6:21:08 > 6:21:10SHE INHALES
6:21:10 > 6:21:12# Ah
6:21:12 > 6:21:13# Ah
6:21:13 > 6:21:15# Ah... #
6:21:15 > 6:21:19A singing voice can bring joy, hope, anger...
6:21:19 > 6:21:22It can connect people beyond language or geography.
6:21:22 > 6:21:24It's an instrument of immense creative power.
6:21:24 > 6:21:26# Ah
6:21:26 > 6:21:29# Oh-oh-oh
6:21:29 > 6:21:31# Oh... #
6:21:31 > 6:21:34Wales is famous for producing singers.
6:21:34 > 6:21:37We are the land of song, but some of the traditional stereotypes,
6:21:37 > 6:21:41of daffodils and male-voice choirs and Myfanwy,
6:21:41 > 6:21:43are just too simplistic.
6:21:43 > 6:21:46I've lived in Cardiff all my life and some of these traditional views
6:21:46 > 6:21:51of what Welsh culture is just don't reflect the innovative
6:21:51 > 6:21:55and forward-thinking music that I hear all around me.
6:21:55 > 6:21:57This June sees the launch of the Festival Of Voice,
6:21:57 > 6:22:00over ten days in venues across Cardiff.
6:22:00 > 6:22:04The promise is to show a different side to singing in Wales.
6:22:04 > 6:22:08Experimental and outward-looking, a programme combining acclaimed
6:22:08 > 6:22:14Welsh singers, community-driven projects and international acts.
6:22:14 > 6:22:16In my Artsnight, I'm looking at singers that are using
6:22:16 > 6:22:22the voice not just to entertain, but also to question and challenge
6:22:22 > 6:22:25and really push the boundaries of what a human voice can do.
6:22:25 > 6:22:27This is my Artsnight.
6:22:34 > 6:22:36What I like most about the new festival is that,
6:22:36 > 6:22:39although it's distinctly Welsh and has all the established names
6:22:39 > 6:22:43you might expect, it is also hugely ambitious in its scale,
6:22:43 > 6:22:47and it's bringing new international singers into the city.
6:22:47 > 6:22:50And we're on our way to meet one of my personal favourites,
6:22:50 > 6:22:55Laura Mvula, in London before she comes to Wales for the festival.
6:22:55 > 6:22:57I first met Laura a couple of years ago
6:22:57 > 6:23:03and we did a songwriting session together, which was wonderful.
6:23:03 > 6:23:05We wrote a cracking verse and chorus
6:23:05 > 6:23:09and then we had a bit of a red wine-y lunch
6:23:09 > 6:23:11and that was the end of that song.
6:23:11 > 6:23:13But we've been firm friends ever since
6:23:13 > 6:23:15and I think she's an amazing artist.
6:23:15 > 6:23:18# Dance in my garden
6:23:18 > 6:23:22# Like we used to... #
6:23:22 > 6:23:25Laura's first album Sing To The Moon saw her become
6:23:25 > 6:23:28- one of the breakout British singers of 2013.- # Like we used to... #
6:23:28 > 6:23:31Now she's about to return with a second album, The Dreaming Room,
6:23:31 > 6:23:35and she's told me that she's been exploring a new musical direction,
6:23:35 > 6:23:38moving away from the soul-influenced debut that made her name.
6:23:40 > 6:23:43I'm so intrigued to find out about her process and her writing
6:23:43 > 6:23:48and her vocal stylings, and how she's developed all of that.
6:23:48 > 6:23:50'So I've brought her to the Wellcome Collection,
6:23:50 > 6:23:52'to the exhibition This Is A Voice.'
6:23:52 > 6:23:56FAINT VOICES GROAN
6:23:56 > 6:24:00- When you had your babies, did you make this kind of noise?- Mental.
6:24:00 > 6:24:04- Really?- It was low and guttural. - Low?
6:24:04 > 6:24:07SHE GROANS Yeah, I can't do it.
6:24:07 > 6:24:10'The exhibition combines pieces presenting
6:24:10 > 6:24:12'experimental vocal techniques...'
6:24:12 > 6:24:14- Are we allowed to do it together? - I reckon.
6:24:14 > 6:24:16It's not going to break it, is it?
6:24:16 > 6:24:21- # Ah - Ah. #
6:24:21 > 6:24:24CHARLOTTE LAUGHS Good breath control, babes.
6:24:24 > 6:24:27'..as well as art exploring the science and psychology
6:24:27 > 6:24:29'of why we sing.'
6:24:29 > 6:24:33WOMAN SINGS TWO PITCHES AT ONCE
6:24:33 > 6:24:37- Oh, my gosh. That's nuts. Is that real?- Yeah.
6:24:37 > 6:24:40She's not doing that!
6:24:40 > 6:24:45She's literally singing two different pitches at one time.
6:24:45 > 6:24:48It's insane.
6:24:48 > 6:24:50That's really moved me. I don't know...
6:24:50 > 6:24:53That's really crazy. What?
