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During the YES Scottish referendum in 2014 I went up from Cardiff, at my own cost, to Edinburgh to help the YES campaign. I wrote the words to ‘Alba gu Brath – Don’t give up hoping Hannah’ as a reaction to my experience there. The background details of the song (Words - Gwenno Dafydd. Music -Katherine Cole. Vocals – Glasgow based Conor Gaffney) are to be found in this article in Bella Gwalia.

Bella Gawlia: Don't Give Up Hoping Hanna

Back here in Wales, the Yes Wales campaign is going from strength to strength with three major protests in the last year, and finally Wales seems to have woken up to the real possibility of independence. The way that the Welsh Government has reacted to the Covid crisis in a different, and much more effective, way to that of Westminster, has also promoted the idea of independence.

I decided to write some lyrics to the tune of Alba Gu Brath about this new feeling of optimism. I wrote a version in Welsh (Clyw lais y ddraig yn rhuo) and one in English (Hear sound of dragons roaring) because I feel passionately that there are many people who identify with Welsh independence but can’t speak the language.

Following this, I recorded the song and during lockdown worked with editor Dan Rees on a film to go with the Welsh songs. We already have a film to accompany Alba Gu Brath which has been compiled by Will Judge.

I have been in contact with several key people in the Welsh and Scottish Independence movements and I am very pleased to say that there is a lot of excitement about using the films and songs to promote independence in both countries, especially in a time when demonstrations and outdoor events are nearly impossible to hold safely. The ‘Hope over Fear’ event due to be held in George Square in Glasgow was cancelled and is now being held online and all three versions/two films and one song will be played during this event.

We have decided to launch the project/films/songs on two significant dates that are very close together. The Welsh language version of the song ‘Clyw lais y ddraig yn rhuo’ will be launched on September the 16 ^th which is Owain Glyndwr Day, the English language version of the Welsh film ‘Hear sound of dragons roaring’ on September the 17 ^th and ‘Alba gu Brath. Don’t give up hoping Hannah’, the Scottish video and song will be launched on September the 18 ^th which is the anniversary of the vote back in 2014. As we are in lockdown – all launches will be on social media.

I have started to create some hashtags to create some interest and they are #clywlaisyddraigynrhuo #hearsoundofdragonsroaring #albagubrath and #dontgiveuphopinghannah and I am using them on Facebook and Twitter under any article I share that is anything to do with Independence in our two countries.

Cefndryd Celtaidd Dewch Ynghyd 15fed o Fedi 2020 “Clyw Lais y Ddraig yn Rhuo”

Adeg pleidlais Ie dros yr Alban yn 2014 fe es i fynu i Gaeredin o Gaerdydd ar fy nghost fy hun i ganfasio dros yr achos. Fe sgwenais i eiriau’r gan 'Alba gu Brath - Don't give up Hoping Hannah' fel ymateb i fy mhrofiad yna. Mae manylion cefndirol am y gan (Geiriau – Gwenno Dafydd. Cerddoriaeth - Katherine Cole. Llais: Conor Gaffney o Glasgow) yn yr erthygl yma yn Bella Gwalia.

Bella Gawlia: Don't Give Up Hoping Hanna

N'ol yma yng Nghymru, mae ymgyrch Ie dros Gymru wedi mynd o nerth i nerth, gyda tair protest fawr yn y flwyddyn olaf ac o'r diwedd mae Cymru yn dechre dihuno i'r syniad o Annibyniaeth. Mae’r ffordd mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi ymateb i’r cyfnod Cofid mewn ffordd wahanol a mwy effeithiol na San Steffan hefyd wedi hybu y syniad o Annibyniaeth.

Penderfynais sgwennu geiriau i diwn ‘Alba Gu Brath’ oedd yn disgrifio’r sefyllfa obeithiol yma. Fe sgwenais fersiwn Gymraeg (Clyw lais y ddraig yn rhuo) a Saesneg (Hear sound of dragons roaring) achos dwi yn teimlo’n gryf fod na nifer helaeth o bobl sydd yn teimlo’n Gymreig ond sydd ddim yn siarad Cymraeg.

Yn dilyn hyn, fe ricordiais y gan ac adeg y Clo mawr fe weithiais gyda’r golygydd ifanc Dan Rees ar ffilm i gyd fynd a’r caneuon Cymreig. Mae gennym ni ffilm eisioes sydd wedi cael ei chwblhau gan Will Judge am y gan am yr Alban.

