I turn 28, my saw turns 1... ...with hilarious consequences!
My musical saw was a birthday present from when I turned 27. I spent my 28th birthday weekend playing saw onstage with Gentlemen & Assassins- Elyas Khan, Sxip Shirey & Brian Viglione. Pretty bloody cool. SUCH an honour to play with those guys, especially since the Dresden Dolls were one of the first bands to drag me screaming into the world of neo-cabaret and, then, into playing the musical saw. I played on a track called Flame Girl, by the Nervous Cabaret (Khans band) which you can hear here: Nervous Cabaret on bandcamp.
I also dabbled in a bit of memory-lane busking in the Pavilion Gardens with one of my best friends from London, Esther, who plays in a wonderful band called Quiet Choir.
Busking with Esther. Photo by James Burt.
Playing with Gentlemen & Assassins. photo by Rosie Cotton.
------------ Onto other saw-related news then... I spent a few hours last week recording the saw/guitar parts for my full band, Gin Panic. For those whove seen recent live shows, I spend one track (Meat Machine) playing my guitar with my saw bow, and then with the actual saw. Getting some IMMENSE sounds from it live, but getting it on record is proving a challenge! I must admit, for as long as Ive been playing music (almost 20 years now!), Ive actually never been a fan of recording. It can very easily end up feeling sterile, over-structured and too pressured...I end up becoming obsessed with making it sound live, when I should know by now that its ok for recorded music to sound RECORDED! Will keep the blog updated with saw stuff, definately.
saw/guitar action with Gin Panic.
---------- As the weather is getting better now, Im looking to get back on the streets of Brighton busking with my saw! Should anyone in brighton reading this wanna do some duet stuff on the streets with me, do get in touch, I do so love to play with other musicians! [email protected] ----------- UP NEXT! Ill be adding a dash of saw to Rocket Lolly; at this weeks 'Silver Wednesday', which will be curated by one of my newest musical heroines, Sarah Angliss. Sarah recently did a fascinating talk for TEDxBrighton called 'Loving the machine'. You just gotta see it. Im always banging on about Silver Wednesday- its brightons best kept secret! Every Wednesday at the Marlborough Theatre. We show vintage film- ranging from 1950s infomercials to 1920s pornography. Sometimes I serve popcorn and gin in teacups, and play a little saw if I dont help myself to too much of the gin.... The 27th of March will see me performing once more with the SAWCHESTRA! We'll be reprising our live score for the silent 20s shadow puppet film 'The adventures of Prince Achmed' at the Little Angel Theatre in er, Angel, Islington.
cutting my birthday cheesecake with my saw, post G&A gig. YEAH. Photo by James Burt.
A spot of guest saw-ing on the cards...
...and not just for anyone this time! Quick kate-saw-history- as some of you may know, some years ago i was seduced by the DARK SIDE: that now HUGE thing known as 'punk-cabaret'. Although Ill always be a back-to-basics, loud-guitar-playing, post punk girl at heart, I love a bit of dark theatre, a bit of vaudeville, and so, once the marvellous Dresden Dolls got me going, I started really falling for this new style that seemed to be emerging. It appealed to many parts of me- the use of stranger instruments, my love of dirty vintage and my interest in making live music a bit more of a ....performance. Fast-forward to now, and Ive found myself doing a bit of guest saw playing for none other than Gentlemen & Assassins, the new band featuring a bevvy of highly-gifted musicians; including Elyas Khan of the tremendous Nervous Cabaret and, one of my favourite drummers of all time, Brian Viglione. Hell yeah. Supporting of course, is the unforgettable Bitter Ruin! So, pretty exciting way to spend my 28th birthday (a big one, as Im finally leaving club 27- rock star death year). Doing what I Love, with musicians I hugely respect. Can't ask for more than that! 5th March, the Brunswick, Hove xo
More Sawchestra news!
Hello! Ive been asked to play once again with the marvelous Sawchestra at the Reel Islington Puppets on Film festival on the 27th March.http://www.reelislington.com
We've been asked to resurrect (its still warm!) our 'Adventures of Prince Achmed' live film score, which was a huge success last time around. To prove it, heres some pictures, taken by the dreadfully lovely Peter Kalen:
...and here's little ol me having a good old time with my saw in the front row with Dr David Bramwell and 2 very friendly ladies who joined in with percussion.
More news nearer the time!
