Ed Laurie - Forget what you remember, and remember again

Smoky London is an inexhaustible forge of new artists every single day, and in the vast sea of musical proposals coming out of the English capital, managing to emerge feels almost like a miracle - especially when you're a shy folk singer-songwriter with little inclination for the ruthless self-promotion needed to survive (happily?) in the music biz. And a sort of miracle of the web must indeed have happened a few years back, when Ed Laurie was contacted by “the people at iTunes”, who were so impressed by the songs the English songwriter had put online that they decided to offer him a release on their digital store. That's how “Meanwhile In The Park“, a debut mini-album that revealed to the world the extraordinary gifts of this talented yet modest artist, came to be. Acclaimed by both audiences and critics for this album and for the follow-up “Small Boat Big Sea…“, released in 2009, Laurie is back three years later with his third work, “Cathedral“, which came out in Italy just a few days ago. And while he's on Italian soil to promote the album with a string of concerts, Ed has retraced his artistic story for OndaRock, from his first tentative steps at the piano as a child to the all-encompassing improvisations of “Cathedral”.

Let's start with a classic. How did it all begin? When did you realize you wanted to be a musician? How did you take your first steps in music?

I got into music without thinking much about it, more by chance at first, really. There was a piano in our house, so I played a little. I started writing “songs” when I was a teenager. It was just words and voice. Then the guitar came along.

How would you describe your music?

When I listen to “my” music I don't hear anything I could describe - I only hear where I want to improve or change something!

On your albums you make extensive use of acoustic guitar, and among your influences you've cited some great guitarists from South American folk music, like the Brazilian Baden-Powell and the Argentine Atahualpa Yupanqui. How did you discover that kind of music? And how did it shape your songwriting?

I discovered these artists in record shops, through the covers of their records. I saw pictures of these figures, men older than me with weathered faces and guitars in hand. Those images fascinated me... and their guitar styles are unique. It matters because you get to know an artist better when their “style” truly belongs to them.

Ever since your beginnings, your songs have received widespread acclaim, and the release of your first collection of songs, the mini-album “Meanwhile In The Park“, got plenty of enthusiastic feedback. I know the digital release of this album was warmly encouraged by iTunes, and that Dangerbird came along afterwards... Can you tell us how that happened? And how did you feel about it?

It all happened through record label executives who heard these songs online. I had no idea how they'd come across them, and at the time I didn't even know who they were... so I was thrilled to discover that, despite my cynicism toward the music industry, I actually had a chance to build a career out of my work. Things didn't work out with Dangerbird because we came from quite different places, but I'm very grateful to them for the initial support I received.

Someone recently called the title-track of “Meanwhile In The Park” “one of the best songs of the 2000s”, and I can't help but agree. Can you tell me how it came about? And what it represents?

Well, that's very flattering. This song came together over a bit of time... the words and music arrived quickly, in one night, but it took a while to find the “style” in which to set the song, or the armor to dress it in. The lyrics represent exactly what they say, there's no hidden meaning.

Another well-known song from that album, “Albert”, is inspired by and dedicated to the French writer Albert Camus. Generally speaking, how much does literature influence your lyrics? What are the aspects of a poem or a book that strike you the most?

Book and play titles influence me a lot, like “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” or “Waiting For Godot”: where the title suggests, the narrative has to lead. As a songwriter, I need a goal, a place to arrive at or to set off from. Otherwise I'd have no reason to sing!

What are your favourite reads, your favourite writers?

Beckett, Kafka, McCullers, Joyce… that kind of literature.

In 2009 you released your first full-length, “Small Boat Big Sea…“. What were your expectations for that album? You received good reviews for that work, but how did you feel about it? Were you satisfied with the result?

It's simply as important to feel satisfied enough with your own work to keep going, as it is to feel dissatisfied. Albert Camus' daughter got in touch with me after hearing “Albert”, and that was a great reward – I made the French edition of the album as a thank you for that…

You co-produced many of the songs on “Small Boat” with jazz drummer and percussionist Andrea Polato, who now also bears the great “responsibility” of having provided the “backdrop” for your latest album, “Cathedral“, recorded largely in Bolzano, his hometown. How did you two meet?

We met in London through mutual friends at a bread shop where I worked. We played together in a band and experimented with many different musical styles before “arriving” here with this album.

Seven of the ten tracks on “Cathedral” were recorded “on the go”: no prior rehearsal, no click-track, no fixed idea of where the phrasing and musical passages might take you as you recorded the songs. Some of the lyrics were even worked out during this six-day session in Bolzano. So improvisation is one of the most distinctive aspects of this album. Why did you decide to make such an unusual and “unfashionable” choice?

“Astral Weeks” by Van Morrison is the album that took hold of me this time. It's a largely improvised album… I was improvising more and more in my solo live shows, to keep myself sharp. So the time had come to try doing the same thing in a “studio”.

In many ways, this album is quite far removed from your previous work. What are its main characteristics? How would you describe its sound?

Well, the differences are the ones you mentioned above: no click-track, no rehearsals, etc. The sound of the album is a record of where we were and what we knew at that time.

The album's title, “Cathedral”, comes from Bolzano Cathedral, which stands near the theatre where you recorded the tracks. Did its imposing presence have any bearing on the “mystical” atmosphere that can be felt throughout the album?

We didn't hear the cathedral bells through the walls of our “studio” until our very last day of live recording – which is strange, seeing as we'd just finished the title track “Cathedral”. Why we hadn't noticed the bells before then is a mystery – they should have been picked up by the microphones on the earlier recordings, but they weren't! We immediately went outside and recorded them on a mini disc. Then we dropped them into the track, at random, at the end, just to hear if they were in the right pitch and so on… and we left them there, unedited, just as they are.

This album features Swiss violinist Raphaël Chevalier and numerous Italian musicians (whom you met directly when you came to Bolzano). What was it like working day and night with all these people, in the backstage area of a theatre, immersed in what seems to have been a very friendly atmosphere?

For the most part it was easy, but there were also tensions because nobody really knew whether what we were doing would "work".

You're on tour now, promoting the new album across Europe. Right now you're in a (snowy!) Italy for a run of shows. How's it going?

Well, it's very cold… but the audiences are very warm!

(05/02/2012)

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