Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast
The podcast is sponsored by Seydel harmonicas. Check out their great range of products at www.seydel1847.com.
If you would like to make a voluntary contribution to help keep the podcast running then please use this link: https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour.
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Contact: happyhourharmonicapodcast@gmail.com
Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast
Will Pound interview
Will Pound joins me on episode 76.
Will first started playing harmonica age 10 to help with his breathing after he underwent two major heart operations as a child. Since then he has rose to fame on the English folk scene, being nominated for folk musician of the year three times. He now plays harmonica and melodeon, diversifying his musical output to cover many different acoustic genres.
Will has released a number of albums with a range of quality musicians, with his last album spanning the traditional music genres of the European continent.
He has a number one Christmas single and a number one Christmas album on his resume, has played at Buckingham Palace and on an advertisement featuring Robert de Niro.
Links:
Will’s website:
https://willpound.com/
Bandcamp site:
https://willpound.bandcamp.com/
DPA headset microphones:
https://www.dpamicrophones.com/headset-and-earset-microphones
Jingle Bells:
https://willpound.bandcamp.com/track/jingle-bells
Videos:
Will’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@WillPoundMusic
Will Morris dancing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ_4zkdxQto&list=PLcvB436mCA_iJQRGiZGq66InPQJsCYt3J
Walsh and Pound at NHL concert in 2009:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTlpnYxxBJM
Appearing on BBC Breakfast TV for Folk Award nomination:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9L6L1Hgctg
Playing with Dame Evelyn Glennie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9C44Qq38Vk
He’s Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother - Hillsborough Charity single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svOX9dy0hyw
Playing at Buckingham Palace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDISPLcpiGY
Facebook video with Jenn Butterworth:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1601228916702386
Warburton’s advert with Robert Niro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANHoobL__NE
Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com
Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB
Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ
Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway.com/
Will Pound joins me on episode 76. Will first started playing harmonica at age 10 to help with his breathing after he underwent two major heart operations as a child. Since then he has rose to fame on the English folk scene, being nominated for Folk Musician of the Year three times. He now plays harmonica and melodion, diversifying his musical output to cover many different acoustic genres. Will has released a number of albums with a range of quality musicians, with his last album spanning the traditional music genres of the European continent. He has a number one Christmas single and a number one Christmas album on his resume, has played at Buckingham Palace and on an advertisement featuring Robert De Niro. This podcast is sponsored by Seidel Harmonicas. Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zeidel Harmonicus. Hello, Will Pound, and welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, Neil. How's it going?
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for joining today, Will. So you are an English folk harmonica player, largely.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's right. I mean, it's interesting, actually, sort of how you describe me, because I mean, I guess, yes, in principle, definitely English folk harmonica player. But I guess nowadays, I'm sort of more or less thinking of myself as a general harmonica player, you know, that plays lots of different musical styles, but yeah, from England originally.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah, great. And so I think, were you originally from Warwick?
SPEAKER_02:So I was born in Rugby, but yeah, pretty near Warwick. And I was brought up near Warwick, yeah, in a little place called Whitnash. Yeah, that's where I was brought up until I moved away to Newcastle when I was 18. Quite a while back now.
SPEAKER_01:And you're 35 now. Yeah, and now I think, are you living in North Wales?
SPEAKER_02:I am, yes. I'm living up in Carnarvon. It's such a beautiful part of the world. And it's actually like a very inspiring place to sort of write music. So I have a little studio up there where I do some session work. And yeah, I do a lot of walking and I've written quite a bit of music. It's sort of inspired by the area. It's a fantastic place and a great music scene as well. It's fantastic.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, fantastic. Yeah. Are you learning to speak Welsh?
SPEAKER_02:Well, my landlord and landlord lady, they're English, but they do speak Welsh fluently. I've learned about four words so far. It's a pretty hard language to say the least. Yeah. But it's an amazing language, you know, and where I live in Carnarvon, that's the first language.
SPEAKER_01:So you've got a very interesting story about how you started out playing harmonica. You can maybe share that with us now. Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:absolutely. So I was brought up in the folk scene but sort of the main reason that I got into it ironically wasn't through the music itself, it was through health reasons. When I was tiny I had open heart surgery twice, sort of when I was four days old and when I was four years old and as a result of that I had sort of not great breathing. As a result growing up so I had some breathing difficulties I mean it wasn't you know horrendous but it was great either so and I was always sort of short of breath growing up you know so when I was about 10 I had a friend of mine Ted Crumb who suddenly passed away during the pandemic he was a harmonica player and he's great and my dad and doctor they sort of encouraged me to pick up the harmonica and I was at first I was a bit like okay well I'll give it a go and I I'm so glad I did because you know I just immediately enjoyed the sound of it and you know and obviously there was the health benefits I just absolutely loved the sound and you know I guess with some people they got into it because they've heard a certain player or you know a musician who plays harmonica or a track that has something you know in it like the Hollies or something like that Ian Harry's My Brother or you know something along those lines where it was like you know harmonica's a key feature but for me it wasn't it was literally just this is the instrument which could help your breathing and that was how I got into it and obviously I enjoyed the sound and so I decided to carry on much to my parents I think reluctance at first but it was great and from that moment I definitely thought well I definitely want to be a musician.
SPEAKER_01:Were you 10 years old when your father gave you this first harmonica?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah I was about 10, 10 or 11 but I think 10. I was always interested in percussion so by that point I was playing percussion, I was playing snare drum and other types of percussion and i remember growing up actually i was always tapping my hands on the desk you know at school and driving my teachers completely insane it's interesting actually because i definitely feel as a result of that i'm quite a rhythmic player and i think that's where it comes from you know that sort of percussive style and always leaned towards musicians that I've collaborated with who are you know quite percussive as well yeah so that's how I sort of got into it was through health reasons and it really did help.
