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| BETH JEANS HOUGHTON (ALBUM: HOT TOAST VOL.1) |
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| We are sorry but BETH JEANS HOUGHTON
is not due to perform for a while. |
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Twisted Folk presents Stornoway and Beth Jeans Houghton UK Tour 2010...
Beth appeared at last summers Moseley Folk Festival, Birmingham
"A considerable talent, with a remarkable voice and a rare star quality" Mojo
"I once used a girl's head as an ashtray" - Mike Lindsay, Tunng
"Golden has been turning heads and hearts, showcasing both the beautiful delicacy of her voice and her ability to write a killer tune." The Guardian
"Beautifully crafted tracks, ripe with delicate melodies and intricate guitar work" Music Week "Odd question, do you have any tweezers?" -Kieren Hebden, Fourtet
"Magic faerie dust from the enchanted forest inhabited by this precocious young maiden" Record Collector
"Aching archaic splendour" Notion "Glam Folk Genius, A Legend in the Making" NME
"A superior piece of acoustic songcraft all round" Boomkat
"Divine; a delicate melody glides eerily alongside Houghton's dreamy vocals...folk in hotpants" Alternative Ulster
"Mesmirising Psyche Folk" The Independant
"Impressive New British Folk Singer" Uncut
Q&A with Beth Jeans Houghton
By Dave Freak
Hailing from the north, but signed to a West Mids’ label, Beth Jeans Houghton is not easy to pin down. Though broadly folk, material from her releases to date – including the Hot Toast Vol 1 EP and Golden single – delve into banjo hoedowns, Whicker Man soundtrack territory and shiny acid-folk.
Having jumped up on stage with Devendra Banhart at the Green Man Festival, she’s since shared a stage with Tunng, Fionn Regan, Bon Iver, Mumford & Sons, Mystery Jets and Wolverhampton’s Scott Matthews.
Something of a joker – she claims to have been born in Transylvania and raised by albino wolves – she’s currently finishing off her debut album with Doves, Blur and Elbow producer Ben Hillier and touring with Stornoway, the Oxford-based combo whose debut single, Zorbing, recalls a choral Belle And Sebastian.
You’re from Newcastle ... so how did you come to get signed by Dorridge-based label Static Caravan?
Geoff [Dolman] who runs Static Caravan got in touch with me about putting out the single I had recorded with Adem, I really liked their back catalogue and Geoff's DIY attitude. He also offered me a life time supply of top soil, I couldn't say no!
Do you come from a musical background/ family?
When I was a baby my mum used to tie string to my toes and attach the other end to my teeth, making me an instrument. We got on Oprah with that one.
What was the first gig you went to?
I went to a Razorlight gig and smacked a girl in the face so I could touch [singer] Johnny Borrell’s hand. I dislocated my finger, but at least I had the chance to catch my fair share of lice, I hear they're loyal friends.
There's a strong visual aesthetic to your work - image, videos, covers - how important is this to you?
Visuals are just as important to me as the music. Before I began writing songs I designed and made my own clothes and painted. I originally wanted to be a fashion designer but that's been put on hold for the time being, but once I get out of prison, I tells ya, there'll be no clothes finer this side of the moon.
How's the album coming along with Ben Hillier?
Ace, we're going for a Simply Red feel. Mick Hucknall has always been a huge inspiration to me, we're doing a cover of George Michael's Faith that we recorded while I was wearing some of the clothes I got out of his bin last summer. I think it's going to be a real hit. It worked for Limp Bizkit anyway.
Originally, I wasn't sure how Ben and my music would fit together, but it does and I can't wait to get back to his cave. He looks like Mr. Bean, rides a bike, and helps me pass on love notes to cute guys in cafes.
Does it have a title yet?
I vote it should be called 'Little Veal (Sicko)'. I say I vote because I know a lot of people think it's a bad idea. Who knows why.
When will it be released?
When it's finished - hopefully not long after May. I went for Sushi with Ben and I had a grand old idea about the release. I'm not going to say what it is in case someone says 'shut up, that’s stupid' but it involves a hologram, and a real book (what’s one of them? eh?)
For you, what are the stand out tracks so far?
The first time I worked with Ben we recorded a song that was about a week old at the time called Sweet Tooth Bird. It's about loving someone so much and being so scared that you'll lose them that you sabotage the relationship and mess it up anyway. You might not get that from hearing it. We're also working on a new one called 'Jebus bless the Unitard'. Should be a blast.
