Music / Previews
Kate Tempest preview
She’s a regular on the Bristol culture scene, a firm favourite of Big Jeff and was recently nominated for the Mercury Prize; now Kate Tempest returns to Bristol for a sold out gig at The Fleece on November 12.
A Londoner born and bred, Kate went onto work in record shops and study at Goldsmiths College (if that doesn’t get the creative juices flowing, nothing will) where she discovered a talent for blending spoken word, poetry and hip hop. Beginning her music career at open mic nights in London, she’s since gone on to secure decent slots at many festivals, including Glastonbury, a blinding set in Chai Wallahs at Shambala and slot at last year’s Cheltenham Literary Festival. She’s currently on the road with her newest (Mercury Prize-nominated) album, Everybody Down.
The album, made in collaboration with Dan Carey, proved a labour of love and comprises a record and an accompanying book. Speaking after being nominated for the Mercury Prize, she revealed the album was not initially popular with the powers that be – but they persevered regardless and it eventually paid off. She said: “The album that we made was exactly the album that we wanted to make. It feels extra special because it was such a crazy project. I’m really glad that it’s out there doing its thing.”
is needed now More than ever
With her toes in almost all the pools, Tempest’s talents extend to music, arts and theatre. While she’s not even 30 yet (she will be next year), but has an impressive CV, including winning the Ted Hughes Award for last year’s Brand New Ancients play, which she brought to Bristol Old Vic as part of Mayfest. Last month she released a new book of poetry, Hold Your Own, and her debut novel, The Books That Houses Built, is due out in 2016.
Her influences range from 90s hip hop (Outkast) to folk (Bob Dylan) and pop (Michael Jackson) to easy listening (Bill Withers) and speaking to her about the live shows, bands and albums who rock her world, her passion is infectious. Big Dada labelmates and fellow Mercury Prize nominees, Young Fathers, are one of her favourites at the moment and there’s a real buzz sound that. She said: “I’ve been doing this for so long and I’m still just getting started. Without the knowledge I got from hip hop I would never have found my path. I do my own thing but give thanks to the culture that inspired me.”
With the recent release of her book, she mused: “I wonder if they’ll stop calling me ‘performance’ poet now. If they don’t it don’t matter, I’m doing all the things I’ve always dreamed of. No pigeonhole is big enough and that’s exactly as it should be.”
Full of wise words is Tempest. We’ll leave you with this: “Don’t believe the hype. But do listen to the album.” We couldn’t have put it better than Kate herself.
Kate Tempest plays The Fleece on November 12. Tickets are sold out.
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