Today we are speaking to Bridget Walsh all about an unique show that is set to play at the Thames Festival this Saturday. Conduit is a unique musical performance exploring human connection and how we relate to the world around us. This piece brings together five innovative artists from London’s contemporary jazz scene, today I speak to Bridget to find out all about it.
Hello! Tell us about yourself?
Hiya – I’m Bridget Walsh @loverfrombridget. I’m an artist and activist originally from Aotearoa (New Zealand) but now based in South London. I’m a singer and keys player, a band leader and a big music nerd. I like to use toys and effects and gadgets on stage, and I like to create little pockets of love and kindness and presence with every show I perform, to try and inspire people to be a little kinder and a little braver in these challenging times. I’m the frontwoman of a SICK band in London called 10:32 @1032music, with Lyle Barton on keys, Rado Brtko on drums and Izzy Burnham on bass. We make tunes to make you move and tunes to make you feel good. I’ve got a Masters in jazz performance and I like to cook tasty vegan food.
Tell us a bit about the show, Conduit?
It’s probably worth first mentioning the epic space where our show will be taking place, which is the historic Crossness Pumping Station. If you’re not familiar – give it a google now. It’s an insanely beautiful space and, quite frankly, you should come to see the show simply for the opportunity to watch live music in such an iconic setting! Also – your ticket includes a routemaster bus picking you up from Abbey Wood Station and taking you to a vintage railway that brings you up to the venue itself. So before the music even starts, you’ve gone on a whole little field trip to a secret hidden London gem! Then before we perform, you get treated to a live set from the epic virtuoso talent of Rosie Frater-Taylor! And then you reach our show, Conduit.
Conduit is a performance piece that we have been working on since the spring. It’s a collaboration between myself and four other bad-ass femme jazz and jazz-adjacent artists in the London scene: Isobella Burnham on bass and voice, Rosie Turton on trombone and modular synths, Emanuela Monni on drums and percussion and Jan Halen on violin and effects. Plus myself on voice, keys and live-production. The programme is a mix of original tunes, composed tunes, special arrangements for this line-up and improvised moments, drawing from the jazz, electronic, pop, soul and folk worlds. We’ve compiled a body of work that speaks to and explores themes around social justice and the climate emergency, using music and improvisation to express and respond to our own experiences, along with the experiences of our audience. It includes tunes from my band 10:32, from Rosie Turton, some work by Cole Porter, from an incredible American composer called Maria Schneider, a little bit of Bon Iver and some traditional Irish folk music as well.
It’s a real journey for us as artists to go on, and this will be the third time we’ve presented the show, and each time it’s completely unique as we seek input from the audience to guide us on our improvisations and general vibe. What’s extra exciting about this iteration of the show commissioned by Totally Thames Festival, is that we also get to respond to the venue itself. Crossness is an incredible space and one that I really wanted to work with to build a show that also makes use of the space, acoustics and history of the building, as well as the themes of the festival. The show is called Conduit because it’s all about how everything is connected and leads to other outcomes and experiences, and the Thames is one of the most iconic conduits in the modern world!
How are rehearsals going?
We’ve been working on the show since the spring so it’s been a fair bit of Zoom calling and exchanging of scores and ideas on Whatsapp, followed by a few rehearsals all around London. We’ve got two more run throughs before the big day, and it’s all looking very exciting. A lot of the show is based around real-time response to the audience and the space, so there’s only so much we can actually prepare for, as there will be a whole lot of improvising on the day as well. We’re excited!
What can you tell us about the stage set?
What’s epic about this iteration of Conduit is that it’s happening in a space where so much of the magic and essence of the performance is captured by the physical magic of the Crossness setting. So there’s not much that we will be doing to the space except that the Crossness crew are setting up some staging for us, and lighting the space in a way that showcases the music but also the inherent personality and beauty of the building itself, as well as all the pump mechanisms and architectural details. Add to that the vintage routemaster bus and the miniature railway ride, and the set itself really expands out into a whole wraparound experience as soon as you arrive at Abbey Wood station!
