Watch: Seth discusses new live DVD
November 27, 2009
Interview and preview clips …
Backstage at Cropredy with Radio FiveLive
August 19, 2009
Seth Lakeman plays Kitty Jay backstage at Cropredy. Click for full size version. Photo from @wittertainment
Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode caught up with Seth backstage at Cropredy last Friday for an exclusive performance of Kitty Jay and short interview, before his field-storming headline performance that night.
You can listen again on iPlayer until this Friday (starts around the 58min mark after the Kermode film reviews) and on the Simon Mayo podcast (at about 16min mark).
Listen to the podcast
Download » (right-click and choose ’save target…’)
Background folk/punk mashups by Ade Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds.
Bright Young Folk interview Seth Lakeman
June 2, 2009
Bright Young Folk interviewed Seth before the London Union Chapel gig on 24 May 2009. The video interview is in two parts. The first is devoted to the new tracks showcased on the tour and Benji Kirkpatrick joining the band line-up, and is probably the most in-depth interview to date on plans for the next album – which will be the first not produced by Seth and brother Sean. The second part covers questions sent in by website readers.
Part 1, on the next album:
Part 2, in which BYF put some of your questions to Seth, including his favourite Equation record, writing on the fiddle and working with brother Sean:
You can add your own comments on the interviews on the Bright Young Folk website.
See also: More winter tour dates, 3 June 2009 »
Tickets go on sale for a number of dates on Seth Lakeman’s winter 2009 UK tour this morning, Mon 1 June.
Dates so far include:
Thu 5 Nov Norwich Waterfront
Tickets: 01603 508050 | www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Wed 11 Nov Nottingham Rock City
Tickets: ticketmaster.co.uk | gigantic.com
Thu 12 Nov Edinburgh HMV Picture House
Tickets: www.ticketweb.com
Fri 13 Nov Manchester Academy 2
Tickets: 01618 32111 | www.seetickets.com
Sat 14 Nov Salisbury City Hall
Tickets: 01722 434434 | gigantic.com | ticketweb.co.uk
Mon 7 Dec Exeter University Great Hall
Tickets: 01392 263518 | www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Wed 9 Dec Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
Tickets: gigantic.com | ticketmaster.co.uk
Thu 10 Dec Cheltenham Town Hall
Tickets: gigantic.com | www.ticketweb.co.uk
Fri 11 Dec Bristol 02 Academy
Tickets: gigantic.com | www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Sat 12 Dec London 02 Shepherds Bush Empire
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.co.uk
See the gigs page » for details and more dates as they are announced.
Tickets are also on sale for two dates in Swansea and Cardiff in late September.
European Tour, October 2009
Prior to the UK dates Seth will be touring mainland Europe and Scandinavia, with a number of dates in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark during October 2009. See the gigs page » for details.
Summer Festival News
Seth has been officially added to the line-up for Glastonbury and V Festival. He’ll play Glasto’s Avalon stage on Sunday 28 June, and V Festival (location TBC) on Sun 23 Aug.
Seth is also appearing at a number of smaller festivals, including Brecon Jazz Festival (Fri 7 Aug) and the first Harvest at Jimmy’s, at Jimmy’s Farm of TV fame in Suffolk on Sun 13 Sep. There’ll also be a unique opportunity to catch Seth playing completely solo, without his usual band, at local Devon festival, Chagstock, on the edge of Dartmoor on Fri 17 July .
Full list of summer 09 festival appearances on – you guessed it – the gigs page »
Two interviews with Wales Online
May 31, 2009
Seth Lakeman gave two interviews in local Welsh press to promote the recent tour, which stopped off in Cardiff on Sat 23 May. They’re both up on WalesOnline.
On the benefits on being with a major label:
“when it comes down to it, you still can’t beat that massive marketing push major labels are able to provide so that’s what we did in signing for Relentless.
To be honest, the label didn’t do as much promotion for [Poor Man's Heaven] as it has for others, but to get the album in the pop charts was quite cool.
I think the amazing thing for us was that it showed us how many dedicated followers and fans we have.”
On album.next:
“I have already written my next album; I’ve got 20 or so songs to chose from, and I will be playing a lot of those [on the tour]”
… He promises his next record “pushes the rock envelope even further”…
“I can see myself making all kinds of records in the future, dance, rock, whatever. I am very ambitious.”
And, in what I realise for some will be the most important part of the interview, it is confirmed that yes, Seth Lakeman does have a “very lovely” girlfriend.
Full Interviews:
‘Seth Lakeman grows his own success‘, Gavin Allen, Western Mail, 22 May 2009
‘Seth Lakeman is one of the cool folk‘, Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo, 20 May 2009
A couple of interviews in local West Country press ahead of Seth’s UK tour, which kicks off tomorrow.
North Devon Journal, Thu 14 May 2009
The North Devon Journal interviewed Seth ahead of his gig at Barnstaple’s Queen’s Hall on Thu 18 May.
