Pete has a chat with Brightonian folk types The Mariner's Children.
When The Mariner’s Children fill the floor of Café OTO, the crowd holds their conversational hum. But as singer Benedict Rubinstein’s soft harmony nervously intertwines with a gentle guitar lick, the crowd turns into an entranced audience, in respectful silence hooked on delicate musicianship.
This Brighton-born seven-piece assemble softly cutting folk songs that rise in melody and cadence to produce a wholly visceral montage of a modernity interjected with past tendencies. I chatted to lead singer/guitarist Ben to find out a bit more about this exciting new band.
Before we start, could we get a bit of history about the band?
Dan (Matthews – banjo and guitar) and I lived together in Brighton and spent a lot of time listening to music. From that it was a very short walk to playing music together.
We started playing as a duo, then added a brilliant violinist and singer called Lizzie Ogle, but when she left in September of last year we felt we were either gonna break up or build the band up. But Brighton's got a stupidly active scene of musicians so we kept going; we knew Marcus (Hamblett – double bass) and Emma G (Gatrill – vocals) who were involved in bands in the Brighton-based Willkommen Collective. Then we met Emma K (Kraemer – cello) and Becca (Mears – cello) through Peggy Sue (who they also play with). And I knew Felix (Weldon – drums) from school.
Why folk?
Well one reason was Dan and my obsession with Pentangle's interlocking guitar parts. But I also think folk prioritises and revels in language probably a bit more than any other genre.
Who do you count as your main influences?
Well, Pentangle, Iron and Wine, Six Organs of Admittance, Akron/Family, Grizzly Bear. Marcus and Emma K recently got Dan and me into 'Remain in Light' by Talking Heads which is pretty damn good.
Agreed. What do you make of the modern folk explosion, the Laura Marlings / Noah and the Whales and now Mumford and Sons?
I like them, though I don't think we've got that much in common musically or lyrically; we just play the same instruments.
Can traditional folk still sound and be viable today in the 21st Century?
Well we're not really making trad. folk, but yeah it can. Generally speaking I don't like the idea of trying to copy something from the past wholesale. That music has been made and the best you'll be able to achieve is a facsimile without the authenticity.
But I don't think there's anything wrong with taking those musical ideas, forms or subjects and building on them to make something new (which is hopefully what we do).
How do you assemble the songs?
Sometimes we write all our parts together, sometimes (as most of us live in different cities) we exchange ideas over email. Generally it's got to be done in sections though: seven people coming up with new parts and sections for one song in one room simultaneously can lead to migraines!
Where do you think you can go with the music you write?
Weymouth, maybe Torquay...
Image credit: Katy Beth Young
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