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Track By Track: Kar Stanton - Protagonist

Kar Stanton is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter based in Bournemouth. She released her debut single, ‘The Body Count’, under the moniker Red Stencil in 2015. Protagonist is the name of her first album, which was released under her own name just last week on October 8. After interviewing her last year to find out about the process of recording the album, Musos’ Guide decided to get back in touch to find out more about the finished article. Here, Kar takes us through the album track by track, giving us insights into the songs, what inspired them and the recording of the album. 


Track 1: 'She Can'.

This song is about a teenage girl who’s making art and music and using technology. I sing in the first person at the end but that’s just a device to get the listener into that position of empowerment and fearlessness. 

I am part of an online community that sets musical challenges for its members and we were going to each make an experimental track. I had bought a recorder because I was working on some songs for kids so I decided to open the track with distorted recorders. I stripped a lot of the experimental elements out of the final track because I didn't want it to be too much of a challenge to listen to. I really wanted this album to be one you could connect with on the first listen.

Track 2. 'New Year'.

Most of the acoustic tracks on 'Protagonist' were written in 2014 and by the end of that year I felt my writing was starting to reinforce my negative emotions, because even if I was having a good day I would keep on writing a difficult song which would drag me down again! I wanted to make a conscious effort to write something positive. My New Year’s resolution was ‘write some happier songs’, so I started writing the song 'New Year' on 1st Jan 2015. This is one of the most hopeful tracks on the album and a lot of friends have told me that it’s their favourite. I started exploring more synth- and beats-based instrumentation when writing this track, and my electric guitar even makes a rare appearance.  

Track 3: 'The Loon'. 

Years ago when I was in Aberdeen, my now husband and I passed a very frail elderly man who was really struggling with all his shopping and we offered to help him with his bags. We took them up to his flat which was pretty high up in this huge block and we ended up having a cup of tea with him while he told us about his life. It turns out that he had been a musician and had played in the dance halls, which was a big thing in young people’s lives in the 50s and 60s in Scottish cities. I asked if he still played at all and he showed me he had arthritis and couldn't play anymore. Lots of the things he said stuck with me for a long time and the song is me attempting to tell his story. ‘Loon’ means ‘boy’ in Doric (the Aberdeen dialect).

Track 4: 'The Body Count'.

This track is me giving myself a telling-off for my social, political and spiritual apathy. The song's roots are actually in a whole lot of lyrics that I wrote just after the London bombings in 2005. I was up in Aberdeen at the time and I felt so close to it, but so far away at the same time. Every day there is something horrific happening somewhere in the world: you see humanitarian disasters, wars and scandals on the TV or the internet and there is a sense of helplessness at the enormity of them. We’re also becoming so used to it. I get upset and am moved emotionally, but I do nothing to help. I often want to close the curtains, disappear under the covers and not see any of it.

This track was mixed by Lola Demo, who’s this incredible one-woman band with a huge following on Soundcloud. Her album Morphine Crush is my favourite album of the year, so it was a privilege to work with her. 

Track 5: 'Overcome the Monster'.

Writing positive tracks while not feeling positive was a huge challenge for me. I started by listening to songs I had on a playlist called ‘Joy’ that I’d been adding tracks to for years on Spotify. I tried to analyse a song, work out what it was that lifted me up and then tried to emulate it. No matter where I start with my own writing, though, the lyrics always end up being from my reality and view point. This song actually came out of me looking at the song structure of ‘Angel Interceptor’ by Ash.

My husband was very unwell at the time and at that point I didn’t know if he would get better. I wrote the lyrics as if a full recovery was definitely going to happen: “You will overcome the monster, you’re gonna get better”. This is not me saying ‘just think positively’, as I don’t believe that works, but I had written too many nuanced songs and so, for this one, I gave myself permission to write one where I imagined a positive outcome.

Track 6: 'A Simple Life'.

This song is one that I start singing to myself in my head quite a lot, usually when I’m starting to get overwhelmed. I think its a pretty universal desire to want to have a simple life, but perhaps especially for those of us who are prone to worry and anxiety.   

Track 7: 'In Sickness'.

This is probably the most personal song on the album. When I write I don't usually have a set idea of what a song should say. It’s more that I start writing because I’m either struggling with something or confused about something, and writing the song helps me work through what I’m feeling and make some sense of it. I write a song for myself, first and foremost. When I looked back on this song after writing it, I hoped that someone in a similar situation to me, trying to work through a relationship where their partner was in a very difficult place, would take some comfort in it. Otherwise the song would not have made it out of our flat because it was so personal.  

Track 8: 'Youth in Bloom'.