6:24:55 > 6:24:58'I've brought Laura here because I want to talk to her about her own
6:24:58 > 6:25:02'vocal experiments and finding a new sound for her second album.'
6:25:02 > 6:25:08- I've been on a really funny journey with my voice.- Mmm.
6:25:08 > 6:25:12When I was a kid, a lot of family members were singers,
6:25:12 > 6:25:15performers, so I was always at gospel concerts or whatever.
6:25:15 > 6:25:21But I do think that the way that I understood singing was,
6:25:21 > 6:25:27sort of, narrow, because I thought it was about vocal gymnastics...
6:25:27 > 6:25:30- Yeah.- ..and wooing your audience.
6:25:30 > 6:25:34And so I was racked with insecurity, cos I was like,
6:25:34 > 6:25:37- "Well, I don't have that in my voice. I can't do that..."- Yeah.
6:25:37 > 6:25:39- "..so I'm not a singer." - That's crazy.
6:25:39 > 6:25:42- Yeah, for real.- That's crazy.
6:25:42 > 6:25:46And I think it's so hard, in our day and age,
6:25:46 > 6:25:49you know, we're born in the X Factor generation,
6:25:49 > 6:25:51where singing has become...
6:25:51 > 6:25:54Well, what we teach our children what singing has become
6:25:54 > 6:25:57is very narrow. It's sort of...
6:25:57 > 6:26:01- It's homogenised, like, autotuned. - Yeah, yeah.
6:26:01 > 6:26:03- I struggled... I struggle with that a lot.- Yeah, me too.
6:26:03 > 6:26:06Because, like, for me, the whole thing about the voice and hearing
6:26:06 > 6:26:08a new voice for the first time,
6:26:08 > 6:26:10- which is characterful and rich... - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
6:26:10 > 6:26:14All their range and the tonal information they can give you,
6:26:14 > 6:26:17- it's just like, "Mmm, that's so juicy, I could eat it."- Yeah.
6:26:17 > 6:26:20Yes, that's what's delicious.
6:26:20 > 6:26:21That's what we need
6:26:21 > 6:26:27and also it's about the uniqueness of the individual human.
6:26:27 > 6:26:30Like, nobody sounds like Charlotte Church.
6:26:30 > 6:26:33Nobody sounds like Laura Mvula.
6:26:33 > 6:26:36# I will never be what you want and that's all right
6:26:36 > 6:26:38# I'll play my own damn tune
6:26:38 > 6:26:40# I'll shine like the moon
6:26:40 > 6:26:42# And very soon
6:26:42 > 6:26:44# I'll soon fly over you... #
6:26:44 > 6:26:46Tell me a little bit about The Dreaming Room.
6:26:46 > 6:26:49I've heard the two singles, which are different and new
6:26:49 > 6:26:51- and it's a progression... - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
6:26:51 > 6:26:52It's a different sound.
6:26:52 > 6:26:54Yeah, with this album,
6:26:54 > 6:26:59I feel like I used it as a way of reaching somewhere else.
6:26:59 > 6:27:01- Expansion!- Yeah.- Yeah.
6:27:01 > 6:27:03Because I was using a lot of distorted guitar,
6:27:03 > 6:27:05there was a lot of funk now.
6:27:05 > 6:27:07There was a different rhythmic element to it.
6:27:07 > 6:27:09- I had to find another colour.- Mmm.
6:27:09 > 6:27:11But it wasn't like, "Oh, let me..."
6:27:11 > 6:27:15- I wasn't sitting at the piano, like, "Ah, ah, ah!"- "Ah, ah, ah!"
6:27:15 > 6:27:16- It wasn't like that.- Yeah.
6:27:16 > 6:27:20A lot of it came from the meat of the songs.
6:27:20 > 6:27:23- Yeah.- For the first time, I'm singing about heartbreak.- Mmm.
6:27:23 > 6:27:29- For the first time, I'm singing in a way that makes me feel sexy.- Mmm.
6:27:29 > 6:27:33And, for the first time, I'm singing in a way where I'm pissed off.
6:27:33 > 6:27:35Mmm, yeah!
6:27:35 > 6:27:36Yeah, so it makes you...
6:27:36 > 6:27:37All of a sudden, I'm like,
6:27:37 > 6:27:40"Oh, yeah, I'm singing up in the rafters," you know?
6:27:40 > 6:27:41Yeah, totally.
6:27:41 > 6:27:44But I'm finding my way of doing that.
6:27:44 > 6:27:50# With the world up on your shoulders
6:27:50 > 6:27:53# Nowhere left to hide
6:27:57 > 6:28:00# Keep your head up Carry on
6:28:00 > 6:28:06# Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah... #
6:28:06 > 6:28:11The beauty of it, for me, is that I've grown up insecure about
6:28:11 > 6:28:14my vocal range, so I'd say, "No, no, no, no, I can't sing up there."
6:28:14 > 6:28:18- Mmm.- "No, no, no, I won't sing..." - So many people do that.- Oh, gosh.
6:28:18 > 6:28:20- Because I had, like, a classical training...- Mmm.
