Welsh Avant-Pop Singer Gwenno Chats Brexit, Stereolab and Moving Back Home

The Welsh word for ripple or ‘ruffled water’ is ‘crychiau crychion’. It’s a good way to describe Y Dydd Olaf, Gwenno’s debut album.

Originally appearing in 2014 on the small Cardiff label Peski, and re-released last year on Heavenly Recordings, the brilliantly spacey and synth-heavy album takes it’s title and concept, from Owain Owain’s obscure 1976 dystopian novel. Sung in Gwenno’s native Welsh, the album address issues such as patriarchal society, media propaganda,technology, and the threat to minority languages.

The Cardiff songwriter, DJ, radio presenter and singer, whose day jobs prior to her solo career included dancer, writer and performer for Brighton-based conceptual pop band The Pipettes, and touring synth player for Elton John and Australian PNAU, writes lush electro pop that has drawn comparions to Stereolab and Broadcast.

Wales' story is that of a minority culture and Welsh is seen as a minority language, but Gwenno says that her music is meant to connect. A return to Cardiff after years of living in London resulted in a creative resurgence which is reflected in Y Dydd Ola’s freedom and self-awareness.

Currently writing songs for a new album, Gwenno will soon be heading to Australia for her first solo tour.

Noisey: You recently played the Bluedot Festival. What was that like?
Gwenno: I’m not too sure how long it’s been around, but it’s in Jordell Bank just outside of Manchester. There is a massive telescope there, it’s kind of like a science festival as well, which I think is a really cool idea

Have you played many cultural or folk festivals?
I haven’t because the music's not very folky. It’s been quite nice though, even though the album is in Welsh and Cornish, it doesn’t particularly sound Celtic.

There’s definitely more synths than fiddles.
Yes!

Have the comparisons with Broadcast and Stereolab been following you since you started making your solo work?
I suppose so, but I think they, particularly Broadcast, were big influences while we were making the album. Tim Gane from Stereolab recently remixed one of the singles and he’s done an amazing job. It has some quite strong elements of Stereolab naturally in there, so I’m very happy with those comparisons.

What was the Welsh reaction to Brexit? It was different to Scotland who voted ‘stay’ right?
They are pretty different. Scotland has been through a referendum recently and I think that the campaign was very powerful and mobilising. For the population to actually engage with politics is essential for a healthy society. I think it’s important that people are engaged and knowing what’s going on. Unlike Wales, the Scottish parliament is something that gets a lot of scrutiny, and therefore people are more engaged with it.

Does it reflect cultural identity as well?
No, It’s not like that. It’s constitutional, it’s nothing to do with cultural identity. The parliament in Scotland also has more power than the one in Wales and I think that people in Wales are far more disenfranchised with politics.

Most of the media on Brexit was coming form London. It was hard to know what people in small Welsh towns were feeling.
Wales doesn’t have it’s own media at all, there’s no scrutiny over what the Welsh government does or what the European Union does. A lot of people aren’t connected with things that are supposed to benefit them. So they think they’re not benefiting from anything so therefore have nothing to lose by exiting the union. I feel more empathetic to those people because you really can’t dismiss how people felt and why people decided to leave. There was no media coverage at all on how leaving the European union would affect Wales.

Australia must seem so very different. We don’t have the same history or cultural ties and identities as you do in the United Kingdom.
Your stories are very different, but fascinating. Australia’s even more interesting because of it’s history.

Many people from Britain come here for a holiday, sunshine, kangaroos, beaches, but there are a lot of darker sides even in recent history that you don’t see when you’re on vacation.
Yes, what I really liked when I visited a few years back touring with PNAU, was visiting the Western Australia Modern Museum Of Art. There was a lot of Aboriginal contemporary art. I felt there was a lot more conversation particularly in art galleries and museums that I could engage with. I was seeing and hearing more voices that were questioning history, and I felt that was a very healthy thing to do.

The album has been out for a while. What was it like making it?
The record came out last July, so it’s just over a year. The whole thing has been really slow and weird. I lived in London for a long time and when I went home I thought, “Fuck you everyone Im going to make a record I want to make and I don’t care.” And that sounds like, “Duh, that’s what you should be doing.” But it’s hard. Some people wake up and they are child prodigies and they work it all out. But it took me a very long time to work out what I was doing. The whole point of it being to create something uncompromising. The fact I’m touring Australia is just incredible, everything has been this really lovely organic slow process and one thing has led to another. Rather than having this plan and rushing it, it all happened gradually.

How does the music translates into a live show?
We’ve been touring this past festival season as a three piece and it’s really loud and noisy. It’s nice to bring the record to life. It’s not chaotic but there’s an element of chaos to it.

Gwenno Australia Tour 2016:
Oct 8 - Perth at Mojo’s Bar
Oct 9 - Harvey at Camp Doogs
Oct 11 - Melbourne at Toff in Town
Oct 13 - Sydney at Newtown Social Club