Latest headlines

News

The Imagined Village

4 Jan 2010

One of the most unusual collaborations of the past decade, The Imagined Village made a significant impression with their critically acclaimed and commercially successful début album. They toured extensively, appeared on TV's Later… With Jools Holland show and won a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award. Their follow-up album, Empire and Love which is also their first on the new record label ECC is released on 11 January 2010, a few days prior to a major UK tour that will include prestigious gigs at Scotland’s Celtic Connections Festival and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

The Imagined Village Photo by Tom Oldham
The Imagined Village. Photo by Tom Oldham

Take it away caught up with Simon Emmerson from The Imagined Village.

How would you describe The Imagined Village?
There are lots of ways to describe the band. On one level it’s a meeting of traditional folk musicians with a bunch of us from an electronica and world music background all exploring our own English roots through the material collected by the late Victorian song collectors like Cecil Sharpe. We are opening up the traditional English song book and finding new ways of interpreting this incredible wealth of songs and lyrics by giving it to the un-usual subjects: Johnny Kalsi, a Bangra musicians from the Dhol Foundation; Sheema Mukherjee, a classical sitar player; Ali friend from Red Snapper; Andy Gangadeen and Simon Richmond from experimental electronica band The Bays.

How did the concept come together?
Around 5 years ago there was an ongoing discussion on what constitutes the English identity. We are still having it today in the media, on TV, radio, in the papers. Radio 4 recorded a programme called A Place Called England at the old Afro Celt studio Britannia Row, in London. Billy Bragg was writing a book called the Progressive Patriot, looking at his own English identify. The timing just seemed right for us to get involved in the discussion as a group of musicians.

What's special about The Imagined Village to you?
I feel really privileged to be working with musicians like Martin and Eliza Carthy and Chris Wood. I grew up with Martin’s music and have always had a huge amount of time for Eliza. In many ways she started the whole debate about Englishness with her album Anglicana. It was Chris Wood’s album Knock John that put me on this path. It's a dream come true.

What’s your favourite music? What is it about it you love?
My big passion is ska and northern soul. I put it on and dance around the living room like a demented fool. I have a huge record collection ranging from Jazz, Soul, Folk, Funk and loads of roots music. I inherited my dad's collection of amazing 60's psychedelia. My son is a big UK hip hop fan and keeps me up to date with the latest dub step. I was very influenced by the pioneering 90's electronica bands like Underworld and Leftfield. I love all the new song based folky pop acts coming through like One Eskimo and The Aspers. My favourite live band is The Bays.

What is your favourite song in the world? Why?
Walk on By, by Dionne Warwick. Because it takes the every day and mundane world we all live in and turns it into a universal song about love and loss. I would say the same about Say a Little Prayer. They both have really good haunting melodies that you take with you through your life.

When did you personally start playing an instrument?
Around campfires in the 70's with an organisation called Forest School Camps. I still camp with them. They were like a mad, pioneering eco activist, free style boy scouts run by eccentric Quakers and lefties. I only got serious about joining a band after seeing the Clash in 1977.

Have you come up against difficulties when learning?
I have had no formal training in music; I can't read music so I do everything by ear. I’ve found the developments in computers a fantastic help in composing. It's now possible to write a whole film score without the need to get in a professional orchestrator. The midi generation has opened up harmony and arrangement and made it more accessible to a new generation of musicians.

Any advice for those just starting playing and starting out?
If it’s not fun don't do it. Find the right instrument. If you are interested in song composition it’s probably best to have a basic grounding in playing a keyboard. Remember you don't have to be an amazing virtuoso to have a career as a musician. I've always loved playing and writing music but I've never been particularly technically good. People with lots of soul and creativity but no formal training have written some of the best songs in the world.

What are your thoughts on Take it away?
I just wish it were around when I was a teenager. I brought my first lot of band gear after doing some grim stints working on building sites, cleaning houses and boring clerical work. In those days it was really easy to get ripped off.

To win a pair of tickets to see The Imagined Village during their January tour see the front page of the bulletin for details. Closing date is 13 January 2010.

Imagined Village

Left to right:
Top row - Andy Gangadeen (drums), Eliza Carthy (Fiddles, Viola, Voice), Martin Carthy (Guitar, Voice), Simon Emmerson (Cittern, Guitars), Simon Richmond (Keyboards, Electronica)

Bottom row - Ali Friend (Bass), Sheema Mukerjhee (Sitar, Voice), Chris Wood (Fiddles, Viola, Voice), Barney Morse Brown (Cello), Johnny Kalsi (Percussion, Dhol, Tabla)

www.myspace.com/theimaginedvillage www.eccrecords.co.uk/theimaginedvillage

Become a fan of Take it away on Facebook

Take It Away

Latest headlines

News

The Imagined Village