The trip encouraged the singer songwriter (left, picture by Lucy Cullen) to meld traditional Welsh folk melodies with Chinese instrumentation and scales, in an ambitious project sponsored by PRS for Music Foundation and the British Council.
Between October 2011 and March 2012, four select musicians, including Gareth, Imogen Heap, Jamie Woon and Matthew Bourne, immersed themselves in a different Chinese city, meeting local people and sharing their experiences through music.
Here Gareth talks to M about his early songwriting, the evolution of his sound and his time in China. An acoustic video performance will follow tomorrow.
How long have you been writing songs, and how did you start out?
I started around 2005 or 2006, just gigging round Cardiff. I used to do traditional songs and then decided I wanted to start writing for myself. The first thing that made me think I could do this sort of thing was a session I did for Radio Cymru. I wrote a song for that; it was the first one I had written and recorded.
Between October 2011 and March 2012, four select musicians, including Gareth, Imogen Heap, Jamie Woon and Matthew Bourne, immersed themselves in a different Chinese city, meeting local people and sharing their experiences through music.
Here Gareth talks to M about his early songwriting, the evolution of his sound and his time in China. An acoustic video performance will follow tomorrow.
How long have you been writing songs, and how did you start out?
I started around 2005 or 2006, just gigging round Cardiff. I used to do traditional songs and then decided I wanted to start writing for myself. The first thing that made me think I could do this sort of thing was a session I did for Radio Cymru. I wrote a song for that; it was the first one I had written and recorded.
So you’d been playing guitar before then?
Yes, I’d been playing for a while by that point. I picked it up as a teenager, about 14. I was already enjoying that but I always saw myself as a guitarist rather than a songwriter so it took me a while to start writing. I thought I’d play guitar round some pubs and then someone would pick me up and say, ‘Hey, do you want to play in my band?’
There is a strong folk tradition running through a lot of current Welsh music. Why do you think that is?
Everything is different in Wales; everything is miniaturised and magnified. You’ve got a smaller scene but there’s less pressure to conform to a particular genre so you get a lot of variety. With the folk thing, a lot of it might come from people looking for inspiration from within Wales, rather than looking towards America. A lot of folk artists did that in England and Scotland in the 60s, you had the folk revival then. It did take a little bit of a hold in Wales, but maybe not quite as much.
What drew you to start writing folk music?
I got into it by listening to English folk revival music from the 60s, guitarists like John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy, people like that. Then I thought, ‘How come I’m not listening to any Welsh stuff?’ So that’s when I started to look for old songs and get into the traditional music of Wales. It’s different to the English and Scottish traditions. We’re less well known for some types of folk music. When you think of violin music and dance music you tend to think of Scotland and Ireland rather than Wales. You tend to think mainly of harps when you think of Welsh traditional music!
Yes, I’d been playing for a while by that point. I picked it up as a teenager, about 14. I was already enjoying that but I always saw myself as a guitarist rather than a songwriter so it took me a while to start writing. I thought I’d play guitar round some pubs and then someone would pick me up and say, ‘Hey, do you want to play in my band?’
There is a strong folk tradition running through a lot of current Welsh music. Why do you think that is?
Everything is different in Wales; everything is miniaturised and magnified. You’ve got a smaller scene but there’s less pressure to conform to a particular genre so you get a lot of variety. With the folk thing, a lot of it might come from people looking for inspiration from within Wales, rather than looking towards America. A lot of folk artists did that in England and Scotland in the 60s, you had the folk revival then. It did take a little bit of a hold in Wales, but maybe not quite as much.
What drew you to start writing folk music?
I got into it by listening to English folk revival music from the 60s, guitarists like John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy, people like that. Then I thought, ‘How come I’m not listening to any Welsh stuff?’ So that’s when I started to look for old songs and get into the traditional music of Wales. It’s different to the English and Scottish traditions. We’re less well known for some types of folk music. When you think of violin music and dance music you tend to think of Scotland and Ireland rather than Wales. You tend to think mainly of harps when you think of Welsh traditional music!
Which traditional Welsh folk musicians do you really rate?
I’m a big fan of Mike Stevens, he’s the only one I can think of who’s an influence from the 60s era. Obviously I’m a big fan of people like Gruff Rhys and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, who aren’t traditional but have a folk in their music. I’ve particularly found older melodies and Welsh folk songs an influence, so not one specific artist but the actual songs themselves. Often these songs aren’t subscribed to any songwriter in particular because they don’t know who wrote them.
How do you construct your songs? Do you start with a guitar part or lyric?
I’ve been trying different ways of doing it to get a bit more variety. But usually my first instinct is to do it all on guitar first. A song will usually start off as a guitar instrumental and then I’ll think to myself, ‘How can I put words and a melody to this?’ What I’ve been trying to do recently is pay more attention to the words because what tends to happen is, if you write the guitar part first you’re fitting everything in around that.
Where do you normally find your inspiration for lyrics?
I’m very into the natural world and I’m very conscious of the changing seasons so I tend to write about that. I always find that reading poetry is a great way to find ideas and get thoughts floating round your head. If I’m ever stuck for ideas I’ll tend to read some poems in both English and Welsh, and I find that helps. That’s what I decided to do in China; I read some Chinese poets beforehand and while I was there to try to get a feel for the ways they express things.
I’m a big fan of Mike Stevens, he’s the only one I can think of who’s an influence from the 60s era. Obviously I’m a big fan of people like Gruff Rhys and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, who aren’t traditional but have a folk in their music. I’ve particularly found older melodies and Welsh folk songs an influence, so not one specific artist but the actual songs themselves. Often these songs aren’t subscribed to any songwriter in particular because they don’t know who wrote them.
