It’s a ‘twin hats’ kinda afternoon in which the better angels of my nature are struggling to drown out the demons who’d rather dream up potential lineups than concentrate on the difference between liquidity and leverage ratios. We have a date, and a familiar headliner, for Last Year’s Gig the Fourth (one which won’t be a complete surprise to those of you who are fans on Facebook) – and I’m contemplating supports as much as how to play it differently.

I realise, however, that I have been neglectful in sharing my memories of Last Year’s Gig the Second!

Putting on bands you love is ace. Okay you have to pay them, and feed them, and there is the danger that you might end up smashing the rider (“what, already?” laughed Richy before I informed him that there was literally a bottle of Pinot Grigio all over the floor backstage) but you’re also pretty much guaranteed to hear your favourite songs as well as a few surprises. Massive hugs to Mr Lovers Turn To Monsters for his heartfelt cover of Jesse Malin’s “Brooklyn”, even if my caterwauling from the ticket desk nearly drowned him out at some points.

She Makes War might have been the unknown commodity but she was a bit of a star, as several of you attested. Any time you want to come back to Glasgow Laura, just gi’es a shout. The lady herself recently sent me a video where she covers Madonna’s “Dress You Up” murder ballad style, recorded elsewhere on the tour as part of Yorkshire’s Hope and Social Crypt Covers project – it’s delicious and a little maudlin.

Announcements on the Fourth will follow in due course, but in the meantime there remain a handful of tickets for Last Year’s Gig the Third where Carter USM’s Jim Bob will read from new book Driving Jarvis Ham (out this week, fact fans!) as well as performing a few tracks from the ‘day job’ with support from ballboy’s Gordon McIntyre and the brilliantly mental 8-Bit Ninjas. Those can be purchased via Eventbrite.

Being ever so slightly of the geeky persuasion the other week I, and an anticipated $1 billion worth of cinemagoers globally, went to see Joss Whedon’s big screen outing for The Avengers (NB: if even the BBC is giving it that title, it’s good enough for me). As I’m sure you’ve read, if not already seen, the film is a classic example of the superhero genre – it’s silly, funny and packed with action sequences – real edge-of-your-seat stuff. Although, as I remarked to my companions on leaving the cinema, throughout much of the film I’d been perched on the edge of my seat for another reason: I was becoming increasingly sure that, for probably the first time in a contemporary big screen blockbuster of its type, The Avengers was going to pass the Bechdel Test.

As far more articulate feminist pop culture commentators have already remarked, however, it didn’t.

The test, as previously referenced on this blog and many others, dates back almost thirty years to the above strip from comic Dykes To Watch Out For and over time has been misnamed and misunderstood. Taken at face value it measures the active presence of female characters in film and television with reference to the following criteria:

- are there two or more, named, female characters?
- do they have a conversation during the film?
- is that conversation about something other than a man?

Increasingly I see the rule misappropriated as some kind of “feminist test”, however when I apply it I do so as more of an arms-length academic exercise involving a medium which, in the case of gender neutral stories, remains most likely to present the male as the norm and the female as somehow “other”. To view the test as some sort of be-all and end-all feminist criterion which individual movies can either pass or fail leads to some pretty skewed results – my friend @usuallydavid hits the nail on the head in characteristic fashion in a comment to the post on Dorothy Snarker’s excellent blog on feminist and queer culture I linked above:

[S]ome films pass the Bechdel test and yet display totally repulsive attitude towards women. (Ugh, Transformers 2 and its sexy camera-attracting ladybum robots, ugh.) That sort of thing is where per-film the test is pretty useless. But per-medium, it’s bang-on.

It seems to me that this is the only interpretation we, as responsible critics, can apply – while the test has its uses, to adopt it as some kind of shorthand for the ‘wrong sort’ of films is at best lazy and, at worst, a wilful refusal to engage with popular culture at a critical level. Adopting the test as a pass or fail measure is to suggest that shoehorning in some awkward exchange where named female characters discuss the weather, or the missile codes, or Hillary for President, for that discussion’s sake does more of a service to the story than a proper exploration of its characters, regardless of gender. And that can’t be right.

Regular readers will be aware that the man in my life is a feminist, a former film studies student and a soon-to-be-published novelist. This is both excellent, as it means I rarely have to waste my own time researching comics from the 1980s, and a right pain in the tits, as it means that if I want to engage with something critically Stringer will force me to truly engage even when all I want to do is post a sarcastic tweet and go to bed. Considering story structure and creating well-rounded characters is essentially what he does, constantly, so if I want to score cheap points I have to make sure I have reasonable grounds on which to do so.

