Jess Bryant

Kafka on the Shore

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 06:53:00 -0400

I found an old folder of lyrics today. These ones must have led to The Sea is Asking. I must have been reading Murakami as the title is ‘Kafka on the Shore’:

The open door waits for me

And I must go through it to the edge of myself

Silence says something to me, waits for me to hear it

Waits like forever

And I listen to nothing but endless heartbeats

That sink in like water into sand

Like rolling waves into the sea

And there are layers, new layers of myself

Fresh waves in the sea of myself

That beg to be heard.

Newness

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 08:24:16 -0500

Slowly some new songs are working their way into the set.

Vina - mostly about things disintegrating into the sea. The SS Vina is a shipwreck off Brancaster beach in Norfolk.

Cloud Forest - a little bit about the tale of the little snow girl mixed in with some other things like the beauty of the wilderness. King of the Cloud Forests was one of my favourite books as a child so I nabbed half of the title.

Tengo - written after finishing 1Q84 by Murakami. Tengo is the main character in the book.

I also feel another new song coming on. It feels like I’m in a nice period of creativity at the moment. It takes me a long time to write and finish songs so long may it last.

From 'Lights Out' by Edward Thomas

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:46:47 -0500

I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest where all must lose
Their way, however straight,
Or winding, soon or late;
They cannot choose.

"From the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s..."

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 07:24:00 -0400

“From the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web…we must pick out what is good for us where we can find it.”

- Pablo Picasso

Dream triple bill

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 10:51:00 -0400

I’ve been under the weather so have spent the weekend indoors reading or watching. I just finished watching a beautiful documentary called Nostalgia for the Light for the second time this weekend. It is one of those films you feel the need to watch again, not just for the visual beauty, but for the searching questions raised by astronomers, archaeologists and those affected by the coup. It’s a very sad film but also very beautiful…if that’s possible. I think it is.

It made me think of other documentaries I’ve seen in the past few years which have really moved me and made me ponder. I remember thinking that if a cinema wanted to put on a perfect double bill of documentaries that Cave of Forgotten dreams, Werner Herzog’s beautiful exploration of the oldest known cave paintings in Southern France and Into Eternity, a film about Onkolo’s nuclear waste repository and the challenge of keeping it sealed for 100,000 years, would be an amazing combination.

After watching Nostalgia for the Light I can’t help feeling it ties in with similar themes. Cave of Forgotten Dreams looks to the past and sees us stumbling across drawings from another time and trying to decipher their meaning. Into Eternity imagines what it would be like for future generations to stumble across a past (nuclear waste) that we don’t necessarily want to be discovered and how it would be interpreted. Nostalgia for the Light looks at the past astronomers search for in the skies to find the origins of the universe, the past archaeologists search for in the desert which preserves so much and the more recent past which others do not necessarily want us to find (the bodies of political prisoners buried in the Atacama desert) but which relatives of lost loved ones will continue to search for until they find it.

Some more nice reviews

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:10:32 -0400

never enough notes

The Chaunt

Shout 4 Music

beautiful poster

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:02:42 -0400

beautiful poster

Next gig (solo with violin)…

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 11:14:04 -0400

Next gig (solo with violin)…

Arctic Circle podcast: interview and live songs

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:24:03 -0400

Arctic Circle podcast: interview and live songs

Edinburgh Evening News

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:21:16 -0400

Edinburgh Evening News

Nice reviews so far...

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 08:27:45 -0400

It has been very heartening to read these. So relieved some people like and understand the album!

Thank you to Mike Hughes, David Brown, Michele Faggi and Baz Wilkinson for your support.

What it means

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 05:53:00 -0400

About a year ago, when I was nearing the end of my musical tether, I thought that if my album ever saw the light of day I would write something about how much it all meant to me.

I was about to self release my album last November, having missed boats, been led up garden paths, had hopes raised and dashed etc. Certain things were definitely my own fault for waiting around too long but many tears of frustration and self doubt have been shed over this album!

Thankfully Red Deer Club stepped in at the last moment and it was the best thing that could have happened. It has been so nice to have support and belief from elsewhere.

The London launch was just what I had hoped for. It was lovely to have the whole band by my side. People there knew how long I had waited to put this out and just how much it meant to me.

Now is out there in the world. People are listening to it and that is an incredible feeling.

http://www.reddeerclub.co.uk/shop/releases/silvern/

Time to escape

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 06:57:21 -0400

One summer I travelled on the Trans Siberian from Beijing to Moscow on my way back home from a year living in China. Would love to ride again, but this time from Moscow to Beijing in winter. It was a truly amazing trip.
Still, in two weeks time, all being well, I hope to be somewhere in the vast expanse of Alaska.

Silvern available now on vinyl or digital download

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 08:16:54 -0400

Silvern available now on vinyl or digital download

I’m in Norway Rock Magazine! Slash is on the front cover...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:48:49 -0400

I’m in Norway Rock Magazine! Slash is on the front cover :) (Taken with Instagram)

Music video for Cutting by TwoPlusTu I’m so happy with how...

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:48:00 -0400

Music video for Cutting by TwoPlusTu

I’m so happy with how this turned out. Thanks to James Thompson and Archie Muller for creating this beautiful film.

"Love what you do, Do what you love" Ray Bradbury

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:41:19 -0400

"Love what you do, Do what you love" Ray Bradbury

Taken with instagram

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:48:32 -0400

Taken with instagram

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:47:06 -0400

Taken with instagram

Last weekend I went to Manchester to get photos taken for the...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:16:40 -0500

Last weekend I went to Manchester to get photos taken for the album cover. I’m not very good at having my photo taken properly. It’s akin to visiting the dentist for me. Luckily the photographer, Emily Dennison, was very calming and made me feel perfectly at ease. I was able to overcome my nerves and I think we will have some lovely photos…soon to be revealed!