"The last couple of years have been a bit of a whirlwind" is a statement that tells the story, of how life has been for Devon musician, India Bourne. Critical success after the co-creation of Ben Howard's album 'Every Kingdom', has enabled India to perform and tour all over the world. India's solo career has seen the release of EP 'These Days Of Ours' back in 2011 and with a new Ben Howard record and co-writing currently being worked on, India's set for another crazy year in 2014. I was lucky enough to get an insight from the lady herself....
*What is your earliest memory of involvement with music?
My earliest memory of my involvement with music is swinging
on my mum’s skirt aged 2 as she sung in a choir concert. I had to be tempted
away by fruit pastels and told to sit quietly so the other people could enjoy
the concert. I love fruit pastels to this day.
*What kind of music were you listening to, any albums that
stand out?
I grew up listening to a wide variety of music that my
parents and older sisters liked, such as the Beatles, Peter Gabriel, Simon
& Garfunkel and Joni Mitchell as well as a lot of classical - Palestrina,
Bach, Jesualdo, Britten amongst others. And later, Radiohead, Nirvana, Rage
Against the Machine and such like. My first cd was Spice, by The Spice Girls.
Yep.
*You are well known for being a multi-instrumentalist and
perform with fellow Devonian Ben Howard but you also have your own project,
tell me a bit about that?
I wrote a few songs and recorded a 3 track ep when I was 16
but ended up shelving songwriting for many years until I picked it up again
post university. I had an amazing time at uni studying music and had a very
inspirational cello teacher who encouraged me to play as much as I could. I
didn’t write a note of a song whilst I was there and I believe my time spent at
uni was to be a sponge and just soak up as much information as possible. The
variety of musical traditions and styles I studied during the course have
definitely served me well as a songwriter today.
The last 3 months I have gone through a really interesting
faze. Since the band has taken some time off for Ben to write the second album
I have had the luxury of time to focus my attention solely on exploring my own
sound. Back in 2011 I recorded a 5 track ep of songs I had written post uni
called These Days of Ours. The ep sounds true to my classical music education,
involving recording layers of vocals, cello and piano. The sounds coming out now however are much
more upbeat with my vocals less floaty and more driving. I have begun to look
at lyrics differently too, and my current aim is to have the words shape the
music now rather than the other way around.
*With the likes of touring, playing live, interviews and
press commitments, how do you find time to write and pursue a solo career and
how do you prioritize your time?
Writing my own songs definitely took a backseat whilst I was
on tour with Ben. The last couple of years have been a bit of whirlwind and I
needed to focus my energy on that. Being on the road can be a bit of a bubble
and all-consuming, so really writing only started again when we had a break.
But now that I have had some solid time to write and learn how to record remotely,
I will be able to take this technology out with me on the road. So if I am
struck by an idea, I will be able to shove it down!
*After the success you have had performing alongside Ben
Howard over the last few years, has it made you feel any differently about the
music industry at all and did you have any pre-conceived ideas about it before?
You know, when we first started playing together, it was
never my expectation that we would have seen the success that we have. I
honestly hadn’t really thought about it much more than, ‘if things go well, we
might get signed one day'! Both Island Records and Warner Chappell publishing
have been vital to getting us the opportunities we needed to be heard on a
larger scale. As a band we successfully gigged and self-promoted ourselves for
a couple of years before they got involved but when they did they certainly
opened bigger doors. It’s fantastic if artists can be very successful without
label backing, but I imagine it’s much harder to get the level of visibility
you need to expand in the same way.
*Every Kingdom was an album that really seemed to gain a lot
of attention and very quickly sold in ridiculous numbers. Can you tell me a bit more about the
recording process itself?
It was a crazy year and a half that we worked in my mum’s
barn in Devon. Ben, Chris and I were also touring in between recording sessions
and would come back to dust off the desk (with the occasional mouse keeping us
company), light the fire and put a large pot of coffee on before getting back
into it. When I listen to it now, I hear all those moments - the fire
crackling, tractors passing, sheep yelling. We saw all the seasons pass, some
of them twice... It was an experience I won’t forget in a hurry.
*What are you currently working on for 2014 with both your
solo project and Ben Howard?
I am about to join the boys in the studio to work on Ben's
second album. I am really excited about the songs that are coming out. He is
creating some really magical and inspiring material for us to get our teeth
into. Once we release, we will head out on the road…
Words by Gareth Hack with thanks to India Bourne.
India's solo EP is available now. Check it out at http://indiabourne.com/ Photo:- http://indiabourne.com/
