Rhona Stevens & Joseph Peach

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?

RONA STEVENS: As a child I had a lot of big emotions stored up in a small frame and music was an excellent tool for channelling some of that energy. I thought it was remarkable that people could distil big ideas, experiences, and feelings into 3-5 minute, bite-size chunks. As I picked up more of an understanding of how to play, I quickly began experimenting and finding my own way to relate to the music I was making and learning – this is a lifelong endeavour. I feel very privileged to have something that brings me asmuch joy as music does. Knowing that I have something that I feel so passionate about makes wanting to pursue music a no-brainer. An ongoing inspiration is seeing all of my fellow musician friend’s paving their careers in music. Living in Glasgow, there’s no shortage of immensely talented musicians and artists. Seeing all the different ways in which people make, create, and navigate it is pretty inspiring. Another influence was reading the wonderful book by Steven Pressfield called the War of Art -a very insightful and thought-provoking read.

JOSEPH PEACH: Music was an enormous part of my early life. I grew up in a small community (less than 200 people) in the north west Highlands of Scotland, where music was truly a part of day to day life. At that time I played the accordion and highland bagpipes, and learned an enormous amount from family and community members. Throughout secondary school, my intention was to pursue a career in land law reform. Music remained a huge part of my life at this time, and for my last year of high school I was lucky to be accepted to spend the year at the National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music. Here, I discovered the piano and became totally obsessed -it opened up whole new worlds of musical possibility. Over that year I ate, slept, and played piano, and was lucky to be accepted on to an undergraduate music degree with piano as my principal study. For the first couple of years I still thought I’d return to my legal ambitions, but over a decade later that still hasn’t happened!

Who or what have been the most significant influences on your musical life and career?

RS: One of the most core influences on my musical life has been my studies at The National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music in the Highlands of Scotland. I was lucky to spend three years there studying guitar and Scots song. From here, I went on to study a music degree and from there, into my own songwriting project amongst other things. I think those formative years at the music school really paved the way for me. The list of inspiring artists is endless. Amongst the higher echelons is Nathaniel Rateliff for his soul-bearing writing style and fearless singing approach. In a much broader way immersing oneself in music and building that into your lifestyle -finding the rhythm and music from everyday noises, attending all manner of gigs, festivals, and formal concerts, spending seemingly endless amounts of time listening to music across genres – the list goes on.

JP: Scottish pianist and composer Ronald Stevenson has been a huge influence on my playing, composing and outlook on music and life. Criminally under-appreciated, he was an expansive personality, and a virtuosic writer, composer and pianist. Perhaps after his time, he was one of the last representatives of the great tradition of Romantic composer-pianists.I spent the first year of my masters degree almost entirely devoted to his settings of folk music, especially his Rosary of Variations on Seán Ó Riada’s Irish Folk Mass. The process of learning this program opened my mind and technique to new possibilities.

Another great influence is Mary McCarthy, with whom I studied piano for five years through both undergraduate and masters degrees. I’ll be eternally grateful for the generosity with which she shared her time, expertise, insight and friendship with me. I turned up an accordion player’s technique, and five years later left my studies as a passable pianist, that’s almost entirely down to Mary.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

RS: As a young person, the pandemic had a really strong impact on my career/gigging/teaching. However, alongside those struggles, I was gifted with more time than ever before to practise, write, and play just for the joy of it. I sometimes also wonder what I could be up to if I had more of a bearing on music theory and sightreading… My lack of understanding has made many music collaborations quite interesting.

JP: Time! There never seems to be enough time to do all of the things I want to do, or make all the music I want to make. Perhaps I’m just impatient. Something that didn’t get enough mention at music college was how much luxury all of that time to practise is. Since graduating, I worry a bit that my playing is going backwards.

How do you work as a composer? What methods do you use and how do ideas come to you?

JP: Often the things I’ve made that I’m happiest with have popped out fully formed. I’m a big believer in the subconscious and its role in the creation of new music. Sometimes, it feels like those really good ideas come from somewhere else entirely. This feeling puts me in mind of The Given Note, a Seumas Heaney poem, which ends:So wether he calls it spirit musicOr not, I don’t care. He took itOut of wind off mid-Atlantic.Still he maintains, from nowhere.It comes off the bow gravely,Rephrases itself into the air.One piece that really came fully formed was this melody which I wrote for my duo with Hardanger d’Amore player, Charlie Grey.

How would you characterise your compositional language/musical style?

JP: Ever changing. For the past few years, one of the dominant things has been finding the freedom of mind and body to play in the moment and improvise in a natural, unconscious way.

Of which performances/recordings are you most proud?