SPEAKER_01:There's been a couple of books and some research studies done about the benefits of harmonica for people you know to help people with breathing difficulties and COPD and so you know for yourself did the doctor actually say that you know he saw you know definite benefits of playing the harmonica for you?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah I mean they did and still now you know my fitness obviously I you know I do exercise size and things like that because that's obviously important for my heart i mean it was interesting actually during the pandemic obviously we didn't play as much in sort of gigs and things like that you know what i practice at home it's probably slightly different to when i do a gig because obviously it's more intense isn't it when you do a gig it's like all in one go and it's like it's a gig and and i really noticed it after i did remember doing my first one of the first gigs after the pandemic and i did play you know during the pandemic but doing you know sort of online things but you know it wasn't like a gig where it's like intense and i did this gig with Ellie J at Folk Festival in Suffolk and I almost like, you know, lost my breath because my body wasn't used to that thing after a couple of years, you know, so I have to, you know, so I do keep really going with it and apparently that happened to a lot of wind players as well during the pandemic, you know, so I kind of have had to build it up again. I mean, I'm fine now but, you know, it took a good, I don't know, eight months, nine months to get it back up to sort of gig level. It takes a long time to sort of get to a level where you sort of don't have to think about it but you know but it's the exercise I now do breathing exercises as well and things like that before I do a gig you know because it does help
SPEAKER_01:Great to hear that because it's benefited you in that way as well so you mentioned drums as well is that something you still play some drums?
SPEAKER_02:I'm a terrible percussionist now. But interestingly, I have started a project recently with a phenomenal classical percussionist called Delia Stevens. She plays vibes and she plays orchestral percussion. And it's quite sort of, I mean, the music we play is improvised, contemporary classical, but also there's stuff like The Planets and The Lark Ascending, so Holst and, you know, all manner of classical composers. And, you know, I'm not from the classical world, so, you know, but a lot of her play obviously is percussive given the nature of the instrument and so that kind of really drives me you know it kind of makes me challenge my percussive knowledge to the extreme it's great
SPEAKER_01:You also said that you started playing obviously for kind of health reasons and therefore you didn't necessarily draw on the same sort of harmonica influences did that mean that you kind of learnt to play the harmonica yourself without really any you know harmonica background or listening or you know kind of tutorials and maybe have you learnt in a different way because of that do you think?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah absolutely that so basically what happened is yeah I got into the sound of it but I wasn't interested in other players or anything like that I just liked music so I just listened to lots of different people playing you know different instruments so I guess like what I really thrived upon was going well this is a really cool sound that the harmonica makes I wonder if it can make this sound that's like a I don't know a saxophone or like a a did you do like a violin or, you know, or a sitar even. And because I was into a wide range of music, that's sort of what really drew me to the instrument because it is capable of a sort of impersonating some of those instruments, you know, to a certain degree. I was obviously into traditional music because of, just because of my background, you know. And so obviously Brendan Power did come up, you know, I listened to his new Irish harmonica album when I was about, I must have been about 16.
SPEAKER_03:you
SPEAKER_02:know I didn't know about Brendan I don't think until that time so for five years I played and yeah I'm self-taught so I didn't have a tutor going do it this way or do it that way it'd be interesting I've always thought about this I always wonder what would it have been like had I been taught by someone or had some guidance you know into playing to start with maybe I would have played differently you know as to how I do now so it's interesting I don't think there's a right or wrong I just think there's a it's just interesting how our different paths take you know yeah into playing instruments so I think for me it's a technical instrument but it's also a soulful instrument And when I'm playing, I don't necessarily think I'm playing a harmonica. I think I'm singing into this thing. And like, so I'm just thinking of different singers like Ella Fitzgerald or like Nina Simone or like great singers. And, you know, how would they, how would they play this tune? How would they express the notes? And also I was brought up with a great love of jazz, trad jazz particularly. So, you know, that's kind of what I guess was going through my mind at the time. And obviously it's developed over the years, but I guess the main thing is I wanted my own sound. and that was one of the ways I could do it.
SPEAKER_01:And so you didn't listen much to blues harmonica players, did you not?
SPEAKER_02:Not at all. No. I mean, to be honest, my knowledge of blues harmonica players is fairly limited. And that's with no disrespect to those players. It's amazing. When I hear it, I go, wow, that's absolutely fantastic. That's so cool what they can do with their instruments and how they're getting the effects by the use of their hands or their mouth or whatever. When I hear something like that, I get inspired and I go, this is cool, right? I'm going to try and have a go using that particular technique on something that I'm using. But I guess growing up I didn't I didn't think of it that way it's interesting because I would have listened to blues obviously I would have heard some blues harmonica playing while listening to different artists but I didn't go specifically looking for a blues harmonica player that I wanted to listen to and you know like Sonny Terry and go I want to be inspired by that which is interesting because I do know that Brendan told me that you know that was one of the first artists that he he was inspired by that you know so it's interesting how people you know different people get into it you know
SPEAKER_01:yeah and again it gives you you a nice unique approach because you know probably i don't know at least 90 percent of harmonica players probably do start listening to blues and come in that way so yeah it's nice like you say to have a different angle and a different approach to your playing so as you say though you're um you know we've talked about you being a folk musician but you play other sorts we'll get into that when we talk about the music that you play but um
SPEAKER_03:yeah
SPEAKER_01:so what got you into folk music you know you grew up around just sort of the midlands just south of birmingham in england and you know was there a good folk scene there and your parents and influence and that or
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, basically, so I was born into, it sounds always strange, like a cult. No, I was born into a Morris team called Kinnerwood Morris, which is my mum and dad's team. As a result of that, obviously, sort of English folk music was quite a prevalent thing. And so that's sort of what I grew up with. So I went to folk festivals from a very young age, you know.
SPEAKER_01:It's probably worth explaining to the non-UK listeners what Morris dancing is. So Morris
SPEAKER_02:dancing is different regional dancing from different areas of England, particularly. So in different areas, you would have a certain type of what they called Morris dance. So in the Northwest, which is the style I was brought upon, it would have been a tradition of clogs and, you know, flowery hats, and it was done by men and women. It was part of a percussive style of Morris, amazing uniforms, you know, and it was from the cotton mills. That's the sort of background, historical background. It was part of the Industrial Revolution and the teams would come out and dance as part of you know the celebrations May Day celebrations and things like that and it was it was seen as a hobby you know dance and then there's what they call Cotswolds Morris dancing which is from the Cotswolds and they're called Cotswolds and so on so on so there's actually about five or six different types of Morris dancing from the different regions
SPEAKER_01:obviously you do get music with Morris dancing and I have sometimes seen a harmonica play with Morris dancing it's not a typical Morris dance music though is it having harmonica is it
SPEAKER_02:no it isn't although interestingly I do have a couple of harmonicas from a musician called Arnold Woodley and danced with a traditional team called Bankton Morris. Now, he was a fiddle player, but he also played harmonica. There are recordings of, you know, in fact, there is a Cotswold tradition which lists harmonica as the main principal instrument, which I've sort of seen. But no, it isn't sort of seen as an instrument that was used widely within Morris dance, which is ironic because I did an album using harmonica, of course, through the seasons, you know, and a melodium as well, my instrument. So, yeah.