6:28:20 > 6:28:24..I feel like I've, to a certain extent, had to undo all of that.
6:28:24 > 6:28:26- Yeah.- Like you were saying about, like, belting high and stuff,
6:28:26 > 6:28:28I was always, you know, a similar thing.
6:28:28 > 6:28:30Like, "I can't really belt very high."
6:28:30 > 6:28:31Yeah, that's interesting.
6:28:31 > 6:28:33Yeah, but then it's just like, now I embrace it.
6:28:33 > 6:28:36- Yeah.- Embrace it.- That's right. - It's an uncontrollable beast.
6:28:36 > 6:28:39- Find ways in which to tame that beast.- Yes, Ma'am. Mmm-hmm.
6:28:39 > 6:28:42And I remember hearing you on Jonathan Ross
6:28:42 > 6:28:45and you had that incredible, like, a headdress on,
6:28:45 > 6:28:47- and I was just like...- Yeah, that.
6:28:47 > 6:28:49Someone was like, "That's Charlotte Church."
6:28:49 > 6:28:51I was like, "No, it's not Charlie Church."
6:28:51 > 6:28:53- That chat show to me.- Yeah.
6:28:53 > 6:28:56# I've got glitter
6:28:56 > 6:29:01# In my wounds... #
6:29:01 > 6:29:05- And I was like, "What the hell?" - Yeah.
6:29:05 > 6:29:09- That sound, it was the whole world that you created.- Yeah.
6:29:09 > 6:29:13And I have to say, actually, now I'm thinking about it, subconsciously,
6:29:13 > 6:29:17- that really inspired me to the point where...- Aw.
6:29:17 > 6:29:19I think of The Dreaming Room -
6:29:19 > 6:29:22- if I think about a lot of the visuals...- Thanks, babes.
6:29:22 > 6:29:25# Round the mountain
6:29:25 > 6:29:27# All God's children run
6:29:27 > 6:29:30# All God's children run round the mountain
6:29:30 > 6:29:33# Run round the mountain
6:29:33 > 6:29:35# All God's children
6:29:35 > 6:29:37# All God's children run... #
6:29:37 > 6:29:41So your new single, Phenomenal Woman, sounds to me
6:29:41 > 6:29:46to be like a massive feminist, kickass, empowering song for women.
6:29:46 > 6:29:52I remember wanting to create a vocal sound in the chorus
6:29:52 > 6:29:54- that would feel uncomfortable at first to do.- Yeah.
6:29:54 > 6:29:57So I wouldn't naturally...
6:29:57 > 6:29:59# Oh, my, my
6:29:59 > 6:30:01# Oh, my, she flies. #
6:30:01 > 6:30:04That, for me, is quite exposing.
6:30:04 > 6:30:05It's like, "All right."
6:30:05 > 6:30:08- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - It's a big sound. Calm down, love.
6:30:08 > 6:30:11Yum, yum, yum. Lovely.
6:30:11 > 6:30:13# Oh, my, my
6:30:13 > 6:30:18# Oh, my, she flies
6:30:18 > 6:30:20# Oh, my, my
6:30:20 > 6:30:23# Oh, my, she flies
6:30:25 > 6:30:28# Oh, my, my
6:30:28 > 6:30:31# Oh, my, she flies... #
6:30:31 > 6:30:35- I had a conversation with my nan when I was doing the album.- OK.
6:30:35 > 6:30:39To be honest, to this day, I don't even know she listens to my music.
6:30:39 > 6:30:42- Like, sneaky.- I feel like she's watched me on Songs Of Praise.
6:30:42 > 6:30:44Yeah, fair enough.
6:30:44 > 6:30:46- That's about it.- Fair enough.
6:30:46 > 6:30:48My nan is always like, "Why can't you go back
6:30:48 > 6:30:51"and do all those old lovely classical ones you used to do?
6:30:51 > 6:30:54- "I don't know about this new stuff. It's just weird."- That's lovely.
6:30:54 > 6:30:57- Yeah, I totally relate to that. - Yeah.
6:30:57 > 6:31:00And she said, "How's the music, Laura?"
6:31:00 > 6:31:03And I said, "Yeah, it's good. I'm just trying to work hard. It's...
6:31:03 > 6:31:05"It's tough, though."
6:31:05 > 6:31:08And then she said, "Write a song.
6:31:08 > 6:31:10"Write a song where I can jig my foot."
6:31:11 > 6:31:14- And I was like, "She's right."- Yeah.
6:31:14 > 6:31:18This needs to be, like, a real something that you can, like...
6:31:18 > 6:31:20Yeah.
6:31:20 > 6:31:21# Oh, my, my
6:31:21 > 6:31:24# Fly Oh, my, she flies
6:31:24 > 6:31:26# She flies
6:31:27 > 6:31:29# Phenomenal woman. #
6:31:29 > 6:31:31So, just to finish up,
6:31:31 > 6:31:35how has singing aided you in your life thus far?
6:31:35 > 6:31:40Singing, to me, is a way of surviving.
6:31:40 > 6:31:41Mmm-hmm.
