|
INFO Home
| News
| Music
| Reviews
| Links
| Contact
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Are you all sitty
comfybold two square on your botty? Then I’ll begin...”
Listen With
Sarah = woman (Sarah Nelson)
+ computer (+ spouse). We formed in 2002. My background includes pianos,
computers, and truth seeking. I live in the Downs, in Britain, with my
husband. I also bake. The name “LISTEN
WITH SARAH” This was originally inspired by the title of a BBC
Radio show for mothers and pre-school children, which began in 1959 and ran
until the 80’s. The show was called LISTEN
WITH MOTHER and began with the words "Are you sitting
comfortably? Then I'll begin" …(fond memories – thanks mum)... The theme tune was
“Berceuse” from Gabriel Fauré’s “Dolly” Suite (Fauré: 1845 – 1924). Berceuse
is french for lullaby. This is the piano music you’ll hear in “Drum
N Berceuse” – Are You Sitting Comfortably? EP (2004). The phrases ‘Listen With Sarah’ and ‘Are You
Sitting Comfortably?” were on the cover of the first demo CD I sent to John
Peel in 2004. When Peel first played my music on his show, he
referred to me as ‘Listen With Sarah,’ and I’ve used this moniker ever since… \ LISTEN \ LISTEN \ LISTEN \ Pronunciation of
‘BERCEUSE’ Somewhere between “Bare Sirs” and “B’Sirs” : Think
of the word “Sir” (e.g. Sir John Peel), double it (Sirs), stick the letter
‘B’ in front (B’Sirs) and stretch it a little, towards “Bare Sirs.” Don’t go
too far and start spitting, though – it does mean lullaby, after all. JOHN PEEL “Bit of a discovery I
think, Sarah Nelson” –
JOHN PEEL (Sept 2004) Without John Peel it’s quite likely you would
never have heard of Listen With Sarah… I was a relative latecomer to
The John Peel Show, but from around 2002 until his death in 2004, I allowed
my ears to be generously fed with some of the mind-altering music that
excited Peel. His shows encouraged me to experiment freely in my music
making. Thanks to him, nothing can sound too strange to me anymore, and I
came to appreciate that he’d even played a part in music such as Hendrix
reaching my ears at a young age, via my parents. Exactly 2 months before he
died, John Peel received my 3-track demo EP (Are You Sitting Comfortably?).
He played ‘Animal Hop’ on his show that very day, with an
apology for not phoning me first, which he loved to do on discovering a new
artist. A few days later, I received a call from him, asking how to pronounce
‘Berceuse’ and if I had more tunes he could listen to. Over the next few
weeks I sent him 4 more demo Eps. I don’t know if he ever got to listen to
the 4th, which I posted shortly before he went away on holiday,
never to return. A lot can happen in 2 months. Happy sad times. I was
playlisted by John 9 times, including his final pre-recorded BBC World
Service Shows and posthumous playouts by Rob Da Bank. The ‘Are You Sitting
Comfortably? EP was in John’s last ‘Record Box’ and listeners later voted
‘Animal Hop’ no. 27 in the posthumous Festive 50. Listen With Sarah
has the honour of being one of John Peel’s last musical discoveries, an
honour I proudly share with Steveless, amongst others. Thanks for
listening John, you are dearly missed. \ |