UNKNOWN:so
SPEAKER_02:And it's interesting, though, because I wonder why it wasn't used more, because it's a very portable instrument. So you would have thought that would have been great, and it's quite rhythmic.
SPEAKER_01:So you mentioned the melodion there. So you also play the melodion, and that's something that you record with. So it's kind of your second instrument is definitely the melodion, yeah? Yeah. So again, so a melodion is a sort of squeeze box with reeds, right? So has it got certain similarities to the harmonica?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it works exactly the same way. So I play two types of accordion. I call it... an accordion or a melodion so I play the diatonic system which is effectively it works exactly the same way as a diatonic harmonica so you have one note in one note out and so on and so on and it's brilliant because you know basically automatically meant when I picked up the box it's called the box for the first time I had a bit of an advantage because you know I already played harmonica by that stage and I was like oh it's just the same as that right great let's go but it has chords and it has melody and there's two sides to it so it's a bit maybe slightly more complicated so yeah I played diatonic and I also played what they call the BC system which is the Irish system which is chromatic so it works like a chromatic harmonica so yeah so I played both systems I mean BC I'm less experienced in you know I've only been playing it for about I don't know two or three years or something but the other system I've played for years now
SPEAKER_01:So did you pick up Melodian I think after you started playing harmonica didn't you so was that a consciousness decision to think that you needed a second instrument you know in the folk world to give you more?
SPEAKER_02:Well really I just like the sound of it I mean that's the thing I guess for me one of the main things I love about it sounds strange but I love about music is sound and what sound can do and also what can you do with that instrument that is I don't know a bit different so it's not just about playing the notes and learning you know to be a great player it's like what can I bring to this instrument that can make it sound a bit unique the same way that I treat the harmonica, you know, I treat the melodion the same. So I might play it very percussively or I might try and figure out how to make it sound like a certain other instrument. And also, for example, I get really obsessed by it. So the diatonic instrument that I play, my melodion, I play in every single key on it. I guess in the same way that Howard Levy plays the harmonica, he sort of like tried to figure out every single scale on it and how to use that and utilize it. So I've done the same thing with the melodion, really. I've just sat down with it and done about six or eight minutes of practice on my scales you know quite focused but it's great because it means that you can progress that instrument and it's interesting I definitely feel that as because I've become over the years a bit of a better player on the accordion that's helped my harmonica playing as well because I've come up with some compositional ideas on the box but then transfer them to the harmonica and it makes me play it in a different way you know so yeah so I kind of view the two instruments equally now but I mean I I'm probably more proficient, I would say, in harmonica just because I've played it for longer.
SPEAKER_01:You know, if people were interested in picking up the Melodian Accordion, you think that would be a reasonably easy transition because of the similarities to harmonica?
SPEAKER_02:Definitely the diatonic harmonica. Well, actually, the BC as well, thinking about it, because it works the same way. It's just, you know, it depends what you want, really. It depends, you know, whether you want a more rhythmic instrument or whether, because the chromatic one, you know, is slightly less rhythmic, but it depends on the kind of play well you know i've got one of my favorite musicians of that instrument is someone called mashina connor who's an irish he was in river dance actually it just depends what you want
SPEAKER_01:and i noticed on uh seeing some of your videos you've made that you play the harmonica and the melodion together
SPEAKER_03:yeah
SPEAKER_01:but you the video i saw you you were holding the harmonica in your hand and playing the melodion with one hand
SPEAKER_03:so
SPEAKER_01:Is that something you do, you
SPEAKER_02:don't use a rack when you do it? No, I've never been interested in that. There's a reason for this, a musical reason. So if I was to use a rack, and have both hands available basically that would be great and you could do loads of stuff with it but what I like is the less is more thing so I have to then be more innovative in terms of using the bass and using the harmonica I have to think a little bit more about how am I going to make this song interesting how am I going to use the bass how am I going to use the harmonica and I kind of think if there's slightly more boundaries then that kind of can help the you know the progression of the music you know so and it's because it would sound totally different if i had you know it's also an image thing it's for me it's not for me you know it's i prefer being a bit more freer in that sense so like i love like the sort of like limited you know it's quite limited in some ways but i kind of like that because it means like well how am i going to use the voicing on this bass how am i going to make that work with this harmonica and it's interesting you know certain harmonicas work better with that you know certain keys work better so and it's just like yeah I find it really fun sort of like the limitation of it you know because obviously if I was able to have the rack and you know and just play use both hands and you know where's your oyster you know
SPEAKER_01:because you're playing one in each hand are you sort of playing piano analogy like the kind of right hand in the in the harmonic yeah
SPEAKER_02:a little bit yeah totally it's like that left hand right hand thing and also what's cool is is that I'll play some pieces where i'm playing a different time signature on the bass than i am to the melody on the harmonica and i do wonder whether whether if i was using both hands and using the harmonica i don't know maybe it would work as well but i don't know there's part of me that kind of likes this just the sound itself of just the bass and the harmonica because obviously i've got cool haven't got just bass on the you know in the left hand i've got the chord as well yeah and you know so i can do different voicings so i can make lighter chords i can make you know basic chords and i don't know yeah i don't just kind of like doing it that
SPEAKER_01:way so is that combination something you usually do when you're playing solo
SPEAKER_02:yeah so if I'm doing solo gigs I'll do a mixture of like solo harmonica uh some solo you know accordion um and also yeah like the the mix you know using them both at the same time and what's cool is that I when I do my solo concerts I don't sort of stick to a particular genre I'll go from playing you know some Irish trad music to playing like Sousa to playing like French musettes to playing Arabic music or Bulgarian folk music and so on and so on or Glenn Miller yeah I'll do a bit of everything just to kind of cover all bases I guess and to keep people interested you know because it is you know as an instrumentalist it can be sometimes quite challenging to do a solo concert with harmonica and melody but I kind of like that I kind of relish the challenge and so now I've got a set list which does all sorts of things and keeps people interested and I also talk about the instruments during the gig as well usually if it's a non kind of folk audience you know people are interested they're like how does this instrument work and why does it sound like that when you're you know if you're playing a Bulgarian folk tune they're like what the monkey you know what's going on here
SPEAKER_01:I'm not aware of any other harmonica and melodion combinations are you aware of anybody else doing that the two instruments
SPEAKER_02:I haven't seen I've seen Constantino and harmonica done
SPEAKER_01:yeah Rick Epping
SPEAKER_02:yeah it's awesome I've seen I've seen that but I haven't come across yeah I'm sure there's someone on YouTube
SPEAKER_01:I'll let you know if anyone contacts me. So then, obviously, you've done very well in the folk scene in the UK. You've been nominated three times for Folk Musician of the Year. To what point did you decide to really work as a full-time musician and do so well with it all?