6:31:41 > 6:31:48I remember my ex-husband, we used to run lots of choirs together.
6:31:48 > 6:31:51Now, every time it came to a Tuesday night, I used to feel,
6:31:51 > 6:31:54- "Oh, I can't. You know, I'm just not in the mood."- Yeah.
6:31:54 > 6:31:58But every time this happened, we'd arrive at the rehearsal
6:31:58 > 6:32:03and, within about five to seven minutes into the session,
6:32:03 > 6:32:09witnessing these ordinary folk just opening their mouths to sing
6:32:09 > 6:32:14together, it would transform my whole perspective
6:32:14 > 6:32:16and my whole feeling. My whole mood.
6:32:16 > 6:32:18- That's pretty magical.- Yeah.
6:32:18 > 6:32:20It's pretty miraculous to, like...
6:32:20 > 6:32:23And I think that is the power of the human voice.
6:32:23 > 6:32:25It can't be underestimated.
6:32:25 > 6:32:26# Ah-ah-ah-ah
6:32:26 > 6:32:28# Ah-ah-ah
6:32:28 > 6:32:33# Ah-ah. #
6:32:33 > 6:32:36The sound of choral singing has always fascinated me.
6:32:36 > 6:32:39The Festival Of Voice includes choirs both classical
6:32:39 > 6:32:42and contemporary, gospel and traditional.
6:32:42 > 6:32:45Caritas Choir will perform in Choir Clock, a project that will
6:32:45 > 6:32:52see 17 choirs perform across 18 hours in locations around Cardiff.
6:32:52 > 6:32:55THEY SING
6:33:10 > 6:33:12I started my vocal journey as a classical singer
6:33:12 > 6:33:16but, since then, I have experimented with a multitude of styles
6:33:16 > 6:33:19as I've explored the possibilities of my own voice.
6:33:19 > 6:33:21MACHINE HISSES
6:33:21 > 6:33:25I've been in the business for about 18 years now, which is insane,
6:33:25 > 6:33:27and I've just turned 30 this year.
6:33:27 > 6:33:30# Pie Jesu... #
6:33:30 > 6:33:33Throughout my career, I have done all different sorts of music.
6:33:33 > 6:33:35# Yeah, you're making me a crazy chick
6:33:35 > 6:33:37# You're driving me to insanity... #
6:33:37 > 6:33:39For me, my main love has always been singing,
6:33:39 > 6:33:42and it's just something that's in my blood. It's in my bones.
6:33:42 > 6:33:45# Darling, you leave me amazed... #
6:33:45 > 6:33:48Nowadays, I'm only interested in taking on projects that
6:33:48 > 6:33:51really stretch me as a singer.
6:33:51 > 6:33:52# Oh-oh... #
6:33:52 > 6:33:56Today, I'm almost exclusively, almost psychopathically,
6:33:56 > 6:34:00looking for projects which are challenging,
6:34:00 > 6:34:05and as original and as innovative as I could possibly make them.
6:34:05 > 6:34:08My contribution to the Festival Of Voice is a new musical piece
6:34:08 > 6:34:10called The Last Mermaid.
6:34:10 > 6:34:13It's an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid,
6:34:13 > 6:34:16which updates the story to incorporate modern themes
6:34:16 > 6:34:20of ocean pollution, as well as how we connect in the modern world,
6:34:20 > 6:34:23with music mixing contemporary classical and electronica,
6:34:23 > 6:34:25performed by a 12-strong choir.
6:34:27 > 6:34:29Taking on such a massive project,
6:34:29 > 6:34:33that's something that I've never been a part of before, is...
6:34:33 > 6:34:34Yeah, it's really scary.
6:34:34 > 6:34:35# Da... #
6:34:35 > 6:34:40But I hate the idea of stagnating or of not wanting to play,
6:34:40 > 6:34:42cos that's what we should be doing.
6:34:44 > 6:34:48And I want to talk to Welsh singers who are also trying to
6:34:48 > 6:34:51use their voices to pioneer new kinds of music.
6:34:52 > 6:34:55So I've brought you here to Womanby Street,
6:34:55 > 6:35:00which is the heart of the alternative music scene in Cardiff,
6:35:00 > 6:35:03and today I'm going to take you to a place called Clwb Ifor Bach.
6:35:03 > 6:35:05The two singers I've come to see
6:35:05 > 6:35:07have found critical acclaim internationally,
6:35:07 > 6:35:10but ruffled feathers of Welsh culture purists
6:35:10 > 6:35:13by blurring the boundaries between historical tradition
6:35:13 > 6:35:15and contemporary experimentation,
6:35:15 > 6:35:18redefining what it means to make Welsh music.
6:35:19 > 6:35:24'One of them is Welsh-language sci-fi synth musician Gwenno.
6:35:24 > 6:35:28'The other is Lisa Jen Brown, lead singer of folk group 9Bach.'
6:35:29 > 6:35:32So you're both Welsh-language musicians.
6:35:32 > 6:35:35Has it always been a point to always sing in the Welsh language?
