Gideon Brody's collection of brain thoughts left for public consumption on a very ad hoc basis

Ann Scott’s album We’re Smiling was released earlier this year to a great deal of praise from TMM. Labelled as “music for the connoisseur”, the album was Scott’s second release following Poor Horse – an album voted into the top 100 all-time Irish albums by Hotpress. She’s also been nominated in the best female category for the 2005 and 2007 Irish Meteor Awards and put her second record out on her own independent label.

Gideon Brody asks the questions.

Firstly, congratulations on a brilliant album! Describe to us what it feels like to work on and finally finish an album. Does it feel like a massive load off your shoulders or do you feel a sense of sadness that it is all finished?
It’s certainly great to get the masters back and see that living proof of all your hard work – there is a transformation in being able to touch and feel your songs in that physical format. Once you finish an album though, you don’t exactly abandon it afterwards. There’s all the touring and various feedback, and in some ways, really it’s only when the album is heard by people that it comes to life. So finishing an album can feel more like the start of a chapter than the end of one. Also for many musicians it’s constantly itchy feet because by the time you write a load of songs, pull your hair out rehearsing, arranging and then recording and producing them you’re usually dying to get back to base and start on a new batch.

There’s a great deal of electronica going on in We’re Smiling. Are you a closet computer nerd? Or did you want to get away from a solid acoustic sound?
I like how rustic and modern worlds can balance each other out. I am a bit of a nerd and I know a couple of other nerds who keep me up to date with all sorts of technical nerdy stuff. But I’ll always be part-time with that element of it. I like the laptop foodling, but for me a lot of the joy of music lies in making contact with the instrument and i’ll always go back to wood and strings and jingles to get that sensation of being a breathing unit with it.

What makes you want to write music/songs and is it something you decided you wanted to do from a young age?
I’ve always liked to put my imagination to work… not always through music… I think any creative urge is caught up with the will to life and be yourself and say what you have to say. Singing is a very primal release and writing is where you come to make sense of it all. Then there’s the addictive highs and lows of performing. So that’s all a powerful driving force.

Explain your song writing methods to us. Do you arrange chords and music first or is it the lyrics that come into your head initially? Perhaps it is more organic than that?
It can be either. For me it’s about getting at a mood so often writing and music have to be taken as a whole. Writing with a guitar usually starts with the chords and then lyrics, or if you’re lucky sometimes they both fall together at the same time. Words can often come on their own, but generally I dont call them lyrics until they have a melody to match.

Do your songs come from your own experiences or are they imagined?
Truth or fiction? Your own experiences can’t but end up in your songs really, whether you wear your heart on your sleeve, use psycedelic imagery or make up scenarios and characters. Everything you think and feel and believe is framed by your own expericence so it all goes in there.

I don’t always tell my own story, per se but I try and always tell the truth… Too much art today is self absorbed. Many people will stand on a stage and recite their life story but not necessarily with honesty or with imagination.

Are you writing all the time? For example, when you’re daydreaming on a bus or out doing the shopping etc? Or, do you prefer to write in regimented spurts?
I find the writing part quite cyclical. Sometimes you need to work hard on it just to get through a block and other times if you stop and fuel up on daily life a bit the ideas will just flow. Most often the best ideas come when you least expect. I discard a lot of material beacuse at the end of the day I prefer it to be intuitive rather than to be clever.

How much do the pillars of Irish music hang over any up and coming Irish acts or do you think Irish music is inherently of a certain style?
Ireland has a great legacy of traditional music, songwriters and storytellers… I am really proud of my Irishness and to come from that backdrop but it is not a particularly defining feature of the music I make… I try not to wear the mantle of being an “Irish songwriter” because it can be misleading. The probem with any pigeon holing is the assumptions that go with it. For example, anybody who equates “Female Irish singer songwriter” with world music or easy listening would be in for a shock if they picked up either of my albums.

What would you be doing if you weren’t a musician? What other hidden talents do you have?
I think I’ve always been a writer of different sorts, I’ve written up the whole lot, from racing results to obituaries and everything inbetween. At a certain crossroads i wanted to work with horses, I’m quite cryptic but also level headed so I probably have it in me to be a spy or a gambler. I also like swimming so maybe I could have been a mermaid ?

Who are your favourite female singers right now? I guess Laura Marling must be up there? Or are you going to tell us you’re only into death metal and hardcore punk?
I don’t keep in the loop really with the latest media favouries or breakthrough bands, but if i hear something new and i like it I’ll check it out… I also like to delve through old stuff. Recently I’ve discovered some old very haunting 12th and 13th century music for voice in old French dialect. So I guess right now I’m stuck in the dark ages.

And who are the staple bands and singers that you always fall back on? Who are you inspired by?
Gigwise you can’t beat the oldtime pros – for me watching Robert Plant, Iggy Pop or Patti Smith play out live is hard to beat, although Radiohead are always brilliant.

Finally, I hear you’re working on the next album. What can you tell us about that and when can we expect its release?
Yes I’m slogging away. I’ll hopefully release it this year but the deadline is floating… Its has begun in a DIY intimate home recording style but I’m going to Chicago in April so I may record the pianos in tune and add a little um… death metal to the laptop pops…