Louise Connell a.k.a. Reveriemie (pronounced Reverie-me) is a singer/songstress hailing from Airdrie who has an incredible penchant for writing bloody good pop songs. Coated with a indie/country feel, her debut album 'Melodies' is a thing of beauty, and this year has seen performances at T In The Park, Wickerman, and a live session for Ally McCrae at the BBC. Not bad going.
Hello, how are you?
Very well, thanks! A little tired, trying to find the balance between work, uni and music – something that, considering my years of practise, I am still baffling terrible at – but entirely jolly nonetheless!
Tell us a little bit about your music and influences.
A fairly simple, but accurate, description of my music would probably be lyric and melody-driven pop. I’m influenced by lots of artists but some of my all-time favourites are Of Montreal, The Dresden Dolls, Regina Spektor and Rilo Kiley.
Scotland has a thriving music scene. How do you find being a part of that?
Oh, I don’t even have my invitation to the Scottish music scene hazing yet! I’m a spec on the peripheries of the Scottish musical community. I do love what artists from these here parts are creating, though, and I love being proximate to so much talent!
Which Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?
My very talented buds, who are all so musically different (which I love), include Andrew Lindsay & The Coat Hooks, Shambles Miller and Loch Awe. I hope you’ve heard of them already but, if not, get away and listen!
What is your songwriting process like?
Since I’m a fairly terrible musician, I’ll often start with the words and work backwards from there. The stories merge people and incidents from real life, with fictional characters and events from books or films. If a degree in English Lit has left me with anything, it’s the impression that those two worlds aren’t very distinct at all. That, and a useless piece of paper with some Latin written on it.
What could we expect to see/hear from your live shows?
Very different things depending on which gig you’re at! This summer saw the formation of the Reverieme band: friends, and friends-of-friends, who very kindly lent me their musical talents. For acoustic shows, I play on my own or with Andrew (who plays guitar in the band but adopts the, very manly, glockenspiel at acoustic gigs). Either way, it gets pretty mental (if by mental you mean not-mental).
What does the rest of 2011 hold for you?
Recording the new album and, hopefully, playing a few wee gigs here and there!
How do you deal with the infamous 'singer/songwriter' tag?
Ach, I’m used to it. The term makes complete sense, since I am a singer and a songwriter, but it does tend to transmit some unwanted (read: earnest, James Blunt-ian) connotations. As long as people make their judgements after listening to the music, rather than just reading the description, I’m happy.
Your album 'Melodies' is quite stunning. And I hear rumours of a new one over the horizon? Can you tell us any little secrets about it?
Thank you! Yep, the new album should be getting started come October/November time and I’m really excited. I’m (but hopefully we’re, since I’d love the band to be involved) recording with David Anderson, who produced Melodies; so while it won’t be drastically different to its predecessor, we’ll be aiming for a more cohesive balance between the acoustic and the ultra-produced sounds.
What's been your biggest achievement so far?
This summer! It’s been so much fun and I’ve absolutely loved it. We were lucky enough to be picked for the T Break stage at T in the Park, then later in July we played Wickerman, and then in August we popped along to Radio 1 Scotland to play a live set on Ally McCrae’s show. Considering things had just been chugging along slowly up until then, it was gloriously mad!
Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?
Did you hear about the magic tractor? He turned in to a field!
That’s my 4 year old niece’s favourite. My brother tells me she enjoys sharing it with strangers on the bus, which I think is admirably gallus since she lives in Tollcross.
Thank-you!
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