{"id":6269,"date":"2014-04-29T14:21:44","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T13:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/?p=6269"},"modified":"2018-02-10T16:09:58","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T16:09:58","slug":"eddi-reader-nick-churchills-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/eddi-reader-nick-churchills-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Eddi Reader \u2013 Nick Churchill\u2019s Interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Nick Churchill Interviews<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Eddi Reader<\/strong> headlines the Friday<\/em> night of Purbeck Folk Festival<\/strong> on August 22nd 2014<\/em>.<\/p>\n

More than 25 years since she topped with charts with Perfect<\/i>, Fairground Attraction\u2019s relentlessly jaunty debut single, Eddi Reader has just released her tenth solo album. Vagabond<\/i> is as fine a collection of songs as any she has shared with us, from the restrained passion of the opening cover of I\u2019ll Never Be the Same<\/i>, in which she pays homage to Billie Holiday, to the Gallic flavour of the self-penned Midnight In Paris 1979<\/i> and the gentle ache of Boo Hewerdine\u2019s closing track, It\u2019s a Beautiful Night<\/i>, it\u2019s an album of great depth and feeling. That it was created against the backdrop of Eddi\u2019s partner in life, love and music John Douglas being diagnosed with an incurable illness, seems to make its over-riding sense of optimism all the more remarkable. Thankfully, John is now well on the road to recovery and Eddi is looking forward to touring this year and making her first visit to Purbeck for the folk festival over August bank holiday. Eddi started her career singing backing vocals for the likes of Gang of Four, Billy MacKenzie, Eurythmics and The Waterboys, before fronting the short-lived but spectacularly successful Fairground Attraction.<\/p>\n

As a solo artist Eddi has released a string of hit albums including her eponymous BRIT award-winner from 1994, Candyfloss and Medicine<\/i> (1996), Simple Soul<\/i> (2001), Peacetime<\/i> (2007) and Love Is the Way<\/i> (2009). In 2003 she released The Songs of Robert Burns<\/i> with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, a project that lead to her being awarded the MBE in 2006 and updated with the release of a Special Edition album in 2009.<\/p>\n

She has produced Vagabond<\/i> herself withmany of her long-term musical collaborators including her husband John Douglas (Trashcan Sinatras), Alan Kelly, Ian Carr, Ewen Vernal, Roy Dodds (Fairground Attraction), John McCusker and Boo Hewerdine, who\u2019s also appearing at Purbeck Folk Festival, which runs from August 21 to 24<\/em> at Wilkswood Farm, Langton Matravers, near Swanage.<\/p>\n

Also appearing are Turin Brakes, Lloyd Cole, Idlewild, The South, Chris Wood and Emily Barker & the Red Clay Halo. www.purbeckfolk.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Eddi, congratulations on Vagabond, you had to overcome a few hurdles to get it made, is it the record you set out to make or did it evolve over time?<\/h3>\n

I instinctively move forward. Urges to record dictated the practicalities of it all, then working became the focus of my daily routines. Letting go of the world around me and recording is tough to do as a mum, house keeper etc, but once I\u2019m doing it there\u2019s no-one more surprised than me at what turns up musically. It\u2019s a joy to see what gets pulled out of the moment.<\/p>\n

It seems to have been very well received, is there a kind of relief that people \u2018get\u2019 the record?<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m pleased with its different parts, I can go no further. If others ignore, or adore, I can tell you I am grateful for any attention. I am confident that songs well expressed have their own path and I can\u2019t take sole credit for how they turned out. On behalf of all the musicians and the engineer Mark Freeguard I can only stand beside them and say: \u2018I agree! It\u2019s bloody brilliant!\u2019 But I am the worst critic. I would still be messing about with it if the organisers of my tours hadn\u2019t pushed deadlines on me. Letting it go out into the world is the hardest bit.<\/p>\n

The album features many familiar collaborators \u2013 almost your repertory company \u2013 are you a benevolent dictator when it comes to writing and recording, or is it a more democratic process?<\/h3>\n

I never have any fights, except when attitudes and egos are pushing into the calmness of the empty space. I\u2019m quite manipulative to get what I want. I\u2019ll provide the organic vegan food\/booze\/cigarettes\/paracetamol for all the various characters just to have the energy in the room relaxed. I\u2019ll sometimes have to shut myself away in a vocal booth so as to make sure my own ego shuts down. I am not very good at remembering to say \u2018Good morning\u2019 before I start, I\u2019m super single-minded about getting the music \u2018fix\u2019 over and above human social activity. But I can apologise.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s John?<\/h3>\n