Here is something he wrote last week for collaborative crime fiction blog Do Some Damage which was inspired by an interview with Liz Meriweather, creator of the hit sitcom New Girl:

I’d argue… that there is a tendency to read a female character as the writer’s definitive statement on feminism and gender politics. That’s a hell of a lot of pressure to place on a character and a story. Presenting well-rounded female characters in our work is vital. But there’s a difference between someone wanting to pick up a book and feel represented in the text, and someone wanted to pick up a book and expecting a character in the text to represent all of their sex/race/gender/species/shoe size.

Although it’s a little more complicated than that – not least because if you’ve watched beyond the much-maligned pilot episode of New Girl and gotten over the screeds of commentary devoted to Zooey Deschanel’s titular character you’ll have already figured out that the show is hardly a depiction of some ‘everywoman’ but rather an ensemble comedy along the same lines as Friends, only a bit less white, and as I posit in the comments the contrived reaction is less to do with the characters than the fact that shock horror it’s a show written by a woman (see also: Lena Dunham) – the point is a valid one. An earlier draft of the post called foul on Bechdel Test for many of the same reasons as above – that the way it is used nowadays is lazy, oversimplified and avoids an originally valid point.

Again – as an overarching way of considering a medium in which the male is seen as the norm and the female as other, yes. As a simple pass or fail, no.

There are three named female characters in The Avengers. I’d argue that Pepper Potts’ role is more of a cameo than anything else, and although Agent Maria Hill’s character is vital I would consider her role and function supporting at best. That Scarlett Johannsen’s Black Widow as the film’s female lead and, putting the catsuit aside, I’d argue that she’s a worthy successor to Joss Whedon’s already strong female lineage. She’s not there to provide a love interest, or as some prize to be won by the leading man once he’s done saving the day. She has a rounded, complex back story and two of the best fight scenes, and I would happily pay to see her in her own film. What undermines her character is not her lack of interactions with the film’s other women, but rather the fact that of the “Avengers” themselves she is one of only two who does not have her own franchise. The failing here is how unlikely it is that that would be greenlit by Marvel’s studio executives, despite the fact that Whedon’s script lays the groundwork.

So I recently finished reading Cathedral by king of the potboiler thriller Nelson DeMille, in an attempt to disengage my brain from all this critical theory. Only it didn’t work, because I noticed that although the politicking characters are all male, and every time a pair of terrorists of mixed genders end up in a turret together they end up shagging, the book – which does not pass the test, incidentally – plays some interesting games with gender norms. Both the head of the bomb disposal team and the only political character who seems together enough to call any shots are female (although the latter is disappointingly billed as an assistant), and it’s the male hostage negotiator who is preyed on and manipulated via his fears as a parent as if it was some kind of character flaw. All this from a book originally published in 1985!

I would not, however, argue for excluding the test from the weapons in a feminist cultural observer’s critical arsenal. View it instead as as just that – one weapon of many, rather than a tool of last resort. Think of it this way: there’s a film currently on at the cinema called What To Expect When You’re Expecting and I am willing to bet, both from the title and the posters I have seen on the side of buses in town it passes with flying colours. But I don’t want to see that film, not least because pregnant women – real or acting – make me feel a little sick (don’t; it’s a whole other thing). Similarly I do not care whether a film in which three groomsmen lose their soon-to-be-married pal on a stag night passes or fails, and even if I did I suspect the answer would involve strippers in some capacity. However, I’m pretty sure we all have an interest, regardless of gender, in not seeing New York blown to smithereens by lizardlike creatures from another dimension, and until women are not seen as “other” in such circumstances I vote we keep having the debate.

The bad news: it’s Monday Tuesday, and I am grumpy with the sort of cold that doesn’t want to break into full-blown misery (a day in bed watching sitcoms!) and instead promises a long week of work with a runny nose and painful cough.

The good news: there’s a Starbucks Card in my purse with a forgotten £6.52 on it, and I’ve been given a wee box of traditional Scottish treats to give away to one of you, courtesy of Scottish Hampers!

Anybody who has received a postal gift from me in the recent past will know I’m a big fan of sending food-related gifts at the moment because it’s hard to go wrong, or buy something that the recipient already owns or will have gotten from somebody else (and if they have, extras tend to be appreciated!). A cute gimmick makes the gift all the more thoughtful too, and Scottish Hampers’ wicker baskets make the gifts look all the more impressive. Not that I tend to say no to boxes of girl scout cookies and chocolate bars in the post, but when you’re shopping for a parent you want to pull out all the stops.

