Birdsong inspires David Rotheray album

Aug 12 2010 by Tamzin Lewis, The Journal

One-time mainstay of The Beautiful South David Rotheray tells Tamzin Lewis how garden birds have been his saving grace.

DAVID Rotheray describes Ménière’s disease as like “being drunk all the time, but with none of the good bits”. During his worst episode of Ménière’s, the disease affected his balance making him so wobbly and vertiginous that he was confined to a chair for two weeks.

It was summertime in 2006 and, with time on his hands, the former lead guitarist in The Beautiful South got into bird-watching. Sitting in a comfy chair he looked over his garden in Hull, spotting and identifying birds using a free wall chart.

He also wrote song lyrics which, not surprisingly, were inspired partly by garden birds, in addition to illness and old age.

Speaking from his home, where I can hear his new pal Alasdair Roberts knocking out tunes in the background, David says: “The first time I got Ménière’s disease was five years ago, and I was scared as I thought it might just go on forever.

“It doesn’t scare me so much now as I know I can take antibiotics and it will go away.”

“It is like being seasick. If you are sitting in a chair and you move your head, it is like the whole room is moving.”

Ménière’s disease is particularly cruel for a musician as it affects the inner ear, bringing on tinnitus and hearing loss which can be temporary or permanent.

“The bird thing was a way of relaxing. A chart came with the newspaper and you were supposed to see how many of each bird you saw as part of a survey. I never knew the difference between a sparrow and a dunnock before – that was the first thing I learnt. I was also surprised how many different birds there are in the garden.

“Then the birds crept into my writing without me meaning to. I didn’t set off to write songs about birds.”

The first song he wrote was The Sparrow, The Thrush and The Nightingale which is the opening track of David’s album The Life of Birds. And the theme goes on from there to create a loose feathered concept to the entire CD. Suffice to say crows, ravens, rooks and hummingbirds also get a look in.

David comments: “Originally there were more bird songs but I thought it might look a bit silly if it was all birds. I tried to balance it out a bit.”

This is David’s first project since The Beautiful South disbanded in 2007, and although it’s described as solo, it is really more of a collaborative project featuring a roll- call of folk singers.

After writing more than an album’s worth of lyrics, he drew up a wish list of singer-songwriters he wanted to work with.

These included Newcastle’s Kathryn Williams, Glasgow-based Alasdair Roberts, Yorkshire-born Eliza Carthy, French-Irish Camille O’Sullivan and Devon’s Jim Causley.

David says: “Eleanor McEvoy was the only person I knew already. All the others were people whose albums I was listening to at the time.

“I approached about 20 people and some people I never got hold of. I had a strike rate of about 50%.”

He then emailed possible lyrics to each performer and asked them to either write or co-write the accompanying music before recording them all in the same studio.

The 47-year-old says: “Everyone had their own way of working. Eliza Carthy brought in a finished song. Alasdair Roberts was the opposite – he came down and made it up on the spot. Everyone else was in between.

“It was an interesting way of working as you never knew how it would go until the day. It keeps you awake and on your toes.”

The approach makes for a pretty diverse album although David’s production techniques give it continuity. He also used the same musicians on all of the tracks including Rod Clements of Lindisfarne on slide guitar.

David adds: “It is the first time I have done anything like this so it’s a new experience. It’s interesting to give someone words and see what they come back with.

“The responses were usually quite different to what I would have done. Everyone has different ways of thinking.”

The Life of Birds also touches on the heartbreaking affects of senile dementia, which preoccupied David during his illness. His friend Eleanor McEvoy sings Almost Beautiful, about a loved one affected by Alzheimer’s.

And Sweet Forgetfulness by Camille O’Sullivan is from the point of view of someone with no memories to lose.

David says: “As I was stuck in a chair I was worried that it would be like this when I am old and infirm. That was in my mind, and I also wondered if this was what I would be like if I didn’t get better.

“My family also tend to grow old and get dotty rather than die young, so Alzheimer’s is an issue.”

David grew up in a music-loving family as the youngest of five, with his four teenage siblings influencing him with different genres.

He joined his first band aged 12 and was asked to join The Beautiful South at the end of the 1980s by Paul Heaton, who lived down the street in Hull. David stayed with the group throughout its 19-year career, co-writing the band’s songs with Paul. They reportedly sold around 6.5 million records worldwide.

So is this a natural shift from pop to folk for David?

“This is the kind of music I have been listening to,” he says. “I would say the songs I have been working with are really country songs sung by folk artists. But I don’t mind what category they fall into.”

David Rotheray performs at The Cluny, Newcastle, tomorrow. His touring band includes singers Jim Causley and Bella Hardy. The Life of Birds is released on Monday by London’s Proper Records. More information: www.davidrotheray.com

As I was stuck in a chair I was worried that it would be like this when I am old. That was in my mind, and I also wondered if this was what I would be like if I didn’t get better