Iva Davies Quotes

All the way through the writing of the new material I've been very much into using groove sampling. This is the process that I've used for quite a while, in fact right back to 'Primitive Man'. The thing that drove that album was the acquisition of the Linn Drum Machine. I always start with the creation of a groove and these days I'm referencing more modern grooves. Part of this process has been learning how people create using standard samplers and such things. So basically I've been playing with software, drum loops and processing. I spend quite a while doing this and in fact the last couple of songs I've written have been a direct result of this process. I've even referenced some hip-hop grooves of late because to me that kind of thing always sounds unfinished. What I have done is take a similar premise and add a singer rather than a rapper. I like the style of groove used but I'd rather hear a singer on top than a rap. 
Iva Davies

I am aware that I have written quite a few narratives over the years and I wanted to go back there when approaching these new songs because I thought it is something I do well, and it removes the burden from me immediately because I am singing about someone else's plight or situation. However all of my attempts to do that have ended in complete failure with the exception of one song! (laughs). So there aren't too many third person songs on this album. Even some of the past songs that seem like narratives were in part directed by the environment. 'Man of Colours' was influenced in part by that fact that I had an upstairs window and would look out at the activity every day. 'Angel Street' similarly was me looking out at a railway station where I would observe people. In the last few years my environment has been more isolated and I don't have such ideas coming to the fore and this new set of songs aren't so much of that narrative type. 
Iva Davies

Often quite insignificant things can be the basis for creating a song with me, and I always know when I've found that impetus. I've done similar things before too, taking a minute noise that I developed into a pad sound playing a chord. I recently looped a beautiful big b flat chord that I found mesmerising. I then sat in the studio with this one chord looping for an hour and found it to have some very interesting overtones. If someone was simply watching this process they might find me insane but I actually started hearing things in the overtones and what I heard became the vocal melody for 'Circle in the Sky' (laughs). I had wanted to write a song that was almost a Tibetan chant and the overtones of the chord coincidentally suggested that to me. I also wanted to experiment with writing a melody where nothing changed and that's what I accidentally did in this case. Whether or not this makes sense a creative process, I'm not sure... 
Iva Davies