SPEAKER_02:So I went to university in Newcastle to do a folk music degree. And I didn't complete the degree. I mean, I wasn't a very good academic, to be honest. But I loved the music. You know, what I learned up there was so useful, you know, working with other musicians and, you know, it was just brilliant. And so when I was about 21, that was when I left university and I went full time. So I had a duo with a fantastic banjo player called Dan Walsh. And we'd been sort of playing, you know, in Newcastle a bit over a course of like, I don't know, eight, nine months, you know, just working on material, playing open mics. Things like that, I think they're really important. You know, I mean, we'd learned our craft kind of there at the Open Mic's. And then we just started gigging. You know, we had an agent and a manager and we just started working on the scene. And luckily we, you know, we've managed to get enough work to survive, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I remember the first time I became aware of you was when you played at the National Harmonica League Festival in 2009 with Dan Walsh. And, you know, it was a great setting. You know, like you say, you were pretty young then. You had a great song called Turkish Delight, which I think is one you wrote. isn't
SPEAKER_02:it? Yeah so that's kind of how I got into yeah playing music full time and you know obviously it's challenging especially as an instrumentalist of an instrument which is I guess you know not very I mean it's prevalent but it's sort of It's quite niche, isn't it? Particularly in the folk
SPEAKER_01:scene. One question about, again, the Melodian Accordion. Because you've done so well, let's say you were nominated three times as Folk Musician of the Year. Do you feel that you know, having the Melodians help you with that, do you think you would have got that recognition if you were just a harmonica player?
SPEAKER_02:Well, the first time I got nominated, I, had I played Melodian on an album? Well, the first album I did, solo sort of album was above and that was all harmonica.
UNKNOWN:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And that was how the first board came about. And an interview actually on BBC Breakfast. And that was through my publicity person called Jane Brace, who's been an amazing support. You know, she's brilliant. And so I guess from that sense, like that was the harmonica that did that. But obviously, yeah, I used the melody in gigs and, you know, since I was about 23, 24, I think. But I definitely think harmonica has definitely been the more prominent instrument. I mean, my most recent album, which is, you know, due to come out in February is you know predominantly harmonica but there are a few melodic tracks on it
SPEAKER_01:and you know it's unusual isn't it in that setting in many ways that helps it stand out more doesn't it because you know you don't have lots of harmonicas in folk music so you know it makes you quite unique absolutely back to Dan Walsh you released an album with him in 2009 do you say and that was great you and a band you play are you only playing harmonica on this album
SPEAKER_02:yeah I was yeah and you know that was it was really interesting as well because obviously me and Dan were kind of we really loved music from all over you know all over the world yeah like you say I wrote this tune called Turkish Delight and that was kind of inspired by yeah the music from that part of the world and you know and then we played more traditional music from Ireland and from England and from Scotland at that stage I was still learning a lot about how you know what harmonicas work best for what you know in terms of the different tunings and things like that I think at that point I wasn't even playing what I play now which is the Paddy Richter tuning which is what Brendan Power invented you know it's So I actually only started using those about six, seven years ago now. So up until that point, I'd played just normal diatonic instruments and sort of learned to get around it by bending a lot. But when I started playing Brendan's, that tuning, it revolutionized things for me and it's helped.
SPEAKER_01:It's interesting you say that because I play quite a lot of traditional stuff myself. There's traditional sessions around where I live and I play the Paddy Richters as well. I love that tuning and that's pretty much it. exclusively what I play them on and it works so well doesn't it?
SPEAKER_02:It's what I exclusively play and actually when I now have people come up to me you know after concerts and they go you know what how are you doing you know those fast Irish melodies or whatever you know or different tunes and I go well actually it's a particular tuning system that I'm using in fact I don't apart from one harmonica which I have now I don't actually use the normal diatonic at all anymore just because of you know the music I'm playing You know, I could still play it. You know, if you picked up one that wasn't Paddy Ritter, I could still play it. Because obviously I played them for years. But I think also they're not just good for folk. That's the thing. You know, they're great for bluegrass. They're great for jazz. They're great
SPEAKER_01:for... Absolutely. I mean, basically it's one note, right? It's the sixth of the scale in that bottom octave. And it's just, it's incredible about how useful it actually is to have that note or not.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it's phenomenal. Kudos to Brendan for doing that. It's absolutely brilliant. And, you know, Brendan's great. You know, Brendan's also been a great support to me, you know, of the years as well and I actually now would represent his harmonica tuning you know always send people to his website you know when they want you know a harmonica like that and that kind of thing
SPEAKER_01:no absolutely yeah no he's done a tremendous job yeah so going on to the second album you released which is a cut above which you say got you a lot of recognition on what nominated for the first folk award so yeah you've got lots of different musicians on this album right you've got Eddie Jay also Martin Simpson
SPEAKER_03:is
SPEAKER_01:How did you get together with all these well-known folk musicians, which would be quite early in your career?
SPEAKER_02:I guess kind of primarily, I sort of got to know them over the years. And I played in Martin's band for a little while, Martin Simpson Big Band. And that was around the time I was playing with Dan, actually. I just chatted to, you know, these musicians and said, I'm doing an album. Would you like to play on it? And they said, yes. You know, and in that sense, the folk community is great because, you know, you know, obviously I was fairly early into my career at that point. And, you know, but they were really good to me. And, you know, there was great, you know, Chris Drever from Laos, fantastic. And Andy Cutting, Andy was fantastic. And I wasn't really interested in showing people what a great player was. I'm not interested in that. For me, it's about the music and it's about how can I, I, you know, give joy to people through my music. And so, you know, that's why I chose these particular tracks because I felt they were joyful and also working with those musicians would help me become a better player. And it did, you know, it's inspiring to work with musicians who have a lot of experience. And so, yeah, someone like Martin or someone like Andy, you know, they were really supportive and made me a better player.
