Music

Brainlove Festival 2011: Meursault

John Rogers | Monday 23 May, 2011 10:17

With spine-tingling vocals, stuttering electronic beats and unforgettable melodies, Scottish ensemble Meursault will headline Brainlove Festival on Saturday. Get tickets here.

1. Hello! We’re really happy you’re playing Brainlove Festival. Could you introduce yourself?
I/we are a person/band called Meursault. We have existed in various guises since Spring 1936. We play a blend of rock, folk, electronic, country and more or less anything else we take an interest in at any given time.

2. Tell us a bit about the song you’ve given us.
William Henry Miller died in 1848, at the age of 60, after a short illness at his estate at Craigentinny. He was not buried until six weeks after his death and this resulted in speculation about the method of his internment. Events were reported in the newspapers under the heading ‘Singular Internment’. It was reported that eighty laborers had been hired to excavate a stone lined pit 40 feet deep as his grave and that a large stone slab was positioned at the bottom of the grave to secure the coffin.

Rumours soon developed around the reason for the elaborate burial arrangements. It was said that Miller was ‘notable for his spare figure, thin treble voice and total absence of beard’, and it was suggested that Miller, who had never married, had been an adopted female orphan who had masqueraded as a man all his life.

Meursault – William Henry Miller Pt2 by snipelondon

3. Do you have a favourite festival performance? Both from a festival you’ve played, and a show by another artist…
Our favourite was an acoustic performance in the Hew Scott Hall in Anstruther, at the Fence Collective’s Homegame festival a few years ago. There was a piano.
The best performance we’ve seen at a festival will be Josh T. Pearson at Homegame next week.

4. How about a few words for curious readers wondering what to expect from your performance at BRNLV Festival this year?
Loud guitars, banjos, beepy things, drums, some highly questionable facial hair, and fun.

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