In other saw news, Ive played quite a few gigs with my full band recently and have been really going nuts on my guitar with the saw. Theres a video someone filmed on youtube of the full gig if you click here. To skip to the right bit, forward the video to: 17 minutes in....guitar/saw-pocalypse!
'Sawchestra' presents...!
Hello saw-fans! On the 12th January, I was lucky enough to be part of the Sawchestra for the first time, at Silver Wednesdays- a weekly vintage cinema night I help out at, run by the marvelous Tarik- a catalyst behind so many great events in Brighton and beyond. 'Audience members are invited to bring along their own saws, toys or unusual instruments and play along with a foolishly romantic silent classic movie, conducted by Foster from the Sawchestra.' There were around 7 saw players, as well as a cellist, a harpist, a harmonium, a percussionist, a trombonist, and all kinds of other bizarre and wonderful instruments....we packed 50+ people into the cosy Marlborough Theatre to recreate a live improvised soundtrack to 'The adventures of Prince Achmed': a beautiful early 1920s film created entirely using shadow puppets.
Above: Silver Wednesdays, just before we start to let people in!
Sawchestra draws together a huge collection of talented and varied musicians, keen on creating new sounds and experiences, and is run by Mr Foz Foster.I hope to join the Sawchestra again soon, with hopefully enough notice to let you know before any events happen. Also, a quick mention of another saw-player, Sarah Angliss, someone I am bumping into increasingly often! Sarah performs under the name Spacedog, and is an extremely talented musician and engineer. Have a look at her website over at www.sarahangliss.com
New Year updatery
30th December 2010
New years eve gig! Firstly, I have been invited back by the Baron to play at the Die Freche Muse New Years Eve 'Emporium of Delights'. Ive got a couple of guestlist spaces, so get in contact if youd like to come along pronto, or buy a ticket from their website. www.diefrechemuse.co.uk Its not half as expensive as many other NYE nights in London, so do come along and join us: it should be a tremendous night :) ----------------------------- Brighton Argus (& ensuing scandal!) Secondly, I appeared on the front page of the Brighton Argus with my saw on the 23rd December. On page 3 there was an interview and lots of (quite well researched!) information about the saw....some things I didnt even know! On the Argus website, theres a version of the interview, as well as a video of me playing. Click here for the online article! I accidentally used the word 'Sawchestra' when I mentioned getting a lot of other saw players together, which caused a bit of a Brighton blizzard, as I didnt know the term had already been taken by Mr Foz Foster- sorry Foz! All is well now :) ----------------------- Saws + guitars + distortion! I am also recording a new album with my band Gin Panic, which is coming along nicely. Ive been experimenting with different instruments a lot more for this album- theres a toy piano making an appearance and of course, the saw gets a look-in....but not in the usual way! Ive played the guitar with my bow, as well as using the saw itself on the strings to get some mad noises. More news on that soon! We're hoping to get hold of an old guitar and saw it in to pieces onstage and see what kind of noise it makes....only get one chance to do that though!
See you all on the other side for more saw shenanigans. Have a happy new year! xo
Welcome!
2oth DECEMBER 2010
Dearest saw chums! First things first, I have just been interviewed for the Brighton Argus newspaper, and will be being photographed and filmed playing saw tomorrow in the Pavilion Gardens at midday. Will let you know how that goes! -------------- Fresh(ish!) from performing at the FANTASTIC 'Die Freche Muse', at a secret location in London, I am curled up at Kate Towers, avoiding the snow and rebuilding my website, so do keep coming back for more news! I do fully intend to use my site to not only document my saw adventures, but also to give you news from the inside of the cabaret/burlesque/performance scenes of London & Brighton, and recommend all the marvelous performers I meet and events that are going on. There is so much going on out there, and so many great performers that I want to really shout out! As has always been the case, the performance scene of the UK is filled with promoters and venues who are genuinely out there to put on good nights, whilst respecting performers' rights and promoting performance art, live music & cabaret, but they can be hard to find! So it is without further ado that I first must recommend Die Freche Muse- a great community, performers are all fed and looked after (and, of course, paid!) and given a great crowd to perform to. Comes highly recommended by me! I hope to return to them for NYE- 'The Emporium of Delights'! News about that when I have it of course! Noted performers of the night, for me were: Frank Sinazi. So wrong, he's right. Lovely chap too. Astral Star - Beautiful and imaginative aerial performer. Silks, trapeze & hoop. Also teaches at her London home. Dott Cotton & Apple Tart- A very talented and funny double-act, both great solo performers too!