As well as offering a range of Scottish-themed hampers built around biscuits, beer and even breakfast, Scottish Hampers also allows you to create your own from their range of over 300 traditional and locally-sourced products. So there’s something for everyone, particularly a recipient a long way from home.

The prize is the pictured Wee Bairn hamper, which includes a range of traditional sweets and a small glass bottle of Irn Bru. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below – and for an extra entry, share a link to this post on Twitter copying in both myself, @lastyearsgirl_ (or I won’t be able to see you’ve done it!) and @ScottishHampers. I’ll draw the winner in two weeks (Tuesday 29th May).

Apologies, but this one is UK entrants only.

Good luck!

Quite recently a list of “30 things every woman should have and should know by the time she’s 30″, that was apparently published a few years ago by Glamour magazine, did a bit of a rerun on various blogs and Facebook feeds. I was torn between whether this was a good thing (a blog prompt! I love those!) or bad (stealing my thunder), but in the end it didn’t really matter because I’m now far further through the last month of my 20s than I planned to be when I wrote this catch-up post. Besides, the woman Glamour magazine describes is an alien creature, whose concerns are far less interesting than my own. That’s why, instead of linking to the list, I’d rather link to The Vagenda’s evisceration of it.

But hey, let us for lols imagine this is still some time last week and see where I stand in relation to both my own list and this one with some thirty days to go.

1. Move into somewhere that’s properly my own, like with furniture and stuff. Alternatively, get existing flat looking and feeling the way I want it. It’s only been five years.
NOT (REALLY) STARTED. It’s probably fair to say we’re not likely to move anywhere in the foreseeable future – in fact, probably the biggest driver for wanting to move is the state of this place. Because that’s how you fix piles of clutter, dishes needing done and the posters in tubes that have been waiting to be framed for nigh on six years! Feature walls and decorative vintage typewriters will surely follow!
GLAMOUR EQUIVALENT: A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family. Am I to assume that Ikea bookshelves and a no-brand 32″ television don’t count?

2. Get my iTunes library sorted out, with proper tags and album artwork.
IN PROGRESS. But, in actuality, far less advanced than it was when this project started as my hard drive died; losing me however many years worth of playlists, artwork and ratings that have to be rebuilt as well as all the new stuff. Honestly, it’s not high on my list of priorities.

3. Get the wedding photos, scrapbook and thank-you cards organised, done and sent out.
IN PROGRESS. But, not actually any more progress than I had made eleven months ago. I suspect, two years after the event, remembering people’s birthdays and things like that is more important than thanking them for coming to a party they know I was grateful they were at? Yes, I feel terrible. Maybe if I took a month off work…

4. Make a habit of living off my paycheque rather than credit cards/borrowing (at least three times in a five month period).
FAILED. Utterly, utterly failed. Not one month, never mind three. Perhaps if I wasn’t paying back credit cards… but this is perhaps the only target I’ve set myself that I’m genuinely disappointed in missing, so.
GLAMOUR EQUIVALENT: The realization that you are actually going to have an old age—and some money set aside to help fund it. Does this mean a pension? Because I totally planned to get one of these before I turned 30, but then I realised I only had a few months to wait until auto-enrolment so I’ll just let the Government take care of it for me.

5. Come off anti-depressants.
ABANDONED. I realise now that had I phrased this as “come off Prozac” – the sort of dramatic language I tend to favour – I could have scored this one off on a technicality as I am in the process of withdrawing from that particular medication just now, but it wouldn’t have been in the spirit of the project as I will be replacing it with something else just to see how that goes. What I have found, however, is that recent months (and the beginning of some new treatment) have brought home to me that the necessary taking of medication for a diagnosed mental health condition is not something to be ashamed of or given some arbitrary end date. I may never come off anti-depressants, but if I do it will be because I am healthy enough to do so.
GLAMOUR EQUIVALENT: The belief that you deserve it.

6. Pass my driving test.
IN PROGRESS. I failed again yesterday, for the eighth time (what? you wouldn’t have seen that car either in rain that heavy!) but watch this space. I still have a little time.

7. Attain “inbox zero”.
IN PROGRESS. Guys, this one is “in progress” nearly every single fucking day but I’m currently at 75 unread so I don’t even know. Sleep, and not stressing about it, is way more important.

