To celebrate the release of her highly anticipated debut album, Idle Mind, Wicklow-born songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anna Mieke speaks to Culture about her musical journey...
I never set out ‘to write an album’ - I merely reached a point where I had a number of songs that I felt complimented each other well. How I see it, they’re siblings: all growing from the same root, in themes, in tone and in feeling. I like to think of my album as a gathering together pieces for a portfolio, or an exhibition; a glimpse of the last little while of work - for my own reference and record more than anything.
Listen to Idle Mind by Anna Mieke:
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I haven’t released a huge amount before this (two singles in 2018, and a scattering of live videos) and I want to experience my recordings more as a whole - there’s something very satisfying about that. Idle Mind is most definitely a representation of the last few years of developing my songwriting - there are some songs on the record from years ago, while others, such as Creature and the title track Idle Mind, appeared much more recently - I’ve enjoyed experiencing this change, watching over them like a proud mama.
Watch Anna Mieke's video for Creature:
It wasn’t until I’d graduated from college and spent a year galavanting in Spain, that I actually set about writing my own songs - I had always been doing so, subconsciously, but I suppose it required a conscious effort for them to materialise into something less than abstract, wandering thoughts. I was introduced to this idea of artist residencies by a visual artist friend and, once I’d built up the courage to call myself ‘an artist’, I applied to attend one. My two weeks in Cill Rialaig artist residency in Kerry was hugely important and influential - for cementing ideas and for tempting out new ones, for providing a space to focus purely on music, and for solidifying my want to keep writing. Many of the songs on the album came from this time, and from subsequent residencies after that.
Watch Anna Mieke perform Aurillac on This Ain't No Disco:
My lyrics are very much influenced by various trips I’ve taken - cycling to the southern tip of Spain, living in New Zealand, hitching through Europe, and sweating in the heat of Bangladesh - all the while, expressing curiosity towards the immensity of our environment and a discontent towards all manner of inequalities. A massive energy behind this album has come from a result of collaborating (which I used to be wary of, and now can’t get enough of) - as well as guitar and bouzouki, the album plays host to piano, drums, fiddle, cello, Indian harmonium, clarinet, flute, bass and synth. Working with other musicians has changed a lot in regards to how I approach songwriting and arrangements. A common theme in many of the tracks is layers of humming - collective voices and a large sound was what I imagined for a lot of songs - I’ve been very much inspired by collective actions that I’ve been part of and feel that this has been woven into the arrangements in some way. That being said, I would like to bring out a solo record at some point, when the time allows.
The album itself was started in January 2017. It was a freezing winter and I was recording down in Castletownshend, Skibbereen, with Nick Rayner. I was in the middle of studying a masters in Cork city and on Christmas break. Catching the flu hampered things and it wasn’t until a year later that we could continue. A combination of West Cork recording with Nick followed by more recording in a cottage in the beautiful surrounds of Pickering Forest with Adrian Hart and Cian Hamilton, over a few weeks in 2018, finally brought everything together. Although at the time it frustrated me a lot, the drawn-out process of recording actually allowed me time to reconsider approaches retrospective to some tracks already having been recorded. One song that I had long forgotten about and dismissed came out of the woodwork and offered itself up for rearranging. I met Matthew Jacobson, who plays drums on a lot of the album, in 2018, and who has brought a whole other element to the tracks. The time has allowed me to work other jobs to help pay for the album and has enabled me to release independently.
Watch: Anna Mieke, on a rooftop:
I am looking forward to playing gigs in interesting places - if you have a boat, a cave, an old church, a warehouse, a lighthouse, a castle wanting a gig, do let me know. House-shows too - more of them needed, I say! No definite plans yet but a music tour by bike is high on my list of things to achieve. If not this year, next. I’ve also applied for more residencies, and am keen to work on more ideas that are vying for my attention. Finally, I am planning to do a tour across the water in the UK, and further afield.
Idle Mind is out now on 12" vinyl, CD and digital - she plays the Unitarian Church, Dublin on April 26th, and the Róisín Dubh, Galway on April 27th - find out more here.