R’wyf wedi bod mewn trafodaeth gyda llawer sydd ynghlwm a’r mudiad Annibyniaeth yn yr Alban ac yng Nghymru a dwi’n hynod o bles i glywed y cyffro am y syniad yma o ddefnyddio’r ffilmiau i hybu annibyniaeth yn y ddwy wlad yn enwedig mewn cyfnod pan fo gorymdeithio a cynnal digwyddiadau tu allan bron yn amhosib. R’oedd digwyddiad ‘Gobaith dros Ofn’ yn Glasgow ar y 19eg o Fedi ond mae wedi cael ei ganslo oherwydd Covid ond mae nawr yn cael ei gynnal ar lein. Fe fydd y tair fersiwn/dwy ffilm/un gan yn cael eu harddangos yn y digwyddiad yma.

Diwrnod ar ol i’r ffilm gael ei lawnsio ac r’oedd son y buasai’r ffilm yn cael ei defnyddio ond nawr mae Glasgow dan warchae a ni fydd hyn yn digwydd yn anffodus onibai fod pethau yn newid yn y pythefnos nesaf. Cawn weld!

R’ydem wedi penderfynu lawnsio’r ffilmiau ar ddau ddyddiad arwyddocaol sydd yn agos at eu gilydd. Bydd y ffilm Gymreig a ‘Clyw lais y ddraig yn rhuo’ yn cael ei lawnsio ar Medi yr 16eg sef Diwrnod Owain Glyndwr, y ffilm a ‘Hear sound of dragons roaring ar y 17eg ac yna y ffilm ac ‘Alba gu brath – Don’t give up hoping Hannah ar Fedi y 18fed sef diwrnod y bleidlais Albanaidd n’ol yn 2014.

D’wi wedi dechrau hashnodau i greu diddordeb ar y cyfryngau cymdeithasol sef - #clywlaisyddraigynrhuo #hearsoundofdragonsroaring #albagubrath #dontgiveuphopinghannah a dwi’n eu defnyddio pan dwi’n rhannu unrhyw erthygl sydd yn trafod annibyniaeth yn ein dwy gwlad ar Trydar a Gweplyfr.

Following the release of two pre-covid singles ‘Babanod’ and ‘Poetry’, HMS Morris are back with the third in the series,  ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol.’ , which translates as ‘International Students’. The single will be released on September 16 ^th

HMS Morris HQ is nestled on the edge of one of the most multicultural streets in Cardiff, City Road. It’s a noisy, colourful cosmopolitan crush of restaurants, shisha bars and barbers, which have recently been invaded by posh student accommodation projects. But while this may have been the initial impetus behind  ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol’ , by the time it had solidified into a definite sound and feel it was no longer a rant about fancy student halls.

Rather it had become an assertion that the world be a better place if we were all International Students. In the context of this summer’s global race-relations reckoning, there is a general moral imperative for us all to become students of the international: to watch the news as if it’s our own story, to actually take it in, to learn and adapt our behaviour. We should be prepared to immerse ourselves in other cultures, just like the international students of City Rd do.

'Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol'  will be available to stream or purchase digitally from all the usual platforms.

See them  not  live:

September 10-12 – Waves Vienna Digital Showcase
October - ‘Out of Focus’ Digital Festival organised by Focus Wales

Watch it back:

HMS Morris live from Cultvr Lab Cardiff -  https://www.cultvr.cymru/hmsmorris/

Yn dilyn y senglau cyn-covid ‘Babanod’ a ‘Poetry’, mae HMS Morris yn ôl efo’r drydedd yn y gyfres, ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol.’  Fe fydd y sengl yn cael ei ryddhau ar Medi 16eg.
 
Mae hwb creadigol HMS Morris yn swatio ger un o strydoedd mwyaf amlddywilliannol Caerdydd, City Road. Mae’n gawl gosmopolitaidd o fwytai, shisha bars a barbwyr – sydd yn ddiweddar wedi eu gorlethu gan neuaddau posh i fyfyrwyr. Problem enbyd heb os, ond er mai hyn oedd yr ysgogiad gwreiddiol tu ôl i  ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol’ , erbyn iddi galedu yn deimlad a sain pendant doedd hi ddim yn rant am neuaddau myfyrwyr swanc bellach, ond yn hytrach yn fyfyriad ar faint o le gwell fyddai’r byd petaen ni i gyd yn fyfyrwyr rhyngwladol.

