Louis Oak Anderson - Up North in the Coalshed

Drongomala on Louis: At a stag party up on the Scottish island of Jura a friend of mine played me some demo tracks by Louis 'Oak' Anderson that he wanted me to hear (the island of Jura was where the KLF burned a million pounds).

I liked Louis’ fragile voice and it reminded me of the tightrope romance of Tindersticks. I ended up producing this EP for him and was lucky enough to get Iain Dixon on flute. Iain's Flute runs from Macbeth to Puck and he does things like turn down touring with Van Morrison. Iain has played with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchel and Primal Scream and is a leading light in the UK jazz scene.

I sang harmony to Louis and played ‘gypsy’ percussion on pizza boxes and Oxo canisters. I produced it using old BBC ribbon microphones for that warmth and natural sound.

The first mixes were ready. This was in 2006 and then the master tapes were stolen by a skaghead in Salford, Manchester.

I've finally managed to recover the sessions and mix it a couple of years later. Louis' voice has the sound of loss, anger and tenderness. His insistent metronomic guitar pushes the music forward yet the sound remains relaxed. Louis has a car boot full of songs and these are just the ones I wanted him to record.

The songs on this EP are predominantly about people and the simple lyrics delicately capture moments in his life. Louis’ mobile phone messages to me often says he's moving into a new caravan soon and he’s always heartbroken about a girl. When he came to Manchester to meet me it was the furthest North he’d ever been.

It's was done Up North In the Coalshed
Drongomala, April 2008

Available at Gigs Now - in iTunes in May 2008'ish.

We're doing a gig this w/e in Devon to mini-launch it.

EP: Up North in the Coalshed

Artist: Louis Oak Anderson

Flying Mountain Records FMCDA005
songs written by Louis Oak Anderson
arranged and produed by Drongomala
louis website: http://www.myspce.com/louisoakanderson

louis oak anderson - voice and guitar, Ian Dixon - flute and clarinet, Drongomala - voice and percussion

genre: true folk
sounds a bit like: Incredible String Band, Nick Drake
check it: Ian Dixon has played with Primal Scream and turned down Van Morrison and is featured on another release we have coming up in the summer 2008 - 12000 Miles as the White Crane Flies