This started life as a poem about a young girl being used for a few years by the music industry. In the poem, she was used to make them money and then dropped. The content got more and more serious as I developed it, as everywhere I’ve turned in these last few years there is another story about girls, boys and all the forms of abuse and exploitation they’re subjected to both here and round the world. It became so colossal for me to work through personally and I just tried to do my best with the song. I wasn't sure I could manage such a challenging subject matter. I think the crucial moment with the development of this song was when I decided that the responsible parties should be ‘we’ rather than ‘they’. I feel like we all have some responsibility for the horrific things that happen in our world because they are happening on our watch.

Track 9: 'Back to Reality'.

I used to be a big daydreamer. It’s not a bad thing in itself, of course, but I started to feel that it was becoming a problem for me. I felt that I was spending too much time in other imaginary lives and situations, rather than living my own. As with any problem or anything that’s nagging at me, it ends up turning into a song, as songwriting is the way that I work through my thoughts. 

Track 10: 'In the Darkness'.

As with many of the tracks that made it onto the album, I did a full demo on my iPad first and then went to The Burrow Bournemouth [a studio space with its own record label] and recorded everything again from scratch - vocals, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, cornet, piano and organ. I go into the studio with all the parts written out and all the instruments tracked out in different colours on a master sheet with lyrics. I think the details are really important and I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but the aim is that ultimately the music gets out of the way of the song. I’d prefer it that listeners are completely immersed in the story and emotion of each song. The details need to be perfect so that they are supporting the flow of the song rather than distracting from it. This one very much recreates a certain feeling for me at a really difficult time in my life. I have to try and enter that space again when I perform it otherwise I don't do it justice and it feels like karaoke.

Track 11: 'Kids'.

This is my Mum’s favourite! I’m the one who was ‘singing splendid nonsense in the backseat of the car’ - she can probably remember that better than I can! I guess the song explores nostalgia, wanting to get back to when we were kids and teenagers, and feeling like the potential you once had has not amounted to anything. By the end it reaches a place of acceptance and even celebration of my life now, which felt like a good place to finish the album.

***** 

Kar's debut album, 'Protagonist', is out now. You can give it a spin on Soundcloud and Spotify, and it's available for purchase via iTunes and Amazon. Physical copies of the album can be ordered through Bandcamp. To keep up to date with Kar's releases and live-dates, keep an eye on her website.

Way Out West 2016

Way Out West is the music festival that you should be adding to your ‘to-do’ list if for you, like me, summer just isn’t summer if you don’t spend at least 72 hours with grass under your feet, come rain or shine, with music filling your ears. And did I mention that it takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second city?A festival and a holiday all in one? Yes, please!

If you’re wanting to change things up from the usual British festival experience, then Way Out West is a great choice. It takes place in Slottsskogen, the huge park right in the centre of Gothenburg, so it’s one of the most picturesque settings for a festival you could wish for. You can spend your days lying sprawled in the grass, hanging out beside the park’s lake, and, thanks to the fact that it’s a day festival only, amble happily home at night to a real bed instead of to a tent floating in the middle of a muddy quagmire. But after a day at Way Out West, heading home will probably be the last thing on your mind thanks to the fact that, after hours, Stay Out West begins and the festival takes over the city’s venues for club nights and gigs that run long into the early hours. Not only does Way Out West trade in music: over time it’s expanded to take in film screenings, lectures and art exhibitions. Add into the mix the fact that the festival’s capacity is capped at 25,000 and you’ve got a recipe for an awesome three days. Speaking of which, did I mention that the festival’s 100% vegetarian due to the festival’s emphasis on sustainability and being environmentally friendly? You’ve got to love those Swedes. No wonder Way Out West won an MTV O Award in 2011 for being the Most Innovative Festival.

This year yet another a fantastically great line-up will play across the festival’s four stages. The big headline names playing this year include Morrissey, PJ Harvey, Massive Attack and Grace Jones, who are joined by the likes of The Avalanches, M83, Eagles of Death Metal, The Last Shadow Puppets, ANOHNI, Jamie XX and Chvrches.  If Swedish acts are your bag — and they should be on your list, given how vibrantly the Swedish music scene is thriving at the minute — there’s a great range of native acts playing. The Tallest Man on Earth, Daniel Norgren and Anna von Hausswolff are just three names that I’m not going to miss.

If you want to find out more about Way Out West, then head on over to the festival’s official website where tickets for this year’s festival are still available. To treat your ears to a preview of the music that’ll be on offer this year, check out the Way Out West playlist on Spotify. See you in Sweden? I hope so!  

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