MARK ENJOYS A BEAUTIFUL DAY AND A CURIOUS LIFE
Interview release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
Year of Homecoming 2014
- Levellers set for HebCelt headlining gig
- Group back at festival after eight years
- Lead singer returns to band after solo album project
The summer music festival season is a busy time for any artist, but for Mark Chadwick the experience is multiplied three-fold.
He will be performing as frontman of the folk rock band Levellers and as a solo artist at Beautiful Days, the successful festival the group have run annually in Devon since 2003. As hands-on organisers of the event, the band members are also actively involved behind the scenes as well as front of stage.
With his second solo album Moments - released last month- to promote, Mark is playing gigs with his backing band at the same time as touring with Levellers, on occasion playing the different sets on alternate nights.
If that wasn’t enough, the day before Moments was launched, the Levellers performed at the world premiere of a new film, A Curious Life, about their career.
“I don’t like sitting about, I like to stay busy”, said Mark. “How do I fit everything in? You just get on with it, don’t you?”
He will have just one job when Levellers travel to Stornoway as one of the headliners at the award-winning Hebridean Celtic Festival from 16-19 July. Still regarded as one of the best live acts around after more than 25 years of performing, the band will be returning to HebCelt for the first time since 2006.
“Is it really eight years since we last played there?”, asks Mark “It seems like five minutes ago. I am really looking forward to going back to Stornoway to play HebCelt. We love it up there; it’s a lovely little festival.
“We will be doing a blistering festival set; we have a lot of songs to choose from after 25 years together.”
Levellers will top the bill along with Big Country and Donnie Munro at the 19thHebCelt which will also feature Cara Dillon, Rachel Sermanni and Duncan Chisholm in its biggest ever programme of nearly 40 acts.
It is one of 18 festivals the band will play this year: “That’s not too bad, we played 35 one year”, said Mark. “Festivals provide such a great atmosphere for bands. People like to get together in big numbers and party; you can’t fault that.
“You’re performing to a lot of people, some of whom haven’t seen you before, so you are playing to the converted and the unconverted and just try to make it as entertaining as possible. We’ve played at so many we know what people want, but no two festivals are the same.”
The Levellers’ gigs will see the band back together after a six-month break, during which time Mark completed his solo album, described as ‘an honest look at drink, life and love’.
“It’s more acoustic and deals with much more personal issues. I write all the time so I found it easy to write about these matters. I would say I’ve got a lot of stuff out of my system for now.”
He will perform the new songs at Beautiful Days and other gigs while rehearsing and playing with the Levellers: “I’m kind of daunted by it; there are loads of gigs and I have to remember which set I’m playing. I have to keep changing my head, but it keeps me sharp; mixing songs up would be disastrous.”
Beautiful Days, which this year will feature Steve Earle & The Dukes, Seasick Steve, Jimmy Cliff, Bellowhead, Public Service Broadcasting and The Undertones, sold out in May and the band are already looking towards 2015.
“We start work on next year’s event two weeks after this year’s finishes”, said Mark “There are so many festivals now you have to book bands earlier and earlier to get the right people.
“We’re already thinking about next year’s line-up and have a couple of people pencilled in, but of course they will remain a secret at the moment.”
Mark formed Levellers with Jeremy Cunningham in Brighton in 1988 and were later joined by Charlie Heather (drums), Jon Sevink (fiddle) and Alan Miles (harmonica, guitar and mandolin). Simon Friend subsequently replaced Miles and that line-up continues today, with the addition of Matt Savage on keyboards.
Levellers sold more platinum, gold, and silver albums in the 1990s than any other act and have had 14 Top 40 singles. The inevitable ups and downs of a 25-year history are charted in Dunstan Bruce’s film which was the result of a film crew following the band for two years.
Bruce calls the film a “potted journey through 25 years of subsidised dysfunctionalism” and says it is an “uplifting tale of battling demons, that reminds us that behind every band there is always a story of struggle for expression, acceptance and survival.”
Mark is happy to endorse the film even though he admits the band had no say in its eventual content and some parts are less than flattering: “It’s not your normal, run-of-the-mill band documentary at all; it’s a little bit left of field.
“It does not always show us in a favourable light, but it is an honest look at the band and that is what we wanted it to be.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
This year HebCelt was selected as one of the top 10 UK summer festivals for the fourth year in succession by the influential music magazine Songlines.
The 2013 event was the most successful in its history with ticket sales showing an increase of over 30 per cent on the previous year 2012. The 16,000-strong crowd – double the population of Stornoway - helped generate around £1 million for the local economy
Last year HebCelt was also hailed as one of the greenest festivals in the world after being the only Scottish event to receive an Outstanding award from environmental campaign group A Greener Festival. In addition, it was shortlisted in the Greener Festival category in the UK Festival Awards and in the Best Independent Festival category in the AIM Independent Music Awards.
In 2011 it was ranked Best Large Festival at the industry-sponsored Scottish Event Awards and it won Best Event of the Year award at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards in 2004 and 2009.
See - http://www.hebceltfest.com
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John Ross
Lucid PR
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johnross@lucidmessages.com
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