FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
Part Eighty-Nine: Adwaith
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A tremendous band…
who are one of the finest and most promising names in all of music, Adwaith are from Carmarthen in West Wales. Formed in 2015, they consist of Hollie Singer (vocals, guitar), Gwenllian Anthony (bass, keys, mandolin), and Heledd Owen (drums). The band are signed to Libertino Records. They are a group that I have covered before. I think that they are going to keep going for years and become icons. I make proclamations in this feature when it comes to fascinating women – whether they are solo, in a duo or a group. With so much new momentum behind Adwaith, there is no doubt they are primed for greatness. It is exciting that they are going to be releasing their second studio album soon. The Welsh Music Prize winners will release Bato Mato on 1st July. After their debut scoped the prestigious Welsh Music Prize, there were a lot more eyes on them. There will be much more promotion and interviews closer to the release of Bato Mato. I am going to end with a playlist containing some of their best tracks soon. Before that, it is worth sourcing a couple of interviews with Adwaith, just to give a sense of who they are. There might be people reading this who do not know them or are vaguely familiar. They will, as I suggest, become a huge group and inspire so many others very soon. PRS for Music spoke with Adwaith in 2020. They asked them about their Welsh Music Prize win and plans for the future:
“How does the songwriting process work between the three of you?
Hollie: It varies to be honest, it can start with a riff or a drum beat, then sometimes we write stuff individually and bring stuff to the group. It really depends. We all share the writing responsibilities and we all produce stuff.
Gwenllian: The lyrics are quite collaborative. Sometimes we have a full song with lyrics written by one of us, but some of it we just have a discussion and write it between us.
Did you ever worry that singing primarily in Welsh might hinder you career?
Gwenllian: When we first started making music we just saw it as something we did for fun, but it’s all progressed really amazingly. I don’t think a career is something that we thought about. A few years later and its all kicking off.
I think a lot of what makes it stand out, especially outside Wales, is the fact that we sing in Welsh, our mother tongue. It’s never something that we thought about really. We often get asked, ‘when are you going to do English songs?’ We have released some English songs, but that’s not us as a band, I don’t think.
Do you see it very much as part of your identity as a band?
Hollie: Yes, very much. That’s what a lot of people love about us as a band. We’re definitely keeping it Welsh, forever.
Do you ever find that it acts as a barrier for some non-Welsh speakers or have people generally embraced it?
Hollie: I feel like when we play outside of Wales the response is great. When we played in London last some guy came up to us and said, ‘you’ve really inspired me to learn Welsh.’ The reaction to it, surprisingly, is amazing.
Gwenllian: I think we get a better reaction out side of Wales a lot of the time. I don’t know if that’s because people are kind of used to the Welsh language in Wales. A lot of people were brought up thinking that it wasn’t cool to speak Welsh. I guess some people have that mentality and feel like they don’t understand it. People outside of Wales don’t have that relationship with the language. We definitely get a nicer reaction outside of Wales.
In recent years acts like Cate Le Bon, Gwenno and Gruff Rhys, among others, have paved the foundations for a strong Welsh language music scene. Does it feel to you like the tide is turning?
Gwenllian: I think over the last few decades it’s been difficult to push Welsh language music outside of Wales. We have Super Furry Animals, obviously, and Gorky’s (Zygotic Mynci), but it is sometimes still a struggle. But Gruff Rhys did open up the door to all the other bands in Wales, which was amazing.
Is it important to you to promote the Welsh language with your music?
Gwenllian: Not necessarily the Welsh language, but definitely the culture and Wales as a whole. Obviously, we’re very proud to be Welsh and I think Wales is the underdog. I really like promoting the culture and Wales in general, but not specifically the language.
I think Welsh artists are overlooked and I don’t feel like their subscribing to a scene. We get a lot of different genres and different experimental music. People in Wales are creating the kind of music they want to.
Hollie: What’s great about Welsh musicians is how experimental they are.
Gwenllian: They don’t feel like they need to be a certain way. Everyone’s very spread out and quite individual, which is cool.
Last year you followed in Gwenno and Gruff’s footsteps and picked up the Welsh Music prize – what did it mean to be recognised like that?
Hollie: It felt really crazy to be honest.
