THIS WEEK:CHAILO SIM
Chailo Sim are an Alt/Folk band based in Pembrokeshire, Wales
To be fair it was Tom Robinson who did it,he went and played Chailo Sim on his saturday night radio show on BBC 6 Music recently and I was instantly smitten-hook,line & sinker.
I love the way they sound like they have all the time in the world,the space they leave as well as fill feels so right,so considered,so gentle,so beguling.
Lead singer’s Nayfe voice is reet beautiful,a tone that belongs to no one but him.
If you haven’t heard about these boys I am sure you will do very soon.Already they have fans in the shape of folk-aficionados Fleet Foxes, plus Sam Beam from Iron and Wine giving heartfelt support following last year’s live shows together.You can really see why.Its only in recent years I’ve got into gentle music with a flavour of folk and now I am I cannot get enough of bands like Chailo Sim.
They have a New album fan-funded through http://www.indiegogo.com/chailo-sim-valley ,it would be lovely if you paid them a visit and see what you can help with and get plenty back in return.
There are so many things I want to know about this band and I am sure you’ll feel the same way too,the answers they give to the Prick and Ding questions below may go someway towards that but I have a sneaky that the questions will keep coming,the intrigue remain and the lift their music provides prove irresistible again and again.
For now I think it best to let the music play and you can make your own mind up. Ladies and Gentlemen we give you Chailo Sim
Chailo Sim – Part of an elaborate dream by Chailo Sim
There is also a great video to ‘Rise and Fall’ which is well worth checking out (below)
They have a multitude of places you can find them online and we at Fresh On The Net think it will be time well spent:-
Website: http://www.chailosim.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chailosim
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/iamreplete
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/chailosim
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/chailosim
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Chailo+Sim
1. What are you up to at the moment?
I’m playing around with a couple of new instruments – an archtop and an octave mandola. I need to get a decent pickup fitted to the mandola so if you have any suggestions I’m all ears, Johnno! It took a while to get a good plugged-in sound from the archtop, but I finally managed it with the help of a few choice words typed into google. It’s pretty much winter now, so for the next few months we will be concentrating on writing new material for Chailo Sim.
2. Favourite childhood memory?
I’m one of seven brothers and sisters who got on really well with each other. We grew up in a rough area but our local park practically belonged to us. We even had our own trees. Mine had a hollow at the second trunk split and I used to hide sweets in it. Totally waterproof. No-one else was allowed up and only I knew how to make it past the rusty nail defence. Next to the park there was a popular fly-tipping mound that we used to use as a ramp. That was a fun place to play. I found a one pound note in a drain once. But I think my favourite memory is of my older brother and me eventually ‘getting into’ a derelict house down the street from our house – we found an intact AT-AT behind the cobweb sofa and we successfully forward-somersaulted from the upstairs bedroom window onto an old mattress we had dragged into the back garden.
3. Hero?
Tough to pick one hero, but purely for having the ability to make me doubt my own mind and spin many of my perceptions on their axis, it would have to be the philosopher Alan Watts. I’d love to have met him.
4. Villain?
I’m going to go out on a limb and say surely it must be the governments of the world? Either they don’t know what they’re doing or they’re doing everything wrong on purpose. I’d say it was a conspiracy if it didn’t get me branded as some sort of terrorist. At the heart of it, I can’t stand social hierarchy. It was a rubbish invention.
5. What/who makes you laugh?
Friends with super dark wit who I enjoy spending time with – people who can magically cut through all the bullshit with a one liner or a stupid facial expression that really makes me giggle. As for people I haven’t met – I love watching Family Guy and American Dad. They’re hilarious. Keith Lemon is also very funny indeed. And a bunch of classics like Jim Carey, Richard Prior, John Candy. I still get sad when I watch Uncle Buck. Imagine what John Candy would be doing now?
6. Describe what you do?
I believe that you get what you think you have coming to you, so I try to take notice of what I’m thinking about doing. I enjoy the process of converting imagination into sound…I read once that your brain has decided what you are going to do six to seven seconds before your conscious mind has caught up. That being the case we can’t really have free will, so I guess I’m doing whatever my brain is telling me. It made me eat four weetabix this morning. Greedy brain.
7. Who’s hair would you like to have for just one day?
Hannah Cohen. With her attached. On Groundhog Day. YES.
8. Best musical experience to date
That’s a hard question, but would either be playing on the Bella Union Stage at Hard Rock Calling, in support of Paul Simon’s Graceland tour with Ladysmith Black Mambazo…or Green Man Festival with Explosions in the sky, Fleet Foxes and Iron and Wine. Exchanging some music with Sam Beam was pretty special.
9. What artist inspires you?
While there’s a difference between being influenced and being inspired, some artists have managed to do both for me – I would say Red House Painters was probably the most influential and inspirational band in my early stages of writing music. They still inspire me to pick up the guitar whenever I think I’ve got nothing to do.
10. What does Fresh On The Net mean to you?
Oh it means a great deal. I’ve practically studied the site and regularly re-visit many of it’s sections of wisdom. I think musicians would do well to learn from the great advice offered, and there’s no doubt Tom Robinson and team are likely responsible for the success of a huge range of bands that have benefited from Fresh On The Net. Long may it continue! x
*Sadly Nayfe,I cannot offer advice on a pickup for a mandola but I know a man who may possibly be able to help and I will speak to him in the next day or 2-What about you dear readers-any mandola pick up advice out there?
