INTERVIEW: Camilla Staveley-Taylor, from The Staves

Birmingham Review first saw The Staves in April this year, playing at The Glee Club, and have kept them hovering on radar ever since.

With pitch perfect harmonies, the Staveley-Taylor sisters have been singing for as long as any of us can remember’; and now have a firm footing in the UK’s folk revival.

Playing their first gig in 2005, the past seven years have seen Emily, Jessica and Camilla perform from Watford to Texas, and appear on albums with Fionn Regan and Tom Jones. Not bad for three sisters who started at an open mike might in their local.

But Nov ’12 saw The Staves release their own debut album, ‘Dead & Born & Grown’, which they‘re now out promoting with a headline tour of the UK; playing at the Hare and Hounds in Birmingham on November 28th.

Birmingham Review managed to grab Camilla for a quick Q&A from the road.

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BR: Congratulations on the release of ‘Dead & Born & Grown’, released Nov 12th, are you excited?
CST: Yes, we’re very excited to have the record finally out – it feels like it’s been a long time coming.

BR: On the run up to its release, and subsequently, ‘Dead & Born & Grown’ has been getting some pretty widespread attention. Some of the words I’ve seen used to describe the album are ‘charming’, ‘comforting’, and my personal favourite, ‘a woven oneness of lustre and poise’ – how would you surmise it?
CST: Well… it’s hard to describe your own stuff. I think that the record is unpretentious in that we aren’t trying to be anyone but ourselves, and I think, hopefully, that comes across when people listen to it.

BR: And the ‘F word’ halfway through ‘Pay Us No Mind’..?
CST: If anyone is surprised by that then haven’t listened to the lyrics of that song or really understood the vibe.

BR: I read somewhere that ‘Dead & Born & Grown’ was the first song you ever wrote, hence being the name of the album. Does that seem like a long time ago, and are you in a stronger place as songwriters?
CST: I doesn’t really seem like it was that long ago. I think we have improved as songwriters, but I wouldn’t change anything about that song. Sometimes it’s the simplicity in songs you write that gives them that magic.

BR: How about in the studio? You worked with Ethan and Glyn Johns, who have some pretty heavyweight acts in their portfolio; what was it like working with such established producers?

CST: They have an amazing back catalogue of records they’ve worked on. It was great seeing their techniques in the studio – they work on tape which is really dying out in studios. We recorded almost the whole record live and that was a lot of fun and really kept us on our toes.

BR: The last time Birmingham Review covered you was in April, what’s been going on since spring?
CST: We’ve managed to support Bon Iver twice – once around the US/Canada and once around Europe – which has been incredible. We played a lot of festivals this summer and the rest of the time has been spent on the record. Plus I did all the artwork, which took a while.

BR: And you were recently invited onto ‘Later… with Jools Holland’, where you performed the purely vocal/harmony track ‘Wisely & Slow’. Was that more nerve wracking than with instruments?
CST: No, weirdly enough we feel more relaxed and confident doing the a capella stuff. I guess as singers you have more control when it’s just you up there.

BR: Your next single is ‘Tongue Behind My Teeth’, and in the video – a Western pastiche, you look very convincing with a rifle. Is there anything we should know about?
CST: I got into a cab the other day with my guitar and the driver made a joke about there being a machine gun in there. I felt like Antonio Banderas. I have never used a real gun – the ones in the video were fake, sorry to ruin the illusion.

BR: You’re all from Watford; is there a big folk scene in your home town?
CST: There is a folk scene in Watford but we’ve never been a part of it. Like most towns there’s music going on and that’s where we played our first gigs and sang with other bands and learned to do what we do. That all took place in pubs and bars for us, not folk clubs. I think Watford suffers by being in such close proximity to London where there is so much going on musically so a lot of people end up migrating there instead.

BR: So what encouraged and inspired you, musically?
CST: Just hearing good music is the most inspiring thing. It can be listening to a record old or new, going to a gig or just having a conversation with a musician and absorbing all the different ways that people approach music. In terms of encouragement our family and friends have always cheered us on at gigs since the beginning and told us not to be shy.