You've been described as 'the Femme Fatale of folk music' and a cross between Liza Minnelli and Groucho Marx! How do you feel about those descriptions?
Who said that? I was going to say I'd hope the Groucho comparison was something to do with wit, but I guess the moustache thing makes more sense.
You're touring with Stornoway - have you played with them before this tour?
I played with them at a festival in Wales that Huw Stephens put on called SWN, and just the other day we both played at Eurosonic festival in Holland. They're delightful boys, very polite. We all have the same size feet too. I think their music’s true and unaffected and I like that, they make my right hip swing.
Your music’s quite varied in tone...
I plan to dip my toes into many genres before I quit this mortal coil. I don't define my music and I try not to let music define me. We are two separate entities, but we get together for a shindig once in a while – and I intend to keep it that way.
What genres do you think you've dipped your toes into already... and what's next on the list?
Blues, Gospel, Skilffle, Folk, Happy Hardcore, Classical, and next on the list will be 80's synth pop, Rap, Hip Hop, that kind of thing.
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Over the past four years, Twisted Folk Tours have become known for adventurous, hand picked line-ups representing the best in modern folk and twisted popular music. It’s Twisted Folk who put together this year’s highly successful collaboration between UK pastoral pop group Tunng and Malawian desert bluesmen Tinariwen. Who assembled Nina Nastasia, Jeffrey Lewis and William Elliot Whitmore for an extra-special special tour. Sent Howe Gelb and the Voices Of Praise Choir off on a nine-date jaunt around the UK, packaged King Creoste with Jose Gonzalez and Vetiver (then featuring Devendra Banhart) with Micah P Hinson and Vashti Bunyan. They’ve outdone themselves once again with this latest tour, showcasing two of the most talented young acts in the country – Stornoway and Beth Jeans Houghton – in what promise to be some truly unmissable shows.
Named after the Hebridean island but hailing from Oxford, Stornoway are a five-piece band of songsmiths, scholars, scientists and men of the earth. The last couple of years have seen them quietly honing their art in the shadows of the dreaming spires, and earlier this year they released their first official single; the critically acclaimed Zorbing. Their charming brand of quintessential pop, steeped in pastoral hues, won them fans across radio and press. They were booked to play an unprecedented 4 stages at Glastonbury Festival 09, Radio 1 asked them to headline their ‘Introducing Stage’ at their Big Weekend and they are one of only a few bands that both Radio 1 and 6 Music have agreed to collaborate on, granting Stornoway a shared broadcast session from the prestigious Maida Vale studios. The band, who embarked on their first tour of the UK in mid-October to coincide with their second single Unfaithful, also performed on Later With Jools Holland in November alongside JayZ and Foo Fighters. "It’s only our second time on the road and we are right chuffed to be following in the footsteps of such twisted folks, and to be performing alongside MegaBeth. We look forward to challenging her to a hand of poker and training her in the art of hackisack. There's nothing we enjoy more than playing live, playing cards, and playing hackisack." Brian Briggs from Stornoway
Beth Jeans Houghton is the Newcastle singer who, to paraphrase The Guardian, joins the dots between Gwen Stefani and Vashti Bunyan. Beth Jeans Houghton has been playing guitar since the age of 16. She’s only 19 now. In the meantime, she’s supported Tunng and Tinariwen, hobnobbed with Vetiver, the late John Martyn, Bon Iver and Joanna Newsome and recorded a single, Golden/Nightswimmer with Adem and more recent an EP ‘Hot Toast Volume 1’ with Mike Lindsay from Tunng. She was the popular hit at 2009’s Green Man festival and has been hitting the road with her band, The Hooves Of Destiny. An album is on currently being produced by Ben Hillier, the production mastermind behind Elbow’s Cast Of Thousands, Doves’s Some Cities and Blur’s Think Tank. “I plan to dip my toes into many genres before I quit this mortal coil,” says Beth. “I don't define my music and I try not to let music define me. We are two separate entities, but we get together for a shindig once in a while – and I intend to keep it that way.”
Hot Toast Vol. 1 - out now on Static Caravan records.
www.bethjeanshoughton.co.uk
www.myspace.com/bethjeanshoughton
www.last.fm/music/Beth+Jeans+Houghton
www.facebook.com/bethjh
www.staticcaravan.org |
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