When you can quote praise from artists ranging from Clint Mansell to Hudson Mohawke in your press release you must be doing something right, and Glasgow-based artist Clair Crawford seems to be doing just that…
Those famous names are enamoured with her debut album, so Betty Mayonnaise decided to find out more…
• 1. This record ‘Earth Mothers’ – how long has it been in the making?
It’s hard to quantify how long exactly the LP actually took to make as a lot of it is wandering around recording sounds, which I just like doing, not necessarily for a
project.
I knew I was going to make something when around 2013 I was meditating for a long time, when every sound I heard weaved into a piece of music while I was hallucinating.
Some might say it’s taken a lifetime to make it, think I was collecting feelings for it for a long time
Physically, the actual making part, well I made ‘Witches Chimes’ (June 2019) within a couple of days, it was the first piece of music I made, and at that point I didn’t really consider it something to share with the public as that particular track is very experimental, also I wasn’t doing so well mentally, so I left it for a while then I returned to making music at the start of Pandemic i.e. March 2020.
By around late summer I’d made an EP’s worth, but then my friend Finlay Mackay said he’d over from NYC in around Oct / Nov, and would love to work with me on the art work; Finlay is a creative genius, so put off releasing the EP and kept making more music, the art work got delayed though as it was bucketing down the day we did our photoshoot, so we weren’t entirely happy with what we had, the next day Finlay relocated to Oz, then a few weeks after his move Pat Shuro asked to collaborate, so all that ended up taking some time, as three different opinions across three different continents was a little time consuming.
Think it was a hand of fate though, I kept creating music while they were working on the art, and I had finished the LP by the start of April 2021, plus ended up with some brilliant art work.
• 2. What were the inspirations for the tracks, in general?
Dealing with trauma, The Pandemic, healing, nature and animals being a cure, it’s really a cathartic piece.
• 3. It appears to be a solo affair – was anyone else involved, and if so, how?
Will Croxford is an old close pal of mine who now lives in Stockholm, he’d been listening to my work and giving me input as I went along. I’d been thinking I really wanted some ocean recordings, while pondering where to go get those he got in touch and was like “I’m going on holiday, do you want me to record the Ocean and a few things?” was like he’d read my mind.
My pal Claire Nordgren recorded her sister’s dog Fergus for me after I met Fergus one day and fell in love with him, I used a mix of a recording she’d used, and a recording I’d taken of him.
My friend Laura Pye recording her cat Furlough in London for me, my friend Sam Hammond recorded his cat Hercules, lastly my friends Gordon and Catherine Lemay recorded their wee girl Cuisle Lemay singing in Gaelic for me. Sam Smith from Gren Door did the mastering.
• 4. It may be a well-worn question, but is it more difficult to be (checks current legislation) a female in the music business?
Everyone’s experience is different, I can’t speak for all women, what I will say is I think it’s got a lot better over recent years for women due to social media campaigning.
• 5. You live in Glasgow – what are its unique characteristics for musical activities, and if you didn’t live here, where would be your preferred location?
Glasgow can be a tough nut to crack as a band or a musician, it’s a very dance-based city, clubs are always busy, but for bands, well people tend to go see bigger acts, it’s a much smaller crowd who prefer to dig deeper in terms of small independent live acts, the crowds that DO go to see smaller acts though are fantastic though, also there’s some brilliant wee venues around Glasgow.
UK-wise alternative locations would probably be Bristol or Manchester, worldwide I’m not sure, maybe somewhere like Norway or New Zealand.
• 6. Live gigs, best and worst, either by you or any other artist?
I won’t say what act it was, but a band I was managing was playing a brilliant gig in The Sub Club, the set was going brilliantly, fantastic crowd, they had a tech hitch mid-set, no-one could work out what the issue was, but basically they had to stop the set a couple of tracks in, I wanted the floor to swallow me up.
• 7. Are you planning to perform the music from this album live anytime soon – and has Covid affected your plans?
I’ve never played live before, right now I need to work on a collab track with a friend, then something else for The Darkoutside while jumping back on some jewellery and events projects before I can consider time out to practise.
A few people have been asking me though, so maybe next year, I’m also still avoiding crowded places right now due to some health issues.
• 8. How do you see the underground music scene evolving, and has Covid changed any of that?
Really hard to gauge right now, various friends who DJ got Covid after clubs opening up recently, I guess it all depends on whether the virus mutates or not. I think PCR tests might have to be enforced instead of the LF tests, it’s all a bit of an experiment right now.
• 9. The internet – friend or foe?
Love-hate relationship, made a lot of friends and contacts on there, as well as great for sharing music, but it also needs to change in terms of the music streaming payment structure, not to mention it can be way too time consuming / addictive, as well as having an effect on attention spans and mental health.
• 10. Smash Hits question – what’s your favourite sweetie?
Booja Booja raspberry truffles are the bomb! (I know, posh twat).
Earth Mothers’ is out now on Clair’s own HotGem label. More at instagram.com/clairhotgem / facebook.com/hotgemtunes.