BR: Vocally you are all clearly proficient, and I know Jessica plays the guitar and you play the Uklele. Are there any other instruments in the closet?
CST: We played piano, clarinet and flute when we were kids but were just taught boring songs so we ditched them. I try and play most stringed instruments – I have a banjo and a mandolin at home and I play a bit of piano and harmonium on the record.

BR: And finally… you are granted one wish from the genie of music, what do you ask for?
CST: Neil Young’s guitar, it’s a Martin D-28 that used to belong to Hank Williams.

The Staves debut album, ‘Dead & Born & Grown’, is out now – available in store and online. For more on The Staves, visit http://www.thestaves.com

The Staves play at the Hare & Hounds on November 28th, for more information visit http://birminghampromoters.com/Events/the-staves

INTERVIEW: Ben Lewis, ‘Who Do You Love – The King Adora Story’

Interview by Ed King

Cast your mind back to the heyday of Brum’s Indie scene; The Hummingbird, Plastic Factory, Doc Martins from the Rag. And of course, The Jug of Ale.

But floating out of the flotsam and jetsam rose King Adora; you remember, pouty-face-big-hair? No? Well you should if you were old or sober enough.

Soaking up a sizable chunk of the local limelight, King Adora looked like they might get somewhere; with an album in the charts, a cache of label interest, ferociously loyal fans, and enough swagger to actually pull it off.

But like many before and after them (Cooler than Jesus, Blowfly, Honeyman…) King Adora’s rise was meteoric but short lived. Splitting up in 2005 the Birmingham four piece went their separate ways, reforming for only two ‘reunion’ gigs in 2010.

Then seven years later the Birmingham Review receives a press release, saying ‘KING ADORA ARE BACK’.

Really???

No, they’re not.

What’s actually happening are the first screenings of ‘Who Do You Love – The King Adora Story’, a self financed documentary by Ben Lewis; named after King Adora’s second/last album, and covering the band’s rise, fall and subsequent (albeit short, short lived) reunion.

So my second question also came in one word. Why?

“It started off as a pet project,” tells Lewis, “I’d spent a lot of time working at Apple and wanted to get back into making films.

I’d followed King Adora when they toured up in Scotland, where I was living at the time, and wanted to interview the guys; plus the other characters that’d played a part in their journey.”

A close friend of Martyn Nelson, King Adora’s lead guitarist, Ben Lewis had a comfortable link to the band. And with a background in film production, alongside half a decade training people for Apple’s video applications, he wanted “to start making some of this stuff I had all these ideas for.”

So, armed with a salary, over 100 hours of stock footage, and a “romanticised way of film making”, Ben Lewis put the King Adora story into production in 2010.

“What you have (with King Adora) are these four guys who have tasted success – but essentially lost it,” says Lewis, “and I wanted to show how that affected them.

But I also wanted to cover other themes that the band experienced in the music business at that itime. This was really pre social media; MySpace was only in its infancy, and the industry was in flux. Artist development was a becoming thing of the past.”

But King Adora split up in 2005, playing only a further two gigs in 2010. How do you effectively document such a retrospective topic?

“I was present throughout that process, so when the idea came about (for the two ‘reunion’ shows in 2010), I filmed the gigs and got vox pops form the fans,” explains Lewis. “Plus the band had often filmed their own concerts, so I got a hell of a lot of archive from King Adora tours of the UK and Japan.”

And how accessible were ‘the other characters’, the extras that ‘played a part in their journey?’

“The fans were easy enough to find,” says Lewis,” and Steve Lamacq, who had pushed Kind Adora in their early years, was happy to appear on camera.”

Anyone say no? “There were people I wanted, but just couldn’t get;

their sound engineer who used to tour with them, and I wanted to interview some of the music video directors but I couldn’t track them down.

Getting in touch with John Cornfield at Sawmill Studios also took a long time to arrange.”

