Stereoboard Talk To DJ Hiatus & Songstress Shura About New Album 'Fortune's Fool' (Interview)
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Written by Rachel Preece
Iranian DJ Hiatus and ‘night-folk’ songstress Shura have collaborated, producing a bass-filled, expressive and mellow album with remnants of trip-hop. Debut single 'Fortune’s Fool' is that perfect morning-after song – introspective and delicate, with a crescendo of bass. Their partnership is akin to that of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – the play from which they take their debut title. An other-worldly alliance.
Both the title and the chorus of 'Fortune’s Fool' are closely linked to Romeo & Juliet (the title is from the play, the chorus is a tribute to Des’ree’s 'Kissing You', made famous by the Baz Luhrmann adaptation). Why the references to the play?
SHURA: I went through a phase of listening to the radio non-stop, and Des'ree's 'Kissing You' played at least four times in the space of one weekend. It reminded me how brilliant Baz Luhrmann's adaptation was, and how perfectly placed her song was. I was struggling with writing a chorus for a song, and with a studio deadline looming I just began singing that one line between verses.
HIATUS: I’ve always been a huge fan of the play – its take on star-crossed young love is still unmatched – and I thought the film was fantastic. The song itself moved me greatly at the time, although Des’ree’s vocal sounds a bit theatrical when I listen to it now. I much prefer Shu’s version.
Hiatus – you have also used dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson on another of your records, 'Insurrection', do you find that literature is an important part of your art? The video for 'Insurrection' deals with the eighties riots in Brixton – how do you both feel about the September riots in London?
HIATUS: I think I’ve always kept music and writing separate in my mind. I studied literature at university, and I’m a writer by trade, but somehow making music has always been a purer, more immediate act than writing, which is often like getting blood out of a stone. That said, it was obviously a huge honour to work with Linton – few voices capture the mood of Caribbean cultural displacement like his. As for the September riots, I was shocked by the images on screen, but also by the have-a-go sociologists crawling out the woodwork to ‘explain’ the behaviour of the crowds – I even read an article in The Daily Mirror blaming the whole thing on hip-hop.
Hiatus – to what extent does your Iranian background influence your music?
HIATUS: Probably more than I even know. I grew up in a house where Iranian music was a kind of constant background noise, and I think its inherent sense of nostalgia imprinted itself from an early age on my mind. I travel to Tehran each year and spend a huge amount of time sifting through my dad’s old records and collecting Persian music on CD, but I think in a more general sense the melancholic, reflective side of the music I make is hugely indebted to those years growing up to the sounds of Googoosh, Golpa and Moeen.
Many people are talking about the post-dubstep scene – you have been described as proponents of the genre. How would you best describe your music?
SHURA: I’ve always referred to it as ‘night folk’ – not sure why, maybe ‘night pop’ didn't sound quite right. I like that it hints at my acoustic roots while paying respect to the more dub elements of our sound. I'd like to think it's the kind of music you could listen to in a nightclub or while having a drink with some friends in your living room.
How did the collaboration come about? And can you talk us through the recording process?
HIATUS: I first saw Shura play at an acoustic night in north London a couple of years back. I was desperate to talk to her afterwards about collaborating on something, but she got away before I had a chance. I forgot about the whole thing until six months ago, when an engineer friend told me he was working with a girl called Shura, and I persuaded him to send me some vocal stems to work on. The result was 'River', which was finished and mastered before the pair of us had even met. After that we got together and decided to work on something more enduring, so we headed to a studio in the Cotswolds and laid down the vocals, guitars and piano lines for tracks like 'Fortune’s Fool', 'First' and 'For The Sake Of Your Sons'. We’re big on songs that start with the letter F.
SHURA: I wouldn’t say there’s any one formula that we stick to, as we’ve only been doing this for a few months and we’re still finding our feet. But what I love about working with Cyrus is that we both trust each other creatively. I know that once I've finished writing the skeleton of a song he’ll take it and do something wonderful to it without turning it inside out.
Shura – your voice is very haunting – which singers inspire you?
SHURA: Beth Gibbons from Portishead is a big influence – I remember feeling momentarily paralysed the first time I listened to 'Dummy'. I had never heard anything like it before, and I doubt I'll ever have quite the same reaction to a voice again. Mainly I like anyone with a lot of character, people like Peggy Lee and Nina Simone, although I sound nothing like either! More recently I guess artists like Andreya Triana or Sia, whose voices you can recognise from the very first line of a song. I also have a mad fondness for Tina Turner.
Do you have any live dates coming up?
SHURA: We’re launching the single, 'Fortune’s Fool', at Cargo in Shoreditch, London on Saturday 24th September. We’re also performing at the first instalment of a new electronic crossover night, Fields, on November 4th at Electrowerkz, playing alongside Max Cooper, Capac and Ghosting Season.
Check out the video for 'Fortune's Fool' below.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
Many people are talking about the post-dubstep scene – you have been described as proponents of the genre. How would you best describe your music? 
