If you're interested in the Fauns you can find them here:
http://thefauns.bandcamp.com/releases
http://thefauns.bandcamp.com/releases
[continuing a conversation about their appearance on BBC Radio 6]
The Radio 6 thing, I couldn’t listen back to
Really?
I’ve heard the tracks from a distance on someone’s iphone, just generally think I didn’t make any massive errors, but I couldn’t listen to my own speaking
That’s strange
I can’t stand the sound of my own voice! Which sounds silly for someone who’s the front singer in a band!
I don’t like listening to my own voice, which makes typing up interviews difficult. And I think “do I actually sound like that?”
Everyone thinks their voice sounds different, I know mine does. It’s always so much more high pitched than you’d imagine
I realise that I laugh probably about every other word as well, it’s probably like a nervous thing, whenever I’ve heard myself I sound like a giggling buffoon! I’m really sorry, you’re going to have to listen to about 15 million laughs
The last interview I did I kept saying “I believe” at the end of every question I asked. And, you know, I don’t think that I say that day to day.
That’s like a Yoda thing
I don’t know, maybe I thought I was sounding more intelligent?
Maybe. Well, I’ll see if you do it
Hopefully not
My giggles, and your believes. We’ll see how we go
So, you provide the vocals for The Fauns
I do
So, who else is involved?
So, we have Mike Savage, who owns a record shop underneath Repsycho. Are you from Bristol?
Yeah, I live in Stokes Croft.
Oh right, so do you know Resycho, the vintage shop? He runs the record shop underneath
Oh, ok, that’s interesting
So he started the band in, oh gosh, 2007?
Oh ok, quite a long time
He’s kind of the main guy, I think we were going to get him to be interviewed and then you said you wanted to speak to me instead
It was a Women In Music issue so we were like ‘Alison’s probably better for that’
Probably. He might have some dark secrets that I don’t know about… Don’t print that. No it’s fine. So he started the band back then
Because he’s always been surrounded by music, being in a record shop. And he’s slightly older, he’s 41 now, so he grew up with the shoegaze 90s sort of sound which he was quite influenced by. And aged 35 he thought ‘I’m going to start a band’, so he did. So also involved is Lee Spinelli, no sorry, Lee Woods
Which I thought was quite funny because there’s a Leigh Woods on the outskirts of Bristol
I think it’s maybe a pen name, maybe that’s why he chose it, he’s in to quite, like, earthy things. So Lee Woods who’s on guitar, Elliot Guise who’s also on guitars, Tom Adams who’s on drums, me on vocals, and Mike who’s on bass , and he’s kind of the creator of The Fauns project as we know it today
Would you say you were shoegaze?
Yeah, I can’t really deny that we’re very very heavily influenced by shoegaze, unashamedly, shoegaze. But we’re more dream poppy as well. We do have wall of sound guitar type noises, but we’ve also got quite catchy - I don’t know if you’ve listened to any of our stuff?
I have, I have
It’s unashamedly poppy in places, we’ve all got, sort of, pop pasts. Lots of different influences - some more rocky stuff
You probably wouldn’t want to just put yourself into one pigeon hole, would you?
No of course not. The great thing is we’ve just come back from a tour, which was amazing, for 3 weeks, and we played with a band called Alcest, who used to be a black metal band. We were really sort of a bit worried because all of their flans... their flans? Haha! How many flans have they got? The audience is just a wall of cake!
I would love that!
I’d eat half of the audience before they even have time to listen. Anyway, all of their fans, they’ve gone a bit more shoegazey, but their fans are kind of metal kind of people. We played also with a band called Hex Vessel which were more folky, psychedelicy. It was really nice to see that different types of fans were into our music. We don’t like to play with just shoegazey bands
So you mentioned the tour around Europe - how was that?
It was fantastic! It was the biggest tour we’ve ever done. We only got back about a week ago and I’m still adjusting to not sleeping on a bus. It takes a bit of getting used to. It was better than I thought it was going to be, I was a bit, sort of, nervous because there were 20 people one one bus
Wow, that’s a lot of people
All three bands, Hex Vessel, Alcest, and us. And then the tour crew, so the stage manager and the sound engineer and two drivers - all of us on one bus. I’ve never been in that situation before, I was hoping that everyone was going to get on, but actually it was like one big family
And no one got sick of each other?
