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Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
@jeremydwilliams
3:22 PM 21st January 2016
arts

Interview: Gwenno

 
Gwenno
Gwenno
Gwenno became a musical icon as part of cult group The Pipettes. However, having left the group, she took baby steps to a solo career with her EP Ymbelydredd in 2012, she blew the music world away in 2015 with her debut album Y Dydd Olad. We caught up with Gwenno to talk musical impact ahead of her show at Hebden Bridge this weekend.

You have had a really diverse career to date. From acting to the Pipettes to presenting on radio. Do you feel you needed those experiences to create what you are creating today?

A lot of it was trying different experiences and following my nose really. I've just been lucky really that I've been exposed different art forms. I have taken a lot from them. I have enjoyed all of them and reached the point where I wanted to make it myself. I was conscious I had to learn from other people before I struck out on my own. I feel like I've done that in each of them, from the dancing to being in the Pipettes, I have had the same approach to work with other people and try to learn, so to speak.

You had recorded some solo material before The Pipettes. Were you nervous about a return to solo work, or was it more just a logical progression?

I think it was little bit of both. I initially started singing in Welsh and Cornish when I was a teenager. I didn't really have the tools or the knowledge, which I still don't have but I have acquired a few more. I always knew I wanted to go back and do that as I didn't feel I had done it properly. It was always an ambition of mine as when I was younger I felt there was room for music that I really like made by a female in Welsh. There wasn't enough of it. It feels good to have come full circle. In fact leaving The Pipettes, it is quite scary to leave a band, but having that in mind it became a lot easier as I knew what the point of it was. I found I work well with a purpose and context as to why you are making something.

Did you expect the phenomenal response to Y Dydd Olaf?

You can't! It's been such a wonderful surprise. The album was really made because Rhys, who I worked with on it, wanted to make something because we felt it needed to exist. There was no greater ambition than that. It was a good template really as you are making it for your own enjoyment. Not that creating is hugely enjoyable all the time, it can be quite painful. But you are creating because you feel it needs to exist rather than for a particular audience. It's interesting as we haven't really got a specific demographic, we have had a response from all around the world. That was something we hadn't considered really. It has all been quite surprising.

Welsh has never really been a prominent language in the mainstream music industry, despite always having a rich musical heritage. Do you see the release as a game changer?

I think I come from a long line of people that have been quite international with music from Wales. I think the most prominent have been Gorky's and Super Furries as they have released Welsh language music alongside their English language work internationally. I am very aware that if they hadn't people would still think of Welsh music as being male choirs, which wasn't the case at all. Till that point though it had always been quite underground and in its own little bubble. That really made a difference as they are great reference point. I feel that if they hadn't done that, I am conscious that people wouldn't pay attention to Welsh language music.

What's next? Has the response altered your ambitions?

I've been really encouraged by how receptive non Welsh and Cornish speaking audiences have been. That's really excited me. I knew, when I was making the album, my main thing was that if the music isn't good enough it won't be good enough in any language. That was almost a challenge in itself. Having had a really positive reaction, I know that's true. It was always true for me, I never need albums to be in a language I understood, actually having an album in a different language always added something to them. I am really ambitious about other albums needing to be written that people will connect with if they are good enough, regardless of the language. I don't want to have to make that compromise personally, but it might create room to alter how we view mainstream music in the UK. We have a lot of native and non-native languages spoken in the UK and the musical fabric would be really interesting if we had people making music as the language, rather than the spoken language dictating music. For me music is more than the lyrics. It is it's own form of communication.

Certain languages have been more embraced in the mainstream industry than others. Do you think that will change in the non-too-distant future?

I think that's what is interesting. I personally think that is where it should go, especially we are so multi-cultural in our lives in all other ways. The food we eat, our social influences, so it is weird we don't have that musically. I'm excited because we can share information quicker and people are so much more aware. I am not Y Dydd Olaf sure would have resonated as much fifteen years ago. I think people are now listening to more music from other cultures. Everyone is far more open to the idea. If I'm being really positive, there is definitely an audience of like-minded people who are wanting music from other cultures. It's interesting as foreign language music that breaks through tends to be a novelty hit. However, major labels can't dictate in the way they used to. People now just like what they like. Audiences now find what interests. There is much more freedom now with discovering music. It is not dictated to me in the same way it was twenty years ago.

I think that there is a democratic element in being able to discover DIY artists worldwide and not just where you live. That's really exciting.

You have collaborated lots over the years, who do you dream of teaming up with?

I really love artists like Suzanne Cianni, Pauline Oliveros, Laurie Anderson, Yoko Ono. I'd love to do something with any of those. That would be really exciting. They are constantly exploring new territories and also defining art and music. They look at how it is created. I think it would be really exciting to be in a room with them to create something.


Gwenno plays The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge on the 23rd January.