Mark Brend interview
Can you tell me about the book you are currently working on?
It’s a biography of David Ackles. A name unfamiliar to many, I’m sure. He was a pianist, singer and songwriter who made four brilliant albums of theatrical art songs between 1968 and 1973 and then stopped. But unlike many music cult heroes, he didn’t have a tragic afterlife, he just did other things. So in that respect it’s an anti-rock and roll story. A list of his admirers indicates how hard his music is to classify – Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Elvis Costello, Greg Ginn (Black Flag), Jim O’Rourke (Gastr del Sol, Sonic Youth). It’s published in August.
And explain about your most recent Ghostwriter album Tremulant?
Tremulant is an album of experimental folk settings of English, Welsh, Scottish and American 19th century and early 20th century evangelical hymns. Some of the songs on the album would have been quite well known at one time, but as church going has dwindled in this country they’re slipping out of collective memory.
Ghostwriter is a fluid thing where I work with a rotating cast of contributors. This time I was joined by three singers – Suzy Mangion (a long-standing collaborator), Andrew Rumsey and Michael Weston King. Lots of unison and harmony singing, glockenspiel, musique concrète textures and harmonium.
I’ve always liked hymns where the melody is quite simple and the lyrics both naive and confrontational. “Will your anchor hold in the floods of death, when the waters cold chill your latest breath?” They’re ripe for reinterpretation. Like a lot of folk songs, there often isn’t a definitive version. At least 10 years ago I mentioned the idea to Suzy and discovered she liked hymns too. But it took us a long time to get anything going. Andrew and Michael – both longstanding friends – self-selected later. Andrew’s a singer-songwriter, an author and a Church of England Bishop, so he’s sung a few hymns in his time. Michael is a country singer, and gospel hymns are a big part of the country canon.
What previous musical guises have you operated as?
The Palace of Light and Mabel Joy – each of which made one album, and Fariña, that made two albums. Quite a few collaborations and side projects over the years, too.
Is there a particular record from your back catalogue you love more than others?
I’m not sure I love any of them. But Tremulant is my number one at the moment. I think the three singers are exceptional and I’m proud to be associated with them.
A song called ‘Books’ gets closest to achieving what I wanted to achieve way back when. It was released on an obscure 7 inch single credited to Mabel Joy in 1991 (reissued in Spain a few years back) but it’s actually a Palace if Light song from the 80s.
What is your favourite musical instrument to play?
I’m a guitarist but not that proficient, so I’ve tended to gravitate toward other stringed instruments that are easy to play. I’ve got an Appalachian Dulcimer that I’m partial to. And more recently, I got hold of a Vox Clubman 1 bass – a short scale bass from the early 60s. The body is made of plywood and it’s incredibly light. It’s only got one pick up and one sound. But it’s a good sound.
Do you practice?
Not really. I realised a long time ago I’d never be a good technician, so I don’t go in for doing my scales or anything like that. The only time I do anything approaching practice is when I’m making up a part for a song. I tend to make the part up, run through it a few times so I can play it, record it, and then forget about it. I haven’t played live for years, but even if I wanted to I’m not sure I could without a lot of revision. On Tremulant, for example, I played almost all the parts but I made them up, learned them and recorded them as I was going, and have never revisited them since.
What was inspiration for your novel Undercliff?
Undercliff’s inspiration came from two places. First, the idea of evil disguising itself as good so effectively that it’s almost impossible to tell the difference (as Dylan says, sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace). Second, I’m a sucker for pursuit thrillers set in the English countryside – ideally with an innocent who gets caught up in something malign and sinister entirely by chance. I took those two things and set them in and around a retreat house on the East Devon coast in the early 70s. The retreat house is owned by what might be a harmless Jesus People hippy church – or might be something else entirely.
What projects have you got on the horizon?
I’ve got a second novel set in the same part of East Devon in the late 50s. A few characters from Undercliff appear, but it’s not a prequel. I need to find a publisher for it. (The Undercliff publisher went out of business …).
I’m looking into making a David Ackles radio documentary.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do musically. I’m waiting for some good advice.
Where is the perfect place to drink a cup of team in Devon?
Well, I don’t drink tea. But there are plenty of good places to eat and drink in the area where Undercliff is set, and I’m sure the tea is fine. There are two, sometimes three egg and chips-type cafes on the beach at Beer. Food/drinks served from a hut; tables set out on the pebbles. And there’s a pub a bit inland at Branscombe, called the Fountain Head. Honourable establishments.
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