“Lorca & The Orange Tree” By The Mummers

Free Legal Download of “Wonderland” here

Just think, if Bjork hadn’t suffered that nasty trauma to her elfin like noggin when plummeting towards Wonderland via the rabbit hole, her recent output may well have been somewhat less self indulgent and a little more palatable.  Maybe she too would have been able to produce something as magical and majestic as The Mummers “Tale To Tell”. Unlike Bjork the Mummers do not indulge in ludicrous “avant garde” squawking, shrieking or gurning,  nor do they feel the need to resort to incoherent babbling  relating their somewhat misguided belief  that they have the ability to commune with  imps, pixies  and other magical woodland creatures, and to be honest their music sounds all the better for it . The Mummers have also remembered that it’s often beneficial when writing a song to include oft overlooked necessities, for example … a tune.  There will always be artists who, when given the freedom to experiment, can produce something profoundly beautiful and by the same token there are others who, rather like Al Pachino without a firm directorial hand, will sadly lapse into laughable over the top self parody. The Mummers quite firmly fall into the former category whereas The Icelandic Princess of La-la Land has drifted dangerously close to the latter.

“Tale To Tell” is an incredibly liberating album; it conjures up memories of those seemingly endless sun filled summer holidays of yore, when life was full of magic and infinite possibilities. Yup, it really does transport you back to the days when the world seemed a place of discovery and wonder,  before you donned the blinkers of adulthood, conformed, and somehow became all that you once despised.  The album could also serve as a useful point of reference for Mark Ronson, namely with regard to “the correct use of horns”. It’s an album that combines a myriad of influences and the result is a gorgeous euphony of sound and styles that skillfully combines pop music with classical,  film scores with cabaret  and includes swathes of  swooning orchestral flourishes all underpinned by Rassia’s amazing voice . It’s the sound of a West End musical written by David Lynch and could also quite easily fit rather snuggly into the soundtrack of Tim Burton’s forthcoming much anticipated adaptation of “Alice In Wonderland”

The Mummers universe is essentially centered around London-born singer/songwriter Raissa Khan-Panni, a musician who previous musical incarnation “Rassia”, discovered that critical acclaim doesn’t always result in commercial success. When her solo work started to stutter she returned to long joyless hours of waitressing, but continued to write  and make “fairytale versions of the mundane”, for what would come to form the basis of her latest musical project. We spoke to Rassia  to find out more about The Mummers and the art of Mumming…

VP: Tell us the story of The Mummers, how the project came about and who is involved?

Raissa: ….Naturally ….
It was during a time when I went back to waitressing in a slightly bleak period of having nothing again. I was writing lyrics and thinking about creating a project that was the farthest removed from my life at the at the time, when by chance Mark Horwood sent  me an orchestrated version of a ‘Riverman’ cover I’d done. It was so perfect and I hunted him down for a year (he’d disappeared off to LA) eventually finding him in the countryside outside Brighton living in a Treehouse studio he’d built and it was full of the most wonderful instruments and it inspired a lot of the imagery in the album. So we started The Mummers straight away with a former collaborator of mine Paul Sandrone gradually expanding it to include about 20 musicians from Brighton and around.

VP:  So you recorded the album “Tale to Tell” in a tree house! One assumes this was not your average tree house!!?

Raissa: It is a wooden extension of a house that Mark built high up in between two massive Pine Trees. You access it by a steep and slippery wooden staircase and it is filled with old keyboards, harmoniums, organs and percussion instruments.

VP: You’ve previously been involved in the music business, but despite the critical acclaim, as mentioned, you went back to waitressing. Did you always believe that you would return to music? Was it a case of just waiting
it out?

Raissa:  I always knew I would return to music – in fact I never stopped, after my solo project I started experimenting with underground garage, drum n bass and house whilst preparing for The Mummers.

VP:  How would you describe “Tale To Tell” to the uninitiated?

Raissa: An intimate and personal perspective of the world that creates fairytale versions of the mundane.

VP:  What sort of music/ musicians have been major influences on your work?

Raissa: Rickie Lee Jones, my all-time favourite singer-songwriter, Rufus Wainwight’s huge sound and worldly lyrics, John Barry’s film scores, Miles Davis ‘in a silent way’ era, keyboard textures,

VP: How did you enjoy the recent appearance on Jools Holland?

Raissa: It was amazing to be a part of a show that included The Specials and Carol King, we were in awe. Scary to be performing on live TV especially as I’d lost my voice the week before. It was a total buzz however and we were like over-excited school children.

VP:  What musicians past or present, dead or alive would you love/have loved, to work with?

Raissa: Leonard Bernstein, Carol King, Freddy Mercury

VP:  What are your plans for the remainder of 2009?

Raissa: Festivals all summer, and then a UK tour in autumn hopefully, finishing the next album.

VP: What’s been the highlight of The Mummers thus far?

Raissa: Jools Holland and seeing the album racked in HMV for the first time.

VP: What are the five most important words in the Mummers’ vocabulary?

Raissa:  Tea, Train, Treehouse, Twitter (as of last week), Tea.