Yng ngyd-destun y daeargryn cymdeithasol byd-eang ddechreuodd yn Minneapolis ym mis Mai, mae hi’n ddyletswydd moesol arnom ôll i astudio y rhyngwladol: i wylio’r newyddion fel mai ein stori ni ein hunain yw e, i’w ystyried yn ofalus, i ddysgu ac addasu ein ymddygiad. Dylen ni fod yn yn barod i drochi mewn diwyllianau eraill, yn union fel mae myfyrwyr rhyngwladol City Road yn gwneud.
 
Fe fydd ' Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol'  ar gael yn ddigidol i’w ffrydu a’i lawrlwytho o’r manau arferol.
 
Gwyliwch nhw ddim cweit yn fyw - 

Medi 10-12 – Gwyl Ddigidol Waves Vienna
Hydref - ‘Out of Focus’ Gwyl Ddigidol Focus Wales
 
Gwyliwch yn ôl:  

HMS Morris live from Cultvr Lab Cardiff -   https://www.cultvr.cymru/hmsmorris/  

AmeriCymru: Hi Eloise and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. How did you become the first Children's Laureate Wales? What is the selection process?

Eloise: You are very welcome. Thanks for inviting me! It's so good to be here. 

Literature Wales, the national company for the development of literature in Wales, put out a call for expressions of interest. I'd worked with young people a lot over the years - taught Drama and English, developed plays with community and youth theatres, toured with theatre-in-education projects - and since starting to write for young people I'd run hundreds of creative writing workshops to develop writing skills, creativity and imagination. I thought I'd express my interest so that I would be considered for the role at some point in the future, without any expectation of being considered for the position. Needless to say, I am thrilled to have been selected. It's an honour and a privilege.  

AmeriCymru: You are involved in a project to create a new updated version of the Mabinogion. Can you tell us more about this exciting project?

Eloise: Absolutely! The Mabinogion are the oldest British stories to be written down and are a really important part of our heritage. When the author Matt Brown came to me with the idea to get these stories written specifically for young readers, I thought it was genius. I also couldn't believe it hadn't been done already! 

In all honesty, I was hesitant to become involved at first. I have a pretty full timetable with laureate work and work as an author, but in the end, I decided that it was a really important and meaningful project and one I would definitely need to get behind. 

It came as a shock to me how little I knew about the stories. Casting my mind back, I know we didn't learn about them at school and though most of them have crept into my consciousness somewhere along the line, it just seemed dreadful that I didn't have a better knowledge of them. We hope this collection will mean that young people everywhere will have the opportunity to fall in love with these stories and that they can be celebrated and known by everyone! 

We have a fantastic line-up of great Welsh writers, authors and poets bringing the stories to life - Claire Fayers, Sophie Anderson, PG Bell, Alex Wharton, Hanan Issa, Darren Chetty, Zillah Bethell, Catherine Johnson, Nicola Davies, Matt Brown and me - and the stories will be told in diverse and creative ways. All eleven tales will be translated into Welsh by Bethan Gwanas in the same volume so that they can be read alongside the English versions, and the collection will be beautifully illustrated by the brilliant artist Max Low. It's a really exciting project and we are doing everything we can to shout about it!  

( Click the image above to go to the 'Mab' support page )

AmeriCymru: When will the new Mabinogion be available and where will readers be able to purchase it online? 

Eloise: This is where readers can help us to make this a reality! We are crowdfunding the project through a company called Unbound . There are all sorts of rewards you can get your hands on - a copy signed by all of the authors, a tote bag, original art work, virtual author visits - you get your name printed in the back of the book and you'll be part of something really important. We would love it if you would support this project if you are able and if you could help us to spread the word that would be absolutely wonderful too. 

AmeriCymru: What does the Children's Laureate do and what are you hoping to achieve in this role?

Eloise: The Children's Laureate role has been created to highlight the importance of, and to promote, creative writing by and for young people in Wales. It gives me an opportunity to work with lots of children who may not already see themselves as storytellers. I believe everyone is made of stories and all voices and words are important. I encourage creativity and imagination over spelling and grammar. I think lots of young people – and older people too - are put off telling stories because they worry about their academic ability.

It’s only my opinion, but I believe that punctuation is something that can be sorted at a later date. Without imagination there is nothing to edit in the first place.

I want all young people to see themselves as part of the literature landscape of Wales. We need vibrant new voices from all sectors of the community, and I see it as part of my job to convince young people of how essential a part they play in making this happen.

The platform also gives me a chance to put a spotlight on children’s writers from Wales which is just a lovely thing to do. We have so many talented writers creating children’s stories with such expertise. It’s a joy to be able to celebrate their words.

