Finding the joy
by Caitrina Cody
Genre-defying composer, producer and performer Anna Meredith speaks to ALHAUS magazine about throwing lockdown strops, reconnecting with the joys of performance and forging her own musical path.
Anna Meredith. Photo © Marshall Light Studio.
As normal life slowly resumes, we’re all looking forward to rediscovering something. For many, it’s an indoor dining experience, for others, settling into a cramped airline seat with an in-flight magazine. For acclaimed Scottish composer, producer and performer Anna Meredith? A bit of peril.
“Some kind of adventure, with a degree of… not even excitement, but more like peril. Where there’s something to think about beyond what’s for dinner or what we’re going to watch on TV tonight.”
It’s clear that Anna — former composer-in-residence with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra — has a slightly different take on life to the rest of us. Her music defies categorisation, ranging from contemporary classical compositions to electronic soundscapes, with joyful, energised performances in live venues. Ask her about her musical references and she’ll say she avoids absorbing much.
"Creatively I don’t really listen to music because I try to make stuff under my own conditions, according to my own criteria of what works. I don’t think, ‘Right, now I’m going to write a pop song and it’s going to be a bit like how someone else has done it…’ It would end up being a shit version of their thing so I’d rather try to figure things out myself, whatever that means. I don’t really know anything anyway apart from Pet Shop Boys. I do listen to BBC Radio 4, like an old person."
The Dodge experience at Somerset House. Photo © Stephen Chung.
Anna’s latest project is Dodge, an eccentric open-air experience in the courtyard of London’s Somerset House, with a space designed by multidisciplinary artist Yinka Ilori. As visitors ride on a series of colourful dodgems, they trigger an interactive musical composition specially created by Anna, who collaborated with Bafta-winning sound artist Nick Ryan on the experience. After all, unusual times call for unusual (and socially distanced) public performances.
“I think people want something plain joyful, irreverent, out and out for pleasure and colour and hanging out with others. And not taking yourself too seriously. That’s definitely what I’ve been missing.”
Bafta-winning sound artist Nick Ryan. Photo courtesy of Somerset House.
Designer Yinka Ilori, part of the Dodge experience at Somerset House. Photo © Stephen Chung
As a storytelling agency, ALHAUS is always intrigued by the methods creatives rely on to tell stories and Anna’s process is definitely a little different. She uses “pacing” to tell the story of every piece she creates, drawing sketches she describes as “looking like crap schematics for rockets” to map out the pace, drama and emotion of a piece.
"I get a blank piece of paper and I create shapes that map out the storytelling energy — maybe in the way that if you were describing a film you’d say there is tension here, it’s pared back here, it’s building up here but then it suddenly shifts. We all do this when we’re telling stories, we prepare a punchline, we set the ground for satisfying moments. When I write music I take an idea, chord or rhythm and decide where in a piece it will have the most impact. It might be an organic flow or a 'rug-pulled-out-from-under-your-feet' kind of moment.”
Looking ahead, Anna is excited at the prospect of live touring again in November after a long period of hibernating, writing, “eating endless Magnums in my pj’s and watching bits of bullshit on TV”. Live gigs are her chance to lose herself with other musicians in the joy of performance and connect with her audience on a deeper level.
“I’m crossing everything, but that tour should be ok — I’m really hoping it doesn’t get pushed back. Touring is exhausting but I love gigs, it’s so fun and so different to writing. In terms of our performance, we don’t do calm. The band is amazing and we enjoy playing together — we often end the gig with some sort of preposterous cover. It’s been a really long time.”
The question of whether fans will be ready to come inside for her gigs is very much on her mind. “I don’t know how people are going to be feeling about going into a sweaty venue, maybe by November we’ll all be ok? I feel very fickle about it myself: oscillating widely between ‘I just can’t wait to get out there’ and then also gingerly keeping away from everyone. Our band gigs are quite intense, joyful, they're not really sit back, seated events. They wouldn’t work as well on a screen, so we didn’t do any live-streamed gigs — we’re waiting for the real thing.”
Anna Meredith. Photo © Marshall Light Studio.
Back in the day, many of us had some idea that enforced lockdown hibernation would be our chance to finally create that work of art — be it literary bestseller, bathroom mural or back garden beehive. Not so much Anna.
"When everything got cancelled in 2020, I threw a bit of a petulant (very entitled, to be honest) strop. I had planned a year of touring, I wasn’t intending to write, I had already done tonnes of that up to that point. People said, ‘Oh this is great for you, you can get on with some writing’ but I didn’t want that, I wanted to be playing!
“So I had a very long time of not doing anything but eventually I had to dust myself off and get on with a bit of writing. I’m not someone who, just for the fun of it, chucks stuff out online, I didn’t want to do anything for the sake of it. I felt almost protective about my creativity (which sounds pretentious) but it made me realise I don't want to just be splurging out content, I want to make sure that it's all as good and representative as it can be. I try to be picky about what I take on.”
Fresh out of lockdown, Anna’s ready to get back on stage — or into the dodgem — and something tells us the story of her next piece will include lots of drama.
@annahmeredith
Annameredith.com
Dodge: Drink, dine & dodgems at Somerset House is running until Sunday 22 August 2021. Opening hours vary, please check the website for further details.