RS: The upcoming release of the album ‘Fragments in Time’. Joe and I had so much time and room to experiment. We learned a lot from one another during the process of making this album. I’m very proud that we brought in such a spectacular host of musicians too – it’s a dream to have a string quartet accompanying my vocals.

JP: The new album, Fragments in Time that Rhona and I are just about to release. We’ve spent nearly three years on it, and it’s been a total joy to give one piece of work that much care and attention. I can’t wait to make a start on the next one!

What do you do offstage that provides inspiration on stage?

RS: I love being on stage, performing, connecting with an audience, sharing an experience. I aim to be pretty consistent with who I am offstage and on stage as I don’t feel there ought to be such a huge distinction between the two. Of course there is something to be said for learning how to work with the nerves of performing. In my day-to-day life I try to be quite mindful. I go running, walking, and generally enjoy being outside. I crochet, and love to take time to cook hearty food – anything that takes me into the present moment and more specifically, away from screens/the internet. Having this grounding creates space and calm in my mind so that I can bring a good energy to the stage.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

RS: Taking something from an idea and advancing it into something that is tangible and exists. For me, my goal is expression. So, anytime I feel I’ve managed to articulate what it is I’m really trying to say, melodically and/or lyrically it feels like success. Creating something that can resonate on a personal level is wonderful. It’s certainly a bonus if others connect to what you’ve made also!

JP: Happiness. Am I happy in myself and what I’m doing? That’s one of the things that matters most to me. There’s a bunch of stuff that has the potential to get in the way of this when trying to make a career from music. Practical things like money, time, getting enough sleep, exercise, and decent food. But I think the barriers to happiness that have needed the most work to shift are the tendencies towards self-comparison with others (and so self criticism), and the attachment of some deeper value to reviews and criticism. Both entirely fruitless and pointless. Coming across Carl Rogers and his stuff about the locus of evaluation really helped to build a healthier perspective.

What’s the one thing we’re not talking about in the music industry which you really feel we should be?

RS: The hyper-focus on the quick-win nature of creating a music career through social media – TikTok in particular. I find the TikTok music phenomenon extremely concerning and it’s something that repels me. I think that a lot of people are being encouraged to shrink their creativity into marketable 5-30 second chunks for the sake of likes with the allure of ‘going viral’ potential (myself included). This is now bleeding into other areas also. For independent artists who may rely on funding to see projects through, many funders have a worryingly disproportionate focus on statistics, follows, likes and so on. To me, this displaces the focus from it being an artform to something more materialistic. I think music is about connection to the sound and also the community rather than the image/video editing/ palatability. TikTok hasn’t been around for long enough for us to understand the cycles/full extent of how artists who find success through the platform fare but I’m concerned about how reductive it can be to creators of music and how the odds are stacked for providing a sustainable career.

JP: Music needs to do better with ensuring everyone’s safety and equity of opportunity. Awareness and action on harassment, abuse and discrimination, has gathered pace in recent years, but we’re nowhere near where we need to be. In folk and trad music there are a number of brilliant organisations and individuals working to drive the conversation forward, but it’s a collective and essential responsibility for us all to strive to be part of the change we need to see. Another area I’m very concerned with is the way in which the state values and supports arts and culture. Until recently, I was working as advocacy manager for an organisation called Culture Counts, which represents the policy needs of the Scottish cultural sector to decision makers. At the tail end of last year, I was heavily involved in a sector-wide campaign to reverse a planned £6.6mil cut to Creative Scotland. Though that campaign was ultimately successful, the fact that it was attempted in the first place speaks volumes about how low a priority arts and culture are from the Scottish Government.I know there are many people, particularly self employed artists and creative people who have become sick to the back teeth about repeated empty words of support and commitment. I count myself among these folk.

What advice would you give to young or aspiring musicians and composers?

RS: The current music landscape is so connected through online means and this is an amazing and challenging thing in equal measures. From my own experience, it is very easy to be rendered overwhelmed and paralysed by self-comparison and indecision so I feel it is extremely important to focus on what makes you tick and care less about what everybody else is doing/what is trending. Prioritise focusing on things that inspire you and don’t shy away from, however you feel the best way to express yourself is.

JP: I’m not sure I know enough to give advice! The only thing I would maybe have approached slightly differently in the last fewyears is the balance between quality of life and creating art. Sacrificing the former for the latter in the years after graduating has ended up being quite counterproductive for me. I went pretty hell-for-leather on music stuff in the years between uni and covid, it burned me out a bit and and it did take a wee while to recover.

Fragments in Time, by Rhona Stevens and Joseph Peach, is released on 29 September 2023