8. Get a cat.
I don’t want to say “ABANDONED”. I don’t. But the fact remains if we had a cat in this house (see #1) it would probably choke on an abandoned pizza box and I would be devastated.

9. Shout from a rooftop, at least 20 storeys high.
I guess I need to find me a rooftop in the next three weeks, huh?

10. See a sunset.
As above.

11. Write a book. I can, of course, get away with not finishing it but only if I at least make a concerted effort.
ABANDONED. God, my teenage diaries are so over-dramatic. Should I put together an ebook of my fabulous blog posts? Would anybody buy it?

12. Learn and perform at least one song of my choosing at an open mic.
I suppose it’s not too late… to learn how to play the guitar again?!

13. Make a zine.
Should I put together a zine of my fabulous blog posts? Would anybody buy it?

14. Put on a gig.
COMPLETED. In fact, completed times three by the time this is done!

15. Make a cheesecake.
16. Make my own gin.
I should pick one of these to do tomorrow, yes?

17. Record a podcast.
I got sick! And there were so many things to do… always so many things to do…

18. Write a song.
Like this. I’ve still got four weeks left… right?

19. Get something published somewhere that even my dad will be impressed by.
COMPLETED. Well, I’m not entirely sure what I meant by this, but he told me that he had some friends over and started typing “lisa-marie” into Google and it auto-completed my name, so.

20. Play with a band.
COMPLETED. My turn on drunken backing vocals with one Mr Hughes counts, right?

21. See the Weakerthans live.
ABANDONED. Actually, this is my worst failure. I wonder if those tickets ever turned up..?

22. Listen to every Bob Dylan album.
ABANDONED. See, this is the thing – after my hard drive crash, once I started listening to everything on shuffle again I realised there was a reason that I hadn’t listened to the Bob Dylan stuff I haven’t listened to and that is because, for the most part, it is garbage. Life is too short.

23. Read Infinite Jest.
COMPLETED.

24. Take at least one trip to a city I’ve never visited.
Off to Liverpool next weekend with Jo, if you have any tips?

25. Learn something new or develop an existing skill with a course of study.
COMPLETED.

26. Have a professional waxing treatment.
COMPLETED.

27. Have a dress designed for me, perhaps for some big ol’ 30th birthday party.
…it’s just that I’ve found at least two pretty ones I wouldn’t need to have designed for me, and I have no idea how one would go about such a thing…
GLAMOUR EQUIVALENT: Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour. Sorry, that should read boring equivalent.

28. Go full redhead (if get mistaken for Karen Gillan so much the better).
I’m pretty sure that “maybe kids will call me Amy Pond on the bus” is not a good reason to undergo an extremely expensive bleach ‘n’ dye job. I think I’ll cut off all my hair again instead.

29. Take up some kind of regular fitness/sporty pursuit.
ON HOLD. I plan to do just that once the night I’m spending on driving lessons is freed up.
GLAMOUR EQUIVALENT: A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30.

30. Volunteer for something.
COMPLETED. And will blog soon.

Crowd funding is very much the in thing for cash-strapped bands low on label backing and rich in fans and artistic independence at the moment, and it’s a great way to get the people who care most about your music excited and involved with every aspect of the process. While sometime Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer has nicked all the headlines recently with a Kickstarter campaign which might actually have smashed the $600,000 mark by the time you read this – and rightly so, because whatever you might think of the controversial singer over the past week and a bit she has demonstrated that while major label advances may be a thing of the past for the majority of hard-working artists there is no limit to what you can do with a loyal fan base (and a willingness to work your arse off playing exclusive house shows for the next forever) – a quick look at sites such as Kickstarter, Pledgemusic and IndieGoGo throws up thousands of artists putting the funding model to innovative use with a range of ‘rewards’ for fans keen enough to invest a little more than the cost of the iTunes download or CD they may have otherwise purchased.

[Of course, it's not just musical artists who have been able to take advantage of the crowdfunding model... which provides an excellent link to all-female Glasgow comics collective Team Girl Comic who could do with a bit of support to produce a proper print run for their next issue. Go, investigate! I'll wait...

...hi again.]

Teenage Blood, the second album from our Chris T-T’s pals Tom Williams and the Boat was released a couple of weeks ago with the help of a Pledgemusic campaign, but I’m more excited by the band’s latest innovation – the crowdsourced tour. Fans are being encouraged to buy tickets at £9 a time for a chance of a date at the beginning of June in their own city. As you can see from the site two dates are already locked down with another three closing in, so if you like what you hear on the blog today get pledging!

