‘My songs are like journal entries’
ROB FIDDAMAN CATCHES UP WITH SINGER-SONGWRITER KEZ LIDDLE, FROM NEWCASTLE, WHO IS HEADLINING THE SUGARMILL WITH HER BAND THIS MONTH
I really love what you’re creating musically, did you start playing and writing at an early age?
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I’m lucky to come from a very musical family – there’s a photo of me somewhere as a baby sitting on my dad’s knee playing the piano. I played the French horn in my school orchestra because I was clearly a very cool child, but I started actually writing music when I was around 15.
Your last EP – You Thought That They Were Dancing – is beautiful in terms of how the songs are written and vocally delivered. Can you tell us a little about the EP.
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I wrote them while I was at university, and I think you can probably hear that in some of the songs: Alice is about being a bit sad and lonely, and Narcissus is about getting to know some not-sonice people, which I think are unavoidable uni experiences. I also spent way too much time watching documentaries and misery-scrolling on Twitter so there’s a lot about politics in the songs too. Lead Them To The Truth is my favourite song on there – it’s about conspiracy theorists.
■ Do you write about life experiences or just anything you’re feeling at the time?
I tend to just write about what’s playing on my mind at the time, so it’s a little chaotic – songs like November are basically just journal entries, but I also wrote Like A Dream around a quote from Jack
Black in King Kong. There are a few themes I tend to lean on: the sea, ghosts, and being a bit sad.
I don’t tend to do lyrics and music separately. I like to just start playing, sing whatever comes to mind, and then try to scribble it down before it disappears.
■ So, who would you say your biggest musical influence is and why ?
I love a bit of Elliott Smith, which I think is very obvious in the way I write music. I love Aldous Harding, Florist, Julia Jacklin, Bess Atwell. I remember being very inspired by Keaton Henson when I first started writing music – a lot of his music is just him and his guitar, and the appeal of it is how real and raw it feels. I think you can tell when somebody’s music means something to them.
■ Where do you usually record your music?
A bit embarrassing, but at home, on free software. My first EP, Rain Songs, was recorded on a USB microphone from a Wii singing game, and if you listen closely enough I think you can probably hear my little brother playing video games in the room next door in the background.
I’ve toyed around with the idea of getting something properly recorded, but I have a tendency to write, record and release something in the space of a day whenever I have the motivation, and I enjoy the process of hearing something come together and knowing that you made it yourself, even if it doesn’t sound as polished as it would if I did it in a studio.
■ My favourite song of yours is currently November. Can you tell us what this song was written about?
It’s not exactly the cheeriest song in the world. It’s about struggling with mental health and anxiety, wishing you could go back to the beginning and just start over without making the mistakes you did the first time round. It’s called November because it’s the month I was born.
I see on your Instagram bio you are “1/5 of @borogoves” is this a side-project ?
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Borogoves is my music with a full band! It’s the same songs from my solo EPS but with more pizzazz.
We’re a strange mix of musicians from other Stokeon-trent bands: the drummer is Jacob from Feedbacc, the synth player is Josh from Lucid Waters, the lead guitarist is John from Attack of the Vapours, and the bassist is Mara who makes some fantastic pop music as her own solo project. It’s been so cool to hear my silly little songs sound like real music.
When and where can we come see you perform locally ?
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Borogoves are headlining at The Sugarmill on Saturday, November 26 - it’s my birthday, so you all have to come.