INTERVIEW: Adrian Brockless with Shetland’s New Anthem
1) Da Sealkie Wife’s Sang is your new take on the Mary-Ellen Odie Shetland traditional folk classic, and you’ve made no secret of Shetland’s influence on your work. What might readers not now about the Shetlands and what makes it a great place to pull from when making your music?
Firstly, it is important to never call Shetland “the Shetlands” – the locals don’t like it! Shetland is a place, much like Orkney or Surrey! More importantly, Shetland has a unique identity – there is, in fact, an independence for Shetland movement! Until about the 15th century, Shetland was part of the kingdom of Norway and only became part of Scotland because of a dispute over a dowry. Shetland doesn’t really feel Scottish. It is an incredibly beautiful place with a rich heritage of storytelling and music that is quite different from the culture in which I grew up. It is a wonderful place for those who love the natural world. I suppose it is the folk music and the natural world that have been the greatest influence on my writing.
2) Outside of your music work, it’s no secret that you’ve done a lot of volunteering work for different wildlife trusts. What voluntary work have you done and has it influenced your music at all?
I have done much volunteering for wildlife conservation including for the RSPB and Fair Isle Bird Observatory. I have also worked professionally in whilst I’ve conservation for the national trust, looking after a colony of Little Terns on the Northumbrian coast. I couldn’t say honestly that any of this has influenced the direction of my composition (or, at least, not in ways of which I am aware). My academic work has a philosopher has probably done more in the sense that it has encouraged me to think about the nature of what I’m doing.
3) What have been the three most impactful musical moments in your life?
It is difficult to think of any particular events that have been the most impactful musical moments in my life. However, singing daily services as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral and later at Guildford Cathedral (boarding school was not for me) had a profound influence on my musical development and my love of music. I discovered at the age of 11 that I was not religious in any way, but I do love liturgical music.
Coming to realise how music is such an important part of life and being lucky enough to have a father who wrote two pieces for me has also influenced how I approach things.
A few stories come to mind though.
I once sang Allegri’s Miserere in a marquee (was more of a glorified tent) with less-than-ideal acoustics, an experience both challenging and memorable.
Singing at a funeral in London with an open coffin containing a body that had not been embalmed. It was a lengthy funeral on a warm day. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination!
The performance of my Berceuse for string quartet at the Tilford Bach Society concert – the piece was the opening of the Harris Quartet’s recital and so well received that the audience demanded it again as an encore.
4) What advice would you have for aspiring musicians reading this interview?
I guess my advice to any aspiring musicians would be: don’t perform or write music for the sake of something else (for example, recognition). Write and perform because you love it. Of course, putting food on the table is a necessity if it is to be your career, but if you lose a love of it or if you never had a love of it, then your success will be limited because your heart won’t be in it.
5) Your interpretation of Da Sealkie Wife’s Sang began life as a birthday present for your mother and is now a full publicly released single featuring the Orchestra Nova! How did it feel sharing something so personal with the world?
The fact that Da Sealkie Wife’s Sang formed part of my mum’s birthday present did not really influence my decision to release it as a single. It was the wonderful performance given by Orchestra Nova that was responsible for that. However I’m extremely glad that she got to listen to it first!
