Delyth & Angharad

Thank you Genevieve Tudor for your kind words and the interesting chat recently on BBC Radio Shropshire. You can listen back to the conversation, where we talk about strong, creative women, and how working with an artist from a different medium gives a deeper meaning to our own work. From 1:02 to 1:26.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0687skx

And long after the programme ceses to exist online, we've transcribed part of the conversation about our relationship, and Carys Evans's wonderful album artwork, for you to read in years to come.

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G: What’s it like working with your daughter?

D: Well, it’s an absolute joy! We get on very well. There’s lots of mothers and daughters who don’t get on particularly well together, but we are very close. In fact Angharad has a phrase that we’re sisters from another mister.

So when we’re rehearsing, we get on well together musically and personally. Because it’s in the family, we feel a freedom when that we’re rehearsing, we can experiment and do what we want. If one of us says, “well, that’s rubbish!’ we don’t get offended. It gives a freedom artistically.

Some times we have days where we’ll start off doing a bit of rehearsing, then have a bit of food, then have a walk by the seaside (we’re lucky enough to live by the Gower coast), then come back play some more music, perhaps have a beer or two. We just enjoy being together musically and personally. Someone once said about us, when we’re playing it looks like we’re breathing together. I think the fact we are mother and daughter, it’s good! It helps the musical relationship as well.

G: And of course when you’re walking and talking, and having a cake and a coffe or a glass of beer, then you’re also creating. There’s part of your thread that’s still working.

D: Absolutely. You can’t create in a rush. As Angharad said it’s taken four years to do this. But it’s been gestating over those years.

G: It’s a beautiful cover, it really does look lovely. And you’re right about the soft colours. It’s important to have control.

A: In this day and age, in the digital era, when so many people are listening to music online, through phones or computers, people forget how important it is to have a nice product to hold. I love visual art a well as music, and I didn’t want to loose that. We’ve taken a lot of time to get that right, and also to get the information inside right. That’s one thing you don’t get when you’re listening to music online, you don’t know who else is playing on the track, where it was recorded, when, what’s the background behind each track. When I was little I used to look at all the small print as see who everyone was thanking. It’s important to us say thank you to everyone who’s been involved, but I also think it might be interesting for listeners to know things like that.

D: And also to have Carys’s lovely artwork to look at as well. Obviously we’re talking on radio so people can’t see the cover, but people have said that her style is almost like folk art, or a primitive art, which suits our music. She’s chosen those soft, feminine colours. But also, there’s an image of a harpist and fiddle player on the front, and we’re dressed in suffragette colours in this year 2018. It’s subtle, but the fact that we’re women and we’re strong is very important.

G: I’m so cross I didn’t spot that!

A: That was all Cary’s input. It was her who came up with that idea, and I was so glad when she said that. Of course! It’s so interesting to work with an artist from another medium. It gives a deeper meaning to our work. When we approached her, we’d already recorded the music, so she was able to listen whilst we were creating, but it’s enriched the music that we have on the album.

D: When she was doing it, we were able to see all the different drafts. One of the earlier ones we were dressed in white. Often with the harp, you get characatured as a sort of angle type figure. But we moved on from the white, and we’re really pleased with the colours of it and how it looks.