ME FOR QUEEN

Artwork by @mystupidsketchbook

WHO is she?
Me For Queen is Mary Erskine, a London-via-Scotland pianist, singer and songwriter.

“I started playing piano when I was 5, with the Suzuki method, where you learn by ear. I was totally in love with my teacher and just thought she was the most magical person in the world, so I got pretty into it from an early age. I loved having music as my “thing” – I’m the youngest of 5 and I soon worked out it was a fairly reliable way to get some attention. So it all started from showing off. Which is odd because I wouldn’t say now that I’m an extrovert. But as a child, I’ll be honest, I was pretty insufferable.”

“I started writing songs around age 12 or 13, but I didn’t like my voice so I never sang anything in public until 10 years later, at an open mic night at uni..”

WHAT is the inspiration behind her songs?
“I think most of us are trying to find a voice for what’s going on inside our heads… I’m really interested in the subconscious – quite often stuff will come out in a song that’s about a year or two ahead of where my conscious, thinking head is at. Which I always find interesting. I’m fascinated by people and how we all get along.”

“Musically, I’ve finally accepted the piano as my instrument and I’m much happier writing songs around the piano, after having fought it for a while.”

WHERE did she grow up?
“I grew up just outside a small village called Kingsbarns, right by the sea, in Fife (Scotland) – no one would believe me as I hardly have an accent, but there we are. I am inspired by the countryside – I do think that growing up in a slightly wild place with freedom to just wander around for hours without talking to anyone does shape your worldview in some way… I have lived in London for seven years and have recently decided it’s time for a change, so I’m actually moving to Porto next year! I studied Languages and I loved living in France/Italy as a student – I love how much you can learn from just being in a different culture. Maybe I’ll come back as a Fado singer…”

WHY is she called Me For Queen?
“I have no idea. I just liked the sound of it. ME is my intials. I’m sorry there’s not more of a story. A few people have asked whether it came from that picture of me (on the EP artwork, as a small child) as it looks like I’m sitting on a throne. It’s a complete coincidence.”

WHEN can I see her live?
3 November – Bristol, Old Bookshop
6 November – Glasgow, Broadcast
7 November – Newcastle, Head of Steam
8 November – Manchester, Fallow Café
9 November – Leeds, Oporto
10 November – Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge

HOW can I get to know her better?
Listen & Watch: Website // Soundcloud // Youtube
Like & Follow: Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

The new EP from Me for Queen is available to pre-order through Pledge Music. Support her music here.

OFFICER

 Artwork by @mystupidsketchbook

WHO is he?
“My name is David Logan; I get called Dc by most of my friends. I was born in Scotland in the 80’s, where my mother grew up and moved as a five-year-old to Northern Ireland where my father grew up. There’s such a rich musical culture and heritage in both places.

I’ve always had melodies and rhythms running around my head and as a young kid growing up was always banging on furniture, messing around on various instruments belonging to my Dad, aunts, and uncles. I grew up with a strong mix of Celtic Folk, British Pop and American Blues and Rock always blaring somewhere, as well as having a lot of exposure to spiritually focused music as I spent a lot of time knocking around the local estates, pubs and in various little faith communities.

I really got captivated by music in a more focused and obsessive way quite late on actually, when I was about 18 and started to play guitar and write songs at that stage. The first thing I did was write a song before ever learning to play songs by other people. It was a song about my parent’s tempestuous marriage and eventual divorce. I then started to learn covers and play in local pubs at open mics.

I moved to London after finishing school, got a job and started a band and then with many twists and turns ended up kicking off this solo project OFFICER a couple of years ago. On my upcoming debut album Myriads I played guitar, synth, and piano and sang, writing all of the songs and lyrics and co-producing the album.”

WHAT is he singing about?
“I write about a lot of different things that life has or is taking me through. I guess it’s all about relationship really… My relationships with others, my relationship with the idea of home, the city, the world, my relationship with my own self, my relationship with what we are taught in our culture, my relationship with great books and pieces of art, my relationship with the figure of God, my relationship with my family and friends. I have been working with homeless and vulnerable people in London for the last decade and some songs are about my experiences in that very challenging world and the need and hurt and hope I see every single day.”

  WHERE is he from?
“I grew up in both Scotland and Ireland. They both have music running through the rivers, rushing through the forests, washing up on the seashore, gliding through the hills, clanging out of the taverns and homes. It’s really incredible and has left a permanent indelible mark on my soul and my music. Those landscapes will forever be a part of whatever it is that drives my music in its first moments of creation.

Along with that I spent my first few years in the city and then have now been in London a long time and spent most of my recent life in various cities and so I have been hugely enriched in terms of my music, ideas, experiences and mind set by other cultures and the mad constant clashes of the engines of the creative urban environment and its amazing people. I think if you put those two environments together you end up with a pretty accurate representative or metaphoric landscape for my music.

Often as I physically walk through the cities I am spiritually or mentally walking through somewhere like Donegal or the highlands of Scotland and playing and listening to music helps me to marry the two very contrasting and separate homelands together and so I think I get much more out of life wherever I am.”

WHY ‘OFFICER’?
“OFFICER works on different levels and so never feels boring to me. Firstly, it’s as simple as I just like it…I personally think it’s a beautiful word to hear, speak and look at, and yet it has a cantankerous complexity and darkness to it in some of its connotations.

I think that growing up in Northern Ireland through the tail end of the troubles has definitely, to some subconscious degree shaped my choosing or more acceptance of that moniker. There were ‘officers’ everywhere… of the paramilitaries, police, religious groups, army and all the rest. I guess I like the idea of the word being used for something a little more positive and redemptive – something that brings people together rather than causes division, as music so often powerfully does. Although, I’ve got to say I don’t really think of it on that level at all from day to day – only when people ask me!

Originally it was suggested to me by my friend who thought it would really suit what I was doing with my music and it just stuck with me and kept trumping its rival ideas for aliases, so I took it on.”

WHEN can I see him live?
OFFICER is currently piecing together his band from the musicians who helped him record his upcoming debut album Myriads to tour the UK, Ireland & Germany in autumn 2015. In the meantime you can catch him June 11 at Citadel, St Helens (UK) for a live acoustic show.

HOW can I get to know him better?
Listen & Watch: Website // Soundcloud // Youtube // Bandcamp
Like & Follow: Facebook // Twitter

Watch the video for Glass Ceiling from upcoming album Myriads