Backstage with Tinkerscuss

From Fairy Festivals and fishing trout, to comparisons with Bill Bailey, SoGlos.com finds out more about the folk trio Tinkerscuss.

Just who is Tinkercuss?
There are three of us – Bryony, Erin and the inimitable Pixie, who is better known as Kathryn. Tinkerscuss has been going since 2003, following a tour of the Outer Hebrides.

Describe your music
We are ostensibly folk. Anglo-Celtic describes us well, though we get put in with ambient and psych-folk a lot. We come to folk from a rock perspective so it’s natural that it colours the way we think. Definitely folk, but often with an edge!

How did you all get together?
Erin and Bryony are sisters, and we’re part of a large and musically-inclined family, so we’ve been playing together since we were old enough not to fall off a piano stool. Kathryn joined the ‘cuss last autumn when she spotted a post on MySpace asking for a fiddler.

And, what stage is the band at now?
Sometimes we’re on stages at folk festivals, recently even at a Fairy Festival in Cornwall, sometimes we’re just in one end of a pub… oh, you didn’t mean that kind of stage. Actually, we’re in a very creative state right now. We’re relaxed and comfortable with what we’re doing, enjoying making music and getting ourselves out there to share it. We know who we are and what we want to do – this is the fun part.

Main influences
Bryony says: ‘The three Js have certainly had early impact on my singing style – that’s Jaquie (McShee from Pentangle), Joni (Mitchell) and June (Tabor). I like the singing styles of Alison Goldfrapp and Amy Lee (Evanessence) too.’ Kathryn adds: ‘my influences are madly eclectic, from something I’ve heard on the radio to a piece I’ve played in the string orchestra I’m in, or even a Tudor dance piece.’ Erin says: ‘ my main influence is Dick Gaughan, who got me switched on to DADGAD and modal tunings, Al Petteway and Martin Simpson too, not forgetting Jimmy Page and Joe Satriani!’

Do you get compared to anyone?
‘Back to the three Js’, Bryony says, ‘but there have been some odd ones in the past – Kate Bush for instance because of the way I move and use my arms on stage, apparently.’ Weird Al Jancovich inevitably because of Kathryn having a piano accordion and ‘Bill Bailey – no not because I’ve got a beard, but more for mucking around with mad sounds on my keyboard and making people laugh.’ While Erin says ‘I was called the Pete Townsend of folk recently because of the way I move on stage.’

Who goes to your gigs?
Everyone from goths to grannies. People who love atmospheric, ethereal storytelling songs with gorgeous harmonies, and people who want to relax and be taken away from the everyday grind.

What’s your favourite venue you’ve played at in Gloucestershire?
There’s a lovely little old quarry near Avening where a mate of ours runs a sort of local music festival every year in aid of the Meningitis Trust, it has a great atmosphere and brings local people and local bands together to do something special. The Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham is a smashing little venue and New Brewery Arts’ theatre in Cirencester is lovely too.

Where would you most like to play in the county?
Gloucester Guildhall would be great or The Space in Stroud, on the Cheltenham Folk Festival or Wychwood Festival’s main stages would be a dream, but anywhere we can let our audience enjoy what we do and share it with new audiences really.

What do you do when you’re not making music?
Kathryn says she makes some more music, and admits to having a bit of a compulsion to make costumes too. Erin makes fish – as a trout farmer at Donnington Trout Farm near Condicote, as well as running an owl rescue trust with Bryony, who also works in a local petrol station and at a Model Village.

What advice would you give to local bands trying to make it in the industry?
Be true to yourselves and do it because you love it. Don’t do it with the idea of making pots of money and living an MTV lifestyle – you don’t need that stuff!

Can we expect to see you on a Gloucestershire stage soon?
We’re performing all the time, and regulars at local folk clubs and venues including The Greyhound in Siddington, The Priory Inn in Tetbury, as well as the Minchinhampton Folk Club.

And finally, we have to ask, where did ‘Tinkerscuss’ come from?
It comes from Erin and Bryony’s Gran – she used to say ‘you don’t give a tinkers cuss about anything’! It’s been suggested it has a ceilidh-sounding influence, but others have interpreted it as full of mysterious Romany secrets.

Find details of Tinkerscuss’ forthcoming performances in SoGlos.com’s Gloucestershire gig guide.

SoGlos.com
19 August 2009