They say the best things come to those who wait, so anyone following the work of Fife musician Kevin Allan should be satisfied by now – eventually.

Now based in Stonehaven, and trading under the Fair Mothers moniker, there was little in the way of musical output for public consumption since a flurry of post-millennium activity. However, following a 2016 album, ‘Separate Lives’, which featured Kathryn Joseph, Fair Mothers HQ has been a positive hive of activity, with the second part of a pair of 2020 long players, ‘In Monochrome’, coming soon.

…

Who?

It always starts on my own, then I try to find other musicians to play with. It seems natural to rope in as many other people as possible. This time round Faith Eliott (singing) and Pete Harvey (cello) have been really important, with Dana Gavanski (singing), Esther Swift (harp), Sam Mallalieu (Drums) and even Matthew Young with Johnny Lynch the Pictish Trail contributing some brief but atmospheric swearing.

…

When? & Where?

I’m from Fife, but I now live in Stonehaven. I’ve been writing songs my whole adult life and maybe I would have gotten to here quicker, but I got blown very off course by experiences meditating when I was around 20. Which meant I had to get into psychology so I could figure out what I’d done to me.

I got a job doing that in Aberdeen around 2000, which also let me properly hook up with local musicians around at that time. Alan Davidson for example, the Kitchen Cynic who is deservedly as famous as John Prine in a parallel universe. When the kids arrived, I ran out of time again for a few years, but in 2016 with help from Kathryn Joseph and Marcus Mackay I made some recordings released by the saintly James Smith on his Foxfood Records label.

…

…

It always starts on my own, then I try to find other musicians to play with. It seems natural to rope in as many other people as possible. This time round Faith Eliott (singing) and Pete Harvey (cello) have been really important, with Dana Gavanski (singing), Esther Swift (harp), Sam Mallalieu (drums) and even Matthew Young with Johnny Lynch the Pictish Trail contributing some brief but atmospheric swearing.

Since then things have really started to unravel, but whenever I’ve been able to stand still and listen there has usually been a song there. These are the songs we’re releasing this year on two LPs on Song, by Toad. They were recorded over about 9 or 10 months in 2018 and into 2019, but really that was maybe 3 or 4 weekends of work spread highly inefficiently over that period. With a lot of slow production work adding and subtracting.

For example, I realised that melodies could come in as a response at the end of a vocal line and didn’t have to start before, or run alongside the vocal. Which then lengthened the whole process because I was sending Matthew these melodies improvised on anything that came to hand and, showing his generosity, he would generally find a way to do them justice.

We released the 1st LP, ‘Separate Lives’, on Feb 14th. It seems to be well-liked, my wife even stayed awake long enough to hear some of the songs being played on 6 music all the way through to the end. The 2nd forthcoming LP, ‘In Monochrome’, is musically quite varied, some of the songs are bitter and not easy listening for me, and some are very mellow. At least in parts.

…

How?

Usually a song begins on acoustic or piano, never electric guitar, and without exception comes out of nowhere. It lodges like a parasite in my brain for days until I get the structure as simplified with as little repetition as I can manage. Don’t know why, but this usually seems the right way to go.

I don’t understand how people manage to write songs with lots, or even a medium amount of repeating structure that still sound great. I just can’t do it. I’ll normally then record a simple home version, and often that’s been the basis for the recordings that have been released. ‘Lucille’, on ‘Separate Lives’, was recorded on my bathroom floor in the middle of the night, for example.

…

I hate having to go back over and re-record things, and don’t have much patience or desire to get anything down ‘perfectly’. But I could spend days adding layers on and extending new parts onto songs. This must have begun to get aggravating to Matthew, and he eventually said we have to stop at 23 songs, after I tried to make him listen to half a dozen more. He brought Song, by Toad back from hibernation (he is a big Hibs fan) for these records, and I’m very grateful.

…

What?

Whenever I get properly into a band or an artist I end up unconsciously copying them for ages, it’s a pain in the arse but it does set up a reaction in me. For a while now I’ve been really into Wilco, really really into Wilco, and so if I had to describe these latest Fair Mothers songs I’d say that they are my attempt to get as far as I can from Wilco, and I’m permanently trying to get away from Neil Young.

…

Why?

It’s a good question. Fair Mothers is helping me to sink my career, will never pay mine or anyone else’s mortgage and has kept me away from my family for 1000s of hours. It’s a really good question.

…

The next single from the album ‘Monochrome’ is released on 17th July, followed by the ‘In Monochrome’ long-player, out on 7th August.

More at Song, By Toad or the Fair Mothers Facebook page.

And current single, ‘Harpy’, has a great video directed by Scottish BAFTA winner and SAY nominee Adam Stafford…
…