Links

Myspace

Official Site

On Twitter

Wallpapers

Video

“Wonderland”-The Mummers Live On Jools Holland

The Birth Of The Mummers

“Leave” By VV Brown

“This Charming Man” By VV Bown

“Crying Blood” By VV Brown

If the critics are right then Northampton born, London based artist, VV Brown, could soon replace James Allan (Glasvegas) or Morrissey as having the most recognisable quiff in pop. She was named in the BBC’s Sound of 2009 list, alongside acts such as Little Boots, La Roux and Lady GaGa, as one to watch in 2009 and has featured in practically all  the other “Tips  for 09″ lists. It is to her credit that through self belief and determination she  turned her fortunes around, as her musical career got off to a less than auspicious start. After being signed to Polydor she was dispatched to the USA to work with top producers, alas the resulting unions didn’t  exactly prove to be  matches made in heaven.  On the whole VV  felt she was being asked to produce music that wasn’t representative of her, indeed Morrissey’s words “It says nothing to me about my life” seemed to fittingly sum up VV’s musical experience there.

And so she returned to England, skint and demoralised, to reassess her future, having to deal with the additional “emotional hell” of a failed relationship. Once back in London, all Brown could afford was an acoustic guitar, which she struggled to master, having been brought up on primarily on the piano. Removing all the strings bar one proved to be her “Eureka” moment in terms of discovering the type of music she wanted to produce and she proceeded to write the bulk of her album” Traveling Like The Light” using this rather unconventional method. “It forces you to concentrate on the melody, so you naturally go to swing and rock’n'roll.” One thing VV was determined to establish was to have complete artistic control over her work and not be turned into a scantily clad, booty shaking big label puppet.  “Some artists say they’ve produced a record and it’s just  bullshit, but this is my baby. I’ve played bass, drums and the synth parts, even the trumpet. Anything else, I’ve told musicians what to play. I want people to know I’m not just this young girl who’s been signed and given a load of songs or been sat in a studio. This is my blood and my tears.”

Her first release was a limited non-chart eligible single called “Crying Blood” which incidentally will also be the title song for upcoming movie “The Lesbian Vampire Killers” from the Gavin and Stacey team of James Corden and Matthew Horne.  Brown who describes her style as “Indie doo-wop” says she’s influenced by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, The B52, Pulp, Elvis Presley, Imogen Heap, and erm… Nintendo. In October 2008 she was invited by Damon Albarn to attend the Africa Express trip, during which she performed with artists such as Babyshambles, The Magic Numbers, and “Flea” from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Bashy, and Kano in Lagos, Nigeria.

VV releases her eagerly awaited debut single, proper, “Leave!” on March 2nd through Island Records and explains  “Leave is about being intoxicated and confused by being in love and the conflict between listening to your heart and your mind.” We had a chat prior to her embarking on a major tour along side The Ting Tings and Ladyhawke.

VP: Your debut album “Traveling like the Light” is due for release this year, was written entirely on a one string guitar, upon returning from America after both your career and relationship took a wrong turn. Was writing the album a form of therapy?

VVB: Yes, writing “Traveling Like The Light” was definitely a cathartic process. I never knew a one string dilapidated guitar would take me this far.

VP:  You’ve previously said that when in America there was an attempt to turn you into a “booty shaking” R n B Diva. Did you feel pressurized to conform to this stereotype and was it  difficult to speak out at the time?

VVB: I was young and impressionable. I didn’t speak out. I trusted the instincts of others around me rather than my own.

VP:  Do you think these experiences shaped your desire to take control of your career and write and produce your own album?

VVB: Absolutely. I never wanted to compromise so much again. It’s you who has to represent that sound, if its not you then you’ll forever be supporting something you don’t truly believe in. I wanted to make music that whether it was a success or a failure it was something that meant something to me. Art is like internal Buddhism, if it means truth to you then you’ve found  inner peace and success in yourself. It took me a while to realise that and not be validated by the success that is socialised around you.

VP:  You’ve described your music as “Do-Wop Indie”, reflecting your own musical tastes, which bands and artists have had the biggest influence on you?

VVB: There are so many I can’t even begin to start. The Specials, Kim Burrell, Ruth Brown, Nintendo…my parents were huge fans of old school ska and reggae so that was what I was brought up on alongside Gospel and Jazz. I took  classical piano lessons so I became fond of that which led me to my love for film music and instrumentals. During my teens I started to love electric pop and music from computer games.

VP: I assume 2008 has been taken up in the main part, working on your album. Did you get much time to catch much new music and if so what stood out for you?

VVB: I got extremely interested in African music after my trip to Africa. It took a while for my ears to warm too as it is very different from what my ears are use too but after a while it  became so deep and hypnotic to me.  A beautiful complex simplicity. A freedom.

VP:  What have been your own personal highlights of 2008?

VVB: Obama.
Falling in love with someone I hardly know just from a wonderful kiss.
Performing on Jools Holland

VP:  On to your image, how long does it take to sculpt your mightily impressive quiff?

VVB: 2 min and a few secs. Being on tour makes you do some crazy things, quickly.

VP: What have been the biggest shows you’ve played so far?

VVB: Forum, Astoria, Scala. Forum is my fave so far. It’s beautiful when you look up. Something about old English architecture

VP:  As a music fan yourself which medium would you say  you use the most to discover new music, the radio , the net, MTV type TV channels  or traditional music magazines ?

VVB: The internet. It’s how I find out about everything. I’m always googling, finding out about interesting things, music to animal habitats, online documentaries and even to watching old  cartoons like Bevis and Buthead and Mighty Mouse.

VP:  If you were granted five wishes for 2009, what would they be?

VVB:
1. Happiness
2. Consistency/credibility in my career
3. Octa-Herdra (musical instrument)
4. No war
5. Better conditions and opportunities for children who live in social care.

Links

On myspace

Official Site

Wallpaper

Videos

“Leave” By VV Brown

“Crying Blood” By VV Brown