How did you get started writing music and performing?
TOM WILLIAMS: I started playing music at school, I sung in choirs and played the violin and sax but gave them all up when I started playing guitar at about 15!

Three words to describe your music…
TW: Gloom Rush Pop

What influences you?
TW: Great songs, big paintings, fractious happenings!

You have an extremely loyal fan base who funded your second album through a Pledge campaign. Do you think tools like this have enabled you to take advantage of opportunities you might not have otherwise had to reach out to your fans?
TW: I think it was a great thing to go through with them, and we’re doing a similar thing with our new tour – asking for people to vote on where they want us to play. It’s scary but it’s exciting! I think when music spreads on a word of mouth basis, people tend to take the music far more to heart.

What other shows do you have planned at the moment?
TW: Festivals all summer – we’re playing Secret Garden Party and Bestival and host of great other ones too so we’re very excited

And what are you listening to at the moment?
TW: Hmm… the new Jack White, the new Richard Hawley, The Rolling Stones, Sharron Van Etten…!

BUY: Teenage Blood (various formats/options) directly from the band.

If you really want to get on my nerves on this particular day of the year, just make a hackneyed joke regarding a 35-year-old film franchise. Go on. It seems as though people have only been doing so over the past couple of years, or maybe it’s just that I got to avoid it when nobody was really using Twitter, but 4th May isn’t bloody Star Wars day. It’s my dad’s birthday! And always has been! Well, apart from before he was born but there was no Star Wars then either. A wee endorsement: today’s been the second time I’ve used Delimann, who have an adorable range of food-based gifts, and my dad seemed quite taken with his Ploughman’s Lunch. They’re quite a quirky take on the food hamper style gifts, and super reliable if you need a delivery on a certain date.

This post is up at least a few days later than it should have been, but hopefully some of you are still free and fancy popping along to the launch gig for Scott McWatt’s debut solo album, Jekyll and Hyde, tonight at Nice n Sleazy’s. Confession: I decided that I wanted to feature McWatt here because I don’t get enough press releases from Scottish acts that namecheck the Gaslight Anthem, so I hope he’s not shit. I’m sure he’s not. Speaking of my New Jersey boys, their “45″ (a first taste of what will likely be the album to rock my summer) has been ringing in my ears most of this week. Go listen, if you haven’t already, at Rolling Stone.

How did you get started writing music and performing?
It’s a complete cliche but it’s something I picked up really young. My gran had a piano and an out of tune acoustic guitar and I would sit and watch her play and listen. She used to play old Beatles records and I’d sing along to “When I’m Sixty-Four” as a 3 year old. I grew up just teaching myself to play and sing – it was something I was passionate about. I think the big one was when I saw Queen’s performance at Live Aid and I thought, ‘I want an audience in my hands like Freddie Mercury’.

Three words to describe your sound…
Honest, simple and me.

What influences you?
My grandparents have always been a huge influence on me, my mum was a single parent so we spent time at my gran’s while she worked two jobs to keep me, my brother and sister wanting for nothing. That said, my mum is my biggest influence: she gave me my work ethic and has always told me I can do anything I put my mind to. I love artists who aren’t afraid to be quiet and loud, Springsteen and Dylan. Ryan Adams is someone I admire greatly, Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem and Dallas Green (City and Colour) both have had more of an influence over more recent years.

You’ve been kicking around in bands for years, so what made you decide to write a solo album?
I always want to challenge myself. I left the bands and recorded two solo EPs and I wanted to push myself and see if I could do it. I had songs but while on tour EPs became albums’ worth of material and I thought I should do an album.

What’s the biggest difference between the songs you’ve written under your own name and those you’ve written for a band – or do the differences only make themselves apparent afterwards?
Band songs that I wrote were influenced by band members as much as me. Solo songs are more honest and autobiographical. I prefer being solo.

What releases/shows do you have planned at the moment?
The album coming out 7th May which after almost a year I’m so glad to get out there. Shows in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Dublin.

And what are you listening to at the moment?
I’m loving the new Bruce Springsteen album, Train’s new album, I’m getting back into The National and Jay-Z albums that remind me of touring last summer.

Scott McWatt live:
TONIGHT! Glasgow, Nice n Sleazy (album launch)
11/05 Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s
12/05 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Venue
20/05 Dublin, Whelans

Really upset to hear the news via Twitter this morning that Philadelphia punks The Menzingers, currently touring Europe with Bouncing Souls, were robbed of over $10,000 worth of their belongings in Manchester last night. The Menzingers are particular favourites of my wee pal/gig buddy Rachel. Regular readers and those who know us elsewhere might be aware that Rachel (and, to a lesser extent, myself) are going through a bit of a hard time at the moment, so as a way of getting away from it all she has talked me into accompanying her to a one-off headline show being put on by Banquet Records in Kingston on Saturday night. She says it’s okay if I wear a pretty dress, but I might want to stand at the back of the room.

