“I tuned a kettle to the right pitch for a song” – One to watch: rock experimentalist AILSA TULLY

Ailsa Tully, Monmouthshire-raised, London-based folk-rock experimentalist is looking to build her already burgeoning profile in 2022 – which started with an appearance at Wrexham’s FOCUS Wales festival in early May and ramping up for Green Man this August. She spoke to Buzz’s Emma Way.

Listen, watch or read the full conversation below.

You released your second EP, Holy Isle, late last summer – were you able to tour and help to build an audience as much as you’d like?

We [Ailsa and band] were really lucky. We did a tour with Another Sky that was amazing, kind of when the EP was being released – we decided to release it quite slowly. We did two singles, and then the next two songs. It obviously makes a massive difference when you do tour – that’ll be nice, to actually get back out on the road again and do that properly.

When the whole EP came out, like a week after [the tour], people had already heard most of the songs. It was amazing to have that response, after so long of not having anything – like, it’s gone out into the world, and you have no idea if anyone… you receive messages and stuff, but it’s not the same. It was amazing to be with the audience and have a real physical thing happen. A kind of communication you can’t get in any other way.

Playing April’s all-day 6 Music Fringe gig in Clwb Ifor Bach, did you find you had to get people to stay and listen to you?

No, people were great! They came and listened and it was amazing. We did have Steve Lamacq go to the loo… I think he was maybe the only person that came in and out.

I think Wales is really good for that though. I think people can have a lot of time for you, people love music there, and they’re really supportive of smaller artists. I don’t know if I can call myself Welsh – I grew up there, in between Monmouth and Abergavenny – and I feel that’s a huge benefit of being an artist in Wales.

Did you learn anything from Holy Isle that’s helped you work towards future releases?

I’m literally right next to Holy Isle [off central Scotland] right now so it’s quite fitting that I am talking about it! You’re always learning and progressing, hopefully. There are older songs on that EP that feel important to have out – it’s a fresh start for me in terms of where I’m going, now that I’ve explored some things. I wanted to use more field recordings and hone my sense of melody. Now it’s like the next stage of where I want to take that.

About your field recordings, I think it’s so interesting how your songs can incorporate the sound of a washing machine, for example! On Mothering, one of your new songs, is that the sound of a kettle?

Yes, it’s a kettle tuned to the right pitch for the song. It’s a song about a conversation and a lot of conversations are like a cup of tea – you know, you sit down, have it. There’s a lot of tension in the kettle, and there’s a lot of tension in this conversation.

What’s your favourite field recording you’ve captured?

I set up a zoom recorder by some bird feeders and managed to capture the sound of wings. There’s a really nice quality of light texture, but also rhythm within that. It’s such a light sound, but there’s quite a lot of force to it. It’s almost percussive, like a roll. But the next step is turning these into, not just ongoing drones or background sound, but little bites of rhythm. This is the first time I’ve used field recordings in a drum context.

You started out as a cellist – is that where you got your inspiration for tuning a bass guitar to a cello tuning?

I ended up learning it when I was about seven, but I didn’t really fit in with the classical stuff at school. And I kind of learned everything by ear – so I ended up singing with the cello. That didn’t feel very good either, because it was quite awkward. It’s big… not very good for gigs. My cello was from the 18th century – it was like it had been through some serious problems, it had scars all over it and was really fragile.

I didn’t want to keep taking it to gigs, so I got an electric cello. That just sounded like death, because there’s no resonance in the body. There’s this horrible, squeaky, very uncomfortable sound when you bow. So the bass felt like the way to transition into a different instrument while retaining the things that I loved.

I like that there are only four strings – that gives me more space to create melody because I’m limited by the number of chords I can make. I’m sure you can make it very complicated, but in terms of chords, you can only do so much on the bass. So I transitioned over and kept it in shallow tuning. 

In the arrangements, everything above it is much more atmospheric as well, because obviously, your voices are above the cello. That whole area is really floaty, and the bass is the grounding.

Yeah, it routes it. I tend to play very high, so it can kind of be all over the place. Then you have to think about, well, if the bass is so high, where’s the guitar gonna sit? My guitarist plays like a bassist and I play like a cellist – we’ve got a lot of role reversals in my band, we’re confused about what we really want.

You’re playing Green Man this year – who are you looking forward to sharing the stage with?

I’m really excited to see Alex G.

What was your first experience of playing at a festival?

I think it was Nozstock, in Herefordshire. I started playing and this man was like, “I’m gonna get up with you and play as well…” He was really good, but I just didn’t know what to play. It was actually quite awkward – I was like, is this what’s supposed to happen?

Do you think about how you’ll perform a song live as you’re writing it?

I really don’t. I think that’s actually something that I’m quite bad at! I just kind of write the song. With Mothering, this will be the first time where it’s going to be on SPD (triggered samples) – all sounds that I have recorded. [Otherwise] we always use live drums.

What are you most looking forward to this year?

Green Man! I’ve been going for years and years, and it’s such a privilege to play at. I might be going to Bulgaria. I want to start an album… I’m looking forward to making new strange drum parts and sad songs.

Ailsa Tully plays The Parish, Wrexham as part of FOCUS Wales on Fri 6 May. Info: here. She also plays HowTheLightGetsIn in Hay-On-Wye on Thurs 2 June (info: here) and the Green Man Festival in the Brecon Beacons from Thurs 18-Sun 21 Aug (exact date TBC; info: here).

words EMMA WAY