Getting better all the time. Thank you.<\/p>\n

When you were starting out did you have a plan? Did you think you would still be making music 35-odd years later?  <\/b><\/h3>\n

Nope! I just threw myself at the wind and went where it took me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure there are elements of a career in music that become routine over time (the cycle of writing, recording, touring perhaps), how do you keep it fresh?<\/h3>\n

Well, this new batch of recordings I\u2019ve only just realised was the first release in four years! I\u2019m not sure where all that time went. I\u2019m also quite happy with my ability to see only this moment, I have many stories and memories but once I\u2019ve moved on, life is a fresh page every day. I can be at home two days and have forgotten that I\u2019ve just been on tour for three weeks. Then I start itching for the door. Or start to reason with a rude person on Twitter or something. Just to change their perspective.<\/p>\n

What is your proudest achievement?<\/h3>\n

Probably managing to not mess up my kids too much. They are two very lovely young men now.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re really looking forward to seeing you at the Purbeck Festival this summer do you know this part of the world at all?<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m just going to Google all about it and make it an adventure. I expect never to forget it once I\u2019ve experienced it!<\/p>\n

How are festival crowds different to theatre audiences and do you have a preference?<\/h3>\n

Theatres are cosy and it\u2019s great to sing in rooms made for oratory, but festivals are exciting in that people who never experienced my thing and are walking past at the back, wandering around, might decide to stand and check it out, so potential for encouraging new audiences is great. Also the whole place is infused with a kind of: \u2018I\u2019m on my weekend kick-back, break\u2019, so people are relaxed and at ease. Great to join in with that atmosphere.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for Eddi Reader?<\/h3>\n

Today? I continue my de-cluttering at home, watch my catch up rubbish telly, cook meals for my men, they never come home to eat \u2019til the middle of the night. Beyond that, my touring starts up again in April taking me through the spring and summer to Japan and Australia in the autumn. I have 10 or so tracks from the Vagabond<\/i> sessions left over. I\u2019m gonna start investing some time in them. They might become the start of a new album I\u2019m not sure. I\u2019m excited about reading my young seven year old niece my favourite childhood book, Mary Poppins<\/i> by PL Travers –  \u201cshe\u2019s another woman who uses the wind to push her around\u201d!<\/p>\n

Web Links:<\/h3>\n

eddireader.co.uk<\/a>
\nfacebook.com\/eddireader<\/a>
\ntwitter.com\/eddireader<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credits: \u00a9 Genevieve Stevenson & Kenny Mathieson<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Nick Churchill Interviews<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

More than 25 years since she topped with charts with Perfect, Fairground Attraction\u2019s relentlessly jaunty debut single, Eddi Reader has just released her tenth solo album. Vagabond is as fine a collection of songs as any she has shared with us, from the restrained passion of the opening cover of I\u2019ll Never Be the Same, in which she pays homage to Billie Holiday, to the Gallic flavour of the self-penned Midnight In Paris 1979 and the gentle ache of Boo Hewerdine\u2019s closing track, It\u2019s a Beautiful Night, it\u2019s an album of great depth and feeling. That it was created against the backdrop of Eddi\u2019s partner in life, love and music John Douglas being diagnosed with an incurable illness, seems to make its over-riding sense of optimism all the more remarkable. Thankfully, John is now well on the road to recovery and Eddi is looking forward to touring this year and making her first visit to Purbeck for the folk festival over August bank holiday. Eddi started her career singing backing vocals for the likes of Gang of Four, Billy MacKenzie, Eurythmics and The Waterboys, before fronting the short-lived but spectacularly successful Fairground Attraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":6277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,128,73,71,87,891],"tags":[981,982,906,977],"series":[958],"class_list":["post-6269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-folk","category-hot-plugs","category-interviews","category-music","category-pop","category-showplug","tag-eddi-reader","tag-fairground-attraction","tag-nick-churchill","tag-purbeck-folk-festival","series-nick-churchill-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6269"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8651,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269\/revisions\/8651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6269"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=6269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}