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A Fable-lous creation
“ Music has always been the band aid that sorts everything out ” Fable tells Harrison Kirby
You know that feeling ? You hear something on the radio and it just stops you . In the old days you ’ d sit quietly and hope the DJ says “ And that was “ Womb ” by Brighton ’ s Fable ”. Now , you ’ re more likely to jump on Shazam . It doesn ’ t happen often , but it happens .
If you mourn the death of 90 ’ s music , Fable might be exactly the artist you ’ re looking for . Think Thom Yorke and Massive Attack and you won ’ t be far off beam . It ’ s a unique sound and she ’ s got an incredible voice , it ’ s all there . But like so many extraordinary artists , the work might sound fresh and bright , but often comes from a dark place . “ I ’ ve definitely battled depression for a long time . Music ’ s always been a band-aid that sorts everything out ”.
She talks of “ having a little bit of a wobble and a breakdown due to being a bit too neurotic about controlling things and who I am ” but it was the tragic suicide of her exgirlfriend that really sent life spinning .
“ I was thinking of giving up music completely because the only people I saw succeeding were people in much wealthier positions than me . They had a trust fund and all that . My friends were able to focus purely on music and not on how they ’ re going to pay their bills . I think that was a big part of it . It felt like the thing I ’ ve been chasing since I was very young felt like a childlike , unattainable dream for someone from my background . So , I moved away ”.
But you know , it only takes one call …
Tune in , turn on , walk home
“ are stardust , we are golden , and we ’ ve got to get ourselves , back to the garden .” Well , back to St Ann ’ s Well Gardens .
The Spirit of Woodstock takes us back to August 1969 and an extraordinary , legendary event that ’ s gone down as the most famous festival of all . ( Actually in truth Woodstock sounds a bit of a nightmare , but let not dull facts get in the way of myth and story ).
“ It was an extraordinary time , an extraordinary event ” says Jonathan Brown , writer , performer and founder of Brighton based , award-winning Something Underground Theatre Company .
The show sounds amazing . An immersive , full-energy tour-de-force where Brown takes on 75 characters in two hours , from Bobby Kennedy to Mimi Yasgur to Nixon to Arlo Guthrie to Abbie Hoffman , moving from one event to another , telling the stories all to the soundtrack of the time - Dylan and The Beatles
“ I got a call saying an indie label called Naim were interested , and that kind of sprung out of nowhere . I think that after giving up on something that you ’ ve spent your whole life being passionate about , that kind of acceptance of ‘ I don ’ t have to let this happen ’. It was the letting go aspect allowed things to flow back into my life ”.
And things are flowing and she ’ s preparing to release her debut album .
“ Having that reflection time through the whole of the lockdown was an amazing thing to happen . It ’ s an awful thing to happen to the world but for me , at the time , it was the down , quiet time that I needed to really write without the stress . Because it was all sort of up in the air , we didn ’ t really know when things were going to come back to life it was a really nice lull period to write , which is quite a blessing . Normally you don ’ t get so long to create a piece of work !”
On top of her music , another one of Fable ’ s biggest prides is her work for My Black Dog , a mental health charity that specialises in providing personal , anonymous support for those suffering with depression .
through to Sly and Santana … “ We wanted to create a show combining the narratives and characters all set to the music of the time . It ’ s about 60s America - the music , the drugs , the rock ’ n ’ roll , the politics , the civil rights , the personalities , the protests …”
Without being too clunky , there are the parallels today .
“ Of course , there are the dodgy politicians . Back then there was Nixon and when I wrote this there was Trump . The BLM of today echoes the Civil Rights movement , # MeToo has echoes of the women ’ s movement … and in the context of our story there were festival goers walking around stoned looking for their tents - and that never changes .” Apparently , back in 1969 at the time of Woodstock , there was another pandemic knocking around - the H3N2 (“ Hong Kong ”) virus . But let ’ s not talk about that .
Tune in , turn on , drop out . And then walk home afterwards , maybe have a glass of red
“ They are such an amazing charity , so needed at this time . I think throughout the pandemic people have forgotten how to talk to each other socialise . It ’ s different to the Samaritans in that the volunteers have all experienced mental health traumas of their own .” forward and embracing “ this whole process of just relaxing a little bit and realising that life is simpler than you ’ re making it out to be . The next project is the video for my next single called Shame . It ’ s about our apathy , the addiction to capitalism , it gets quite political .
“ After that there ’ ll be another single and then , hopefully , a tour . I ’ m just focussed on more content , some more videos . Just building a bit more of a picture up before I release the album , hopefully in September . It ’ s kind of all , weirdly enough , fallen into place . Thank you , whatever happened !”
and sleep in your nice comfy West Hill bed . The best of all worlds .
Where : St Ann ’ s Well Gardens When : 28th May – 27th June ( eves and matinees at weekends ) https :// www . somethingunderground . co . uk / the-spirit-of-woodstock /