Interview: Trwbador

Published on November 29th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams

Trwbador feature on Cornershop‘s luscious Christmas single “Every Year So Different”, so Rocksucker got an earload of the Welsh duo’s forthcoming debut album and immediately fell in love with their spellbinding electro-folk (click here to read our four-quail review). As such, we fired some questions over to constituent pair Angharad Van Rijswijk and Owain Gwilym…

Congratulations on a splendid debut album. Who’s playing/doing what on it?

Owain: Thanks! I play all the guitar and Harry does all the singing. We both produce it and engineer, make the beats etc.

Will you be releasing the album on Cornershop’s Ample Play label?

Angharad: We’ll be releasing it on our own Owlet Music record label. It will be out on CD and 12″ Record in local record stores and as a download from all good download stores.

O: We are going to be making a track for their Singhles Club, of which ‘Every Year So Different’ the Christmas track we feature on is the first.

Who contributed the guest rap on “Rain”?

O: That was a guy called Odlgymix. We’ve known him for a while and he approached us asking for some beats because he wanted to start making more tracks. As it happened, that day we were looking for someone to give us a Welsh rap. He’s done a great job, the words fit the song so well.

Do you plan to tour the album?

A: Yes we’ll be doing a short tour of the UK, dates will be out on our website around Christmas so keep an eye out on www.trwbador.co.uk

How did you come to work with Cornershop? Are you fans of theirs?

O: Yeah, big fans. My dad bought When I Was Born for the 7th Time when it came out and I really got into it then. They cram so many styles into an album, I think we like to try and do that too. Harry got into them over the last couple of years and I kind of ‘rediscovered’ them. It all started with a remix they did of one of our tracks. We’ll be releasing it in Feb.

How did Trwbador come together in the first place?

A: Owain was at Uni in Newport and needed someone to sing on an end of year project, I was available at the time as I’d just moved to Cardiff. We kept making songs and then both moved back to West Wales where we’re from originally and continued working together.

Are there any obscure and/or up-and-coming acts that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?

O: I’m a big fan of a guy called Osian Rhys and a band called Hail! The Planes. I’m not sure either of them are obscure….interesting though. I like Focus Group; I guess he’s quite obscure, pretty established though I’d say.

A: I’ve recently got in to Julia Holter.

Finally, if you were forced to spend the rest of your days in solitary confinement, but were allowed to bring the entire works of five different artists along to tide you over, whose would you choose?

O: Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Getz/GIlberto, RZA (everything he’s worked on like Wu-Tang, Liquid Swords, Bobby Digital, Gravediggaz), Pantha Du Prince, Hamish Imlach.

A: Vashti Bunyan, Ellen Allien, Steve Reich, MF Doom, Air.

Trwbador, thank you.

For more information, please visit trwbador.co.uk

Artists: trwbador

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.