Filmed on Red and 5D Mark II cameras, ‘Who Do You Love – The King Adora Story’ follows in the footsteps of Jason Reitman’s award winning independent ‘Juno’, and Steven Soderburgh’s last three releases: ‘Magic Mike’, ‘Haywire’ and ‘Contagion’. And at times, during the two year production process, Ben Lewis’ self financed documentary cost him around ₤1000 a day.

Ironically documenting a band surfing the break before the digital music wave, ‘Who Do You Love’ is facing similar commercial contentions.

Online broadcasters, such as YouTube and Vimeo, have established a quick, easy and free world of angry kittens, old TV shows and bedroom recordings. And film making ‘aint cheap – not if you do it well. So, as an independent production, how can you afford it?

“In my last few months at Apple I was spending my wages hiring Red cameras, Zeiss primes and other equipment. And I called in a lot of favours,” including the time of cinematographer Laura Howie (Aardman, Curse of the Were Rabbit, Fantastic Mr Fox).

“Now it’s completed, we’re hosting a series of screenings and will be looking at releasing a DVD. There will probably be an online release too, and I’m currently looking into iTunes and other distributors.”

‘Who Do You Love – The King Adora Story’ is also fundraising online, through Indiegogo http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/225131

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‘Who Do You Love – The King Adora Story’ will first be screened at the Hare & Hounds (Oct 24th), with subsequent screenings at Muthers Studio (Oct 27th) and the Worcestershire Film Festival (Nov 3rd).

For more information, and to buy tickets for each event, visit www.kingadora.com

‘Who Do You Love’ is released through Siwel Productions – www.siwelproductions.co.uk

INTERVIEW: Toyah Wilcox @ Cherry Reds Café, Kings Heath, July 16th

Interview by Cesilia Oriana Trecaquista / Pictures by Paul www.paulward.net

Punk pop teen terror, Toyah Willcox, exploded into the limelight as ‘Mad’ – the anarchic redhead in Derek Jaman’s 1978 “film about Punk”, ‘Jubilee’.

She went on to release over 20 studio albums, 13 Top 40 singles, appear in over 40 stage plays and 10 feature films – in a career spanning over three decades. Oh yeah, she’s written two books as well.

Now also the first luminary to be honored on Kings Heath’s ‘Walk of Fame’, Cesilia Oriana Trecaquista went to see what else (if there’s any room left) does Toyah have in her head.

BReview: “Congratulations on your star in the Kings Heath ‘Walk of Fame’.  How does it feel to be awarded this accolade?”

Toyah: “It’s wonderful.  It’s such an honour, and so good for people to remember me in this way. I lived in Birmingham for 18 years, until I left for London and got my career going. I was born and conceived here. I used to shop on the high street everyday with my mother.

It’s very kind of the business people of Kings Heath, to include me in the names of those associated with the suburb. Amazing people have played here, like Led Zeppelin and Jerry lee Lewis (at the Ritz Ballroom, now Cash Convertors, on York Rd).

I think I am the only other woman apart from Helen Shapiro; it’s an absolute honour.”

BReview: “You’ve had such a significant career, and hold a prolific music back catalogue. Is it difficult to decide what you will and won’t include, song wise, when organising a set or a tour?”

Toyah: “We are kind of lucky, because starting last year we had 3 major 30th Anniversaries. Last year was ‘Anthem’, this year is ‘The Changeling’ and next year is ‘Love is the Law”. These were all platinum albums, so we can tour them. What we do after is a different matter, but for the next year we’re kind of covered.”

BReview: “So what can we expect at tonight’s gig?”

Toyah: “Today, at the Hare and Hounds, we’re going to do a 32 year retrospective; covering 18 – 22 albums. That has been hard, as we can only fit 22 songs into the length of time we have. It’s going to be a real ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’ night.”

BReview: “Do you ever feel the need to put a modern twist on some of your earlier works when performing live?”

Toyah: “Interestingly, people don’t seem to want that. They want the original 1980’s take on things. But to contemporise is never a problem; with technology, the way you arrange things, when and where drum fills and guitar solos in etc.