AmeriCymru: You are also the patron of reading for a school. What is a patron of reading?

Eloise: I've been a patron of reading for three different schools over the last five years. It's a role to promote the value of reading for pleasure and to break down the barriers between the author and the reader. It's been a fantastic opportunity to have a close relationship with schools and for the young people to have an author at their disposal! 

We launched the Children’s Laureate Wales initiative at one of the schools. I’ve run creative writing competitions with them, co-written stories with pupils, answered questions about the writing process, discussed how to become an author and what it is like when you are published. They’ve let me know what they are reading, and we chat about why they like certain stories more than others. It’s up to the author how much time and connection they want with each school and it’s beneficial on both sides. I’ve run new pieces of writing past young people to get their feedback and they’ve given their feedback very honestly!

AmeriCymru: You currently live in Pembrokeshire but you have lived elsewhere in Wales in the past. Care to tell our readers a little about your history?

Eloise: I was born in St. David’s Hospital in Canton opposite where Ivor Novello was born. I was the first baby on Easter morning which meant my mother was given a celebratory cake by the nursing staff. She was thrilled until they shared it out with everyone on the ward. I have inherited this selfishness when it comes to cake.

For the first few years of my life I lived close to Victoria Park in Canton and then Caerphilly, I remember very little of this time though I romantically recall it as a time I played next to one of the most magnificent castles in the world.

From there we went to live in the historical town of Llantrisant with another castle – smaller and much more ruined – practically in our back garden. Llantrisant was a place of festivals and beating the bounds, historically the home of Dr. William Price a famous Victorian vegetarian nudist and a pioneer of legal cremation, it has a forest to one side of it complete with Bronze Age burial mounds and is laced in legend. We had stories under our feet wherever we walked.

AmeriCymru: When did you first decide to write? How would you describe your creative process?

Eloise: I decided to take the MA in Creative and Media Writing at Swansea University and graduated in 2011 with Distinction which was a definite surprise to me. I’ve always been creative but not particularly successful academically.

I'd been on the road for a long time, touring around different theatres across the UK and had been having a glorious and very tiring time. A decade as an actor was a wonderful experience. I got to act in some of the most superb plays ever written and learned about character and story and most importantly, I think, the sound and spell of words. One fateful day, I was on a stage at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff and I decided that I had words of my own to say instead of other people’s scripts, and I wanted to write them down. I've always been impetuous and knew to trust this instinct to write but I didn't have the confidence to go ahead without trying some skills out first. University workshops were humbling and scary, but I stuck with it, whilst holding down lots of different jobs, and despite being sent a letter to tell me I was at risk of being dismissed from the course for non-attendance (work often clashed with workshops) I eventually graduated. 

My creative process seems to be different for every project. I tend to start VERY enthusiastically with an INCREDIBLE idea, then reach what I have now named the grumble stage. This is where I make low murmuring and disparaging remarks about my ability to create anything at all ever again. Once these two stages are out of the way, I get to work. Research first (and during). I plot a bit now - I used to just forge straight ahead. I use record cards to jot down thoughts and have a drawer where I stash all the glittering ideas for other books which appear bright and shiny and tap dancing through my head when I don’t need them. I work hard, make sure I turn up at my laptop, get frustrated most days. Some days are beautiful and filled with a sense of achievement but lots of days are graft. I guess I have a strong inbuilt work ethic from my parents which has seen me through the more difficult drafts. I also love to question and create almost as much as I love to procrastinate. I turn my WiFi off.

AmeriCymru: What can you tell us about your new novel Wilde ?

Eloise: Wilde is a story which is essentially about celebrating individuality and also about being kind to yourself.

The blurb goes :

Can she break the curse of the witch called Winter?

Being different can be dangerous. Wilde is afraid when strange things happen around her. Are the birds following her? Moving to live with her aunt seems to make it worse. Wilde is desperate to fit in at her new school. But in a fierce heatwave, in rehearsals for a school play telling the local legend of a witch called Winter, ‘The Witch’ starts leaving pupils frightening curse letters. Can Wilde find out who’s doing it before everyone blames her? Or will she always be the outsider?

Wilde has witches and waterfalls and history and legends. It also has a donkey named Duran Duran which gives my age away, I fear! 

AmeriCymru: What's next for Eloise Williams? Any new titles in the offing?