Tell us a little bit about the rest of the cast
For Conduit itself I’m joined by four other bad-ass women in the jazz / jazz-adjacent scene here in London. They are all friends of mine and it’s a real privilege to make art with them! We’ve got the incredible Isobella Burnham on bass and vocals – she’s been working with some big deal artists for a few years now, including Tom Misch, Jorja Smith and Sampa The Great.
Rosie Turton is a hugely respected trombone player in the scene, but she also has this epic alter-ego called Nomieye where she’s built her own modular synth to explore wider delicious sonic textures. For this show – she’s bringing both and I couldn’t be more excited. We’re also performing some of Rosie’s material too, so you’re in for a real treat there. Emanuela Monni is a killer drummer and percussionist who works with bands and artists around London, but also does epic stuff like, improvise for live dance performances at Trinity and Rambert! You can catch her doing her thing with bands like Rooftop Assembly and Das Brass.
Jan Halen and I met doing our Masters in jazz at the Guildhall here in London, and I was instantly drawn to her fearless approach to improvisation and collaboration. She also has a bunch of cool effects pedals that she uses on stage, and you can see her doing her thing with bands including Beech Duo and Jam String Collective. And last but definitely not least, we have an opening solo set from the epic talent of virtuoso guitarist, vocalist and all round bad-ass artist, Rosie Frater-Taylor. With accolades from the BBC, Jazz FM and MOJO magazine to name a few, you only need a brief google of Rosie to see how talented she is!
What is the most challenging thing about doing the show?
Two things have been tricky – the first is trying to wrangle everyone’s availability for the show date itself but also for rehearsals. When you’re dealing with a group of working, independent musicians in London over the summer, there are always going to be challenges with trying to find dates that align with everyone’s schedules, but we got there in the end!
The other tricky thing, that Totally Thames Festival actually has been a godsend for, was working out how to get people onsite to Crossness for the show itself. Unless you drive, it’s not the easiest spot to get to, but TTF have arranged for a routemaster bus to collect audience members from Abbey Wood station, and then for the vintage railway to run everyone up to the site itself – so what started off as a challenge has now become a whole epic part of the experience!
To be honest, I’m genuinely jealous that I’ll already be there setting up and won’t get a chance to do the bus and train adventure myself…!
What have been some of the best highlights since doing the show?
It’s great to work with an all female band, and to have the opportunity to book a line-up that inspires and excites me, so that’s a big one. We’ve had some great responses from audience members, and it’s been really heartening to have so much enthusiasm and support for the show. I don’t want to say too much – because #spoilers, but we are striving to make each show as special and unique as we can, so we can’t wait to go on this Conduit adventure at Crossness with you all for Totally Thames Festival!
What is the best reaction you have had from an audience member?
Again, #spoilers but there’s one point in the show where I sample some audio from a modern revolutionary artist who I find super inspiring, and after the first performance we did of Conduit back in June, one of the audience members came up to me to ask who the person was who I had sampled, and they now follow this person and have been telling other people all about them too! So it’s great that a small moment of inspiration for me, has been able to become an inspiration for others too! That’s what it’s all about!
If people want to follow you on social media, where can they find you?
You can find me on instagram @lovefrombridget and my band 10:32 with Izzy over at @1032music, plus you can find the others on instagram too, and their details are here:
Bridget Walsh on voice, samples and keyboards @lovefrombridget
Isobella Burnham on bass and voice @isobella.burnham
Emanuela Monni on drums and percussion @manumonni
Rosie Turton on trombone and modular synths @rosie.turton
Jan Halen on violin and effects @janhalenloops
Rosie Frater-Taylor on guitar and voice @rosiefratertaylor
Plus Crossness is @crossnesset and Totally Thames Festival is @thamesfestivaltrust
Finally in three words why should people come to your show?
Expansive, hopeful adventure!
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