No, surprisingly not, everyone got on really really well. I’m missing my tour family already! Which I never thought I would say because I was petrified about doing it
Did you get to see much of the cities you were in when you were on tour?
Some, got to hang out in Paris a little bit which was beautiful. The venue that we played in in Paris was near the Moulin Rouge sort of district, le Pigel, near the Sacre Coeur cathedral so we got to go up there and have a look over the whole of Paris - it was a lovely sunny day - have a couple of glasses of wine, and some snacks. Luckily we got back in time for soundcheck that day. We got to see Porto which was really nice, where they make all the Port. It was a day off driving so we got there at about midnight, and obviously everyone was hungry because we’d been stuck on a bus for 24 hours prior to that. So somebody managed to find out that there was a little restaurant, and ask if they wouldn’t mind opening up for us for 20 people, so we all went in, all 20 of us, and had some amazing seafood, a bottle of wine each, some horsdearves, a few botles of Port and some cocktails afterwards, so that was really nice
It sounds fun!
Generally most places we didn’t get to see, obviously because the bus drives and gets to the place about mid day, then you’ve got to load in and soundcheck
So a lot of stuff to do?
Then play the gig, have a few drinks afterwards and get back on the bus, more drinking then go to bed
Sounds like a good life actually!
I kind of got used to it after 3 weeks so it took me a while to get back into a normal routine of not staying up and drinking til 6 in the morning
I supposed you have to come back to normality at some point?
So what’s the best venue you think you’ve played in? Not necesarily on this tour - anywhere.
Oh gosh, that’s a good question. I personally used to love playing it The Croft, it was like our home. I’ve been in Bristol for, oh god, about 10 years now, so it was part of me and part of my musical upbringing. That was obviously a massive shock, I can’t talk about it!
It’s sad isn’t it, it’s too soon!
I’m not ready yet! Not the biggest venue we’ve ever played but obviously The Croft was always just like, your friends and all our friends tend to be musicians and it’s such a supportive atmosphere. It probably sounds silly but that’s one of the best places we’ve played. And on this tour it was amazing playing places like Lithuania and Poland, which again have never played before. The crowds were just amazing, just really animated and excited for us to be there even though we were a support act. They really got going for us.
You get to go to a lot of places in a short amount of time - do you feel there are differences in the crowds?
Yeah, very much so. Eastern European places seem to be really up for it and really happy that you’re there, kind of really got into it. Places like London, London’s kind of more similar to Scandinavia in some ways, the audience is a bit more reserved, but it’s kind of more rewarded when you break through those crowds
So you have to impress?
People come up afterwards, say in Helsinki,it took a little bit more to get the crowd going maybe, but afterwards when people come up to you and say “wow, i’ve never heard you guys before but I really liked you” that kind of thing, and people just buy your records, it’s really humbling. Very very different crowds.
Its really interesting to see the differences, and it doesn’t mean that people are in to it more or less. In the UK it’s like, if you get a few head nods you know you're doing pretty well
Or if you get Big Jeff, have you see him?
Oh of course. He’s at most of our gigs and we’re always like ‘thank goodness’ he’s still here, we’re still ok
He’s kind of the sign that you’re doing alright
He’s a really good marker He’s a good friend of ours. If he’s not there for a gig I tend to get a bit worried, like, oh no what have we done. He’s such a sweet guy, he’s the nicest guy.
You seem to be quite interactive with your fans on twitter, that kind of thing - do you value their opinion on what you’re doing?
Ooh, interesting question! [Hesitates] Um, yes? If it’s a good one! [laughs] At the end of the day you do music because you love it and because you’ve got something you want to put out there. But of course the upshot of that is that you hope that people like it too. And of course when people give you the reactions back that you hope for it’s the most rewarding thing in the world. You can’t be too sensitive, and if people don’t like it then of course that’s, their not in to it and that’s fine
It’s subjective, not everyone’s going to to like the same kind of stuff
It’s like, you get two people who go to the same show, we’ve had reviews from the same shows being like ‘this is the best band we’ve ever heard, they’re amazing’ then we’ve had them say ‘couldn’t connect with the crowd, didn’t understand it’ but it’s just one person’s opinion. And we completely accept that if you put your music out there it’s there for critical acclaim, it’s there for people to listen to, good or bad. We try not to get too upset!