Eloise: This is where my superstitions jump in and tell me that if I give away any information at all I will jinx everything I have coming up. I think I developed this strange and wonderful superstitious nature while working as an actor. There's a lot of ritual and belief in luck in that career. Not mentioning the Scottish Play by name, no whistling backstage, turning in a circle three times and spitting, or some such thing?!

In other words - I do have some things in the pipeline but I can't tell you anything specific about them! I'll be following my love of folklore and fable, history and landscape, all that is other and strange and a little bit odd, down various pathways. I know that's pretty vague but it’s all I can give away at the moment. 

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Eloise: As I said earlier, we are all made of stories – that includes you! Tell your stories to other people. Tell them in any way you want to. Get them out there and celebrate them. Who knows, your stories could be part of a Mab collection in the future!

We are delighted to be celebrating the 50 th anniversary of Planet: the Welsh Internationalist magazine this year. This will culminate in the publication of issue 240 on 1 November 2020, and will be marked by a celebratory party and symposium. The party and symposium will now be postponed until next year, and will be an opportunity to look forward to the next 50 years. In the meantime, we are planning imaginative ways of commemorating half a century of the magazine later in 2020, and will stay in touch as these projects develop.

Planet’s story

“Time and again Planet has taken me upwards and outwards from the fulcrum of Wales to the furthest reaches of discussion and discovery.”

“I know of no other magazine which collates Welsh ideas and values so thoughtfully with intellectual developments in the world at large, and interprets the results in such excellent
journalism.” Jan Morris

Despite the scale suggested by the magazine’s masthead, Planet is run as a micro-organisation, albeit one that seeks to over-reach the limitations of Wales’ political status to offer Welsh perspectives on the world and vice versa. Planet’s authors have included R.S. Thomas, Jan Morris, Raymond Williams, Chinua Achebe, Menna Elfyn, Leo Abse, Gwynfor Evans, Mererid Hopwood and Stevie Davies, and each issue has featured both ground-breaking established authors and emerging talent in its pages.

While sometimes perceived as a ‘cultural magazine’, Planet has always found ways to be a vessel for often radical political perspectives, from the first issue’s opening challenge to the then Secretary of State for Wales George Thomas onwards. The magazine arose out of the publication of The Welsh Extremist: a Culture in Crisis by its founding editor Ned Thomas – an appeal to the English New Left as to why they should be in solidarity with the Welsh-language movement. It has provided a platform for pioneering work on topics from political independence to climate change and species loss – often long before these issues were on the mainstream media agenda.

The magazine has also always had a core role of bridging different cultures within an often very fractured nation. This has sometimes taken the form of bringing Welsh-language material to an English-language readership for the first time in translation, including Saunders Lewis’ seminal Tynged yr Iaith speech, and work by writers including Kate Roberts and J.R. Jones. Latterly this ethos of unifying language cultures has been expressed through our ‘Welsh Keywords’ series, inspired by Keywords – by one of our former Patrons Raymond Williams.

At the same time, from the start, Planet has played an important role in the development of Welsh Writing in English, being one of the first outlets to publish pioneering work from Anglophone areas of Wales by writers including Ron Berry and Alun Richards; and latterly authors such as Rachel Trezise and Gee Williams. Our recent ‘Retracing Wales’ and ‘Reading Between the Lines’ series take the reader on journeys to different corners of Wales, and are examples of how Planet gives insights into very diverse narratives of Welsh experience.

The magazine has also taken a pioneering approach to championing distinctively Welsh visual culture, being an early platform for art critics such as Peter Lord and Osi Rhys Osmond, and continues to offer rigorous critique of Welsh contemporary arts from the most challenging and avant-garde to the most popular.

Planet’s internationalism has taken many forms from the beginning. The magazine has featured articles that connect Wales to other European stateless nations, from a feature by Sartre on the rights of minority language speakers, to works by writers from Catalonia, Brittany, Scotland, Northern Ireland and beyond. Another, recent form of internationalism has been a series that juxtaposes the cultural and political experiences of coalfield communities in Wales and across the world. From the start, when the field of ‘Postcolonial Literature’ was in its infancy, Planet has provided a platform for writers from post-colonial nations worldwide including Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Jean Rhys and Naguib Mahfouz; and in latter years voices representing perspectives from the Global South – India, Cameroon, Iraq, Kurdistan and beyond in the work of (e.g.) Manoranjan Byapari, Eric Ngalle Charles, Rabab Ghazoul and Ciwanmerd Kulek.