6:35:35 > 6:35:37We both get asked quite a lot,
6:35:37 > 6:35:40"When did you decide to sing in the Welsh language?"
6:35:40 > 6:35:43There is no answer because it's an instinctive thing.
6:35:43 > 6:35:47- It's from the heart. It's just what comes vomiting out of you.- Yeah.
6:35:47 > 6:35:48- Yeah, yeah, yeah.- And that's...
6:35:48 > 6:35:51Yeah, cos that's quite interesting,
6:35:51 > 6:35:55cos I think I did make more of a conscious choice.
6:35:55 > 6:35:57What singing in Welsh gave me was
6:35:57 > 6:36:01a power to express myself in a way
6:36:01 > 6:36:07that had no commercial potential,
6:36:07 > 6:36:11and it empowered me to know that I was expressing myself honestly.
6:36:11 > 6:36:16MUSIC: Chwyldro by Gwenno
6:36:16 > 6:36:18SHE SINGS IN WELSH
6:36:39 > 6:36:43My album was based on a sci-fi novel.
6:36:43 > 6:36:45There's loads of dystopian fiction in Welsh,
6:36:45 > 6:36:47and I came across this novel by Owain Owain,
6:36:47 > 6:36:49who was a nuclear scientist.
6:36:49 > 6:36:51I think he started writing it mid-'60s,
6:36:51 > 6:36:54and it was published mid-'70s, but it's written from
6:36:54 > 6:36:58the perspective of a normal person living in Wales, and all of a sudden
6:36:58 > 6:37:02everyone is gradually getting turned into clones by robot overlords.
6:37:02 > 6:37:04I enjoy the contrast of the fact that,
6:37:04 > 6:37:07sonically, you wouldn't think it was about a dystopian future where we're
6:37:07 > 6:37:09- all getting turned into clones... - Yeah.
6:37:09 > 6:37:12Cos it's like, "Oh, this is a nice, breezy pop album. This is lovely."
6:37:12 > 6:37:15SHE SINGS IN WELSH
6:37:30 > 6:37:34And, Lisa, I mean, how long have you been,
6:37:34 > 6:37:36like, making albums with 9Bach?
6:37:36 > 6:37:39- For ten years, yeah.- Yes? - Yeah, we're ten years old now so...
6:37:39 > 6:37:43And I'm.. You know, I'm not from, like, a musical background.
6:37:43 > 6:37:45That's debatable because, in the schools,
6:37:45 > 6:37:47at three years old, you're put on the stage
6:37:47 > 6:37:49to compete in the eisteddfod,
6:37:49 > 6:37:52and, you know, that culture of Sunday school and stuff -
6:37:52 > 6:37:54you were always performing in front of someone.
6:37:54 > 6:37:58TRUMPET FANFARE
6:37:58 > 6:38:02I am a bit anarchic about it because that's how 9Bach formed.
6:38:02 > 6:38:05Me, looking back at my childhood and going,
6:38:05 > 6:38:08"Hang on, I was disqualified in every eisteddfod."
6:38:08 > 6:38:12I would get adjudication saying I was breathing in the wrong place.
6:38:12 > 6:38:16- Yeah, yeah, yeah.- "OK voice, but she's breaking all the rules."
6:38:16 > 6:38:19- I was like, "What rules? These are folk songs."- Yeah.
6:38:19 > 6:38:22These are our songs. These are, like, our soul music.
6:38:22 > 6:38:25MUSIC: Heno by 9Bach
6:38:25 > 6:38:27THEY SING IN WELSH
6:38:41 > 6:38:43Yeah, so that was Heno that we performed,
6:38:43 > 6:38:46and it was a version of a Cerdd Dant song, which is a very...
6:38:46 > 6:38:48I was thinking it was. I was like,
6:38:48 > 6:38:50"Oh, that's really clever how they're doing that."
6:38:50 > 6:38:52Yeah, it's a modern Cerdd Dant,
6:38:52 > 6:38:54- cos Cerdd Dant is so unique to Wales.- Mmm.
6:38:54 > 6:38:57Will you explain a little bit about Cerdd Dant?
6:38:57 > 6:38:59Cerdd Dant is singing poetry,
6:38:59 > 6:39:03so rather than reciting it, you sing it.
6:39:03 > 6:39:06HE SINGS IN WELSH
6:39:08 > 6:39:12Every verse has to be different, so you can't do the same melody line.
6:39:12 > 6:39:13Melodic, OK.
6:39:13 > 6:39:16The backing is completely different to the melody,
6:39:16 > 6:39:18- so it's sort of like... - A countermelody.- Yeah.- OK.
6:39:18 > 6:39:20So the harpist in 9Bach would not touch it.
6:39:20 > 6:39:22Es was like, "I am... Are you kidding me?
6:39:22 > 6:39:24"A Cerdd Dant song in 9Bach?"
6:39:24 > 6:39:26Is that just cos it's so structured?
6:39:26 > 6:39:28And it's a tradition that you love or hate.