UNKNOWN:Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:so I didn't sort of think what harmonica am I going to play on this track I kind of think a bit more like that now but back then it was more about getting it out there and you know and obviously I wanted it to be good quality you know so I did think about it a bit obviously but it's interesting listening back to that now because occasionally I will listen to it and I go I would have played that so differently now
SPEAKER_01:we always get that yeah well it's great that you say you've got that supportive community there and then you also released a couple of albums in a duet called In Haddo it was this with your wife
SPEAKER_02:yeah my first wife uh so my first wife nikki so we it was great actually and it was interesting because obviously that was a project where i uh was learning well i i've been playing the melody in a bit uh by that point and so i used the accordion a lot more with that i did play the harmonica a little bit so but not loads. It was more of a, you know, a viola and fiddle and, and accordion sort of duo. And it was great actually, because it, it really taught me how to be an accomplice, you know, because obviously I wasn't the primary melody player and, you know, I was playing chords. I was playing some melody, you know, and harmony, but it taught me a lot about that side of things.
SPEAKER_01:No, superb. Yeah. And then you did, well, there's a Mark Radcliffe folk sessions album. He was a BBC radio presenter. And so you, you did this with, with Tim Eady. He was a, you know, well-known folk guitarist and I think other instruments he plays as well. So another really great musician you're playing with. Yeah, so how did you get on that folk sessions show with Mark Radcliffe?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I released the Cuts Above album. I think that's where it came from. And my PR person, Jane, knew the producer on the folk show. And so we got a session on there. And she was actually representing Tim Eadie, I think, at the time as well. So we both went on it because we were releasing albums at the same time. And obviously, I mean, Tim, you know, we hadn't, I think at that point, we hadn't actually met each other. We had a jam and I was there with my, at the time, my double bass player, John Parker. and Tim was there with Patsy Reid, who incidentally I actually went on to work with in another project, a European project. It was great, you know, it was great to use the harmonica on a Radio 2 session, it was great. I like the fact that it can be played, you know, we can showcase the harmonica on radio quite often now and I do like doing that.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely, yeah, good job. And then you did an album with Eddie Jay, who's an accordion player, an album called Ignite. So did you play more harmonica or exclusively harmonica because Eddie Jay was playing the accordion on this one?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, exclusively harmonica because me and Eddie, I actually met when I was, I must have been 17. It was before I joined the folk degree, I think. Me and Eddie had been friends for years and years. We just sort of played music on and off throughout the years. We did some music when I was about 18. We did some gigs. and then we sort of you know went off on different paths and then we met again around 2015 or 16 around then and I said I said to Eddie let's do some gigs and so this album happened and it brilliant we still we still gig you know now occasionally we've got three or four gigs in for next year I think
SPEAKER_01:I saw you in playing at the Cambridge Folk Festival two or three years back
SPEAKER_02:yeah
SPEAKER_01:and you were playing with Eddie there I think weren't you
SPEAKER_02:that's right yeah I was playing with Eddie there and it was it was such fun because I mean because me and Eddie because we've played together so long I imagine this happens with other musical duos where you don't have to kind of think you know it's almost telepathic you know I kind of know what he's going to do he knows what I'm going to do and also the way that he can accompany is he's a very percussive player which is what I play off You know, he's not just an accordion player. They can play the melodies and the chords. He's like, he can do all the rhythms. He can do like three or four things at the same time. And for me, that's brilliant because I sort of play off that. And that's what I like. And some people said that sometimes they couldn't tell the difference between where the harmonicals and the accordion was at some points because we'd be playing in harmony.
UNKNOWN:.
SPEAKER_01:I always remember that gig really well at the Cambridge Folk Festival. We were in a sort of a side tent, a big side tent. And I remember there weren't that many people in there. And then you guys started playing. And you guys blew up an amazing storm. It was an incredible show. I'm actually astounded to say that you had any breathing difficulties because, you know, the energy and the fast excitement. It was a really great show. And you really got the crowd. It got really packed in there. It was really exciting. It was a tremendous show, Will, that one. I really remember it very well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, that's the thing with mine and Eddie's shows. They're definitely the gigs that I use the most energy in. That's for sure. Because it's relentless. I mean, it really is. It's full on. It's interesting because obviously I work mainly in duos now with Jen Butterworth and Julia Stephens. And with Jen, you know, I have a little bit more space to breathe in that. And, you know, there are some energetic pieces, don't get me wrong, there really are. But there's also pieces, you know, where it's not quite as full on. And they're longer as well. And I'm obviously playing the accordion in a few of the pieces as well. And Jen sings. So, you know, I get a bit more respite.
SPEAKER_01:Time to breathe, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But I love doing the shows with Eddie because it's just so crazy. Tremendous.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and it's a great album, that Ignite one. And then you mentioned already you did the Through the Season album we talked about earlier on. This is the Morris Dance theme album. And a lot of melodium, but there's a couple of harmonica tracks on there. Here's a quick word from the podcast sponsor, Blows Me Away Productions.
