Folktronica trio Haiku Salut (or "Baroque-Pop-Folktronic-Neo-Classical-Something-Or-Other" trio, as their website calls them) are launching their Lamp Show tour in Nottingham. The show will feature an 'orchestra' of vintage lamps programmed to flicker and fade as an additional accompaniment to the band. Think of it as a band featuring three ladies and twenty lamps. Or a band with a kickass light show that just happens to have mostly come from Oxfam. However you think about it, the evening promises to be one full of magical music as they play their acclaimed (their fans include fellow charity shopper Jarvis Cocker) debut album plus some new instrumental gems. Playing alongside them will be indie-folkster We Show Up On Radar and ambient explorer Grawlix.
As if heading out on tour wasn't enough Haiku Salut have just finished a book too. Due for publication on Monday 3 November, Japanese Poems Steal Brains is an eighty-page illustrated book of seventeen syllable poems. The book is "a tour memoir of sorts" that covers the highs and lows of playing live, travelling around in a small red postal van and eating a lot of olives. And yes, we asked them to answer some of their questions in the form of a haiku.
You're launching your Lamp Show tour in Nottingham. Is it a city you enjoy playing in?
It sure as hell is!
The people are the nicest
Always a fun gig
What's your favourite city to visit on tour and what makes it special / different?
We’re fortunate to have got to play tons of great towns and cities. We played a gig on the Isle of Portland a couple of weeks ago which was amazing as it was in an old theatre near the beach. The beach! Being from the Peak District, this isn’t somewhere that we get to frequent often if at all so we sure we made the most of it.
You have a book of haikus coming out soon. Not many bands decide to publish a (poetic) tour diary. What came first - did the writing inspire the band name or vice versa?
We wrote haikus before the band started. They were a way for us to capture snap-shots of our lives, or memories that would otherwise have been forgotten. Like a photo but in written form. Since the band started, we started to write a haiku for every gig we played and whenever we were on tour so that we’d keep the memories like a photo-album. It became quite a large collection, which is where the idea came to publish a book, with a selection of our favourites.
Do you have exciting plans to launch the book?
We’re launching it at Scarthin Books in Cromford on Saturday 1 November. Scarthin is amazing (the sixth best bookshop in the world, according to The Guardian) and full of hidden rooms, one of which is a café that you can only get to by pulling out a certain bookshelf. It’s a free event where haikus will be read out, vinyls will be turning, cake will be eaten, and there’ll be some surprises too.
How did you first start working with (long-time collaborator) artist Katrine Brosnan?
Gemma was friends with Katrine from school so that’s where the link formed; when we got to know her artwork and her style, it seemed very fitting for us to work with her. She illustrated the album artwork on Tricolore and has created all our t-shirt designs for us. She was hugely involved in Japanese Poems Steal Brains; each page has a beautiful illustration by Katrine based on the haikus, which we’re very excited about showing everyone.
What's the meaning behind the book's title - Japanese Poems Steal Brains?
It’s a line from one of the haikus in the book. Mid-way through a tour last year, we did a 100 Haikus in a Day challenge, inspired by Poet Tim Clare who once a year writes 100 poems in a day. The 100 haikus were divided between the three of us and we made our manager Ian do a couple too (they didn't make the final cut) so it wasn’t too bad, but they really did temporarily take over our brains.
What's the idea behind the lamp shows and where did the inspiration for them come from?
The inspiration started from Dan Deacon’s live show – he triggers lights in time with his beats. We had been looking for something to enrich our live show, as we don’t talk on stage, and this seemed to work. Robbie (from Snug Recording Studio) worked with us on the behind-the-scenes electronics/magic. As it takes hours of preparation and setting up for each performance, we can’t do the lamp show for every gig we do, so it’s all the more special when we do.
Do you love lamp? What's your favourite ever lamp?
We LOVE lamp. Since the first lamp show, we’ve had quite the variety of lamps so it’s hard to choose the top one – it’s like picking your favourite child... we love them all! Personally I’d choose Lucy Lamp who I’ve had since I was about two years old, I’m very happy she’s got to tour with us (and so is my mum).
Do you think you get different treatment on tour as an all-female band?
We recognise that this is still an issue for a lot of people but fortunately this isn’t something that we feel affects us when we tour. Maybe it’s the DIY ethic or that the promoters we work with are generally like-minded people, but apart from the very rare occasion, it’s just not something that we've found to be an issue for us. Although there was one time the promoter was a real old chap who called me ma'am and would only let the ladies drink half pints, he was more of your traditional gentleman than ignorant. And it was hilarious, so we'll let him off!
What would your dream gig be?
British Library
Madonna in audience
Support from Spice Girls
What does the Haiku Salut tour diet consist of?
Sometimes there’s hummus
Occasionally cheese-strings
But always olives
Haiku Salut play their Lamp Show at Nottingham Contemporary on Wednesday 8 October. Tickets are £7 in advance.
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