You might remember the band from their inclusion on my mix for January, but if not you can hear that song “The Obituaries” – definitely one of my go-to pick-me-up songs of 2012 – below.

Now it’s a bit rich of me to ask you to stump up some cash for a band you’ve never heard of, but I promise you that if you’re into melodic pop-punk you will love the new album which you can buy from Kings Road Merch along with t-shirts etc. Alternatively if you are in a charitable mood Banquet Records are taking donations (which they were originally matching but due to the response so far “cannot afford” to continue with).

Menzingers on tour:
TONIGHT! Hatfield, The Forum (ANTIfest 2012 w/Anti-Flag, Bouncing Souls)
04/05 Southampton, Joiners (supporting Bouncing Souls)
05/05 Kingston, Fighting Cocks
06/05 Aachen, DE, Musikbunker (supporting Bouncing Souls)
08/05 Cologne, DE Underground (supporting Bouncing Souls)
09/05 Frankfurt, DE, Batschkapp (supporting Bouncing Souls)
10/05 Bern, CH, ISC (supporting Bouncing Souls)
12/05 Salzburg, AT, Rockhouse (supporting Bouncing Souls)
13/05 Prague, CZ, Lucaema Music Bar (supporting Bouncing Souls)

One of these pictures was not taken on or around Mount Teide National Park, Tenerife.

Dan Mangan is younger than me. I don’t know why this bothers me so much, and there are only a few months in it (he’ll catch up with me on Saturday, according to Wikipedia, for the six weeks before I spin off into that dreaded third decade), but it’s been preying on my mind since I went looking for some more information on him the other day. Maybe it’s that gravelly voice and the wisdom that infuses his lyrics (take a listen to previous mix inclusion “Basket” and tell me that’s a kid in his 20s). Hell, maybe it’s the beard. Maybe I should stop running around in hotpants and a Tinkerbell t-shirt if I want to be taken seriously.

The singer-songwriter, who has firmly established myself among my Canadian favourites over the past years (you know: Edwards, Samson… The Oh Wells…) is back in the UK from Friday, and releases “About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All” as a single from 2011′s Oh Fortune on Monday.

How did you get started writing music and performing?
Slowly. Music was always a part of my childhood, and very fun. But it took me many years to feel like I had anything to contribute to the world of music. It was fun, then it was a hobby, then it was an obsession, and now it takes up most of my life.

Three words to describe your music…
Questions Are Healthy

What originally attracted me to your songwriting was your clever lyrics, which seem to tell proper stories. Do you write them separately from your melodies? What inspires you?
It seems to be different every time… I’m usually jotting down phrases here and there, and always listening to the world for lyrical inspiration. Lyrics come slowly over time. The music tends to happen more quickly and spontaneously. I’m not hugely prolific, and the songs come slowly, which gives me a lot of opportunity to edit and whittle them in to place.

You seem to have quite the connection with the UK – I’m thinking of the artwork for Nice, Nice, Very Nice in particular*. What appeals about these shores?
There’s something ultimately familiar about the UK, to be sure. My grandmother had a lot of British antiques and paraphernalia around when I was a kid. I’ve been over a dozen times in the last 6 years it seems. Also, I’m from Vancouver where it rains about as much as it does on your soggy shores.

What releases/shows do you have planned at the moment?
Some more European touring, festivals. Getting married in September which should be good fun. Big tour in the fall, and hopefully next year will have some time to recuperate from it all back in Vancouver and get working on the next album.

And what are you listening to at the moment?
Been tripping balls to the newer tUnE-yArDs album WHOKILL. One of my favourite albums of last year was Bry Webb’s Provider.

*Yes, dear pedant: I know the Queen is the Canadian Head of State.

Dan Mangan on tour:
27/04 Brighton, The Hope
28/04 Manchester, Castle
29/04 Glasgow, Stereo
01/05 Newcastle, Cluny 2
02/05 Bristol, Louisiana
03/05 London, Bush Hall
04/05 Oxford, Bush Tavern
05/05 Leeds, Holy Trinity Church
06/05 London, Camden Crawl

[Post main image credit: Derek Branscombe]