Gwenllian: Yeah, we wrote some of those songs when we were like 16, 17 and we didn’t play them live bit revisited them for the album. It’s mad to think that people connected with them so much. We never thought they would have that kind of reach, but it’s been great.
What was the process of recording your debut like and what was the thinking behind it?
Gwenllian: We recorded most of it in a week in mid-Wales, but we also had some singles that we recorded before that we popped in there as well. The album is all about growing up, finding your way as people and growing up. so I guess the album is a reflection of our journey as people.
Hollie: We worked with producer Steffan Pringle – he’s great – he’s produced all of our stuff from the start and still does today. He completely gets our sound and helped massively with the album.
As a band do you think you’re most at home in the studio or playing live?
Hollie: I feel like in the studio. We love playing live, it’s so much fun, but in the studio you can do so much more. You can play around with different sounds, but with just three of us, there’s only so much you can do onstage”.
I am excited to hear what is coming with Bato Mato. One of the most inspiring and fascinating aspects of Adwaith’s music is their Welsh-language lyrics. It is quite rare to hear artists perform in Welsh. I am sure that we will hear more of this in their much-anticipated second studio album. For the Rabbits highlighted the Welsh band last year. Even though they have success and a big fanbase, they are worried that music is not a viable career and future. There is no doubt in my mind they will endure for many years to come:
“Although the band’s initial musical love came with the folk-tinged sounds of bands like The Staves and Fleet Foxes, they’ve constantly shown themselves to be unafraid of experimentation, Melyn showcasing everything from perfect post-punk to ethereal soundscapes and swampy blasts of ravey psychedelia. Adwaith’s sound is a distinctly modern one, the sort of music made by artists who’ve grown up with the world of sounds that the internet now gives us all, one-minute dipping into the baggy sound of the Happy Monday’s, the next finding like-minded Welsh-language inspiration from the likes of Datblygu or Gwenno.
With plans already in place for a brand new record, and hitting the road, Adwaith’s next step looks like cementing their place at the forefront of creative alternative music and bringing Welsh music to the world at large. Recently I spoke to the band about the pressure success brings, future plans and their influences that go from, “folk to hip-hop to Turkish psychedelic music”.
FTR: Somehow it’s three years since you released Melyn, were you pleased with the reaction that album got?
We were more than pleased! We wrote some of those songs when we were 16/17 so to know that people connected to the album is incredible.
FTR: Has that success changed how you’re approaching recording new music? Is there a pressure to follow-up on that record?
I think we did feel a bit of pressure but as soon as we got into the studio, we felt the weight lifting off. The songs sound huge and we’re really happy how they’ve turned out.
PHOTO CREDIT: Siân Adler
FTR: There’s a lot of very creative music coming out of Wales at the moment, so it must have been a real honour to win the Welsh music prize. How has that changed things for you as a band?
I don’t think it’s changed us much. If anything, I think it’s given us confidence in what we’re doing! It took us a while for it to sink in though.
FTR: Who are the influences on Adwaith’s music? Have these changed since you started making music?
Our first influences were definitely more folk orientated. We were really into The Staves and Fleet Foxes. Now, we’re into lots of different music. From folk to hip-hop to Turkish psychedelic music.
FTR: Why do you make music?
That’s a difficult question to answer! I think it’s always something we’ve done, it’s a way of expressing emotion. It’s a way of dealing with feelings you might not want to deal with! And it’s a lot of fun jamming with your friends.
FTR: What are your ambitions for Adwaith? Is music still a viable career?
It’s hard to see it as a viable career at the moment. It’s such an expensive job to be a musician. With recording, mastering, PR, travel, gear, music videos and photos costing thousands of pounds, there’s no money to pay ourselves. But hopefully we can in the future. That’s the Dream!”.
If you have not discovered Adwaith or are new to their music, spend more time with them. From being named Music Venue Trust patrons last year to a new album coming out in summer, the group are growing stronger and reaching new people. I feel they are going to continue to rise, release more albums, tour internationally, and go on to become modern-day icons. A superb group who make such tremendous music, go and check Adwaith out on social media and listen to as much of their stuff as possible. I have been a fan of theirs for years, and the music they are releasing at the moment is among their absolute strongest. There is no doubt that the mighty band are going to be…
FUTURE legends.