Just don’t read the bad stuff!
If Big Jeff’s still there...
He’s your benchmark
We’ll just go back to him and say ‘did you like it’ and he’ll say yes, and we’ll stop crying
So your signed to Jeff Barrow’s label, is that right?
Invada, yes
It seems everyone in the Bristol music scene has some kind of connection with Portishead
Probably, that sounds about right
How did that come about?
Mike’s known Jeff for quite a number of years, they used to be friends gosh, Mike;s lived in Bristol for decades, so they’ve been friends for a long long time. Just from music and from the shop, so prior to me meeting Mike they’d been friends for a long time. But it wasn’t Jeff who sort of approached us for signing to Invada... Or was it? There was another guy called Reg Weeks who started running the label a couple of years ago, and he came and saw us at a show at the Firestation, which was probably one of the worst shows we’d played. IT was one of those things where everything went wrong, you know like the amps blew up and things, but actually made us play maybe more heavier and more sort of fiestier. Angry Fauns! He came to that show and he asked us if we’d be interested in joining the label. We’d kind of had discussions with Jeff prior to that about it but it wasn’t really the right time for us really. We werent ready to be on a label as good as Invada. We didn’t know if we’d make the most of the situation before. So when Reg joined we were at a stage with our albums where we definitely thought that it might be a good match and they could help us, that kind of thing
I guess it’s nice that it’s all local Bristol people working together
I don’t know if they’d say that! I think they’re kind of expanding to soundtracks and things like that. Solaris, Clint Mansell
I was going to ask, how did you get involved with him?
Through Reg. Reg had been chatting to Clint about soundtracks and things, I’m not sure how they first got to chatting, but probably about soundtracks. He was a fan of the label, and Reg was obviously a massive fan of Clint’s work. I personally have been for a long time. Clint added me on Facebook, which sounds ridiculous, so we just started chatting about his cats or something, and chatting about music generally. So we got to be friends over the internet, twitter, social media, that’s what they’re there for I guess? Reg maybe approached him and asked him if he would like to do a remix of The Fauns, and he said yes, because he was a fan of our music for some reason! So he chose Fragile which was favourite track from our first album. We were extremely humbled and grateful that he did.
Yeah, that’s pretty cool!
So we decided to release it on vinyl for record store day, and do a video. That was prior to our album coming out.
We’re doing the interview as part of our Women In Music Issue - which is why we wanted you rather than Mike!
So, what’s it like to be a girl in a band full of boys?
I guess I don’t really think about it so much. I don’t really think I’m this woman in music, do you know what I mean. I kind of, it’s just the way that it is. I sing and I provide the type of vocals that work well for this band, and I just happen to be a woman. Hmmm. I don’t know. It’s really nice because I guess as boys, and slightly older boys, they kind of look after me quite well which is nice. I’m not the stereotypical ‘I need looking after’... but I guess on tour it’s good to know that I’ve got my guys there. [pause] I don’t really think about being this woman in music, and I’m there fighting this crusade
I guess that’s a good thing, as it’s just normality for you
I just happen to be a girl.
Sometimes they don’t let me carry heavy things which I get annoyed about. But then I suppose my back’s better off for it. When we’re on tour and unloading sometimes the tour manager will be like “shall I give you that?” and I’ll be like “I can take that, I’m stronger than that guy!” The only other thing that is different is that it takes me a little bit longer to get ready to go on stage
Well that’s fine!
Was there anyone in the music industry when you were growing up that you thought was particularly influential?
Woman wise?
Yes
I sort of grew up with listening to 60s 70s pop and rock mostly, so of course I have my influences from Aretha Franklin, to, I’m a big Kate Bush fan, big Fleetwood Mac fan, Stevie Nicks. There’s a band called Coven, I don’t know if you’ve heard of a band called Coven? Kind of 60s pre Black Sabbath dark kind of psychedelic-y metal. The front woman was called Jinx Dawson, she’s been a pretty big influence. I had quite a good load of strong women role models. Just watching Stevie Nicks perform Rhiannon or something like that live is just kind of awe inspiring, like ‘I want to be like that’. Or Kate Bush. Growing up thinking, maybe I could do something similar to that, stand in front of some people and sing some songs.
