#antigenrecords

Crofters in their cottage, North Uist, Scotland (source: Photographs by Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland) See more wonderful photographs on the website here... http://tour-scotland-photographs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/old-photograph-crofters-cottage-north_19.html 

Been busy working on Sealionwoman’s next project today. So Ive been doing lots of online research, and came across these incredible photographs from Sandy Stevenson.

Im ashamed to say I have never been as far north as the outer Hebrides but hope to go there one day with Tye. I would love to sing on the muddy shore, performing to the vast expanse of the North Atlantic ocean. 

With the onset of winter and recent rising of the har from the Forth, writing lyrics about the coastline, tempestuous seas and the secretive selkie have been a lot easier. This spring, sealionwoman hopes to birth something special…

Kitty x

IMPROV II 

Maggie dancing to our track “Sands” at The Vaults under Waterloo in London.

Last year I asked my friend Maggie if I could film her doing some improvised dance en pointe while she listened to one of our Sealionwoman tracks "Sands" in an urban landscape. Ive finally got round to editing the footage and would like to present the results, IMPROV II. 

After a chilly afternoon of filming Maggie, I was pretty restless and desperate to dance too, so we reversed roles and I had her film me in one continuous shot from the start of the song till the end, while I listened to it with headphones. That footage made up IMPROV I which is already on our youtube account. You can watch it here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHFNHalyoVU

Maggie was familiar with the original version of the “Sands” track used in IMPROV I. But while editing I decided to team it up with our latest recording of the same track, that Ill be soon putting up on our band camp. The footage was filmed a while ago so I felt it was important to pull it into what Sealionwoman is currently doing. Our music never stays the same, even after we've home recorded and played a song numerous times live, it always finds a way of evolving into something else…

Its early beginnings teaming our work with physical performance. But doing this small project Ive learnt a lot and we’re really looking forward to collaborating with other artists in the future.

Song’O the Crofters - traditional folk song interpreted by Sealionwoman 

Short video from when we recorded our track for the Antigen Records Christmas compilation at Sam Webster’s home studio in Brighton! You’ll beable to pick it up this December, check out www.antigenrecords.com for more info. We’ll hopefully release some new material soon as well.

I originally discovered this song at Cecil Sharpe house, London in a “Songs from the Gael” book. The song is actually about the mass emigration of scottish people to the distant lands of America. Forced to do so because of the Highland clearances. The mass displacement of people from their homelands forced people into poverty and hardship. Its a bleak song, the words so descriptive you can completely picture yourself in Glen Ardtoe, filled with desperation but hope for the future. 

“O’er to the meads of America we’re going, Longing for the day of returning”

New LIve Video of our last set at The Waiting Room London.

BEATNIK BUSH

Before cutting off all my hair and flying to the north for winter I shot my friend Maggie dancing to one of our tracks in a underground passageway near Waterloo in London. After an afternoon filming her dancing I felt compelled to dance to my own track as well. This video is the one and only improvised take that Maggi filmed while I listened to the track on my headphones. Im still editing Maggi's video and will upload it in due course as Improv II. I never would have considered uploading such rough footage if it hadn't been for friends support, for me there is little technical skill and I felt incapable of freeing myself from negative thought. But everything in the video is raw emotion and how I felt moving to my own music at that exact moment in time.

"The constant demand for perfection will surely kill the soul "

Last Month we spent a week rehearsing and writing in Unit A7, a small warehouse space that is part of Resonate Arts in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Located in the industrial part of my home town near the glassworks, with cold temperatures and grey surroundings it could have been a bleak time. But the people at Resonate Arts showed us so much kindness and hospitality while we used the space that it became a second home...