The designs for the costumes do have quite a contemporary take on what I was wearing 30 years ago. But funnily enough, people want the songs exactly as they were back then, they want the nostalgia.”

BReview: “The 2nd part of your ‘Changeling Resurrection’ tour starts in September, with you returning to play at the Birmingham Ballroom on October 31st. Will you have any Halloween surprises for us?”

Toyah: “It’s going to be a fancy dress theme. ‘The Changeling’ was a gothic album so it will be a Goth themed night.  There will be all sorts of events happening; competitions, DJs and a club night after the gig.

BReview: “Moving on to ‘The Humans’ (a 3 piece ensemble Toyah formed in 2007) can you explain how this collaboration came about, and how it is to work with Chris Wong and Bill Reiflin?”

Toyah: “Well, Chris Wong was working as my Musical Director and also played guitar for my solo project, ‘Toyah’. In 2007 my husband was asked to play for the President of Estonia. However, he wasn’t available, so I contacted the embassy and asked if they would like myself and my band to do it instead.

At the time Bill Rieflin was drumming for R.E.M, but he had a window; so together with Chris we wrote 45 minutes of music which became the first ‘Humans’ album. We went to Estonia and played for the president and it went down incredibly well. It was fantastic. We are now on out 3rd album, which we record in September.”

BReview: “So a significant career, one that’s still evolving into new projects. What advice, if any, do you have for people pursuing a career in the industry today?”

Toyah: “It isn’t about the ‘X-Factor’. It takes genuine hard work, not instant gratification.  My advice would be to learn an instrument, learn how to write, learn about the law and get clued up about what publishing is about and what a record company is about.

Try and launch yourself on the Internet; on things such as Facebook, Twitter etc, as today that is where it is at.”

BReview: “And as a strong female in the music industry, how do you feel the role of women in the industry has changed?”

Toyah: “When I started out, there were people like Kim Wilde, Kate Bush and Patti Smith leading the way for females; but doing so in a strong way and in control, even back then.

Today there are some really great female songwriters who not only look great but are headlining stadiums; which back when I started didn’t happen.

I began at a time when your career would be mainly playing the pub circuits, so now it’s clear there is a lot of control by women in the industry.”

BReview: “So who would you consider strong and influential female figures in the industry today?”

Toyah: “Songwriters and acts such as P.J Harvey, Florence & the Machine, Marina & the Diamonds and Pink – who has reinvented herself over a diverse career. It hasn’t all been about Madonna.”

Toyah Willcox brings ‘The Changeling Resurrection Tour’ to the Birmingham Ballroom on October 31st.

For more info about this, and other gigs at the venue, visit www.birmingham-ballroom.com

For more on Toyah Willcox, visit http://www.toyahwillcox.com

INTERVIEW: Alex Milas (Editor, Metal Hammer)

(left to right) Alex Milas, Metal Hammer & Rob Halford, Judas Priest - courtesy of Metal Hammer

By K. Ann Sulaiman

More than 40 years have passed since Birmingham’s Black Sabbath entered the world of music with their eponymous first album, but the legacy of Heavy Metal they helped pioneer is still strong today. Birmingham’s Home of Metal project has been celebrating the city’s history with the genre for years. Birmingham Review caught up with Alexander Milas, editor of Metal Hammer – the UK’s biggest Metal magazine, at the campaign’s recent Heavy Metal & Place conference.

“Birmingham probably has one of the deepest music histories throughout the UK, and for metal it’s absolutely essential,” commented Milas, “It all has a deep sense of heritage about itself, which is surprising that Home of Metal has taken this long to come into existence despite such deep history”. But why has the cited ‘birthplace of Metal’ been so slow to document its heritage?

“I think that this has a lot to do with the fact that Heavy Metal is still stigmatised; it’s not really viewed as worthy of preservation, though it can be argued that it’s one of the biggest exports out of the UK,” continued Milas, whose came from America to head the UK based publication, “the music now exists in every timezone and every country, not to mention that it influences millions of people.”

Though Birmingham’s Metal scene is more fragmented than in cities like London, where Metal Hammer’s UK office is based, Milas believes it’s spirit is just as strong.