6:39:28 > 6:39:30- It's so sacred, you know? - Yeah, and you love or hate it.
6:39:30 > 6:39:35THEY SING IN WELSH
6:39:47 > 6:39:51Purists in Wales certainly would absolutely hate
6:39:51 > 6:39:52what we've done with that song.
6:39:52 > 6:39:54It's just not the done thing, really.
6:39:54 > 6:39:56- Which was all the more reason to do it.- Exactly.
6:39:56 > 6:40:00Yeah, totally, but why do you think it is important to do that
6:40:00 > 6:40:02and what would you say to those purists?
6:40:02 > 6:40:06I would say, "Fair enough, I totally understand how this must make
6:40:06 > 6:40:09"you really feel sick in the mouth,
6:40:09 > 6:40:12"but I want my children to feel it.
6:40:12 > 6:40:16- Yeah.- "I want my children to really get it and to be inspired by it."
6:40:16 > 6:40:18Totally, and not make it like a museum piece.
6:40:18 > 6:40:21When you come from a smaller culture that's,
6:40:21 > 6:40:23you know, it's a minority culture, you're like...
6:40:23 > 6:40:25- You're trying to preserve everything in a glass box.- Mm-hmm.
6:40:25 > 6:40:29But I think it integral to the survival of a culture that
6:40:29 > 6:40:31- it's adaptable.- It evolves, yeah.
6:40:31 > 6:40:34Well, I think, fundamentally, it's about keeping it alive, isn't it?
6:40:34 > 6:40:37- Yeah.- So in order to keep it alive, you're going to have to breathe...
6:40:37 > 6:40:39- And relevant.- Yeah. - Yeah, keep breathing new life into
6:40:39 > 6:40:41a lot of these incredible traditions that we have.
6:40:41 > 6:40:43I think it's essential.
6:40:45 > 6:40:48I'm sometimes frustrated when people mistakenly think
6:40:48 > 6:40:52singing in Wales is just about male-voice choirs.
6:40:52 > 6:40:54The festival is helping to right this misconception
6:40:54 > 6:40:57by highlighting the lives of a very different kind of choir -
6:40:57 > 6:41:01one with ideas of social cohesion at its core -
6:41:01 > 6:41:02the dementia choir.
6:41:05 > 6:41:08- GUITAR STRUMS - Two, three, four...
6:41:08 > 6:41:11# Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag
6:41:11 > 6:41:15# And smile, smile, smile
6:41:15 > 6:41:19# While you've a Lucifer to light your fag
6:41:19 > 6:41:22# Smile, boys, that's the style... #
6:41:23 > 6:41:26This choir, based in Barry, just outside Cardiff,
6:41:26 > 6:41:29is one of three groups that have been collaborating with
6:41:29 > 6:41:33the National Theatre of Wales on a project called I'll Sing This Song.
6:41:33 > 6:41:34# And smile... #
6:41:34 > 6:41:37I love singing. I love all music.
6:41:37 > 6:41:39- It helps you...- And I love to listen to other people singing.
6:41:39 > 6:41:42- It helps you remember, doesn't it?- Yes.
6:41:42 > 6:41:45By coming here, I've noticed in the time she has been coming here,
6:41:45 > 6:41:46there's a big difference.
6:41:46 > 6:41:49- We did do well, didn't we? - You did brilliant.
6:41:49 > 6:41:52You were the resident singer in the Savoy in Barry,
6:41:52 > 6:41:55- when the Savoy was a dance hall. - Yes, yes.
6:41:55 > 6:41:57That's where we met, actually.
6:41:57 > 6:42:01I just asked her, did she want a drink? I enjoyed the song and...
6:42:01 > 6:42:03And he asked me out and that's how it started.
6:42:03 > 6:42:05And, 60 years later, here we are.
6:42:06 > 6:42:09Marvellous, isn't it?
6:42:09 > 6:42:11# A-wa-ba-ba-loo-bop A-wa-bom-bom
6:42:11 > 6:42:13# Tutti frutti Oh, Rudi... #
6:42:13 > 6:42:17with the choir, it's bringing it all back, which is...
6:42:17 > 6:42:20- I want to sing again.- Yeah.
6:42:20 > 6:42:22# Oh, Rudi
6:42:22 > 6:42:23# Tutti frutti
6:42:23 > 6:42:24# Oh, Rudi
6:42:24 > 6:42:27# A-wa-ba-ba-loo-ba A-wa-bom-bom... #
6:42:27 > 6:42:31With 850,000 dementia sufferers in Britain today,
6:42:31 > 6:42:35the disease has become a crisis of our times but, in recent years,
6:42:35 > 6:42:38scientists have discovered a significant breakthrough.
6:42:38 > 6:42:42The act of singing in choirs has been proven to lower stress,
6:42:42 > 6:42:45anxiety, and elevate endorphin levels.
6:42:45 > 6:42:47# Tutti frutti Oh, Rudi
6:42:47 > 6:42:50# Tutti frutti Oh, Rudi... #
6:42:50 > 6:42:53'You've always been... Rock and roll was a big thing for us.'
