EVANS MCRAE | INTERVIEW

 

After five years of collaboration, Lowri Evans and Tom McRae – normally found in Pembrokeshire and Wiltshire respectively – are set to release their first album as a singing and writing duo. They tell John-Paul Davies about the serendipity of their meeting and the joy of collaborating – with the right person.

 

So how did this partnership begin?

Lowri: We met a few years ago in a songwriting retreat with Tom’s friend Kathryn Williams, who I didn’t know at the time. It was in Stroud and about 15 songwriters were invited. I was definitely a bit worried about what was going to happen – I think Tom was too. Every day Kath would put two or three songwriters together, they’d spend the day writing a song and in the evening everyone would perform their song.

Funnily enough, Tom and I didn’t get put together on any of these days, but on the last day there was a spare half-hour where everyone wasn’t running around; I asked Tom if he wanted to spend it looking at a song. We did, and that song is the title track of the album. That was five years ago!

Tom: Lowri is painting a nice picture of that songwriters’ retreat. They can be quite stressful if you’re not the sort of person that doesn’t collaborate easily – and I don’t. I’ve written for a couple of people, and in a couple of writers’ rooms, but it’s not an experience I enjoy because there’s an element of making yourself vulnerable in front of other people to get something good. And if you can’t do that, or if you’re not comfortable, you’re working in a sausage factory – putting words together and chords together.

In a writing room you’ve got a morning and afternoon to write the best part of two or three songs, and that’s the reason the charts are full of, essentially, rubbish, written by 12 people. So, I’m even anti-writing together on a fun, free weekend in a fancy boutique hotel with a bunch of other songwriters – it’s not something I would normally do. But it was great with Lowri because she literally doesn’t give a shit. She wants to make a great song from the get-go and holds nothing back.

It was really refreshing to know someone for 40 minutes, see the way they approach songwriting and think, that’s how I want to go about it: try and make the best song, not think who it’s for or what your great message is going to be. Just use it as a kickoff point to allow something special to happen. I thought if this goes any further, I’m up for it.

 

If you’re writing from a place where there’s no agenda, how do you feel Only Skin came out as such a coherent collection of songs?

Tom: I think if you have a strong, personal aesthetic, that’s going to come through. We have the same sort of interests and the same sort of approach. But more than that, it’s the idea that unless what you’re writing is a vehicle for emotion then it’s sort of pointless. If you’re just writing music, then you’re doing something different. It can still be music, but that’s a different category, as far as I’m concerned. With Lowri and myself, it has to be saying something, and be a vehicle to carry that emotion to an audience. And if that’s your only songwriting remit, then it’s bound to be coherent.

 

Talk us through how the writing partnership works – do you combine ideas, bring complete songs?

Tom: 99% is Lowri writing them and telling me what to do. Which is a good working relationship – both acknowledging that good songwriting is not who’s in the room, but working with somebody you trust in order to catch the songs that are going through the room. Lowri is good at churning out loads of melodies; I’m good at going, “that bit is brilliant, let’s use that”.

Lowri: I’ve got a phone full of 30-second ideas – the problem is most of them just stay on your phone. But working with Tom, he’d say, “have you got any ideas?” and you’ve got no idea what he’s going to say. He never says it’s crap, but he would say if he didn’t think that’s going to work. Which is what you want to hear.

 

Many writers have found lockdown a surprisingly fertile time. Were you been able to meet to record Only Skin?

Tom: When lockdown came, it stopped us touring, so there was no excuse not to knuckle down and get it done. You have to make the best of the situation so we just dove in and finished it.

Lowri: The crux of the album was recorded in August 2019 in StudiOwz, a beautiful converted chapel in Pembrokeshire. We spent a week there – Tom and I, Lee [Mason, Lowri’s partner], Tom’s drummer and bass player came down as well. We recorded a few things remotely, vocals and some guitar parts. And then the pandemic hit and that gave us the kick up the bum to finish.

Tom: I think the choir [Cardigan’s Ar ôl Tri] need mentioning. We were very lucky to get them in before the pandemic, so we had a brilliant bit of Welsh flavour on a couple of things. I’ve got a rolodex of people who given the state of the modern music business – but also the pandemic – are very adept at recording great parts remotely. Most albums get made that way these days anyway. I send stuff off to LA, cello player sends it back, brass gets done in Sweden.

 

The album has a contemplative, self-reflective tone. Was that theme born out of the pandemic?

Tom: I think the songs have a strong authorial voice because they would always start with either one of us, lyrically – never both of us. When you have that first draft of the lyrics, editing is much easier than writing. Same with my stuff – saying this could be the middle eight is a different mindset from saying, “I don’t think you should sing that word, it’s a bit cheesy,” which can be a blow. The lyrics and melody have to come from the same place, and if they don’t you have to make them work or you’re just putting bad words to a good melody.

Lowri: I put pressure on myself when I was introducing songs to come up with the goods. In the past I’ve written lyrics and thought, “yeah, they’re okay,” and not put too much effort into them. With this project, I’ve upped my game.

 

You’ve got this album that you’re delighted with. How do you go from creating to promoting in these Covid times?

Lowri: It’s a nightmare, to be honest with you. It’s become 90% admin, promotion, social media. And although it’s the music we’re promoting, the music doesn’t really get much of a look-in.

Tom: Lowri’s just described being any sort of musician, signed or unsigned, whatever level – you’re doing so much to generate your own promotion. Even if you have a great live agent, you have to sell your tickets leading up to a tour. That’s part of the job and the audience has become very used to people promoting themselves.

But I think we both feel, with this album, we can put it in someone’s hands and say, “there you go, listen to that”. It’ll stand or fall on its own – it’s not a record that’s placing itself in the market, trying to compete with this or that. Then it generates its own organic thing – other people tell other people, then suddenly it’s been shared 15,000 times. That’s a really good way to go about things, rather than: you will buy this, it’s dropping at midnight! I don’t know why all albums have to ‘drop’ these days.
The tour that I had booked for 2020, then 2021, now 2022, was always going to be a tour where Lowri would open. She’s toured with me before. I’ll do some songs from my set and then we’ll do some Evans McRae songs in the middle of that set as well. It’ll be a great night in 2022. The tickets are all on sale and they’re actually flying. So that’s a nice thing to look forward to.

 

Only Skin by Evans McRae is released on Fri 21 May. Info: www.evansmcrae.com

Tom and Lowri tour in 2022. Info: www.tommcrae.com

words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES