Gwen, Heledd and Hollie from Welsh post-punk band Adwaith take part in our ‘Joy of Decks’ Q&A.
What record is on your turntable right now?
Gwen: Mattiel – Satis Factory
Heledd: Another Sky – I Slept on the Floor
Hollie: Khruangbin – Mordechai
What’s the last great album you listened to?
Gwen: Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
Heledd: Mort Garson – Mother Earth’s Plantasia
Hollie: 925 by Sorry
Are there any classic albums that you only recently heard for the first time?
Gwen: David Bowie – David Bowie
Heledd: ABBA – The Album
Hollie: The White Album by The Beatles
What is the most vital ingredient of a great album?
Creativity, innovation and consistent diversity.
Describe your ideal listening experience (when, where, what, how).
Gwen: Driving, on a warm day.
Heledd: On a train in the countryside.
Hollie: Blasting music really loud in my room.
What’s your favourite album no one else has heard of?
Gwen: Vem – Mallu Magalhães
Heledd: Xardín Interior – Esposa
Hollie: 5 – Sault
What album should everybody get into before the age of 21?
Gwen: Fleet Foxes – Fleet foxes
Heledd: Y Dydd Olaf – Gwenno
Hollie: Demon Days – Gorillaz
What album should nobody get into until the age of 40?
Coldplay – X&Y
Which artists — musicians, singers, songwriters, producers — working today do you admire most?
Gwen: Damon Albarn
Heledd: Marta Salogni
Hollie: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Do you have any comfort albums?
Gwen: The staves – Dead & Born & Grown
Heledd: Lucy Rose’s Something’s Changing
Hollie: Stella Donnelly – Beware of the Dogs
What’s the best album you’ve received as a gift?
Gwen: Pop Princesses
Heledd: I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose – Bombay Bicycle Club
Hollie: Fishing for Fishies – King Gizzard
What album do you recommend to people most often?
Gwen: Joia! by Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18
Heledd: Big Thief’s Capacity
Hollie: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit – Courtney Barnett
What’s the most interesting thing you learned about an album recently?
Heledd: It’s not an album, but ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna and Jay Z uses a garage band drum loop.
Hollie: Little Simz – Stillness in Wonderland is a concept album based on Alice in Wonderland.
Which genres do you especially enjoy listening to? And which do you avoid?
Gwen: I like electronic, folk and funk and avoid pop, punk and metal.
Heledd: Pop mostly – I don’t really avoid anything!
Hollie: I enjoy hip hop and tend to avoid American accent screamo music.
What album might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
Gwen: Ten by Girls Aloud
Heledd: Jess Glynne’s I Cry When I Laugh
Hollie: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. – Gwen Stefani
Is there any album in your record collection you desperately wish you’d made?
Gwen: Neu! by Neu!
Heledd: Courtney Barnett – The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas
Hollie: The Score – Fugees
Have you ever changed your opinion of an album based on information about the artist, or anything else?
Gwen: The Smiths – The Queen is Dead: Morrissey has put me off big time
Heledd: Ryan Adams – 1989 for obvious reasons
Hollie: Michael Jackson – Thriller, again for obvious reasons
You’re organising a party. Which three artists, dead or alive, do you invite?
Gwen: Viv Albertine
Heledd: Britney Spears
Hollie: Amy Winehouse
Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What album did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t?
Gwen: Headroom by Men I Trust
Heledd: The Smiths – The Smiths
Hollie: The Now Now by Gorillaz
Any upcoming albums you’re really looking forward to?
Gwen: Whatever the next album by Sybs will be.
Heledd: DOMi & JD Beck’s debut album together.
Hollie: Beabadoobee’s new album Fake It Flowers.
Melyn by Adwaith is available now from Libertino Records.
_______________________________________________________________________
Recommended for you:
The Joy of Decks with Andy Jones
Andy Jones, co-founder of and music booker for the FOCUS Wales showcase festival, shares his thoughts on all things music.
_______________________________________________________________________