On the way here in one of the charity shops I saw Spice Girls dolls, and just wondered how long they’d been sitting there for! So, nothing like that?!
Obviously being 27 now, am I 27? I grew up with the Spice Girls and obviously they had their girl power movement, but I think girl power started in the 60s
They just kind of stole it didn’t they?
There’s nothing wrong with the Spice Girls, I had a Spice Girls tape, watched Spice World. I don’t think they caused me to get into music or anything. It was kind of more
You were inspired before that
So I’ve seen you described as having “evocative breathy vocals” and I also saw you described on twitter as “she with the lovely hair”.
Oh! Damn, I probably should have done something a bit more with it!
So, which is better?
[Laughs]
Would I rather have evocative breathy vocals, or lovely hair? Obviously, both would be quite nice. Vocals first and foremost, it shouldn’t really matter what I look like. Alas, in today’s society… Like I said it takes me a little bit longer to get ready to go on stage. It’s quite important. I don’t know, it shouldn’t be important, and it’s more of a personal thing that I feel it’s important to me to feel confident to go on stage, to look nice which, umm, I’m sure some of my divas in the past would say, umm (*can’t hear this bit*)
Yeah, vocals are first and foremost, and I do think it’s important to make an effort and you have to be, especially I think as a girl, I think people do focus their attention on you somewhat, especially as a front woman. People can be cruel sometimes and people can be very, maybe more so than if I was a guy. If I was a guy maybe I could just hide and have a massive beard and people would think it was some kind of grungy kind of cool guy. But maybe as a girl people take more notice. It’s probably just me, it’s my own confidence kind of thing. Patti Smith would probably say something else.
It’s a way of expressing yourself I guess?
If I feel more confident then I can deliver a better performance. I’m not the world’s most confident person generally, so if I can try and make myself feel a bit nicer...
I think you look amazing in the videos that I’ve seen
[Laughs]
I like particularly the dot of eye makeup under the eye
I do that quite often, again I don’t know why
It’s quite unique
It takes me a little while to get ready, I think ‘oh god I still look awful, what else can I do’, so I start putting dots on my face thinking maybe people will be distracted by that and not look at my face too much. I think it’s important to inspire confidence, when you go see a band iit is about the whole experience, you want to be taken away somewhere else and you believe in that person as well. [Thinking]. I try and do my best, and hopefully people aren’t mean to me!
I think it is sad though that people would comment on the way that somebody looks and judge them
It does happen. It does happen for guys and girls. I’m not just saying it’s hard for girls, because at the end of the day it’s my choice if I want to wear makeup, it’s my choice if I want to wear a nice dress. I could just go up there and not bother, and see. You’ll always get people scrutinising you for whatever you do, whichever way you go. You can’t please everyone. If you please yourself and feel good about yourself then that’s the main thing, and hopefully other people will believe in you as well [*use this as the final sentence*]
That’s a good message
Evangelical
So, is Seven Hours the next single?
That’s out at the moment, that’s our radio single. We’ve kind of done it not necessarily as traditional, not releasing singles on physical form, doing radio singles. Our last one was In Flames which got playlisted on Radio 6. So Seven Hours is the latest one to go out to all the radio stations, although that was the one we did the video for first of all so we’re doing it in a higgledy piggledy way, so we’ve already had the video out, then we’re doing some radio.
Videos, the radio thing, chucking a load of stuff out at people.
So what’s next for you guys?
So we’ve got a photoshoot tomorrow, more photos, put some more makeup on, more dots under my eyes. And then we’ve got quite a lot of UK gigs coming up which I’m quite excited about - we haven’t done that many gigs other than London and Bristol. So we’re playing Liverpool, Oxford, Ramsgate...
Where’s Ramsgate?
It’s east of London, on the coast. You can get ferries from there to the Netherlands.
Lovely
Just hop on the ferry and go there!
So we’ve got quite a few UK shows coming up, which should be nice after playing all the European ones. Hopefully we’ll get as nicely treated in the UK as we have abroad.
then more singles, we’ve got an XFM radio session coming up, so we’ve got to record 4 tracks for them, but they’re not live this time which is really good! [Laughs]
Not quite as much pressure then!
If something goes wrong, or I swear by mistake when I’m singing… Lalalala fuck, oh. Which I was terrified I’d do.
See what we can get out of this album, then write some more songs
And it all starts again!