London Folk Band John McIvor Talk Gigs, Lyrics & The Future (Interview)
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Written by Rachel Preece
In the past couple of years, London has experienced a resurgence in the popularity of folk. Thanks to the likes of Noah and the Whale, Mumford and Sons, and Reading's darling Laura Marling, folk is cool again. And with our dear capital nurturing the renaissance of flannel shirts, banjos and good honest music, it's no surprise that good quality bands are popping up all over the place.
Thanks to Communion, the London club night founded back in 2007 to champion young alternative folk bands, the live music venue The Flowerpot in Camden Town and folk nights such as Monday Monday, the folk and acoustic genre has become a lot more accessible to a new generation. Alternative folk band John McIvor comprises vocalist John McIvor, guitarist Tom Hill and drummer Boris Baumeister. Stereoboard caught up with lead singer McIvor to chat about gigs, intelligent lyrics and their rather promising future.
John McIvor recently played the acoustic stage at the Isle of Wight festival, alongside the likes of Midge Ure, Suzanne Vega and Ben Montague. The three-piece have been gigging on the London circuit at venues such as The Flowerpot and The Monarch in Camden for the past couple of years and have an upcoming gig in the legendary Troubadour Club, proponent of a hotbed of talent since its beginnings back in 1954.
Singer and guitarist John McIvor talks excitedly about the chance to play at the Isle of Wight festival, saying "it was a big honour to play at such a legendary festival. The sun was shining all weekend too, which was a massive bonus!"
The band has drawn critical praise for their delicate lyricism - take the band's anti-war song Heroes for instance:
"Today I met an Afghan man
He could shoot fire from his hands
Then he pointed at the Taj Mahal
And he shot a golden fireball
He was rambling about the USA
Said they took all his family away"
Protest songs have a rich history in folk music - Bob Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind is an obvious example, along with Woodie Guthries This Land Is Your Land and a whole host of songs from Pete Seeger. In recent times however, we've seen a decline in protest songs and John McIvor has attempted to react to this apparent apathy: "I actually really want to write more political songs, like Heroes. With everything that's been going on in the east for quite some time now, I feel that our generation needs more protest songs."
However, McIvor's songs aren't just protest songs for a new generation. "I also try to write fictional songs too whereby I create different characters and stories in my head or simply just put myself in someone else's shoes. Like with Maybe, a made up story that I thought of when I was trying to figure out what it must feel like to grow old and watch all your friends die around you. What if you were the last one left? How would you deal with that? And I guess I decided to write about it because I felt the topic deserved a song and people in that situation may relate to it."
The band has moved on from their simple beginnings as music students in London. Singer McIvor and guitarist Tom Hill moved in together in their final year of university, and the two eventually decided to form the band after conversations in their shared bathroom - "We had this great bathroom upstairs; well. it was more like a conservatory / bathroom. It had a typical conservatory layout with a glass roof and windows, a bath and toilet on one side covered by a small wooden wall, and then on the other-side there were some wicker chairs and a small table. We all spent most of our nights up there listening to music, watching the sun set, and getting inspired. Our relationship grew stronger during these moments and after talking about it a couple of times we decided to set up the band."
From humble beginnings in a bathroom, the band is slowly building up a fan base in London and beyond. With a UK tour planned for the autumn, this is one band to look out for.
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