SPEAKER_00:Hey folks, this is Charlie Musselwhite. If you're in the amplified tone like I am, the best and only place to start is a microphone from Blows Me Away Productions. Check them out at blowsmeaway.com. You know I ain't lying.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and then you did another theme album, which is quite a major thing. I remember when you released it, it was great to see. You did an album called A Day Will Come, which was celebrating European folk music from the 27 member states. So you had music from pretty much every member state in Europe. Yeah, that's
SPEAKER_02:right. Yeah, more or less. I mean, so I had, yeah, so I got 26 tunes from the, well, yeah, including our set, three tunes from there. But I had, yeah, a tune from every single EU state. I wrote a piece of music for the remaining track and so sort of based on your remaining music but effectively yeah i went and researched lots of different tunes and it was quite nice actually because it was a good mixture of harmonica and accordion on that one i tried to make sure that it was sort of half and half you know i've got a solo harmonica track on that I also used it in the Irish track with Liz Carroll and Jen. It was just a brilliant project to do. And again, I mean... I'm not sort of a harmonica player who sort of obsesses about his instrument per se. I obsess about the music and the harmonica is the vehicle in which I can use it. And I love the sound and all of that kind of stuff. And so that's what really drives me with my projects, you know, or my duos or my, you know, I'm obviously always wanting to learn about more about instrument. But I feel that when you learn more about music, you can become better. a better musician and you know techniques and stuff like that will come as part of that you know you'll figure out how to do things or how to play a certain piece or
SPEAKER_01:yeah absolutely and because you played from all these different musicians in different countries and I saw that you went and interviewed some of them didn't you so you really sort of dug deep into the traditions there and everything
SPEAKER_03:yeah
SPEAKER_01:So that was fantastic. So without getting too political on this, I mean, this was around the time of Brexit, but I think you said this wasn't a deliberate kind of comment against Brexit. It was just more about celebrating the music, was it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it was about celebrating European music. It wasn't sort of like, well, I'm going to do this project now because, like, I disagree with or agree with Brexit. It was more like, well, this is really interesting. I wonder what music there is out there in Europe. And I didn't know. I mean, I knew bits, you know, of European music, like French and Belgian music and a bit of Balkan. But I was like, I wonder what other music is out there from these different countries and what traditions they have. So I guess, yeah, obviously I did that project in a responsible to the political situation, you know, but it was a really fulfilling project to do because I got to learn about lots of different traditions and lots of different music and interview people who were really knowledgeable in that area. It's interesting actually looking back on it, I could have done a project about different harmonica music in all of those countries but, you know, for me it was more about the music and also when I was doing that I didn't sort of say to myself well this track is from Belgium so I've got to make it sound Flemish or this track is from France and I've got to because I'm French that's not the way I do my music I you know again I do you know my styles it's interesting someone said in the review that if I had done it again it might have been different and that's totally true because I you know I'm a musician that doesn't play the same things twice really you know not often anyway
SPEAKER_01:you know you mentioned that it got a lot of great press didn't it it got a lot of interest you also received art council funding to help you do it and help you do the travelling to help you know go and meet the musicians so that's all great and you do a song a Bulgarian song on there with the with the Scottish percussion player, Dane Evelyn Glenny.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:The world's premier solo percussionist, right? So again, you've got some great musicians on there.
SPEAKER_02:You know, working with Evelyn was just a joy. It's really strange about how that came about as well. So she wrote about me in the Times newspaper a few years ago, and I had no idea. about it until someone messaged me going someone you know Evelyn Glennies listened like likes your music and then I messaged her you know and we met actually and this was a few years ago now and we had a little jam and met and she was just really supportive of me and then you know but there wasn't particularly a musical project at the time that you know I could sort of involve her in really or you know and then this you know project came up and I was like I know I went to Bulgaria and I researched the music it was really good fun and actually loved it and then I was like I wonder what Evelyn would be like at this this would be really cool you know it's rhythmically all over the place I reckon she could go to town on this so I was like right you know so I emailed her and she was like yeah let's do it and then we rehearsed for a couple of days and then recorded it and it was fascinating recording with Evelyn because I had to literally sit next to her when recording because she's profoundly deaf and she'd never worked with a harmonica player before so this was quite an experience for her as well as for me it was really good fun and like I was genuinely surprised at how it sounded you know I thought this could sound great I don't know you know it's two instruments you know you wouldn't usually put together but I loved I loved the fact that it was Bulgarian music and it was like solo percussion harmonica and quite stark at times
SPEAKER_01:yeah and there's a there's a video of you playing with us well I'll put the link on that to the podcast page which is really interesting yeah so as well as all these wonderful albums and all these wonderful musicians you play with there's three other pretty amazing things you've done well in 2012 you mentioned the track he ain't heavy he's my brother which of course got famous um chromatic solo so you played the chromatic harmonica on this song which became which is a charity single for the hillsborough disaster which was a football tragedy in in the uk in england so and then this became uh christmas number one in 2012 all sorts of incredibly famous people on there including Paul McCartney no less so how did you get this gig?
SPEAKER_02:So it was through Guy Chambers who's the pop producer or pop writer for Robbie Williams and I got to know Guy for a programme I'd done years ago called Goldie's Band by Royal Appointment I met Guy on that me and Guy are actually really good friends you know I actually saw him the other week I was doing a session for him the other week and he'll be involved in another project that I'm doing soon about climate change yeah so I basically got the gig for a guy and he said look I'm doing this charity single yeah it went on to be Christmas number one which was bananas you know i was in the music video with paul mccartney and stuff it was quite surreal at the time and also you know i was aged what i was 22 23 it was quite a strange experience you know
SPEAKER_01:do you get to meet you know all these singers like you know did you meet paul mccartney for example i met i met some of them uh i didn't meet paul mccartney
SPEAKER_02:but yeah it was um it was cool yeah
SPEAKER_01:but and you mentioned the other thing they were goldie's band so one of the other incredible things you did is you played at buckingham palace in front of prince harry and this was part of a sort of music initiative which goldie did that was before the Hillsborough single then was it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah it was yeah so I did this programme it was funny actually I and my partner Polly she said oh I want to know about this so she re-watched it a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing because I hadn't watched it in years and years you know I'd only just started playing probably full time then you know it all happened in quite you know quick succession I was playing with Dan and then I had this programme come along and then you know it was quite a lot to sort of take on board but yeah we ended up doing this concert booking palace and playing there. It was wild. It was totally surreal, to be honest.
SPEAKER_01:And then the third incredible thing you've done is you've recorded on some sessions with Robbie Williams, who's a very famous English singer and has done very successful in the charts. So you've recorded on two of his albums. One of them was on Melodion, on his Christmas Presents album, which got to number one in the charts. So you played Melodion on a number one album as well as a number one single. So two incredible things. And then you played on his album, The Heavy Entertainment Show where you're playing chromatic and bass harmonica on that you know how did you get the sessions with Robbie Williams?
