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Interview

Harmonies and the 'Earth Beat'

Next month: Home Studio Hair Loss

You started singing harmonies at about the age of 13 or 14. Can you tell us a little about how that developed?

I was basically hanging out with older musicians who sang a lot and the most obvious way to sing together was harmonies. Back then it was the same situation as today....singing together is cheap and enjoyable. No instruments to buy or carry. When we hung out together in the main street at night or out the back of someone's place round a fire. We'd be singing our heads off for hours.

I remember we went up to hanging rock one day and found a big hollow rock that we could all fit in and we sang in there with all the natural reverb. Later on it was a bit tricky getting off the rock cause the paths meander everywhere and you cant remember where you've been.

So did you decide from that point that harmonies where going to figure in a big way in your future...for example your work with the A Cappella group Medusa?

It's the funniest thing really. In the early 90's a guy called Tony Backhouse started these Gospel singing workshops and I don't know if that's what kicked off the whole A Cappella craze but it seemed connected to it.

All of a sudden, everybody was singing in harmony groups as if it had just been invented and a beautiful thing it was too because a lot of middle aged women, all of a sudden had access to making music, where they had previously been cast aside and considered not even worthy of selling records too (by the big multi national record companies).

So this whole grass roots industry sprung up and because of my back ground and a chance meeting with My Friend Annie (it's a long story - please refer to new CD for an explanation) We decided to form an original A Cappella group of our own, which was of course Medusa.

Moving on to the percussion side of things, when did that come about?

I don't know where the love of rhythm comes from. There was no big inspiration in my life to point me in that direction.

I can remember hearing the song 'Cocaine' as a teenager and the feel was hypnotizing. Ever since that time I have been very 'feel' driven.

I think it's also got something to do with my love of African American derived music and my background with playing bass guitar, which of course is very rhythm based. On my new CD, I decided early on that I didn't want to use the predictable line up of drums, bass, guitar etc, so it was a natural progression that percussion take the place of the drums section.

It was a buzz working with new feels until something just takes off and flies. I think I'm driven by the need for new stimulation more than anything else.