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I’m curious how you found your ability to singHow did you develop your voice and what does singing mean to you? VladimirS
I found out that I could sing when I was doing auditions in 1989 – it was a cultural crossover between Ukraine and the UK. My biggest fear was singing in public and I wanted to do something I was afraid of, so I turned a Rimbaud poem into what I thought was a blues song. And I loved it. Later, I met this artist, William Orbit – I was 19 years old and he was 37 years old – through one of the women in the show whose husband was the manager of the Pogues. William thought: “She can sing. She put me in touch with a really good singing teacher. But I probably won’t consider myself a singer. Even last week I was like: “Yeah, I guess I’m a singer, that’s what I do.” I still can’t wrap my head around it.
When you make a new song, do you have work to do, or do you get inspired? And in what order do the songs come, in terms of lyrics, music, lyrics? gin007
I am inspired and that is why I write. I can be walking in nature or hanging out and it will trigger something in my head and I’m writing. So I go to the piano or the guitar and usually when I have something that is drilling me, that leads to singing. Therefore, music, voice and strings often come together at the same time. So I do the work, which is full. The easy part is la la la, here’s an idea, here’s a shape, here’s a shape, and then it’s like: all this came unconsciously, how do I write to that standard consciously? That can be really difficult. It can make your skin crawl because it’s hard to write a good song.
Can you tell us something about your memories of old music? AlfBlanch
One of my earliest musical memories is my brother playing O! You Beautiful Things by David Bowie. I was probably about nine and we lived in this two-up, two-down in Norwich. Everything he played was loud. Usually it was punk music, but this morning the music woke me up – it must have been all night – and I heard something that made me the happiest of my life. I said: “Wow, what the hell is that?”
The influence was great on you musically John Martyn and have you met him? Guardianlover
He was a great influence. And then I met him and he wasn’t that into me. I don’t know if I actually talked to him, but he didn’t want me to explain his music, I don’t think. It didn’t disappoint me – I still love his music.
I remember reading an article of you being on the London Underground with the whole carriage singing one of your songs when they saw you. What was the song and did you get into it? frattie
That was Him Crying Your Name. And I didn’t join them. It was probably 1997 or 1998, I think I could have boarded a train when I finished my game or I could have helped someone else. I don’t remember exactly, but I was with a friend and it was sweet – I was happy and excited.
Your collaboration with the Chemical Brothers, Where Do I Beginfor me the song that best describes the chaos of the mid 90s. A mixture of chaos, hedonism and imagination turns to the next big night. Was that a picture of your life at that time? CraigThePaig
Yes. Of course. I mean, you know, everything, it’s hard to remember… but what I to do remember it was really fun.
More than ten years ago, I read it that you were not happy about the Central Reservation of 1999, and that you were forced to be clear. In 2026, how do you feel about the album, which I do you think it’s one of the best albums of its time? PaulDavisTheFirst
I was conflicted because when I made (the 1996 album) Trailer Park it was about working with Andrew Weatherall and choosing my band. Then around the time (of Central Reservation) it was like: “Oh, they like to be edited. There were some things that didn’t feel like it was coming from me and sometimes I was a little disappointed. I had a thing with Central Reservation where I was like: “I want this to be better, and this is better.” But what’s happening now is playing these songs live and I’m still thinking about them.
Can you still earn a living, a living, from original music being outside of the “popular”? barrycreed
It’s not easy. I think the chance to break is if you can make music for TV or movies. This did not happen to me and I had to take care of the family. There is always a debate – can I just get a real job? – but at some point it was like, well, there’s no going back because I’m not good at anything. I don’t have a job at all, but I can make music so I just do it and hope for the best. And I love what I do – it started to become its own kind of oil along the way.
Are you worried about the AI having a problem with music? lotus blue
Yes. It is very disappointing. I remain hopeful that real work is real work and that only people can make art as humanly possible. And I think it’s very important, spiritual and emotional and powerful. I sound like a hippy, I don’t care. If you make music that you feel like it can have a powerful influence in a powerful way, that’s great and I don’t see that AI is going to have a beneficial influence on people.
What happened to your idea for the Lost Leaves script? You started when you released a lost (and big) a cover of Tim Buckley’s I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain as a platform for many unreleased songs.but I never heard anything further. Should we expect more gems like this? Support cassettes
I started making new music and I was like: “I’m not looking back, I’m looking forward.” I still have these “gems”, but the new music I’m making makes me really happy. At some point I might look into it again.
I’ve always been influenced by the music of Feel to Believe (from Central Reservation), and how your voice seems to be fighting the limits of recording. What’s going on here and you knew right away that it was what it sounded like (instead of brushing it off)? RoryDollard
It’s a really sweet story. I was a big fan of David Roback from Mazzy Star and I went to him and said: “Can you do it for me, will you play on my record?” I flew to Oslo to meet him and mostly the part was drinking a lot of red wine and watching. Elizabeth Cotten notes – I was very shy playing my guitar and he just wanted to encourage me. Finally, he put the microphone on and I played Feel to Believe as what I thought was a demo for him. And then he refused to play on it or do much. He was like, my production is to teach you that you don’t have to fit in with anyone else. To this day, if I could catch what he caught, I would.
I discovered your music at a very difficult time. Hearing your voice, music, I I suddenly felt that everything will be fine. What kind of music do you listen to when you have a problem? FlowerBlue
Most of the time when I feel blue, I can’t stand to listen to music because it hurts me so much. I am deeply influenced by words and music. So my music has become a source of (comfort). Over the past few years, it has become very difficult for me to find books or music that resonate with my experiences. And so with the music that I’ve been making, it’s like I want to express the words that I want to hear and write songs that mean something that I can’t find anywhere else.