How do you construct your songs? Do you start with a guitar part or lyric?
I’ve been trying different ways of doing it to get a bit more variety. But usually my first instinct is to do it all on guitar first. A song will usually start off as a guitar instrumental and then I’ll think to myself, ‘How can I put words and a melody to this?’ What I’ve been trying to do recently is pay more attention to the words because what tends to happen is, if you write the guitar part first you’re fitting everything in around that.
Where do you normally find your inspiration for lyrics?
I’m very into the natural world and I’m very conscious of the changing seasons so I tend to write about that. I always find that reading poetry is a great way to find ideas and get thoughts floating round your head. If I’m ever stuck for ideas I’ll tend to read some poems in both English and Welsh, and I find that helps. That’s what I decided to do in China; I read some Chinese poets beforehand and while I was there to try to get a feel for the ways they express things.
Did the China trip change the way you approach songwriting?
Definitely. It made me more confident for sure. I’ve always had a job as well as doing music so I’ve always had to juggle things. In China, it was the first time I had six weeks to just concentrate on writing music. I’ve always wondered how that would go and I found it gave me a lot more confidence because I was a lot quicker at writing and came up with lots of ideas for songs. It didn’t necessarily change the way I wrote but I was starting to develop and hone skills that I didn’t have the chance to properly explore before.
How did the project evolve?
I decided to write an album based on the life of a Chinese poet and I started using his poems as inspiration for the songs. I was using them to tell the story of his life. I translated his poems into Welsh by taking the general themes and writing words around that. It was a roundabout way of writing songs but it really made me think about the poetry I was reading and the poetry I was trying to write. It definitely sharpened me up a bit.
Definitely. It made me more confident for sure. I’ve always had a job as well as doing music so I’ve always had to juggle things. In China, it was the first time I had six weeks to just concentrate on writing music. I’ve always wondered how that would go and I found it gave me a lot more confidence because I was a lot quicker at writing and came up with lots of ideas for songs. It didn’t necessarily change the way I wrote but I was starting to develop and hone skills that I didn’t have the chance to properly explore before.
How did the project evolve?
I decided to write an album based on the life of a Chinese poet and I started using his poems as inspiration for the songs. I was using them to tell the story of his life. I translated his poems into Welsh by taking the general themes and writing words around that. It was a roundabout way of writing songs but it really made me think about the poetry I was reading and the poetry I was trying to write. It definitely sharpened me up a bit.
Musically, will we hear any Chinese instruments or scales creeping in?
There are definitely Chinese scales and instruments in there. That’s definitely one thing I wanted to do – I wanted to play face to face with musicians from a different country and different musical education. I did manage to do a little bit of that and we recorded two songs with Chinese violin and various woodwind instruments. Because I wanted to do a whole album inspired by my trip, I’d like more of the songs to have a Chinese feel. So I’m still trying to figure out how to do that. I’ve got some ideas; I’d like some of the album to use the Chinese scales.
Did you come across any barriers or difficulties when you were there?
The main difficulty I had was that I wanted to play with the local musicians in a very informal way. I wanted to rehearse with them and get ideas. From there I hoped they would learn the parts that they wanted in an improvised style. But it became clear that they were much more comfortable with sheet music. At the time I didn’t feel very comfortable with that, as I didn’t want to write sheet music for instruments I’d only just discovered! But maybe I can work with a composer friend of mine over here and draw something rough up for them when I go back.
What’s the main thing you have taken away from your trip to China?
The main thing is the confidence that I can go away and do this sort of thing, that I can write songs with people from a different culture, with different musical tastes and styles. That thing will help with further songwriting and maybe branching out from playing in Wales, and the UK, and writing in a Western style. Since the China trip I’ve become a lot more interested in different musical styles from all over the world and I’d like to explore that more.
When will the China album be ready?
I’m hoping to finish it by the autumn. I wrote most of it while I was out there so I just need to do some recording and polish off some parts then decide what else needs to be done. I’m keen to try to follow it up as soon as I can, but I’m not the fastest of workers!
There are definitely Chinese scales and instruments in there. That’s definitely one thing I wanted to do – I wanted to play face to face with musicians from a different country and different musical education. I did manage to do a little bit of that and we recorded two songs with Chinese violin and various woodwind instruments. Because I wanted to do a whole album inspired by my trip, I’d like more of the songs to have a Chinese feel. So I’m still trying to figure out how to do that. I’ve got some ideas; I’d like some of the album to use the Chinese scales.
Did you come across any barriers or difficulties when you were there?
The main difficulty I had was that I wanted to play with the local musicians in a very informal way. I wanted to rehearse with them and get ideas. From there I hoped they would learn the parts that they wanted in an improvised style. But it became clear that they were much more comfortable with sheet music. At the time I didn’t feel very comfortable with that, as I didn’t want to write sheet music for instruments I’d only just discovered! But maybe I can work with a composer friend of mine over here and draw something rough up for them when I go back.
What’s the main thing you have taken away from your trip to China?
The main thing is the confidence that I can go away and do this sort of thing, that I can write songs with people from a different culture, with different musical tastes and styles. That thing will help with further songwriting and maybe branching out from playing in Wales, and the UK, and writing in a Western style. Since the China trip I’ve become a lot more interested in different musical styles from all over the world and I’d like to explore that more.
When will the China album be ready?
I’m hoping to finish it by the autumn. I wrote most of it while I was out there so I just need to do some recording and polish off some parts then decide what else needs to be done. I’m keen to try to follow it up as soon as I can, but I’m not the fastest of workers!
