Talking To...Nancy Elizabeth
I've always liked Nancy Elizabeth's approach to music, the way she includes it as part of a wider artistic spectrum. There's a quality about her work, the images she uses and even the titles of the albums that makes you feel you're dealing with an artist that has a very informed sense of their self and the world around them.
I know that sounds a little pretentious, but if artistic quality has to sound a bit pretentious when being described, so be it.
Nancy Elizabeth , both live and in conversation comes across as some one really enjoying what they are doing, so it was with some relish I took the opportunity to add her to our talking to… series.
#NE=Nancy Elizabeth #NK=Neil King
All images Mark Winpenny
#NK First of all thanks for the interview and also for agreeing to be part of our download session(November 1st to January 31st). The new album, "Wrought Iron", to me, wrought iron is a substance of strength and beauty. Is that where the inspiration for the title comes from?
#NE It was, but it's more than that, it's about the process of forging wrought iron as well., how you hammer it to bring out the impurities to make it stronger and then use it to make beautiful things. It can also be used for practical and useful things. That was where the title came from. It's also what a lot of the lyrics are about as well.
#NK What was it that drew you to wrought iron? I can see why it might be the basis for an album and an album title, but it's not the first thing that comes to mind on the inspiration stakes.
#NE I guess it was just m own ramblings in my mind really. There's a place I drive past in Manchester sometimes that has this sign that says, 'Cheshire Wrought Iron'. For some reason I used to read the signs everytime I drove past. I liked the words, so I suppose it came from that sign. It just made me think.
#NK I've listened to the album a few times and it seems to be one of those album that… It's almost like sometimes I'm hearing it and you're just using your voice as an instrument, where the words don't really matter, then the next time you hear it it's like poetry and the words are the most important part. So it's almost like you've got two songs blended into one. Is that in your mind when you sit down to create a song?
#NE I definitely see my voice as another instrument, which is why sometimes you hear it delivering noise, more so when I'm performing live. Having said that I do love writing lyrics as well. I think, especially on this album, I've put quite a lot of work into the lyrics, making sure they say what I'd like them to say.
#NK Do you remember a band called the Cocteau Twins and their singer Liz Frazier?
#NE I do yeah.
#NK I was sort of reminded of Liz's vocal style on some of your songs, buy with poetry beneath it, rather than the nonsense word s they used to use. It really is a fascinating combination of poetry and voice.
#NE I loved the Cocteau Twins, I loved them a lot. Before I knew they had made up their own language, I used to spend ages trying to work out what they were saying, before I realised they weren't saying anything. I think that if you've got the space to use words, it makes sense to use them. I think there has to be an honesty in words.
#NK Exactly, that's the real difference, there's meaning beneath it. It sort of gives each song two dimensions.
#NE I was quite inspired by hearing people speaking in Spain. I've travelled quite a lot in the past few years, touring and visiting places, but, especially with Spanish…Sometimes it's strange because, I can't understand Spanish, apart from the odd word or two, but sometimes you feel you know what people are talking about, almost lke a instinctive thing. I feel that sometimes language almost transcends the meaning of words.
I was really interested in that, it made me think of my own song writing, the meaning of words.
#NK I think that also comes through on the way the songs are instrumented as well. Every instrument seems to get it's own voice in the piece.
#NE I think I made some strange choices arrangement wise, there are some places where the first choice, the obvious choice would have been to put some percussion on it, maybe a bit of double bass on certain songs.
I almost felt I needed to do that to make the songs make sense, then I sat back and really thought about it. I quite often then decided not to put things in, just because of what the song was as a whole. It was more about what I wanted it to say, rather than what I wanted it to sound like.