|
8 February, 2010
|
Published: 10 August, 2007
ANGELA Gannon has never followed the tourist trail to Scotland. All her trips north of the Border, including today's visit to headline the opening day of this weekend's Belladrum Festival, have been as one quarter of London band the Magic Numbers.
advertising
"I've never been to Scotland just to visit, which is a shame because I'm told it's beautiful. It would be nice to escape up there for a little while," she said. That will not be an option for the Magic Numbers for a while. Tomorrow the band is booked to appear at the Summer Sundae Festival in Leicester, and they fly out to the US immediately after that. When speaking to the Courier earlier this week, Gannon was enjoying a couple of days break before embarking on a three week tour. "We like it like that," she said. "I think the longest we have spent on the road is six weeks and after that you go a bit nuts, but if you spend any time at home you think 'I need to keep moving'." Belladrum, which tomorrow is headlined by Manchester band James, has so far stayed off the band's musical radar. "We've done T in the Park two years running, which is the one everyone knows about, and T on the Fringe, but Belladrum we have never heard of before so we are quite looking forward to it," Gannon said. "We like the small ones because they're more intimate and have a nicer vibe." One festival Gannon did enjoy was last year's inaugural End of the Road Festival near Salisbury, which she visited not as a star, but as a fan. "I really enjoyed it," she declared. "Friends of mine were playing, so I thought, why not? A festival where I don't actually have to do anything!" Just as at Belladrum, it is rare for the Magic Numbers to get the chance to stick around at a festival where they are on the bill, but sometimes, Gannon added: "We try and put our foot down if there's somebody we really want to see. "We have played Glastonbury twice now and both times we have said: 'Do not book anything that weekend that doesn't have anything to do with Glastonbury, because we are staying the whole time and there is nothing you can do to stop us!'" Belladrum prides itself on being a family festival, but this year that seems to have a different meaning with five acts — Martha Wainwright, Ben Taylor, Nick Harper, Kris Drever and Martha Tilston — who are children of well known singers, Australian brother and sister Angus and Julia Stone, and the Magic Numbers themselves, comprises two sets of siblings; principal songwriter and guitarist Romeo Stodart with his sister Michelle on bass and Angela and her brother Sean, the drummer. Gannon agrees genetics seems to have a role in music. "Me and Sean take a lot of influence from our dad, who can literally pick up any instrument and play it. There were always musical instruments in our house and Romeo and Michelle's mum always sang. I definitely think there's something in it," she said. She also revealed the impact family relationships have on the band dynamic. "I think creatively it's quite good, but we definitely argue a lot, I'm not going to deny that. It's just the way it is and there's nothing you can do about it," she said with a laugh. "We probably argue more than most bands, but it gets all the tension out a lot quicker. It's kind of an instant argument and then it's forgotten about." Angela's own role within the band seems to be changing as she takes on increasing vocal duties, something which still seems to cause her some trepidation. "When we released 'I See You, You See Me' as a single, that was a bit scary, but now we are releasing this latest EP, that's a lot more scary. I like being in my corner on the stage. I'm not used to being in the middle just yet. We'll just have to see. Maybe Romeo can push me a little bit more," she said. Angela remains best known for handling the band's less typical instrumentation; melodica, percussion and glockenspiel. "I guess I started off with the children's instruments, probably because that's all I can play," she said modestly. "But I kind of like it like that, only being able to play a certain thing. I've always played the piano, but not very well. I'm not an expert at playing it, but if I can add something to the music in the band, I'm happy. A lot of people are starting to play the glock and melodica now, which I'm quite happy to see. I don't feel such a fool any more!" Angela's own musical interests lean to darker material like Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, But tonight's set, will certainly not be gloomy. "We'll probably be playing quite an upbeat set, trying to get the crowd involved," she said. Perhaps not quite as involved as at a recent festival in Chile when the concert ended with a full-scale stage invasion until the band were lost among fans. We will see tonight if a Highland crowd can get so exuberant.
|
E-mail Updates
WHAT'S ON
THE BIG VOTE
Does Inverness deserve its nomination as an architectural "carbuncle"? Local Guides
|