“There are a lot of factors that influence this, but there’s no doubt that there is a Metal Scene here… the band Manowar played their first show in the UK after 17 years, and it was in Birmingham, where tickets were all sold out at the O2 Academy.”

And as for the future of Heavy Metal in the city that spawned Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin and Judas Priest? “[Birmingham] is really the spiritual homeland of the music that we hold dear,” concluded Milas, “and it’s always inspiring to come back to see where Metal has come from.”

INTERVIEW: Diagram of the Heart

Diagram of the Heart - (left to Right) Kye Sones, Ant Gorry - courtesy of Sony Music

Sailing the good ship Deconstruction, Diagram of the Heart are Sony BMG’s new electro pop protégé. Signed by Mike Pickering, ex-hacienda resident, Deconstruction founder and all round Dance music stalwart, the London based duo are being pegged as a 2011 ‘one to watch’ by much of the mainstream music media.

With their debut singles ‘Dead Famous’ and ‘Did I’ grabbing rapid attention, Diagram of the Heart spent 2010 building foundations and fanbases. The Birmingham Review caught up with Ant and Kye, aka Diagram of the Heart, to compare this year to last year.

‘A 2010 highlight would have to be the iTunes festival at The Roundhouse in London,’ says Kye, ‘It was full of Hoosier fans who had no clue who we were. By the end of our set we had the whole building jumping, it’s great to win people over like that.’ Diagram of the Heart toured and supported throughout most of 2010, including several high profile performances arranged by their label. ‘Playing Ibiza Rocks with Calvin Harris’, adds Ant, ‘it was a highlight to be on the same bill.’

Diagram of the Heart producer, Ant Gorry met singer Kye Sones after seeing him cover the Kings of Leon ‘Sex On Fire’ on MySpace. The pair started working together and were soon noticed by Mike Pickering, Head of A&R for Columbia Records, and signed to the seminal Dance music label Deconstruction, birthplace of established club classics such as Felix’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’ and Black Box’s ‘Ride On Time’.

‘It’s a real sign that we’re doing the right thing,’ says Ant about signing to Deconstruction, ‘our music is really rooted in big club sound, and to be signed by such a legend (Pickering) is amazing.’ Mike Pickering’s portfolio currently includes Kasabian and Calvin Harris. He is also regarded as a foundation block of the early UK Dance scene. ‘The most appealing thing is that he was an artist too’, add Kye, ‘he gives us great feedback and has been a great person to work with, we’re very lucky.’

With the backing of Pickering/Deconstruction, alongside single remixes from Michael Woods and Riva Starr, Diagram of the Heart have been given the Dance industry stamp of approval, but where do they position themselves on the ever changing sea of musical genres?

‘We’re from Dance music, and influenced by Dance music, but make pop records,’ says Ant. ‘Yeah, I agree,’ adds Kye, ‘I always just say we’re a band that’s influenced by dance music.’

And specifics worth mentioning on Diagram of the Heart’s artistic influence role call?

‘Too many to name,’ admits Ant, ‘but I love Tears For Fears, Massive Attack and Faithless.’ The emotive production of all three reflected in Diagram of the Heart’s current work. ‘The biggest influence in song writing is people in everyday life and your surroundings,’ adds Kye, ‘I always jot something down if I hear people says something interesting, or see a bit of graffiti on the tube and think, ahhh, that’s got a nice ring to it.’

Diagram of the Heart clocked up significant miles throughout 2010 with university tours to MTV on the white isle, with most accolades coming from their live performances. 2011 will continue this momentum with Diagram of the Heart’s first headline tour early in the year followed by the spring release of their debut album, Vital Signs. A make or break year, do the boys ever regret choosing such a precarious profession?

‘Never,’ declares Ant, ‘I left that behind a long time ago.’

Diagram of the Heart headline The Library at the HMV Institute on Feb 6th. Vital Signs is scheduled for release on March 27th on Deconstruction Records. For more information visit www.diagramoftheheart.co.uk