Lorna Irvine speaks with Tamara Schlesinger about her career and her latest project: MALKA.
Tamara Schlesinger, formerly a solo artist and the former frontwoman with 6 Day Riot, is one of those maverick women making pop interesting right now--impossible to pigeonhole. Her music with new project MALKA is spiky but warm, accessible yet uncompromising. Ahead of her forthcoming album Marching To Another Beat, I caught up with her to chat videos, art, ukuleles and intimacy in lyrics.
You have an interesting background in gymnastics and fashion design. How did you initially make that transition to knowing that music was to be your main career?
When I was younger I only ever dreamt of being a gymnast. I trained 3 or 4 times a week and it was my main focus. Then, when I was 17 I broke my ankle. I really didn’t know what to do with my time or where my future lay at that point. The only thing that I knew was that I could draw and paint. I was offered a place to study fashion at Central St Martins and it was an impossible opportunity to turn down. While I was studying I met some record producers (through some friends) that needed someone to sing on a cover that they were recording, and before I knew it I was on the soundtrack for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I had sung in the choir at school and played piano when I was younger, but as gymnastics was all I really cared about at that age I had forgotten that I could do either. I stumbled through my degree, but spent most of my time in the studio, writing and recording music. I had finally found what I wanted to do, and I was so excited. Since then, I have done nothing but music. I still use my fashion and art as I design all the artwork, headpieces and style the videos and photoshoots. But I am inspired by my music to create art not the other way around.
This isn't the first time you have flown solo, but I was wondering how it compares to your time in the wonderful 6 Day Riot?
6 Day Riot was my baby. The project grew from me writing alone in my bedroom to a big colourful mishmash of influences. I loved being a part of the folk scene (which embraced us) and I enjoyed all the recording and touring. But I grew tired of trying to get the band in a room altogether. I found it difficult to please everyone, and I wanted a change in sound. There are no hard feelings. In fact Edd (the double bass player) is now playing live with MALKA (albeit on a synth keyboard). I have felt an immense sense of freedom and trepidation, creating exactly what I want, how I want and when I want. I have been able to spend 1 year in the studio recording the album with my friend Jay Glover as producer because it was all done in my own time, developed piece by piece rather than as a live project. Sometimes I think you just need a change and that is what happened to me.
The video for Into the Night has a very clear aesthetic. Are you directly involved with the concept in your videos?
I have used the same team on my videos for numerous years now. I am lucky that I have my husband and friends involved in the film business and that they have been willing to invest so much time and effort into my videos. We sit down together to work on ideas, often once the director has come up with a concept. Lee Bamsey (director) lives close to God’s Own Junkyard, where we filmed the video and we all spent an afternoon there. I designed the neon jumpsuit and produced the shoot and Steve Gray was the videographer. Martin Macdonald (my husband) spent hours editing. And Ellie Worthington created the neon make-up. It really was a group effort. But we would never shoot something that I didn’t feel worked with the music or was not how I want to portray myself, the visual side is very important to me.
You played all the instruments on the new album. Is that something that interests you, challenging yourself as much as possible?
Yes, I love it. I attempted to play the drums but I wasn’t so great at that, so I pieced together loops and created my own rhythm along with handclaps and clicks. But in general I prefer not to know how to play an instrument well, but rather pick it up and create some noise. That is what I did on this album, although I can play ukulele and guitar reasonably well. I also played keys, bass and anything else I could find. Everything was electric, which has been a big change too. I am still finding my feet with that side of things. I am so used to picking up an acoustic instrument and playing a song, but now I need a whole host of other things to make it work. I like to try to reinvent my sound a little. It keeps me on my toes.
Some of your music has appeared in film and TV. Would you ever consider doing a film soundtrack?
I would love to, yes. I have always been inspired by stories, films and social commentary for my lyrics and music, so I can’t think of anything more challenging or satisfying than to try and create the soundtrack of a film.
I can hear a plethora of artists in your music who influenced you. Who did you listen to growing up?
When I was really young I have memories of feeling very carsick with the Carpenters, The Beatles and Vivaldi playing on cassette while my parents drove me and my sister up and down various motorways. As I got older and I chose my own music to listen to it would be anything from Radiohead, Oasis and Crowded House to Spice Girls and Kylie. I love a good song, any genre will do. But it is the melody that always grabs me.
And who are you listening to at the moment?
I am really enjoying Tuneyards, Sivu and Black Yaya at the moment. When I am writing I don’t tend to listen to any music as I walk around with my own melodies in my head. But once the writing process is over, I am much more able to enjoy other music again.
Is it fair to say your lyrics are becoming even more personal on this album? They seem very intimate.
Yes, it is interesting as previously I wrote songs in the first person, but they were often inspired by news stories or fictional characters. This time I felt a freedom to write about me, where I am in life, my feelings and emotions. It is not that I didn’t do that before, but I think I hid them behind my “characters” in the songs. I feel more comfortable in myself and who I am. I am finding my place. I am maybe more jaded by the music industry too. But somehow that has allowed me to care less about what people think (industry wise) and just do what I want. This album really is a slice of where I am right now. It feels very personal and I have thrown everything I have got into it. It has a little piece of me hidden inside there somewhere.
Marching to Another Beat is out in June on Tantrum Records. The single ‘Let It Go’ is out now. MALKA tours in the summer.
www.malkamusic.co.uk
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