We recently introduced you to Trwbador, Owain Gwilym and Angharad van Rijswijk, in the fourth edition of PULSE. This time around though, we’ve given the bilingual, folk-tronica, avantpop duo a chance to introduce themselves through a casual chinwag with your reliable narrator here.
The pair have recently released their stunning second album, Several Wolves. If you haven’t gotten around to checking it, and them, out yet (in spite of my sage advice), hopefully your getting to know them a little better will give you all the convincing you need. If you already have, well here’s how you to get the know the people what made that music you loved. Enjoy.
Ahoy, and how are you?
All good thanks. We’re looking forward to winter and currently enjoying the last days of Summer.
I know it’s a little while back now, but you two met at university? How did that meeting come about and get the ball rolling for Trwbador?
Well we knew each other from the music scene in our home county and chatting over myspace (RIP). Me moving to Cardiff happened to co-inside with Owain needing a vocalist for a Uni assignment and we just carried on making tunes from there.
Your sound combines a kind of magical, traditional folk with a dreamy, futurist electronica. Was this a conscious choice, or more something that came naturally? Because, it seems it seem to me, to create an otherworldly, timeless quality.
There was a conscious choice initially to make a sort of folk electronica because we’re both producers and songwriters that play guitar. The area where we live in is very remote and celtic and there’s a massive free rave/party scene that we both grew up with, so looking at it I guess our music is a pretty exact projection of West Wales life.
Obviously you have a wide range of musical influences, but are there any other things that have an influential impact Trwbador as a whole package?
I guess living in a rural area, the pace of life finds its way into the music. Sometimes events or images can spark an idea that becomes musical as well. It’s hard to say, but we’re always on the look out for an idea from somewhere.
Outside of music and the band, what are your other big passions in life?
It’s mostly just music that occupy’s the time. I like to go surfing when I can and the waves are good. Harry (Angharad) comes from a massive family and likes spending time with them all.Â
You’ve recently released Several Wolves, how did you find the recording process for that? Was it a case of difficult second album?
In terms of writing the second album, it was really easy and straight forward. Producing was quite difficult though because we did it in a room with low ceilings and getting a good sound was quite tough. Maybe that’s why it’s so electronic, because it’s easier to get a good sound from synthesizers. Knowing that it was never going to sound polished and professional like studio recordings we gave ourselves 10 days to record and arrange everything and just accept that it would have a sort of ragged and un-polished sound.
How’s the reception to it been on the whole?
As a whole it’s been incredible. The lowest review we’ve had so far is 7/10 and that’s still a good result. It’s had so much more radio and press support than we were expecting, working without a label or manager etc.Â
Who among your contemporaries, or anyone from the musical universe you enjoy, should we get on to checking out?
We don’t actually consume a lot of music as it happens. The market’s so saturated I just can’t get my head around much of what’s coming out. Love Letters by Metronomy is probably album of the year for us so far. It’s a very brave record in the way that it’s recorded and performed and I think that really puts the songs in to the personal context in which they’re meant to be heard.
Where can our readers catch you live and in the flesh in the not-too distant future?
Strange Wales Weekend/Festival in Laugharne on the 21st of Sept, Telfords Warehouse in Chester on 23rd. The Social, London on 14th October and Swn festival in Cardiff on 18th of October.
And one silly one for the road, if you had a pet vulture you found to be particularly cultured, what would you call it?
I’d definitely call it Elvis, but then again I want to call everything Elvis. There’s actually a flock (?) of vultures in our village and now and again they go missing and we get ‘please don’t feed the vultures’ messages appearing in the local pub. They’re Obviously cultured, if they can’t be fed on any common food.
http://youtu.be/OGDYMhbEi6E
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