SPEAKER_02:It was through Guy again so you know Guy is obviously he works with Robbie and yeah I mean I've been very lucky you know meeting him and meeting Guy and he's a good friend and so it's really good fun that's what I love about being musicians you get to and being a harmonica player particularly is that you get to play on different types of music you know pop music and jazz and blues and folk and or whatever you know all sorts and it felt actually with that album with the bass harmonica I'd never actually played a bass harmonica before I'd never played one until that session and I remember ringing up the Suzuki without Milton Keynes Howard Johnson and saying I need a bass harmonica I don't know anyone can I borrow one and they were like yeah so I went down to Milton Keynes on the way down to London having never played a bass harmonica and then learnt it very quickly
SPEAKER_01:You mentioned Jen Butterworth playing in a duo with her so she's a tremendous guitar player playing traditional Scottish guitar player You've done some recording with her. And recently you put out a song with the bass player John Parker. You also mentioned you put out Amazing Grace release on Spotify.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And also a Christmas song, Jingle Bells, you released that this year, yeah?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I did, yeah. So the Jingle Bells thing was just a bit of fun, you know, and again, that was a track that was done just with the bass of the box and the movie, you know. You know, it's a bit of fun and, you know, and then obviously Amazing Grace with John, that's something that we've been working on for years. You know, we've done it for years in gigs. It's
SPEAKER_01:an obligatory harmonica song to be able to play Amazing Grace, so yes, great you got that out. I mentioned three amazing things you've done. I should make that four because you also recorded harmonica on a TV advert with Robert De Niro for a British bread company called Warburton's.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I did. It was interesting that because it was, do you know what? It's the shortest harmonica session I've ever done. It was 10 minutes. So I remember going to the composer's house And he said, can you just play some sort of mad, like, blues solo-like music? And I was like, OK, well, that's a strange brief, but OK, I'll give it a go. So I did. So for 10 minutes, I just did, you know, licks, you know, blues licks, essentially. And then he sort of comped it all together, and that's how it came about. MUSIC
SPEAKER_01:And you also recorded some harmonica on a Sky TV comedy called Breeders, which stars Martin Freeman, the Hobbit from the Hobbit movies. So another great thing for your CV there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's carrying on. I mean, the Breeders thing is interesting because I did two days recording down in London at Air Studios for that. You know, it was quite bizarre. I didn't really sort of know what it was going to be. And then it's on series three now, I think, or something, which is great. You know, it's really good. Yeah, I really enjoyed doing that, actually. It was really, really good fun.
SPEAKER_01:Book-wise, you've written a tune book for your tunes on a Day Will Come album, yeah? So that's available to purchase from your website.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Did you write all the tunes or most of the tunes then for the album?
SPEAKER_02:So basically, Day Will Come was all the traditional tunes from the different countries. And then I had them written out, you know, notated. And then I had a book of my own tunes, which is part of that collection, I guess. A friend of mine, Jude Reese, she notated it all So some of them are harmonica-based tunes, some of them are boxed, you know, so there's like, I don't know, something like 60 notations that people can buy, you know, with all the different notations. So, yeah, you can get that on Bandcamp.
SPEAKER_01:So we talked about you playing Paddy Ritz's harmonica. You do also play chromatic. Yeah, Heavy Made Is My Brother is a good example, but you play it on a few of your albums, like the Richard III from the Ignite album.
UNKNOWN:.
SPEAKER_03:Have
SPEAKER_01:you played chromatic for a long time as well? You started out on diatonic.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I have. I actually picked up the chromatic not that long after diatonic. I know some people, they pick up the chromatic quite a while after playing the diatonic. But I kind of treat it... Again, I mean, this is an interesting question because some people obviously play the chromatic in the sense it's a chromatic instrument. So they learn, you know, all the different keys on it. And I don't really play it like that. I play it more like a diatonic, but I use all the percussive sort of ways of playing it. Obviously write lots of different types of tunes on it, you know, so I've learned like some different scales on it. I came up with a way of playing quarter turns on it, which Brendan said was quite unusual. I talked to him about it once. Yeah, I do play the chromatic quite a bit still, actually. I play it in my duo with John Butterworth. I use it for a particular sound. If I don't feel that the diatonic is going to suit a particular tune, I'll try the chromatic. I love it because it has such a different type of quality from the diatonic. It's just a different instrument, you know. But I do use it, I guess, a bit like open tuning on a guitar. They're playing loads of different keys on it and I'm not that kind of player.
SPEAKER_01:So a question I ask each time, Will, is if you had 10 minutes to practice, what would you spend those 10 minutes doing?
SPEAKER_02:I think it's about the tone for me and also not just tone but about, you know, what music am I enjoying at that time? So what would I spend my time doing? It could be Queen of Sheba by Handel or it could be, I don't know, I could be writing a tune, learning to play a bluegrass lick or whatever.
SPEAKER_01:So we'll get on now to talking about gear. So we've already talked about the fact that you play Paddy Richter tune harmonicas I think you are you also still exclusively playing Brendan's power harmonicas
SPEAKER_02:um no so I play um I play all sorts you know I play the diatonics by Hohner the um no not Hohner the Oscar ones um you know the sort of minor melodic and you know those different tunings I do obviously play the you know the Paddy Richter system but mainly that I mean that's probably like the most prevalent one um obviously I play the chromatics and thereby Suzuki as well I the 16-hole version or the 12-hole version. So
SPEAKER_01:do you play different key chromatics? Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:I do. So I'll play any key, really. Depends on the tune. And it's interesting, actually, with Irish music, obviously a lot of the time they're played in the keys of D and A and G and stuff, or C, whereas I quite like playing them in the flat keys, those tunes, because they just change. They change the whole flavour or the whole... It just sounds almost like a different tune. It's not. Obviously, melodically it's not a different tune. But yeah, so I have like on the diatonic instruments, you know, on the harmonicas, I have every key, you know, more or less. So I might play a tune in G sharp and it would sound completely different obviously from playing in D, partly because some of them sound warmer than others, you know, depending on the key.
SPEAKER_01:You should say that because obviously a lot of traditional music tends to be in kind of G and D as the, you know, the most common ones. So you quite like, you know, going off and doing the different keys. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:So for example, the opening track on my new album with Jen Butterworth We play three tunes. The first one's in G minor, so I'm using a B flat, you know, Paddy Richter. Then the second tune's in B flat, which is a Scottish reel, which usually we'd be playing D, called the Barabank Reel. So I play it in B flat. And then the last tune's in F, which is a bluegrass tune, which would usually be played in A, I think, called the Clinch Mountain Baxter. But I play it in F. I feel it just suits it better on that particular harmonica. No, it's quite a warm harmonica, the key of B flat and F. But then I might use for another tune, I might use a harmonica that's in E, which is a B flat. which is obviously a lot higher, you know, pitch. You know, it just depends on what we're kind of going for, really.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and all these are pretty much tuned in Paddy Richter.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, on the album, on that particular album, everything's in Paddy Richter from what I vaguely remember. And I use chromatic on a couple of them as well.
SPEAKER_01:Do you use any overblows?