Seth has been holed-up at home on Dartmoor over the winter writing new material:
"I prefer to write here. I find it quite difficult to be anywhere else. I like to go out and explore while I’m doing it to try and feed off the wilds."
If you made it to any of the March club dates you’ll have already been privileged to hear the results of these wild winter rambles. But if you didn’t, never fear. Seth promises those attending the forthcoming tour gigs won’t miss out:
"We are going to play loads and loads of new songs," he reveals. "You will hear the music from our other three records but we’ve got some exciting new stuff."
…
"I love performing. It’s my favourite part of music. It’s great fun to get a reaction from the crowd and I hope that they go away with a different perception of how acoustic music can be played. That is quite unique in what we do."
On a more light-hearted note, he reminisces about the ghost he once shared a house with (who, according to other interviews, also used to randomly turn on the gas):
"She was a nice ghost . … She used to send us out every night to the pub … We couldn’t help it. We had to go. She locked the door behind us."
Yeah. Right.
Lots more in the full interview: Seth Lakeman tells Rosanna Rothery why he believes in ghosts », North Devon Journal/thisisnorthdevon.co.uk , Thu 14 May 2009
ThisIsCornwall, Wed 13 May 2009
Minack Theatre, Cornwall © Mat Strange
A much shorter piece, whose main interest is that it confirms plans to film the gig at Cornwall’s dramatic open-air Minack Theatre next Tues for a live DVD release.
"It really is such an amazing venue," said Seth, … "We are one of the first to play and record there – it is a real privilege and we are all pretty excited about it – let’s just hope we get some good weather."
Full story: Seth Lakeman returns ‘home’ for Minack gig », ThisIsCornwall.co.uk, Wed 13 May 2009.
Interview and Gig Review from What’s On South West
April 7, 2009
What’s On South West caught up with Seth before the Plymouth gig for one of the few interviews from the recent mini-tour.
The interview chats about the inspiration behind the Brand! New! Songs! which gripped audiences at the recent gigs, and throws in a few festival rumours (Glasto, V Festival, Ireland’s Electric Picnic ??) for good measure.
Interview (including audio version)
‘Seth Lakeman returns to Plymouth for intimate show’
Clare Robinson, What’s On South West, March 2009
Review:
Seth Lakeman at The White Rabbit, Plymouth, 24 Mar 09
Clare Robinson, What’s On South West, March 2009
With thanks to @stokes_the_fire via the TwitterFeed for the heads-up
Interview on Radio 2, Wed 25 Mar
March 27, 2009
Seth’s brief interview from Simon Mayo’s show on Wednesday night before the TCT gig is available to Listen Again on iPlayer until 5pm on Wed 31 Mar.
Starts off just after the 20min mark with a brief blast of the rarely-heard-live-these-days Scrumpy’s Set (originally from 2002’s The Punch Bowl album) and finishes with a solo rendition of The Hurlers from Poor Man’s Heaven
BBC iPlayer (until Wed 31 Mar)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j8gpr/Chris_Evans_25_03_2009Mo
Seth Lakeman talks album.next with John Williamson
January 24, 2009
Catching up on some bits on pieces from December which I didn’t get round to posting at the time, here’s a really good, original interview which talks in some depth about the EMI experience, musical control and, most intriguingly, Seth’s thoughts on the direction for the next album.
Well worth a read, regardless of your obSethion level.
On Kitty Jay
“In many ways the style and sound had a lot to do with my own naivety at the time, but when I came upon something that was very rhythmic and riff driven, I knew that it was the sound I had been looking for.”
On signing for EMI, musical control and going mainstream (or not)
“EMI bought into the business and that took away a lot of the administrative and organisational burdens that we had … Of course, it is hard to let go of something that you feel is your baby – but once you reach a certain level it becomes too big to physically retain control every aspect of what you do. So the compromise, if there was any, that I made was to make sure I retained complete control over the music while in most other areas I am kind of flowing as I go.”
…
“What I do is quite unique, which makes it quite difficult for people to interfere … the music is always going to have a rhythmic, quirky element which is always a bit alien to being massively popular.”
And finally, teasing hints about the direction for the next album:
Listening to him describe his music and its direction highlights the crossroads at which his career stands. On the one hand he has successfully defined a sound that he is happy to continue to work within, on the other, he talks of expanding the scope of it by engaging a third party producer…
There are contradictions too: at various points he suggests both that he would like to go back to the naïve approach of ‘Kitty Jay,’ at others he suggests that album number five may be the time to engage a producer of some reputation.
“I’d love to work with someone like Tchad Blake or Brad Jones, maybe even someone like John Leckie, who would probably strip everything right back. It would be great to work with a real guru like that at some stage. I think so far the records have moved from a very naïve sound to one that is much closer to the live sound, maybe there is another step to take.”
