CityLife

Interview: Anna Kashfi

James Youngjohns and Sian Webley

In what has already been a frank and emotional discussion with CityLife, Manchester folk duo Anna Kashfi – Sian Webley and James Youngjohns – appear most visibly moved when the conversation shifts to the recent death of author JD Salinger.

The influential author, most famous for his 1951 novel The Catcher In The Rye, died at the age of 91 after spending the last 45 years of his life secluded from the world.

Intensely private and highly sensitive to having his work scrutinised, Salinger knew all too well the value of maintaining mystique – an outlook that Anna Kashfi can readily sympathise with.

“I think Salinger had the ultimate approach to making art,” begins Anna Kashfi singer and lyricist Sian Webley.

“By choosing seclusion, I think Salinger did the most sensible thing he could. He could emotionally connect with people with the power of his writing without being bombarded with the trivia of being some personality. We didn’t need to know what he bought in the supermarket, because his work was so far beyond the idea of celebrity.

“To become a complete recluse, he lived the most authentically artistic life. It’s a life I really envy.”

That Anna Kashfi should draw comparisons with the 20th century’s most elusive literary figure should come as no big surprise at all.

Formed over a decade ago and despite having released three albums to high critical praise – not to mention winning over fans like DJ John Peel and Elbow’s Guy Garvey – the Manc folk duo seem content to exist beneath a cloak of invisibility.

Much like their hero JD Salinger though, you can easily understand Anna Kashfi’s somewhat stoic stance. Fragile in every sense – from their gorgeous shoegaze-folk arrangements to singer Sian’s heart-torn voice and searingly tender lyrics – Anna Kashfi possess an elusive, almost ghostly sense of beauty, and to over-expose this band to the outside world would surely unsettle the brittle mechanics of their stunning poetry.

Not surprisingly then, the Manc duo seem about as willing to embrace the whole promotional process as much as John Terry wants to pay a visit to the Manchester City dressing room.

Having arranged to meet CityLife on a busy Saturday afternoon in a city centre coffee shop, the pair seem a little anxious, with Sian admitting: “This is a bit of an alien situation to us. Playing live, promoting our music – it’s never particularly comfortable.

“Writing and recording we’re fine with. Anything else just brings an unwanted element of chaos.”

Not chaos exactly, though it’s fair to say Anna Kashfi are most creative when looking back over chaos from a safer vantage point – in a position of calm reflecting over past conflicts.

The duo first met over a decade ago via an advert in the music press (“I remember James’ advert really standing out ... basically, he had ambitions to be much more than a bad Britpop band!”), the band providing an immediate form of emotional release for Sian, who was coming to terms with being diagnosed with bi-polar depression.

The name Anna Kashfi – after the Hollywood actress who married and divorced Marlon Brando in the Fifties before descending into a spiral of alcoholism and depression – was chosen partly to honour their favourite film actress; but more significantly, it was to provide a sort of safety blanket for Sian’s own cleansing lyrical catharsis.

Sian very carefully considers. “One of the strongest side-effects of bi-polar disorder is a deep sense of empathy, constantly imagining how other people’s lives to be. And as a songwriter that becomes a very powerful tool to have. That’s why we chose the name Anna Kashfi – she was this magical, enchanting actress whose life was bound up in so much ambition and tragedy.

“So Anna Kashfi became this sort of mythical figure in which we could project our music and emotions. There are two sides to the name of this band – I’m championing the legend of Anna Kashfi and at the same time, I’m putting my emotions across without being too explicit and giving too much of myself away.”

The pair are less abstract when discussing the sonic whirlpool which frames the wracked confessionalism of Sian’s lyrics.

Owing much to James’ multi-instrumental wizardry – he plays up to a dozen instruments on their albums, ranging from banjo and viola to the Mellotron – Anna Kashfi deliver what might be described as a sort of dense, dream-folk, an ancient-meets-modern union of Sparklehorse cracked melancholy and Spiritualized’s transcendent astral-blues.

Indeed, after spending so long being shunted into the straightjacket of the alt-country/folk world, Anna Kashfi are finally receiving long-overdue praise for their role in warping the conventional folk palette; the band’s use of looped samples, backwards tapes and arcane instruments cementing their position as true sonic explorers who operate well outside the standard folk box.

“I think there’s always been a strong sense of adventure to what we do,” insists James. “Whilst we’re often thought of as a folk band, I think we’ve definitely straddled a few musical genres over the years.

“We’re big Spiritualized fans, and their record Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, as always been a big benchmark for us. That’s the musical ambition we aim for.” 
 
Anna Kashfi play at Fuel (Withington) on February 28, 2010. The album Survivor (Little Red Rabbit Recordings) is out now. For more info visit – myspace.com/annakashfi.