage. EYG wanted to inspire new people to use the Archives and break down barriers young people and the wider community might have with visiting or using them.
The aim of the Archive Project was to encourage young people to get a meaningful understanding of the content of the Archives and the context of the recordings, and then creatively respond. We picked 7 young traditional musicians aged 16-23 who explored the recordings and photographs in order to build material for their first professional album. We encouraged them to look beyond looking at the archives as a simple source for repertoire, but to find new creative angles to developing their own material.
The young musicians worked with mentors Alasdair Roberts, Mike Vass and Matheu Watson, as well recording with David Gray at the Sound Cafe. They also wrote and arranged a track for EYG’s Big Band to perform, worked with a design student from Napier University to put together the cover (featuring fabulous images from the photographic archives and original artwork from Conrad Molleson), and some of the music was then taken on and re-arranged to be performed by the Tinderbox Orchestra.
What resulted was an excellent album full of new music: songs inspired by anecdotes and practices described in interviews, instrumental music inspired by photographs and recollections, new melodies for collected poetry, found voices, and fresh arrangements of traditional material. There was even a music video.
You can find out more about the project here, buy the album here (all proceeds go to support Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin, a youth music charity specialising in traditional music) and vote for the project here.
