Alessi’s Ark
THIS week we talk to the duo Alessi’s Ark, who will be performing at the Blue Sky Cafe, Bangor on March 27. Q
Tell us about your family
A
Alessi: My parents, while not musicians, really love music and played every kind of genre at home and on car rides for my sister and I. We went to a lot of gigs in and around London while growing up and it was from hearing The White Stripes aged 11, that I took up the drums at school. My mum is French and raised us bilingual, I really enjoy writing in French.
Jason: I grew up playing piano from a very early age and while my family aren’t particularly musical, I’ve always been dedicated to playing and experimenting with music. I built a cabin in East Sussex, where I grew up, and we drive down to record there as often as we can.
Q
Tell us something about yourself
A
We live and work together, collaborating not only on
How old are you? 29
Where are you from? London
What are your best and worst habits? walking for a good few miles every day. Worst: worrying.
music, but in carpentry and house renovations. We love building and creating and find that the balance between the two lines of work seems to slot in pretty well. Jason is a very skilled carpenter and has been teaching me joinery skills along the way... one day we may even be able to build an ark!
Q
How would you describe your music?
A
Encouraging, loving, hopeful, honest.
Q
Do you have any gigs/ tours coming up?
A
Yes, we’ll be touring around the UK to promote our upcoming EP Truth including March 27, – Blue Sky
Best:
Cafe, Bangor.
Q
What are you best known for?
A
Probably knitting bags for CDs and vinyls. My family and I have been doing this since my first shows back in 2006.
Q
What can people expect from your gigs?
A
We’ll be playing songs from our new EP Truth, some in French as well as English and interchanging between instruments a fair amount. There is just the two of us aboard the ark but we like to cover as much as we can!
QTell us five things which make your set great?
AOur hope is that the set will uplift, encourage, inspire, restore and make you smile, or better still, laugh. Joy is important.
Q
Tell us what’s good about the venue
A
We’ve not yet visited Blue Sky Cafe but we’ve heard it is a beautiful and very community centred space... a wonderful, locally sourced menu will be available at the show and it will be an intimate and special way of sharing the songs in such a relaxed environment.
Q
Tell us a little known fact about yourself:
A
My second album Time Travel was produced by the lovely David Wrench over in Bethesda and this trip to Bangor will be the first since I recorded that back in 2011... we very much look forward to being back in North Wales. It’s so beautiful!
Q
Whose music are you listening to?
A
We love listening to all kinds of music and
Alessi’s Ark will be coming to Blue Sky, Bangor
recently we enjoyed Alexander’s soundtrack for Little Women while we redecorated a house up North from top to bottom. Hand Habits, Whispertown, Phoenix, Valley Lodge and Gillian Welch are frequently played in the van... the list goes on!
Q
What are you most proud of musically?
A
We feel really fortunate to be able to write and record music together in the cabin and at our flat... at 16/17, I didn’t realise it would be possible to create so much with such
simple resources but between us both, we continue to grow and make a lot of music and it’s a blessing.
Q
What are your up-andcoming plans with your career?
A
We are currently writing and playing with a friend of ours in a new project and the sound is pretty different from the Ark.
1960s blues / poetry / storytelling. We will be playing in the Summer too and plan to release more music as it comes to us!