Awash with Antler

Where The Wild Things Are

What a ride 2009 was for Hull's Awash With AntleR. Their debut performance was made supporting the quirky alternative folkster, Anni Rossi, and then there was no time to breathe, let alone look back, as they also played gigs with King Creosote, The Cave Singers, Evangelista (Carla Bozulich's excellent band), Slow Club, Anathallo, and, last but by no means least, Finley Quaye.

The trio of Emma, Lu, and Sally have been wowing and confounding audiences for nigh on a year and it is no surprise that some of their favourite moments are the when the audience are at their most confused:

"One of my highlights was at an early gig, and no-one had seen us or knew what to expect. We played our first tune and looked at the audience to see them all with their gobs open. Pure silence. With this awkward moment and I think I saw a tumbleweed blow past the stage" enthuses Lu.

Emma also revels in the reaction they get from the crowds and confesses her favourite moment was at a Funky fundraiser. "It was full of people wanting hip-hop, then we got on stage and they looked at us like we were just crazy."

Not that Awash With AntleR are simply about the "WTF!" factor as more often than not they turn the initial befuddlement on its head to stun an audience as Sally explains:

"It (The Funky Fundraiser) was a good night actually and we got a really good reaction" before Emma continues "It was good because people were dancing by the end of it so it was nice to play somewhere we wouldn't normally."

In fact Emma, Lu, and Sally are quite good at inspiring random moments from – Sally's highlight – King Creosote calling them on to stage for a jam to someone having a rave to 'Anca': "It is really just me (Lu) plucking notes and he was dancing from side-to-side doing this (cue a jiggly-stomping motion)."

Indeed, it is difficult to imagine even the most stubborn of dances insisting on 'aving it to 'Anca', what with its focus on the vocal harmonies that could provoke a tear to the driest eyes despite it all being in Croatian:

"Well, we like to pretend we speak Croatian" jokes Lu. "I like music from that part of the world like Bulgarian voice and females singing in groups together. Me and Emma have been to Hull Community Voices, which is community choir. We did that song there in its original format. We then went away and put it in to something completely different, so our (Awash With AntleR's ) version is different from the original, old folk tune. It is from the Adriatic Coast; it is a sea shanty about a girl called Anca and a boy pining for her."

This interview may have done Awash With Antler something of an injustice thus far as they are so much more than just three crazy girls running around the stage being quirky and chanting in foreign tongues. One listen to free-to-download single 'Bison' removes all doubts about the intent and talent – on a personal level it was one of my music highlights of last year and I mean that out of all music I heard; not just local artists.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Awash With AntleR hold back creativity on the track, where an enthralling story, told by fragile voices, is set to almost orchestral twisted folk. The tale is loosely inspired by the children's book 'Where The Wild Things Are' with our heroine climbing into the Bison's skin for some evening escapism before the bovine takes on the life of its own. Our protagonist's life unravels before they finally manage to exorcise the crazed beast. Not that 'Bison' is the only song where a tale plays a major part, as Sally confesses:

"I like the story-telling and it is about painting a picture. With Voodoo Greengrocer, I like just writing really stupid songs as everybody writes songs about how their fella has just left 'em and miserable stuff. I like writing things that are a little bit surreal. I use music as a form of escapism."

Although, it is also about the symbiosis with the musical side of things as Sally continues: "I like the fact that we play so many different things. If I have an idea in my head I can automatically tell that there will be all these interesting things going into it."

After the success of 'Bison' – available as a free download before Christmas – there is also much promise in the future for a band with nearly as many ideas as they have personality. They have a mini-tour taking place at the start of February (see below), a session on BBC Raw Talent Introducing on the 1st February, an entry to play Glastonbury, and an EP release in March – available on all good online music stores such as iTunes, and on CD at the 'home-coming' and first Hull date for three months on the 13th March.

All that and they are sketching out some rough plans for a European tour with a difference:

"We are going to get some 'nana' trolleys like old ladies use; have one each and pack what we can into it before hitting the ferry. We are going to Amsterdam, for sure, as there is a really great venue there... go through Belgium... France and play in little caves and places. We are going to do it as a busking thing; an adventure..."

Interview by Mike Reynolds
Photos by Jamie Akrill

www.myspace.com/awashwithantler