6:42:53 > 6:42:57- Oh, I liked my rock and roll and jiving.- We think that...
6:42:57 > 6:42:59It was great when I was jiving, because I'd just stand still
6:42:59 > 6:43:01and push them round, you know?
6:43:01 > 6:43:06I noticed a change four years ago
6:43:06 > 6:43:09and it's about past 18 months,
6:43:09 > 6:43:12- two years since you got the diagnosis, isn't it?- Mmm.
6:43:12 > 6:43:14But you've always enjoyed singing.
6:43:14 > 6:43:17Oh, aye, yeah. It makes you up a bit, doesn't it? It lifts you.
6:43:17 > 6:43:19# I've got a girl named Sue
6:43:19 > 6:43:21# She knows just what to do... #
6:43:21 > 6:43:23It's about not writing people off.
6:43:23 > 6:43:25If you've got dementia, it's not the end,
6:43:25 > 6:43:27and people can still live a life,
6:43:27 > 6:43:30and music does an incredible amount to help that.
6:43:30 > 6:43:34It's been a reaffirmation of how important music is.
6:43:34 > 6:43:37# A-wa-ba-ba-loo-bop A-wa-bom-bom. #
6:43:37 > 6:43:39- CHEERING - Well done. Well done.
6:43:39 > 6:43:42The choir project is the most recent in a string of
6:43:42 > 6:43:45community-driven productions for National Theatre of Wales,
6:43:45 > 6:43:48including the celebrated The Passion in Port Talbot,
6:43:48 > 6:43:51starring Michael Sheen,
6:43:51 > 6:43:55and De Gabay, a citywide poetry festival exploring
6:43:55 > 6:43:58the culture of Cardiff's Somali population.
6:44:00 > 6:44:02'I've come to talk to playwright Patrick Jones
6:44:02 > 6:44:05'who, over the past year, has spent time with the Barry choir
6:44:05 > 6:44:07'and two other groups.
6:44:07 > 6:44:10'His experiences have formed the basis of a new musical play
6:44:10 > 6:44:13'for National Theatre of Wales, called Before I Leave,
6:44:13 > 6:44:15'which will premiere within the festival.'
6:44:15 > 6:44:17It's not all about you, you know?
6:44:17 > 6:44:20The choir is made up of more than one person.
6:44:20 > 6:44:22So, Patrick, how did it come about that you decided to
6:44:22 > 6:44:24write about dementia choirs?
6:44:24 > 6:44:25I have visited a choir -
6:44:25 > 6:44:27Cwm Taf Choir in Merthyr Tydfil -
6:44:27 > 6:44:29to do a writing workshop.
6:44:29 > 6:44:30And I just sat in and listened,
6:44:30 > 6:44:34and I just started to fill up with tears and just feel so...
6:44:34 > 6:44:38I don't know, there was just this soaring sense of communal singing.
6:44:38 > 6:44:41You don't shy away from, sort of, political ideas
6:44:41 > 6:44:43and there are some political themes running through there about,
6:44:43 > 6:44:45sort of, social cohesion and...
6:44:45 > 6:44:49Yeah, one member of the choir was an ex-miner, diagnosed with dementia.
6:44:49 > 6:44:52I thought it was really interesting to explore that,
6:44:52 > 6:44:55sort of, 30 years from the miners' strike, obviously.
6:44:55 > 6:44:56Not living in the past,
6:44:56 > 6:44:59but trying to work out, perhaps, what that period taught us.
6:44:59 > 6:45:01Oh, yes, I forgot. Look, everyone!
6:45:01 > 6:45:03I brought these in for you.
6:45:03 > 6:45:06- I don't like beans.- Yeah, but I had them free from Tesco.
6:45:06 > 6:45:08I complained, as I had a tin of beans that were off,
6:45:08 > 6:45:10so I took them in and they...
6:45:10 > 6:45:12They gave me all these.
6:45:12 > 6:45:15I'm taking another tray down to the distribution centre
6:45:15 > 6:45:17for the families.
6:45:17 > 6:45:19The kids are starving.
6:45:19 > 6:45:21Bastard Tories.
6:45:21 > 6:45:22It's not fair.
6:45:22 > 6:45:25Rocky, love, it's 2016.
6:45:25 > 6:45:30The strike is over. It's OK. You can relax.
6:45:30 > 6:45:33- Nicky Wire from the Manic Street Preachers is your brother...- Yeah.
6:45:33 > 6:45:36..and the Manics are involved. They've written a track.
6:45:36 > 6:45:37It's called Before I Leave and it was...
6:45:37 > 6:45:39Nick and James responded to the play
6:45:39 > 6:45:42and came up with this beautiful song. I think it's the best thing
6:45:42 > 6:45:45- they've written for a while, actually.- Yeah, go on!
6:45:45 > 6:45:47The line is in it, "I'll sing the song until I die."
6:45:47 > 6:45:50- Oh.- So, to get people living with Alzheimer's disease to say,
6:45:50 > 6:45:52"I'll sing this song until I die,"
6:45:52 > 6:45:54it certainly takes a whole different context...