In its politics and social justice coverage, Planet has offered unique, in-depth commentary on a tumultuous half century for Wales, chronicling its anxieties and hopes throughout eras of the Cold War, Welsh-language direct-action protest, the emergence of feminism, the Miners’ Strike, Thatcherism, European integration, the development of devolution, the Iraq War, climate change, austerity, the EU referendum, Black Lives Matter and Covid-19, the latter discussed in our new series Breathing Freely: Possibilities for a Post-Pandemic Society.

Since 2009 we have published topical features, podcasts and videos online as Planet Extra, and in 2016 launched Planet Platform – a dedicated online space for work by students we have mentored in writing for publication. Our role in fostering the next generation of journalists and writers is also manifested in our annual Young Writers’ Essay Competition.

This inter-generational dialogue on the past and future of Wales will be marked through several special features in our 2020 celebratory issue, which will be published at the beginning of November.

Planet is published with the financial support of the Books Council of Wales and the Public Interest News Foundation. It is hosted within Aberystwyth University, and receives financial sponsorship from the School of English, Communication and Philosophy, and the School of Journalism, Media Studies and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. For more information about Planet, please see our website: www.planetmagazine.org.uk

What others say about Planet

“Planet is an outstanding publication that is absolutely vital to the public sphere in Wales.” Desolation Radio’s Dan Evans.

For more testimonials about Planet, from figures including Charlotte Williams, Mike Parker, Menna Elfyn, Jan Morris and Rachel Trezise see https://planetmagazine.org.uk/endorsements

Media Enquiries

If you would like to feature coverage of our 50 th anniversary celebrations, or to arrange an event in conjunction with our anniversary, please contact Emily Trahair (editor) at
emily.trahair@planetmagazine.org.uk

.. .

Ani Glass announces her new ' Ynys Araul'  EP released through  Recordiau Neb  on the 11th of September. As well as the title track it includes three new remixes; one by electronic legends  OMD,  plus versions   by  Seka  and  Venus on the Half Shell.  

'Ynys Araul'  is lifted from Glass' debut album  MIRORES   which was released this spring to a very warm reception. In August it was also announced as the Welsh Language Album of the Year at this year's National Eisteddfod resulting in the  BBC National Orchestra of Wales  performing two of her songs.

'Ynys Araul'  (which means  'Serenity' ) is woven with Glass's infectious yet ethereal vocals and haunting melodies, underpinned by kaleidoscopic synths and rolling mechanical loops. Glass says  "Ynys Araul is not only about love and loss but also expands on the album's overall themes of movement and progress. It discusses how our memories and emotions are often connected to certain places and presents the bewildering impact of development on your sense of self when those places change or disappear."   

With its tapestry of electronic sounds, MIRORES takes us on a journey around her hometown of Cardiff. You can hear Ani’s recorded sounds of the urban landscape throughout; the movement of traffic and people and the magical yet infrequent sounds of nature coming together to create the score of a city’s symphony. All of which – especially at present - seem like a distant memory, adding a certain sense of nostalgia to the album.   

MIRORES also represents Ani’s first foray into production having been inspired by her experience of working with  Martin Rushent  during her time as member of indie-pop group  The Pipettes . Glass' sound is inspired by many leading electronic and avant-garde artists and producers of the 1980s including  Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre  and  Arthur Russell  whilst the album’s wider themes are inspired in part by the works of abstract painter Agnes Martin and the author and activist Jane Jacobs.   

"Ani’s tracks draw from dancey electro-pop, with production that’s sharp and clean, pushing shimmering vocals and bright synths to the forefront." Dazed   

"A super-sweet electro-pop stomper with some stunning choral vocal work and a soaring chorus to melt even the stoniest of hearts." The Quietus

Cardiff based musical collective Ghostlawns release their second single 'Ffoi' (pronounced ph- o-ee) digitally through Bandcamp and streaming services on 4 September 2020, taken from their forthcoming debut album 'Motorik' (30 October 2020).

'Ffoi' (which means “flee”) features motoric guitar riffs, ambient synth waves and vocals with live drums to offer a contrasting sound to the band’s debut single, 'Breaking Out'.

Ghostlawns have featured at showcase festivals including Focus Wales and Swn and have contributed songs for the Hope Not Hate and Iechyd Da (Gorky's Zygotic Mynci tribute) compilation albums.

Ghostlawns have finished recording their debut album 'Motorik' with Charlie Francis (REM, Robyn Hitchcock), which will be released via SUB Records on 30th October 2020.

Their first single 'Breaking Out and album taster “Y Gorwel” received radio play on the BBC, and across the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Italy.