SPEAKER_02:I do use overblows, yeah. So I do use, so when I'm doing, yeah, some of my technique involves overblowing quite a lot, actually, when I'm playing the Paddy Richter system. Because I do little bits of gypsy jazz as well so if I'm playing a tune like Sweet Georgia Brown rather than playing chromatic I've taught myself how to play it on the diatonic and that involves obviously using overblows both in the lower register as well as the upper I mean I find it so for example one of the exercises I was doing during the pandemic was picking a particular tune and learning it in four keys on the same harmonica so a bit like what Howard Levy
SPEAKER_03:does
SPEAKER_02:along those lines you know so if I was pick up a D harmonica I was learning to play an Irish tune in B major or in E major so like I've become quite like I love playing E major on on a D diatonic it's so it could be really soulful it can almost be as soulful as picking up the you know an E harmonica playing an E because of how the bends work and how the overblows work it can almost it just sounds different You know, it's really cool. That's what I love about the instrument is that when you start playing and having the ability to play in different keys on the same instrument, you know, there's a kind of whole world opens up.
SPEAKER_01:Well, exactly. It makes you play different riffs, doesn't it? Because if you've always played, say, in second position, you're always kind of playing this, in a way, you know, a lot of the same riffs, aren't you? It forces you to get away from that, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, absolutely it does. So, you know, for example, yes, because of playing, I learned to play in B major on a D major harmonica. It means I could switch, you know. I didn't have to pick up a B major harmonica or an F sharp harmonica. I could just go, right, I'm going to play cross heart. So one of the tunes I learned in B major on a D harmonica was the song of the Jolly Beggar Man, like a trad Irish song. I thought, well, it was more of an exercise thing, but it sounds really nice. You know, it just sounds a bit different because of where the bends are. Yeah, it's good fun.
SPEAKER_01:So what about your embouchure? Are you a pucker, a tongue blocker or anything else?
SPEAKER_02:I do do a bit of tongue blocking. Yeah, actually. And that's something I got into more recently. And I use it more as a percussive thing. You know, so I don't use it necessarily as a melodic. I mean, I do use it a bit, you know, doing chords and things like that. But it's more of a percussive thing. But I'm definitely not, I wouldn't say I'm an expert at tongue blocking. There's some great players out there that do that. But I definitely use it. And it's different ways of using it which I think is quite cool you know it's good for harmony and that kind of thing
SPEAKER_01:and so equipment wise what about mics and amplifiers what sort of approach do you think they're
SPEAKER_02:That's a really cool question. So I recently, and I've had quite a few people inquire about this. So I started using DPA and using a sort of what they use with actors. You know, it's basically a mic which comes around to your mouth, like a tiny little mic. It's a DPA mic. And it's just great. It's like a, you know, it's a headset, essentially. It's a headset. What it's done is revolutionized my gigs because I don't play into a mic anymore. Like, you know, like a normal mic on a stand. And I don't use a mic with my hands because it hurts. Obviously, if you're a blues player, like a bullet mic is going to be like your go-to or whatever you use, you know, but for me, because of the way I play, it's more acoustic based. I just want the natural sound of the instrument to be enhanced, you know, for a stereo system. So I just use this DP and it's stunning.
SPEAKER_01:Interesting. I'm not sure about, you know, come across anybody who's used one of those. You've kind of got it, obviously on the far side of the harmonica.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So, So I've got it on my, so if you, you know, if I was to face the stage, it would be on your left-hand side, you know, if you're looking at it, but on my right-hand side. And so we had to adjust the mic a few times to see, you know, how best to get the sound, you know. And I have my harmonica, when I'm playing, it's at a slight angle. So it's a slight angle. So they had to sort of adjust it.
SPEAKER_03:But
SPEAKER_02:it's revolutionized. I mean, I actually had someone from America message me going, you know, because I put something out about it, you know, and people were like, that's just changed things. You know, it's a DPA. with the company that I've been dealing with you know like they've like we've never had a harmonica player come to us before why hasn't that happened you know and for me it's like if you're if you're a player who you know plays tango or plays jazz or plays folk like for me it's like brilliant because it means you can use your hands you can use your hands free essentially
SPEAKER_01:and what about effects do you like any effects on your sound
SPEAKER_02:no not particularly I use so when I'm using when I do gigs I have like a little bit of reverb I've think effects are incredible but i'm not a master of that i guess the effects that i do come from literally you know acoustically so you know they come from my mouth and my hands you know those are those are my effects
SPEAKER_03:yeah
SPEAKER_02:and i think for me like if i went down that route i'd be a nightmare because i'd be just like what's the next thing what's the next thing and i quite like the limitation to a certain degree but that's not to say i think it's wrong i think it's amazing
SPEAKER_01:yeah i mean like you say it's a whole new world once you start getting into that i borrowed some effects pedals off my guitar player friend and i started playing with them it's like i how much time you need just to work out all the different effects they can do and that's just a few pedals you know like so there's millions of these things but yeah it's an incredible one
SPEAKER_02:yeah it's interesting though because I quite like on this new album with Jen like we've there's one bit of a particular song it's more of a production thing and they did put an effect on the harmonica but for like one bit of it and it sounds great but you know I wouldn't necessarily do that live it's just more of a you know production thing interestingly I've always been interested in doing a harmonica album which you know working with someone who does trance music or dance music sort of using the harmonica as an acoustic instrument within that
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've always thought that would work really great as well, having the harmonic on that. Yeah. Okay, so then final question then. Obviously, you've mentioned that you've got an album coming out with Jen Butterworth next year. Yeah. So, yeah, that would be great to see. When are you expecting that to come out?
SPEAKER_02:February, so quite soon. And then we're doing a tour in March and then in September, festivals. And so, yeah, I'm really excited about that. And it's been great because it's really developed my playing, playing with such a great player, Jen.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I think like any musician, you go through periods of time where you get some inspiration again. And that happens every now and again. And that was definitely one of those moments, you know. And it really sort of drove me to go, right, I'm going to get back on it again and get learning. And, you know, it's great. It's really, really good fun.
SPEAKER_01:So thanks so much for joining me today, Will Pound. Cheers. Thanks so much, Neil. It's been great. Thanks to Zydle for sponsoring the podcast. And be sure to check out the great range of harmonicas and products at www.zidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zidel Harmonicas. Thanks to Will and thanks to Donald Gavin for his donation to the podcast. Really helps me keep this thing going. As this episode is going out on Christmas Eve 2022, let's hear Will play us out with his version of Jingle Bells. Merry Christmas all!
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