EMQ’s With Daughter of the Water
EMQ’s With Daughter of the Water
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with UK Dark Folk project, Daughter of the Water. Huge thanks to Vocalist, Banjola player, and Songwriter, Sarah Lambert-Gates, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is Sarah Lambert-Gates and I am the singer and banjola player and songwriter for Daughter of the Water. I started writing as Daughter of the Water in about 2018. I was joined by guitarist Thom Richards on and off. We recorded the first album “Her Kiss is a Whip of the Moon” with musician and producer Paula Riordan in The Trench just before lockdown.
I play either solo or with one or two other musicians and have recorded and performed a suite of songs written with Bones Huse of doom rock band Morass of Molasses in recent times.
Meanwhile I continue to perform and write solo for some gigs. It gives me flexibility.
I have recently been rehearsing up some of the songs with some old bandmates (from early noughties Screamy-dreamy band Desdemona); Zac Yeo (bass) and Jamie Mead (drums) and original DOTW guitarist Thom Richards (electric guitar), I’m very excited to be playing my songs with them; previously played on acoustic instruments and working them up into complex, weird, exciting progressive rock vibes. I am so excited to sing again amongst some extremely talented noise-mongers.
How did you come up with your band name?
A former boyfriend called me Daughter of the Water. He was called Child of the Wild.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Reading/Oxford, UK.
Reading has a great music scene. Reading festival of course. I love going to Reading Festival.
The music scene is why I stayed in the Reading area. The best venues are a scruffy old venue called The Face Bar and an independent arts centre called The Rising Sun. Bones runs a rock night at The Face Bar called The Swamp.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
A mini album called Cast through the Mistletoe Tree, on CD and digital, and a beautiful video made by DikajeeEpic for the song Ghost Bird, from this release. https://youtu.be/kv4Ixbz16cc?si=dIrtyBOhRfJOWXX6
Who have been your greatest influences?
Debussy, Dead Can Dance, All About Eve, Jesca Hoop, Emiliana Torrini, Bjork, Kate Bush, The Mission, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Opeth, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Mediæval Bæbes, Madrigals and classical choral music.
Nature; the sea, rivers, birds.
What first got you into music?
My family; my parents and grandparents are always singing.
I learnt to read music when I was at primary school, playing the recorder, like lots of kids from my generation did. I was also in the church choir from the age of 7 singing soprano and then alto. I learnt harmonies from singing in the choir and have consequently always found singing harmonies come easily to me.
I listened to my parents records a lot. The Beatles Sgt Pepper was my favourite album. Rufus Thomas Walking the Dog, was my favourite single of their record collection.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Hans Zimmer would also do very nicely!
And in the real world…
Dikajee! And I have already been collaborating with her, which is an absolute joy!
John Mitchell. I want to write a Bond Theme with him for the next Bond film, with all the usual orchestration and epicness!
We have recorded another 6 track album of my songs; he’s great fun to work with and I LOVE his guitar arrangements.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Glastonbury Festival or Reading Festival on a Sunday at dusk. Our music is floaty drift off to another realm journey music, perfect for Sunday dusk time. And why? Because I have been to these epic festivals and imagined myself playing on those stages! Reading would be great as I’ll already have lost of mates in the audience. A homecoming!
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Recordings of themselves playing my songs. Which isn’t that weird, I guess! Very flattering.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Thank you so much I love you! You keep me doing what I do.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Geroge Harrison. Or Marc Bolan.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I enjoy doing really magical gigs in special and unusual places with gorgeous natural acoustics and watching the audience come with me on the journey I wish to share with them.
Hate? If I’m putting on my own gigs I hate the stress and anxiety that goes with it.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I’d go back to the 80s when you could be a musician and more simply make a decent living from it. When everyone actually bought records and watched Top of the Pops and the Top 40 meant something.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
I know this is a common answer, but Blue by Joni Mitchell. Heartbreakingly beautiful storytelling.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
Vinyl of course! But it has to be played on a really good record player with amazing speakers.
I really love the portability of digital though, for listening to albums whilst cycling home in the dark through the deepest darkest countryside.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Playing on a candlelit floating platform on the Thames, supporting Sam Lee.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I am also an archaeologist. I love it too. Many of my songs are inspired by bone stories.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
John Mitchell, Andrew Clover, Dikajee, Alice Roberts, Julian Cope.
What’s next for the band?
Several things and I don’t know in what order they will appear:
The full band rock version of Daughter of the Water.
The 6 song release produced by John Mitchell.
With Bones Huse; we have talked about recording some new songs with electronic instruments.
I am also creating musical accompaniment to some recordings for Tree Meditations with Andrew Clover.
And musical tour of the Early Medieval monasteries along the Thames.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
https://daughterofthewater.bandcamp.com
https://www.daughterofthewater.uk
https://www.instagram.com/sarahdollyriverspoon
Instagram: daugterofthewatermusic
Facebook: DaughteroftheWater
Youtube: https://youtu.be/kv4Ixbz16cc?si=kHscFIjTVs1I3tWW
There’s a long-standing food-based debate here in the UK. And we’d like your help. So… A Jaffa cake – is it a cake or a biscuit? Discuss!
A cake. It’s spongey.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
A slice of frangipani and a nice cup of tea.
Thanks for asking!
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