NZ Musician 2003 (Vol: 10, No: 8)

By Jennifer Scott

Catching up recently with a fellow songwriter she had not seen for about 10 years, Wellington musician Charlotte Yates confessed she "still has the fever" for writing and performing music. The fever struck in her late 20s and has been productive since. In May Charlotte releases 'plainsong' on Wellington-based Jayrem Records. The album adds to an extensive and varied body of work that includes three previous solo albums, a live album with Mahinarangi Tocker and the acclaimed Baxter CD project she co-ordinated in 2000. Since the release of 'Dead Fish Beach' in 2001, she has toured the country for a second time with Tocker, performed at numerous festivals– including last year's Sydney Mardi Gras – as a duo, and directed Baxter-related shows for arts festivals in Christchurch, Taranaki and Hamilton. She is one of those people who always seem to be working on something new with ceaseless enthusiasm. Some people like that make you sick, but in person, Charlotte's a down-to-earth woman with an easy, graceful manner and sharp wit that appeals to live audiences. It also appealed to readers of her 'Taking Note' songwriting column she wrote for NZ Musician. She still gets people approaching her after shows and is continually amazed at just how widely her words of wisdom reached.  The live profile she developed with Tocker also opened doors. Following a performance at the Christchurch Arts Centre in 2000, they were approached to apply for the Centre's Artist-in-Residence scheme. This is a two-month residency which Tocker took up in 2001 and Yates last year in April and May. Being away from her hometown of Wellington added to the colour palette for 'plainsong', which has more musical shades than the reticent name suggests. "It (the name) came from several triggers. One thing is that we are looking after a John Parker painting called 'plainsong' – I 'm not sure what the technical term is for the style of it – but it's just blocks of squares, and I rather liked it. When I went down to Christchurch to do the Artist-in Residence, I walked across the road and went into what was then their art gallery, the McDougall, and saw another painting of the 'plainsong' series. It was a great big green field with 12 squares in it and I thought, 'Oh my god, there are 12 songs on a CD!' Also just being down in Canterbury, which is a very different landscape – I'm a beach girl – and the colours are different, made an impression. Also I liked the idea of plain song, plain speaking." The two-month residency suited Charlotte who says songwriting time is "alone time". While ideas come anywhere, any time, they are saved up and although many of her songs relate to a particular situation or emotion, the song is not written while it is being experienced. "Now, I might be happy during that time but I would be contemplative. I'll definitely explore 'Okay, is this song a happy song or a sad song? What's it doing?'. I won't necessarily be feeling that emotion but I'll be able to relate it back to a time where I had a spring in my step, or when I felt really gutted, or that really overwhelmed me." She describes her songwriting techniques as her "bag of tricks", and added to them while in Christchurch, taking music reading lessons from fellow NZM columnist Kevin Downing. "I actually heard someone, a noted musician describing another noted musician as being a 'one-trick pony' and hopefully you have enough tricks or creative bits and bobs that you can develop. This is my fourth solo album so if there's not something new in there or some kind of development then, 'Oh my god, what am I doing?'" 'plainsong' was recorded over February and March this year at Wellington's Inca Studios (which Charlotte – who has an eye and ear for the quirky – points out was once the secret service building and has a "slightly scabby boys' flat feel"). As well as writing and performing, Charlotte also arranged and produced all the songs while Mike Gibson, recorded, mastered and mixed the album. For each song Charlotte would work out what she wanted with numerous ideas of how to achieve the final picture. She says as a solo artist she has the luxury of choosing how many people to invite to add their brush strokes to the canvas. Many of the musicians on 'plainsong' have played on her previous albums including bassist Tim Robertson, cellist Janet Holborow and accordion player Alan Norman. Others were found through the Chinese whispers technique of someone knowing someone who fits the bill – which brought Damian Forlong (trombone), Bob Smith (keyboards) and Chris O'Connor (drums) into the fold. The resulting studio album retains Charlotte's live swagger. "I'm not going to sit at a computer and play keyboards and trombone. I'm going to get a real trombone player, but you put it into a really full-on digital recording situation and you can do it really quickly." Although she had worked with Gibson before, she did not know the extent of his talents, which includes formal music studies at Victoria University. His blend of music theory and technology impressed. "He would say things like 'You're a bit pitchy on that Charlotte' and that's quite unusual because a lot of people who get into audio engineering are drummers and bass players who aren't possibly concerned about vocal tunings. A lot of the stuff I spent my time cutting my teeth on was quite tight vocal work with When the Cat's Been Spayed and with Mahina as well, it's really full on female vocals, so I found it really helpful." Yates' voice is distinctive and takes on different personas over the course of the album. Some songs such as She Went Straight and Looked Like You display an acerbic wit and self-deprecating look at situations while remaining proud. On others, such as the beautiful cello enhanced Still Life, there is a softer approach. At no time does she sound like any other singer and after even just one listen, her tunes dance in your head. They're catchy songs – catchy like a fever. As she approaches her 40th birthday (her gift to herself is a Tacoma acoustic) her love of creating and performing original music persists. She is one of those jewels of local music who has never achieved mainstream popularity but whose work – and the craft used – is much respected. For Charlotte, the knowledge that she has a back catalogue marks her as a "lifer" in the music biz. "I've got more confidence, it's what I do now instead of thinking 'Will I ever get to do another album?' Now I've got the luxury of looking at a discography I can't fit on one page on my website. "I've really appreciated feeling comfortable with that, which is a funny thing to say. A writer friend described it as: 'It's just what you do now', and that feels like a badge of honour." www.charlotteyates.com