Today we catch up with Adriana, her acoustic guitar, her classically trained voice and an impressive collection of self-written songs inspired from an early age. Americana/Rock and Celtic/Folk dominate her style for which she enjoys a strong following. Adriana is on for two nights only, Friday 14th and Saturday 15th August at 6.30 at the Acoustic Music Centre @ St. Brides. When you listen to the audio track on her Virtual Flyer you can’t help but want to see this wonderfully talented artist close up and personal, so let’s learn more about Adriana and her work…
1. What inspired you to become a musician, singer/songwriter and entertainer?
I don’t think I could really pinpoint what inspired me to become a performing songwriter. I have been singing since before I can remember and it has always come so naturally for me – I never had an alternative plan! This is always what I wanted to do and the only thing that I still can see myself doing with my life. I always performed as a child - in school shows, choirs and such – but I first got the chance to sing the music that I really wanted to sing at the age of 15.
I was asked to join a local rock band in my home town of Livingston, Drain Smile (we thought it was a good name at the time – described by our bass player as “what happens when someone kicks you in the nuts”). We played in local bars and did the odd gig in Edinburgh for a couple of years before I went off to University in Glasgow and it just kind of fizzled out.
I enjoyed singing in the band, but one thing that didn’t sit right with me was the fact that it was always someone else’s music, someone else’s words I was singing – it felt disingenuous to me, investing in someone else’s sentiments in the way that I feel you have to as a lead singer. So. I decided to start to write my own songs.
At the time, I was very heavily into Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell. I was awestruck by their honesty and sensitivity as songwriters and just loved that sound – one voice and one piano, or one guitar, it was so direct and immediate. That I think was the initial inspiration for me to start doing what I do today, or in its initial form anyway.
I started writing songs at 16, once I got the courage up to actually pick up a guitar (I had never had a lesson and so had to find my way myself – I had absolutely no idea what I was doing!) and was a purist initially, wanting to retain that simplicity of the voice and guitar. But I missed the rock sound and have, over the years, built up a solid 5 piece band and developed the sound to embrace both acoustic and rock approaches to the point where we feel we have something a bit special.
2. What’s your show about and what should the public expect from your show at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Well, the show is a 50 minute unplugged set featuring my full band line-up – Mark Fleming on acoustic bass, Casey McManus on drums and percussion, Andrew Watson on lead guitar and vocals, Katy McSkimming on keyboards and vocals, and finally myself on vocals and acoustic guitar. We’ll be playing songs from our debut album “Coming Home” which is due out at the end of the year, stripped down and chilled out. We might even throw in a couple of surprises!
3. What was the last Fringe or Festival you performed at and what was it like?
My first festival gig was at Retrofest in 2007 at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire. I played the gig solo acoustic and it was an experience to say the least! It was the first year of Retrofest and they wanted to put on a “new music” stage to promote up and coming artists, as well as staging a retrospective of 80s bands.
Belinda Carlisle and Kim Wilde were my personal favourites of the weekend. Well, they called it a new music “stage” – it was really a slightly stinky wigwam at the far end of the festival site with a few pallets for you to play on. They clearly hadn’t thought to invest in a spirit level either as the “stage” was set at a noticeable incline to such a degree that it was hard to keep your balance if you decided to move around whilst you were playing. Those of you who have seen me play before will know that I don’t usually stand stock still whilst I’m singing, so this nearly led to disaster more than once. I did, thankfully, stay upright throughout my 20 minute set and it was quite successful – quite a crowd gathered in the stinky wigwam to listen, which made it all worthwhile in the end.
Another highlight of the day was getting to work with the security dog, Bruce – a Jack Russell with his own hi-vis jacket. Genius!
4. What are your funniest and worst experiences performing in front of an audience?
Goodness, where to start?! Funniest – ok, I played a gig on North Uist to three fishermen and a dog. One of the fishermen slept throughout my set, snoring quite loudly… Come to think of it, that dog had a jacket on too. His own wee lifejacket with his name on the back. I sense a theme coming on here!
I also always love playing at the Market Bar in Inverness. There’s always something going off there to make it a memorable night. A couple of songs into a gig I played there, maybe a couple of years ago now, a group of Zimmerman lads come strolling in. There were about 20 of them. Now, if you’ve ever been in the Market Bar you’ll know that there’s barely enough room for the bar staff and the band a lot of the time, so regular punters, plus these guys and their big hats, plus me and all my gear really made for a tight squeeze. What was the best, though, was that they really seemed fascinated by me and a couple of them stood for a good song and a half just standing right in front of me, staring and clapping in time! It was off putting to say the least!
