published: 20 /
11 /
2002
The Nottingham based group, Saint Joan, received extensive airplay on John Peel's Radio 1 show with their haunting debut single, 'The Ice House'. Frontwoman Ellen McGee chats to Olga Sladeckova about the influence of literature on her songwriting
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“They will never sleep/As the houses burn/You try counting sheep/and I will never learn..." sings Ellen McGee, the lead singer with the Nottingham-based band Saint Joan, on 'The Ice House'.
The song has recently been released as a single on the band's own label, Dakota. It is the first ever first release of the group, which as well as Ellen (vocals, guitar), also consists of Matt Harm (drums), Christophe Dejous (bass) and Krisztina (violin). Matt Harrison (guitar, flute) was also until recently a member.
On the 1st November the band supported the London-based Baptiste at the London Arts Cafe at the launch gig for their debut album 'Nothing Shines Like A Dying Heart'.
"We started about 2 years ago." says Ellen, talking to Pennyblackmusic and sitting with the rest of the group backstage on the stairs at the Arts Cafe.. "Before then I was just a singer and guitarist on my own." The second member to join the band was Chris, who answered an advert that Ellen had put in a local newspaper, quoting PJ Harvey and Pavement as her main influences. Matt Harrison jthen oined the group in 2000.Matt Harms came along in 2001 and finally Krisztina, who is originally from Hungary, joined early this year.
"It's nice having more instruments as it widens the possibilities." Ellen ponders. "We like to keep things as minimal as possible though. I really think that less is more sometimes, especially with the kind of thing we do. You have to make sure you keep the silences and quiet bits. It's a kind of dynamic balance really. I think our music is quite melancholic."
Even though Saint Joan are relatively young band, they have already attracted a lot of attention. "We were involved in Radio 1 Live in Nottingham recently." Ellen says excitably. "John Peel put us in his Top Ten Nottingham bands (Oohh!!), and we played a show along with loads of other Nottingham based bands including Seachange, the Escapologists, the Grips and Mind At Large."
'The Ice House', which is a vinyl only release, came out in June. The single, which is distributed by Cargo, has been a great success, earning positive reviews and receiving extensive airplay by John Peel on his late-night Radio 1 show .
The band are hoping to start working on their debut album next year. "We want to do an album" confirms Ellen. "But we would prefer to release it on more known label, because studio bills are so expensive. Also, if we are on better known label, then more people will get to know about us."
Some of the material has already been written. and the musicians seem to have quite a clear idea already of what they want to do with the album. "We have already kind of planned it out." reveals Ellen. "It will be the same sort of thing as the single. A lot of songs though will be a lot shorter." she laughs, thinking about 'The Ice House', which despite having only 2 tracks, has a running time of over 15 minutes.
All the lyrics to date have been written by Ellen. "I think they are so melancholic because I tend to write about events which I have experienced."she reflects. "A lot of those events were quite harrowing."
"I don't think I'm miserable though." She says contrastingly. "I just have a knowledge of some of the depths of human emotion that I wouldn't have if I had spent my formative years in the middle class suburbs, where the hardest decision is whether or not to have marmalade on your toast in the morning. I am 22 years old ,but I feel a lot older sometimes."
"To be honest, I would feel like a fake singing about death if I didn't know it so well." she adds in conclusion.
Ellen also uses a lot of spoken word in songs, such as on 'All Things Melt', the B side of 'The Ice House'. "I don't know whether the spoken word was a forthright creative decision." she ponders. "It just seems to fit better with the music sometimes. We are fans of a lot of music with spoken words and bands like Arab Strap and Tindersticks, but I wouldn't want to do spoken word exclusively, as I really like singing too. I don't know if it makes things disjointed, but I don't really care. If people like it, they like it. If not, never mind."
Ellen is studying English Literature and History at Nottingham University. "I have always been a great fan of Philip Larkin." she says, when asked if she has resultingly taken some of the inspiration for her lyric writing from poetry and literature . "Especially stuff like 'Night Music' (from 'The North Ship') and Baudelaire's prose poems. I love Primo Levi too, not just his poems, but his memoirs which are kind of humbling."
"I like most literary forms to be honest" she continues. "In terms of novelists, I suppose Paul Auster rates pretty highly ('In The Country of Last Things' is a favourite). and so does Milan Kundera. Modernism is also very close to my heart,and the whole stream-of-consciousness thing with James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, and Simone De Beauvoir too, who is probably best known for 'The Second Sex'. She wrote an incredible monologue called 'The Woman Destroyed' which is pretty emotionally draining, but amazing at the same time."
As it has been said. Ellen is the songwriter. "I write all of the lyrics and arrange the songs" explains Ellen. "The other members of the band write their parts around my songs. Sometimes we improvise the music. That was the case with one of the newest song 'December'. We are hoping to put it on the forthcoming album."
The band have also supported Cinerama and Birdie in their native Nottingham. "Basically there is a really good promoter in Nottingham." explains Ellen. "They put on very good bands like Cinerama, and Fugazi... I think they put on the Strokes on as one of their first gigs. And they offered us the chance to play."
All of a sudden we hear loud music from the concert hall right behind a wall next to us, as Twisted Charm, the first supporting band, start their set. Fortunately we have covered just about everything and shout our thanks at each other.
Saint Joan were on the stage next. Their calm and emotive tunes are magnetising, and Ellen's voice is thick with feelings and raw emotion. The honesty and humanity of the band shines through, not just at the interview, but also at the show.
Saint Joan will appear at the Penny Black Music night at the Spitz on the 11th January along with Ricky Spontane, Baptiste and Silver Surfer.
The photographs that accompany this article were taken by Bob Stuart and originally appeared on his website www.underexposed.org.uk
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