6:45:54 > 6:45:56- Different meaning. - ..to Nick and James singing it.
6:45:56 > 6:46:00# I'll sing this song until I die
6:46:00 > 6:46:03# Sing it slowly with sunrise
6:46:03 > 6:46:07# Sing it back to me if you want
6:46:07 > 6:46:09# Sing it back to me with some
6:46:09 > 6:46:11# Love. #
6:46:11 > 6:46:13Oh, yeah.
6:46:13 > 6:46:16And there is definitely something which happens neurologically,
6:46:16 > 6:46:18scientifically, in the body and in the brain,
6:46:18 > 6:46:22erm, which makes us feel comforted and more connected
6:46:22 > 6:46:24- when we sing together.- Yeah.
6:46:24 > 6:46:25When I was doing the research for the play,
6:46:25 > 6:46:28I found out that with the brain cells with Alzheimer's disease,
6:46:28 > 6:46:30they are stopped from connecting.
6:46:30 > 6:46:32The proteins, sort of, stop that connection
6:46:32 > 6:46:35so they can't send messages, and then they die.
6:46:35 > 6:46:37And I thought, that is a beautiful, sort of,
6:46:37 > 6:46:40metaphor for the play, in a way, and indeed society, I think,
6:46:40 > 6:46:45that, how, if we can't connect with each other and we can't communicate,
6:46:45 > 6:46:46- we could die.- Yeah.
6:46:46 > 6:46:49And I think, you know, certain political parties want us to not
6:46:49 > 6:46:52- connect, and I think we're seeing the fallout for that.- Individualism.
6:46:52 > 6:46:53In society, definitely, you know?
6:46:53 > 6:46:55So I think it's a very hopeful piece at the end
6:46:55 > 6:46:57and I hope people will go away and want to phone,
6:46:57 > 6:47:00perhaps a member of their family and say, "Are you OK?"
6:47:00 > 6:47:04- Yeah. Wonderful. Beautiful sentiment.- Is that right?
6:47:04 > 6:47:09# Walk on Walk on
6:47:09 > 6:47:14# With hope in your heart
6:47:14 > 6:47:16# And you'll never... #
6:47:16 > 6:47:20The final singer from the festival I want to introduce is Meilyr Jones,
6:47:20 > 6:47:24who I believe is one of the most exciting new Welsh voices, and whose
6:47:24 > 6:47:29debut album 2013 came out earlier this year to rave reviews.
6:47:29 > 6:47:32# Gotta switch off
6:47:34 > 6:47:39# Switch off your television
6:47:42 > 6:47:45# Start talking
6:47:45 > 6:47:49# You've been a long time looking
6:47:54 > 6:47:57# How do you speak
6:47:57 > 6:48:03# With a voice that's true? #
6:48:03 > 6:48:08I'm Welsh and I'm from Wales, but it's not something
6:48:08 > 6:48:14I feel the need to be explicit about in a, like, a self-conscious way.
6:48:15 > 6:48:20# I hear the birds sing back
6:48:20 > 6:48:25# With all of the courage that I lack
6:48:27 > 6:48:29# Go, get up
6:48:29 > 6:48:31# Switch off
6:48:31 > 6:48:34# Switch off your television
6:48:34 > 6:48:36# Start talking
6:48:36 > 6:48:39# Tell your boyfriend the news... #
6:48:39 > 6:48:47I went to Italy for a holiday in spring 2013, and...
6:48:47 > 6:48:52and then I started to write songs on my own, just in my head really.
6:48:52 > 6:48:53# Ah... #
6:48:53 > 6:48:56I kind of immersed myself. I went...
6:48:56 > 6:49:00I was going to churches every day to see frescoes and sculptures.
6:49:00 > 6:49:05The kind of lightness and the joy in the art of that period
6:49:05 > 6:49:08went into my own music.
6:49:08 > 6:49:11# There's work to be done
6:49:11 > 6:49:15# Then come the fun. #
6:49:20 > 6:49:24I think, from the amazing singers that I've spoken to today,
6:49:24 > 6:49:27hopefully you'll have gotten the sense that singing is
6:49:27 > 6:49:34an incredible tool for emotional, social, psychological wellbeing.
6:49:34 > 6:49:36If you are at all interested in singing,
6:49:36 > 6:49:39go and find whatever form of group singing that you can,
6:49:39 > 6:49:41cos I promise you, it will be a helpful tool for life.
6:49:41 > 6:49:43# So you can give
6:49:43 > 6:49:45# To each brand-new bright tomorrow
6:49:45 > 6:49:50# Make me happy through the years
6:49:50 > 6:49:55# Never bring me any tears
6:49:55 > 6:49:57# Let your arms be as warm
6:49:57 > 6:50:00# As the sun from up above
6:50:00 > 6:50:01# Bring me sun
6:50:01 > 6:50:03# Bring me sunshine
6:50:03 > 6:50:06# Bring me love. #
6:50:06 > 6:50:08- Lovely.- Thank you. - LAUGHTER