CityLife

Interview: The Minnikins

The Minnikins

Ruby Lounge - August 11, 2010.

You don’t need to be a behavioural expert to understand the working dynamics in Manchester group The Minnikins.

Within seconds of arriving for their CityLife meeting in a city centre cafe, the Canadian-born duo – siblings Ruth and Gabriel Minnikin – quickly settle into two distinctive personalities.

Gabriel, the younger of the duo by two years, sprawls on a sofa; legs outstretched, arms behind his head, a man who couldn’t look more comfortable if you gave him a bowl of peanuts and a six-pack of lagers.

In contrast, his older sister Ruth is a hive of activity; sitting upright, checking her phone, rifling through her purse for business cards for the  photographer and looking for all the world like an eager candidate on The Apprentice.

When the Hollywood film version of The Minnikins story is told – and it surely must – you can imagine actress Maggie Gyllenhaal playing pro-active Ruth, with Billy Bob Thornton filling the louche shoes of young Gabriel.

“It’s always been me who does the organising,” Ruth says, having eventually composed herself. “Booking tours, arranging albums, planning our schedules for the months ahead; it’s always been down to me. I’m the manager. But it’s more differences in personality than anything to do with us being brother and sister. When I wake up in the morning, I just have to be active and start creating.”

“But we wouldn’t get anything achieved if it wasn’t for you,” says Gabriel, in a lugubrious drawl. “It’s always been that way though, ever since we were kids.”

For obvious reasons, family means a lot to The Minnikins. However, the duo’s huge acclaim within Manc music also owes a lot to family ties – in particular, building relations within the Manc alt-country/nu-folk family.

Since the duo arrived from their native Canada five years ago, Ruth and Gabriel have firmly ensconced themselves in the more rootsy pockets of the local scene, collaborating and recording with such groups as The Earlies, Bone-Box, The Travelling Band and Samson & Delilah.  

Indeed, when The Minnikins take to the Ruby Lounge stage next week to unleash their lush country-folk stylings, the pair will be joined by a backing band featuring such local stars as Jo Rose, Sam Hammond and members of The Travelling Band.

Forget any notions of rivalry within the Manc music community; whenever Ruth and Gabriel Minnikin are around, that loving family feeling just seems to spread.

“Working with all these musicians in Manchester seems like such a natural thing to do,” Gabriel smiles. “Whenever you have a music scene in a big city, it’s natural for bands to have rivalries and competition. But the best thing about Manchester is how all these musicians just naturally connect and work with each other. Since I arrived in Manchester, I’ve never been short of offers to work with people. The Earlies just phoned out of the blue and asked me to sing with them; and me and Sam Hammond first got to know each other over email. The sense of community is really strong.”

Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, the Minnikin siblings had something of a liberal, artistic-leaning upbringing in contrast to their sports-mad school friends (Canada being the world capital of ice hockey, of course).

On account of a classical music-loving family, Ruth was taking piano lessons by the age of eight, while Gabriel quickly showed a natural gift for creative writing, in particular, composing stories and poetry.

The duo’s creative urges wouldn’t converge, though, until their early twenties when they formed the acclaimed country-folk act The Guthries.

Gabriel, who hadn’t sung a single note before, was encouraged by his sister to step up behind the microphone at the age of 21. 

“I think it was a real surprise to everyone – especially me,” Gabriel recalls. “No one had ever heard me sing before, but I gave one of my poems to Ruth, which was turned into a song. I wouldn’t say I’m a natural singer by any means, but I’m still learning. And Ruth has classical training, so she’s helped me a lot.”

Propelled by a loyal cult following, The Guthries eventually made the journey to Britain in 2001 for a small, self-financed tour.

Reminiscing with mixed emotions, Ruth can pinpoint exactly the first time she and her brother came to Manchester.

“Wow, that was about 10 years ago,” she says. “We played a show in Jabez Clegg and I can remember being really confused with the Manchester audience, because I said something on stage like, ‘it’s a real honour to be playing in the city where The Smiths are from’. And there wasn’t a single shout of recognition. Nothing but silence. It freaked me out.”

Yet, despite that muted response, Ruth and Gabriel were clearly smitten with Manchester (“We used to watch Coronation Street in Canada – so we had an idea of what to expect”), and made their move here permanent in 2005.

Based in Whalley Range for the past few years (although Ruth spends half  the year back in Canada), the siblings have made a sizeable impact on Manchester’s nu-folk community. Alongside their joint work as The Minnikins, the pair have released numerous solo albums, while Ruth also works as a prolific artist and photographer.

Of course, it’s as a collaborative duo where The Minnikins have undoubtedly drawn the most feverish response from Manchester audiences. The duo may have their roots in the pedal steel and banjo sheen of classic Americana, but judging from their eye-popping live shows – which have been known to include 17-piece orchestras - The Minnikins bring a grandiosity and cinematic sweep to their country-folk stylings.

Furthermore, with the duo’s status as highly sought-after Manc collaborators unlikely to change, expect that sound to grow even more expansive in future. The Minnikins then - yep, they got family.

“Our songwriting has changed a lot over the years,” Gabriel considers. “But we’re still learning; from each other and from other musicians. We’re always working with other bands and songwriters, working on our own solo albums and other side-projects. So we’ve constantly evolving our sound. And as long as all these great musicians keep inviting us to work with them, we’ll keep saying yes.”

The Minnikins play Ruby Lounge on August 11, 2010. For more info, visit www.myspace.com/gabrielminnikin and www.myspace.com/ruthminnikin.