Other interviews, however, have suggested the most likely next release will be a live album.
“We are definitely going to do a live record next year,” says Lakeman. “People have been calling out for one for a number of years.” – Interview with Brighton Argus, 14 Nov 2008
So don’t go holding your breadth for a new studio release just yet!
Full Interview: ‘Seth Lakeman’, interview for The Herald by John Williamson, 8 Dec 2008 »
Local Plymouth paper profiles Seth’s tour manager since 2005, Adam Maughan, who has just started up his own tour management company, Think Yellow.
“There was a media frenzy about Seth [after the Mercury Music Prize in 2005], queues around the block at gigs – everything went mental. They needed help with merchandise and asked me to do it and after speaking to Dave [Farrow, Seth's Manager], I found myself at the Oxford Zodiac, on tour with them.”
“I remember thinking, ‘This is the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me!’
…
When Seth signed a major-label deal with Relentless it was like “pushing the big red button”.
“We took on a sound engineer and crew, moved up from a Transit to a ’splitter’ (half-van, half-minibus) to double-decker Trathens tour bus with two lounges, bunks and a production office. By this point I was looking after everything, adopting the roles of travel agent, accountant, lawyer, dietician… and mother!”
…
“It’s incredibly stressful, but hugely rewarding, though it’s quite a thankless task, as nobody should know who the tour manager is – unless something’s gone wrong!”
Read the full interview: “Geologist who took rock on the road”, This is Plymouth, Fri 16 Jan 2009
Radio 1 Documentary from the 2008 Lake of Stars Festival, Malawi
December 13, 2008
Seth pops up briefly in this Mary Anne Hobbs documentary for Radio 1.
Photo from thelakeofstars.blogspot.com
The Lake of Stars Festival brings together UK and European acts with Afrobeat, gospel and tradtional African music on the tropical shores of Lake Malawi. The Radio 1 documentary web page includes links to listen online and a 2 min video so you can really get an idea what this unique festival is like. You can also download the entire programme as an MP3 file. See the links at the end.
Seth is on around the 40min and 57min mark. Also, in photos 5 and 19 on the Radio 1 web page and in a few more photos on the official festival blog.
Worth a listen if you are interested in learning more about the festival and hearing lots of different music and artists, otherwise, honestly?, "obSethive completist" territory.
ps. Thanks for Clarros for the heads-up.
Mary Anne Hobbs at Malawi’s Lake Of Stars festival, BBC Radio 1
Listen online, video and further info | Download (mp3) | Photos (nos 5 & 19)
Lake of Stars Website & Blog
Seth Lakeman gig photos | Festival website | Festival blog
Seth Lakeman’s "Best Stuff" of 2008
December 1, 2008
Seth does his ‘The Best Thing I’ve Heard All Year’ thing for Mojo magazine. The short version:
Gigs:
- Cherryholmes (Cambridge Folk Festival)
"I was completely blown away …this family band doing bluegrass and all sorts and every one of them singing so well. I thought I’d discovered them. I ran back to the guys and said we must get them on tour supporting us! It wasn’t until afterwards that I found out they were already huge in the States and had won about four Grammies, so it would have been more a question of us supporting them! - Steve Earle (Big Session, Leicester)
- Kaiser Chiefs (Rock for People, Prague)
- Oysterband (Beautiful Days, Devon)
"I’ve seen them loads of times before but this was just one of those occasions when everything worked right. I love their latest album Meet You There anyway and that gig was very special."
Albums:
- Levon Helm Dirt Farmer
"you can tell it’s set around a live atmosphere … there’s such a great emphasis on rhythm, which appeals to me " - Benji Kirkpatrick’s fantastic, inexplicably under-rated, more explicably under-publicised Boomerang
(on which, completists will want to know, Seth does fiddle duty for a couple of tracks)
Full interview: ‘Seth Lakeman: The Best Thing I’ve Heard All Year’, Mojo magazine, 25 Nov 2008 »
Interview on BBC Radio Scotland (until 9 Nov)
October 31, 2008
Seth appeared on Tom Morton’s show on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday for an interview and live performances of Kitty Jay and Send Yourself Away.
Available on BBC iPlayer until 9 Nov 2008. Seth is on around the 22min mark:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00f5b29
There’s a blurry shot of Seth squashed into the Radio Scotland studio on Tom Morton’s blog »
Thanks to Helen on the Mire for the link.
Seth interview with Martyn Joseph at Greenbelt 2008
September 28, 2008
Good long interview by Martyn Joseph at the Greenbelt Festival in August 2008. The interviews roams over Seth roots in the Devon folk scene, future directions and growing Seth’s audience – Seth ‘keeping it real’ against EMI pressures for no. 1 singles – his forthcoming trip to Malawi for the Lake of Stars festival, and being Greenbelt what part, if any, faith and religion has played in Seth’s upbringing.
(Thanks for ceakayone from The Mire for the find)
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