6 QUESTIONS WITH LUNATRAKTORS
22 April 2025
Lunatraktors’ award-winning 'broken folk' style ranges from harmonic singing and dance into eclectic acoustic beats, accordion, whistles and analogue synth basslines.
A collaboration between choreographer and percussionist Carli Jefferson (she/her) and vocalist and researcher Clair Le Couteur (they/them), they are reimagining Anglo-Celtic folk music through a shared love of trip-hop, flamenco and post punk.
Ahead of their Campfire Club show with us at Cody Dock on 20th June, we have six questions for them…
For those that don’t know, can you describe your style of music?
“We call it ‘broken folk’ – the direct opposite of ‘pure tradition’ claims, that blood and soil ethnonationalist stuff that folk can get tangled up in. Decolonial folk for migrants and misfits, traditional music of broken Britain and Ireland and Australia. Traditional music made by people who grew up with rave, jungle and triphop.”
Can you tell us about the instruments you play live?
“Originally it was just somatic sound: body percussion, step dancing, and vocal harmony. Then a reproduction 18th century goatskin military drum and whistles. Now it’s expanded into a lot of eclectic percussion, analogue synth bass, and bass accordion. Carli’s been carefully collecting percussion instruments for years, each object chosen for specific tones. It’s not tuned percussion, but we use it to add harmonics as well as rhythm.”
How do you find performing in outdoor or unusual spaces as opposed to indoor venues? / What are you looking forward to about Campfire Club?
“We’re excited by the sense of timelessness, the way Campfire Club taps into something ancient and contemporary at the same time. We can’t wait to feel the way the space and the crowd come together. We come from a performance / installation art background, so we’re always site-specific: we never do the same show twice. We play a lot of unusual spaces — galleries and museums, mills, caves, forests — and we absolutely love how different ambiences change the way our music comes to life.”
What or who do you feel has been your biggest influence in your songwriting?
“Traditional broadside ballads from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Most of what we play is straight out of the archive with minimal interventions. Our writing is also based in that tradition, with big influences from Flamenco and Irish sean-nós singing.”
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring musicians and creatives?
“Try a lot of different styles and genres, try a lot of media, unusual instruments, different approaches. Some of the best new music comes from mixing old things together in new ways. Start listening to really weird stuff, old and new, especially if it’s compelling but you don’t know if you like it. And the best advice: work with people who want to work with you. Never try to persuade anyone.”
What have you got coming up, anything our audiences should listen or look out for?
“Well, we have a whole tour in May and June we’d love to see more Campfire folks at! Details on our website lunatraktors.space/events. And we’re about to release our fourth album coming out at the Summer Solstice. It will be available to pre-order on Bandcamp from May Day. It’s called Quilting Points: Invitations and Open Calls 2019–2025 and it stitches together lots of unreleased live material with soundscapes we’ve made for museums and contemporary artists. It’s a very strange record and we’re really excited by it.”
Lunatraktors headline our first Campfire Club of the season at London’s Cody Dock on 20th June, with Patch & The Giant and TVOYA also on the lineup.
Limited tickets available now:
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