They are all active members of the Welsh music scene, playing in bands including Right Hand Left Hand, Gulp, Gentle Good, Cotton Wolf, Manchuko and with Can legend Damo Suzuki.

Album Sampler:  https://soundcloud.com/ghostlawns/sets/motorik-album-sampler

Web: https://www.ghostlawns.net/

Social media:

https://www.facebook.com/GhostlawnsCF

https://twitter.com/ghostlawnsCF

https://www.instagram.com/ghostlawnscf/

Derw started as a project between songwriter Dafydd Dabson and his mum Anna Georgina, a lyricist, after they got to the final of S4C songwriting competition Can i Gymru in 2018 and decided to keep writing together. The band is fronted by Welsh/Iranian singer Elin Fouladi and their debut EP 'Yr Unig Rhai Sy'n Cofio' involves musicians from Welsh acts Zervas and Pepper, Afrocluster and Codewalkers.

Drawing on chamber pop influences like The National and Elbow, the band has a strong connection with the past and their family history and is named after Anna's father - Derwas. Their family is full of interesting stories and 'Yr Unig Rhai Sy'n Cofio' (The Only Ones Who Remember) is about making sure these stories are recorded and remembered.

The track 'Mikhail' is about a friend Derwas met while studying in Jerusalem in 1926. Mikhail grew up in Russia and his father was part of the imperial navy. One night in 1917, when Mikhail was nine and his mother was away, the Bolsheviks came to his house, took his father into another room and shot him. Mikhail then moved to Palestine with his mother and, when he was 19, met Derwas, a student from Oxford. They then spent years exploring the wilderness together and trying to find peace.

The lyrics for 'Silver', the final track of the EP, are taken from a poem written by Anna's mother in the 1930s. She loved writing and had notebooks full of poetry she'd written. She tried several times to get them published but never managed it so it gives Anna and Dafydd a huge amount of pleasure to be able to make use of one of them now.

Derw’s first single, ‘Dau Gam’, came out in May on CEG Records. It was made ‘Track of the Week’ on BBC Radio Cymru as well as getting airplay on BBC Radio Wales.

The band’s second single, ‘Ble Cei Di Ddod i Lawr’ is out on the 28th of August on CEG Records.
..

'Anthemic' - Golwg

'A bridge from the past to the present...Stunningly beautiful' - Mob York City Blog

'Hyfryd' - Ffion Davis, BBC Radio Cymru

'This song allowed me to truly be connected and in the moment' - Indie Pulse Music

'Tender and fills the mind with bright emotions. Fouladi's vocals are intoxicating' - Too Much Love Magazine

..

Cyrhaeddodd Dafydd Dabson a'i fam, Anna Georgina, rownd terfynol cystadleuaeth Can i Gymru yn 2018, y tro gyntaf iddyn nhw ysgrifennu gyda'i gilydd - ac allan o’r brofiad yma tyfodd Derw. Elin Fouladi, cantores Gymraeg/Iraniad, sydd ar flaen y band, gyda’i EP cyntaf, ’Yr Unig Rhai sy'n Cofio’ yn cynnwys cyfraniadau gan gerddorion o Zervas and Pepper, Afrocluster a Codewalkers.

Mae Derw wedi ei ddylanwadu gan fandiau pop siambr fel The National ac Elbow ac mae ganddynt gysylltiad cryf gyda'r gorffennol a hanes eu teulu, yn cymeryd ei enw gan tad Anna - Derwas. Mae’r teulu yn llawn straeon cyfareddol, a bwriad ’Yr Unig Rhai Sy'n Cofio’ yw sicrhau bod nhw'n aros mewn cof.

Mae'r trac ‘Mikhail’ yn son am ffrind Derwas a ddaru o gyfarfod yn Jerwsalem yn 1926. Cafodd Mikhail ei fagu yn Rwsia, a'i dad yn gomander yn y Lynges Ymerodrol. Un noson yn 1917, tra oedd ei fam i ffwrdd, cyrhaeddodd y Bolsieficiaid ei dy, mynd a'i dad i ystafell arall, a'i saethu. Symudodd Mikhail a'i fam i Balesteina, a pan oedd Mikhail yn 19 cyfarfododd a Derwas, myfyriwr o Rydychen. Treuliodd y ddau sawl blwyddynyn crwydro'r anialwch gyda’i gilydd, yn chwilio am heddwch.

