26 August, 2024

Alice Boyd’s music explores our interconnectedness with the natural world, intertwining folk-inspired harmonies, ambient electronics and field recordings.

From making music with plants, through to recording underwater insects, Alice’s work draws attention to the often unnoticed sounds of our environments. Since her time as Artist in Residence at the Eden Project, Alice and her band have performed in botanical gardens, ancient woodlands and music venues across the UK.

Ahead of her Campfire Club shows with us at the end of August, we had six questions for her…

What are you most excited about for your Campfire Club performances?

“Performing by a campfire feels like the perfect way to end the summer. I love taking my music to unique places, whether that’s botanical gardens or ancient woodlands. These two Campfire Club events feel like the ideal opportunities to enjoy the the last of the longer summer evenings, performing and listening to music with like-minded people by the warmth of a fire.”

How do you find performing in outdoor spaces compared to indoor venues?

“Outdoor spaces have an unruliness to them that can be magical, as well as challenging. Earlier this year, my band and I performed up a mountain in Snowdonia. With the wind whipping around us, it was harder to hear exactly what we were doing, but an amazing phenomenon occurred in moments of silence: our voices, amplified in the basin of the mountain reverberated off the slopes and echoed back at us – like a distant group of singers singing right back at us. It was beautiful.”

How does your field recording work inform your music?

“As well as being a musician, I am also a sound artist and audio producer, creating site-specific installations, audio documentaries and podcasts incorporating field recordings. In my travels, I have collected field recordings of urban and rural spaces, capturing both the more obvious sounds, as well as those more hidden, such as underwater pond-scapes, insects, photosynthesising plants and more. The process of field recording allow me to listen to the world with a level of attention that I often miss when going about my day to day life.

It encourages me to turn my attention outwards and to notice the macro and micro patterns and changes of our sonic world. I loving sharing these recordings with audiences in my musical sets… so listen out for those if you’re coming to one of the August Campfire Club gigs!”

What do you feel has been your biggest influence in your songwriting?

“A musical influence for me is the band Dirty Projectors. They’re the one band that has truly stuck with me since being a teenager. It’s singer-songwriter David Longstreth’s project – and the depth and breadth of his music knows no bounds. From orchestral pieces exploring environmental collapse, through to folk-leaning close vocal harmonies, to experimental pop, he’s done it all and it inspires me to make the music I want in the moment, and not what I feel I should make.

My own music has ranged from more electronic folk in my first EP, indie folk in my recent singles, and ambient/contemporary classical in my recent release ‘Arctic Ice: Under The Midnight Sun’. I’m currently working on my second EP which comes out this autumn – folk-inspired, warm and a little jazzy in places.”

What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring musicians and creatives?

“Don’t be a perfectionist. Make your music, release it and perform it. Then get working on the next song. I think it’s easy to hold music back, particularly when you’re starting out as your style or abilities may not quite match your vision yet. I think it takes doing and sharing to find what you want to actually make, and this changes over time. If you wait for your music to be perfect, the old stuff will rot and you’ll never want to release it. If you start sharing it when it’s ready (but not necessarily perfect), you can build up a practice and identity around your work, with room to learn, make mistakes and get closer to your vision each time.”

What’s coming up for you, have you got any other performances or music coming out in the near future to tell our audiences about?

“This autumn, I have my second EP coming out. Watch out for singles releasing in October, with with the full EP coming out at the end of November (both digitally and on vinyl). Subscribe to my newsletter or follow me @aliceboydmusic on social media to be kept in the loop.”