We all ended up having beers together during the break and they treated us all to some fabulous German dancing (you know, the kind where they dance in pairs, clapping each other’s hands and slapping their thighs and such) during the last couple of songs – well, it was the same song twice as they insisted that I play my cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene again because they enjoyed it so much! I don’t think I had ever laughed so much in my life until that night. Hilarious and the best fun!
As for my worst experience… probably getting groped in the middle of a song during my first ever pub gig. I was terrified as it was – I’d never done a pub gig before and was having to do loads of covers, which was way out of my comfort zone. And then, only about 2 songs in, I was singing away and some drunken fool stumbles up to the stage, gets up as if he’s going to have a dance (concerning enough, given my inexperience at the time!) and then proceeds to grab my bum! I nearly died of shock and fury – how very dare he?? Needless to say, he was swiftly ejected and the bar manager couldn’t have been more apologetic, but that really put me off doing that kind of show again for a while!
5. What’s the best and worst advice you have ever been given? And did you follow it?
Best advice – play every show like it’s Wembley. There’s no reason why small gigs can’t be just as special as the big ones. That’s advice that I remind myself of every time I play.
Worst advice – Actual comment after a show “What are you doing writing these songs? People don’t want to hear songs they don’t know, but you’ve got a beautiful voice. Give that up and sing some real songs, like anything by Judy Garland.” Hmm, maybe not!
6. What are you most proud of and what dreams or goals would you like to fulfill?
I am most proud of my Glasgow (then Carling) Academy performance last year with Sheryl Crow. I was keeching myself beforehand at the thought of opening for a real live proper superstar, in front of a sell-out crowd, just me and my guitar. But, I got up there, did it and loved every second. As soon as I’d finished, it was like, “Again! Again!!”. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can do it again and next time, they might even be my own crowd!
My next goal is to get my album finished and released before the end of the year. It has taken two years almost to get to the mix and master stage and the whole process has been plagued with difficulties, technically and financially. Once mix and master has been finished, which should be only a couple of weeks now, I hope to license it to a larger label in order to give it the release that I feel it deserves. I am really proud of how it is sounding, even now before it’s had its final polish, so I want to be able to make a bit of noise about it when it is ready to go. But, to do this, I will need to find a label partner to work with – watch this space!!
7. Which three famous people would you invite to dinner and why [dead celebrities included]? And what culinary dish would you prepare?
I would invite Jeff Buckley. He was a really fascinating and brilliant man and I would have loved to have spent time in his company. A tragic loss – I was beside myself when he died.
I’d also like to have dinner with Barack Obama. A genuinely nice man, it seems, and he has a lot of sensible things to say for himself. Whether he will be able to make a real difference in the US remains to be seen, given the mess that Bush made of things, but there’s no denying that he is a real breath of fresh air and would probably be fantastic company. And he’s not bad to look at either!
Finally, hmmm… Joni Mitchell. She’s one of my heroes and I would love to pick her brain on art and songwriting.
And I think I would probably make fajitas. Simple (I’m not the best cook in the world!) and I love informal, fun food when you’re getting to know new people.
8. What is the best book or books you have read and why?
Catcher in the Rye, by J D Salinger. This was the first book that really spoke to me as an adolescent. Although I didn’t really identify as such with Holden, being a bit of a swat and an obsessive overachiever at school, I loved his outlook on life and his often accidental philosophy.
I also love anything by Jonathan Saffran Foer. I adore “Everything Is Illuminated” – it sounds like a cliché, but it actually did make me both laugh and weep – occasionally and at the same time!
9. Tell us 5 interesting and unknown facts about yourself?
Ok, then!
- I am half Italian – my Dad is from Sardinia.
- I once played tenor horn in the Sydney Opera House.
- I once sat on Rolf Harris’ shoulders whilst he painted a Rolfaroo on a shop window on Lothian Road.
- I played a gig in a bar in New York’s Greenwich Village where Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters was having a beer. He gave me a thumbs up on his way to the toilets and I forgot the words to the song I was singing!
- I’m a bit of a hypochondriac. I have a massive dent on the top of my head that you could easily sit an egg in, if the notion was to take you. I went to the doctor about it a couple of years ago as I was sure it was getting bigger and was concerned that my skull might collapse. As you may expect, the doctor laughed at me.
10. If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?
Oh goodness, so many things… I am angered and disappointed by so many things that go on in this world that I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to one. The seemingly inevitable climate disaster, reality TV, never-ending wars about things that people will never agree on, the millions of orphaned, abused and neglected children all over the world, terrorism in the name of bogus religious ideologies, the list goes on…