Mae geiriau ‘Silver’, trac olaf yr EP, yn dod o farddoniaeth a ysgrifenwyd yn y tridegau gan Mary, mam Anna. Bu wrth ei bodd yn sgwennu, a llanwodd sawl llyfryn a'i cherddi, ond er bod hi wedi ceisio mwy nag unwaith cyhoeddi ei gwaith, llwyddodd hi ddim. Felly, mae'n bleser aruthrol i Anna a Dafydd ddefnyddio nhw nawr.

Mi ddaeth sengl gyntaf Derw, ‘Dau Gam’, allan yn mis Mai ar CEG Records. Gafodd ei wneud yn ‘Drac yr Wythnos’ ar BBC Radio Cymru yn ogystal a cael ei chwarae ar BBC Radio Wales.

Mae ail sengl y band, ‘Ble Cei Di Ddod i Lawr’ allan ar y 28fed o fis Awst ar CEG Records.
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'Anthemig' - Golwg

'A bridge from the past to the present...Stunningly beautiful' - Mob York City Blog

'Hyfryd' - Ffion Davis, BBC Radio Cymru

'This song allowed me to truly be connected and in the moment' - Indie Pulse Music

'Tender and fills the mind with bright emotions. Fouladi's vocals are intoxicating' - Too Much Love Magazine

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https://www.derwband.com/

https://www.instagram.com/derwband/

https://twitter.com/DerwBand

https://www.facebook.com/DerwBand

https://soundcloud.com/derwband

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQb3a9tZuQo2QrhbA_DFvhg

NAFOW 2020

 
Photos: 7

AmeriCymru:  Hi Megan and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. Care to tell our readers a little about the history of the NAFOW event?

Megan: Thank you for giving me this opportunity. The North American Festival of Wales is an annual event held over Labor Day weekend. It is organized by the Welsh North American Association and first started in 1929 as the ‘national gymanfa ganu’. The host city of the festival changes each year and it is held in both US and Canadian cities. In 2020, the festival was scheduled to return to Philadelphia for the first time since 1976. Unfortunately, due to the global health crisis the 2020 festival was cancelled. Plans are already under way for next year’s event in Ottawa and we will return to Philadelphia in 2022. While not what we originally had planned, we look forward to bringing a new version of the festival to a broader audience this year as we host; ‘North American Festival of Wales ~ On Demand’

AmeriCymru:  Would I be correct in saying that this is the first year in a century or more that the event will not be held live?

Megan: The first event was held in 1929 and was held every year since apart from twice during WWII. So this is the first time in over 70 years that there is no in person festival.

AmeriCymru:  What can you tell us about the exciting plans for an alternative online event?

Megan: We have an extensive line-up and are grateful for the many people were willing and interested in taking part. We decided to go with an ‘On Demand’ format making the whole program available from Sept 4-30. With over 20 hours of programing, we want allow viewers as much time as possible to enjoy our lectures, concerts, films and greetings and of course, our tribute to the gymanfa ganu.

AmeriCymru:  Who will be the main guests and headliners this year?

Megan: We have so many people taking part that it is really hard to pick who would be considered a headliner. We have many familiar faces returning to our program from presenters who have been to previous festivals. We are including programing from some of our musicians who were meant to be with us in Philadelphia; Cor y Penrhyn from Bethesda, Hogia’r Bonc and Philadelphia’s own Kathy Crusi who won our top Eisteddfod prize at the 2018 festival in Washington, D.C. We are also partnering with the Welsh government, the National Eisteddfod and Undeb Cymru a’r Byd to bring some new and exciting programing and welcome former First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones to our line-up.

AmeriCymru:  Will the winners of the online Eisteddfod be announced at the event?

Megan: Yes, the winners of our new poetry competition will be announced and recitations of the winning poems will be included in our ‘Eisteddfod’ element. This was a great addition to our Eisteddfod and we are excited to say that we received entries from four continents. A promising start for what is to come as we carry this competition forward in the future.

AmeriCymru:  Just to make sure that people know where and when to catch this years NAFOW, can you provide us with dates, times and platform details here?

Megan: Of course, the full program will be available, free of charge, on our website www.nafow.org starting on September 4 through Sept 30. We hope to reach as broad an audience as possible so please share with your family and friends, even if they may not have a specific connection with Wales. I promise they will find something to enjoy!

AmeriCymru:  Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Megan: I hope you will find time to tune in and enjoy our programing. If you have been to a festival in the past, you will see familiar faces and things to remind you of what being at a NAFOW is like. If you have not been, we hope this may pique your interest and you may consider joining us next year in Ottawa or in Philadelphia in 2022.