Q & A with Sukie Smith

The new single by Madam, When I Met You is being launched on 26/03/16 and it will be followed by a new album Back to the Sea. The band's singer / song writer Sukie Smith answers a few questions...

The Rebel Magazine: Tell me about your new single "When I Met You" where is the ideal place to hear it? (e.g. On headphones alone at night or in a car whilst driving) Sukie Smith: "Its a dark trawl through an event that happened years ago to my then boyfriend, so badly beaten up, left for dead, found, taken to hospital and the events that happened there, the thinking around it .... the working out of the circumstances that lead to it ....... headphones or car journey seem to suit my music , but so does huge amplification, monstrously loud..... knock yourself out Harry anyway you wanna."

Who are your fellow musicians on the record? "Jeff Townsin -drums , Gareth Moss , bass, Sarah Gill cello/saw,John Robertson plays guitar on the half the album , including this song ..... Adam Franklin from Swerve driver plays on the rest with Frankie frankie from Throw Down Bones on a couple of tracks , then there are a handful of amazing guest musicians,including cuban jazz trumpeter Yelfris Valdes , who I met while we were both involved in workshopping a huge project about concert pianist Phillippa Schuyler , David Michael Curry , I met when Madam supported Thalia Zedek, plays extraordinary viola on the huge end track, go to sax/clarinet/brass girl Charlotte Glasson plays on Murder Park ,composer Marc Teitler plays grand piano on No Ghost , John Mackay plays vaudeville piano on the same track sound artist Michael Begg made beautiful glass harmonica sounds and a fog horn symphony on Back to the Sea , engineer James Aparicio played synth on Not here Yet and we recorded bits of the studio so that's on it too as a musician in its own right I guess : ) I think I play everything else....."

Who are your pop heroes, did you have anyone's poster on your wall? "David Bowie was on my wall..."

Are you at your happiest when you're singing on stage? "Happy? Happy? Harry, have you heard these songs?? hahah ... I fucking love being lost in the middle of a show."

Whose opinions on your work do you take make notice of? "I guess I don't mind what people think ....."

What was the first song you ever wrote? How long did you have to spend trying to write songs until you came up with something you liked? "True true true , the first song i ever wrote was When I met You ........... I didn't understand it , I didn't think it had worth ...... but now we know ..... songs have their time When I met You is ready now ........."

What song do you wish you'd written? "Fancy by Bobbie Gentry."

What is your idea of beauty in nature? "All nature is beautiful , a massive sky with strange colours is hard to beat."

Where would you like to be 10 years from now? "I'm open for adventure .... lets see... I am not sure my imagination is wide enough to think about ten years time...."