#watercolour studios

[sualee]

A wee slice of our wonderful time at Watercolour Studios with Louise Bichan... Thanks to the amazing Mike Guest for his photography and videography!

[rachel-sermanni]

Recording Under Mountains way back when...

[sualee]

Watercolour wilderness...

My current project is a recording with Louise Bichan, a young and talented Orcadian fiddle player and equally talented photographer. It is amazing what she has already achieved by the tender age of 25.

For this project, Louise has been researching the life of her late grandmother with the use of her diaries, which cover her very colourful life during the mid-20th century in Orkney and Canada. She has responded with new compositions to illustrate her grandmother’s journey.

We are incredibly lucky to be recording the album at Watercolour Studios in Ardgour, in the highlands of Scotland. The studio is remote, and getting here involved a short, wild and wet ferry ride followed by single track roads. Not to mention a few wrong turns, some friendly locals and an ABS electronics failure in my car…!

Once here, I was rewarded with a stunning view straight onto Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain, which was stunning, despite being shrouded in cloud!

The discovery that there was no mobile reception, no internet, and that the wifi was also down, sent a minor shockwave through the band, but we soon settled into easy banter without outside diversion or distraction.

The company is delightful…Louise has put together a lovely band. She and Jen Austen the pianist, are both from Orkney. They grew up together, shared a flat in Glasgow, and both play in a couple of the same bands (Fara and Skalder). Mike Vass is a multi-instrumentalist, playing fiddle and guitar with equal grace. Duncan Lyall is a sensitive yet dynamic bassist, playing with Kate Rusby and Treacherous Orchestra, amongst others. Signy Jakobsdottir is a wonderfully inventive percussionist with a huge array of sounds and imagination. Angus Lyon is producing the album, himself a very talented accordionist in Blazing Fiddles. It is a joy to feel his team membership, as he comes up with exciting artistic suggestions. We are all very grateful to Jen’s boyfriend Mike Guest who volunteered to cook for us, as well as provide some valuable video and photographic expertise!

In the past, I have played with all these talented musicians in various groups, except Louise Bichan herself, though never in this combination and what a lovely combination of people this is!

On the second day, our hunger to be in touch with the outside world got the better of us, and we trundled over in the driving wind and rain to the neighbouring cottage to beg some moments of wifi.

The day certainly displayed the full range of Scottish highland weather, with thunder, lightning and hail storms, which halted the recording proceedings, not only through noise, but also by blowing up some pre-amps!

Day three brought us a wifi booster, which allowed us just a few hours of (infuriatingly slow) internet connection. The Internet effect is instant…suddenly we are all glued to our screens in every break and conversation is not even attempted. This internet is clearly a blessing in disguise.

It was somehow far worse to lose the Internet when it failed again a couple of hours later, than during the first couple of days when we didn’t have it at all.

Day four is soon ending, along with our time at Watercolour. We have had an amazing time here, and there is a sad reluctance to end our time bubble. The outside elements have provided us with the full spectrum of delights from all weather fronts. Ben Nevis has provided us with endless visual inspiration, along with regular visits outside our windows from deer and wildlife.

Time at Watercolour has been the biggest luxury. Normally each of us has a pretty hectic schedule. This has been a period of defining our own schedule, which has meant no wake-up alarms and the possibility of recording until well into the night, usually until at least 1 or 2 in the morning. Last night we were setting up to record a Sub Phatty Moog at around midnight!

Another personal joy and breakthrough has been the space and possibility to improvise with wonderful and supportive musicians…normally a terrifying prospect, let alone on record!

Recording vocals as a group has proved hilarious, possibly because it has generally happened late at night after several glasses of wine!

As I now embark on my study sabbatical soon, I am particularly excited by the headway I feel I have already made by diving into the terrifying world of improvisation!

I am delighted by this project, not only because of the people, but because the music is so good and inspiring. Louise is definitely a major talent and I have loved being part of her journey.

Next stop, Orkney Folk Festival, to present her music for the first time in public!