Music
16 Feb 11

Tendril Is The Night

They’ve performed with Jack White and received plaudits from Richard Hawley. But pop pixies Smoke Fairies reckon they’ve already discovered the ideal collaborators – each other.

Smoke Fairies may now be a steadfast duo with a penchant for conjuring up atmospheric dream-folk. But their beginnings, at secondary school south of London, weren’t quite so harmonious.

“We gave each other evils from across the classroom,” says Jessica Davies. “We didn’t sit together. I’d sometimes see Kat at lunchtime and pretend to be nice to her to get some chips. Then, I’d say something nasty when I walked off!”
Soon, their mutual love of chips gave way to a love of music and shared sense of humour. A friendship was born. Today, Jessica Davies and Katherine Blamire have endorsements from the likes of Bryan Ferry and Richard Hawley, a collaboration with Jack White, and a debut album Through Low Light And Trees under their belts.
They’ve come a long way, no longer trading dirty looks, but guitar-picked blues-infused tunes that journey down the rural back roads of music. They write separately on occasion, but always come together to complete the song.
“The great thing about our band is that we’ve been playing with each other so long,” explains Kat. “We know each other’s backlog of ideas. There’s a lot to glean from.”
They are extremely tight-knit, with Kat calling Jessica “the only person in the world I could spend this much time with”.
A lyric can often bury the specifics but, given how close the two are, they must know exactly where each line comes from. Does this ever make presenting a new piece to the other awkward?
“Yeah, you know exactly!” laughs Jessica. “You can pinpoint a face in a certain song sometimes. I think if we were embarrassed by that we wouldn’t get anything done. And anyway, some songs Kat’s written I’m still speculating about. There’s an unknown quality there.”
Smoke Fairy music is full of mystery. At their best, they capture a timeless feel where the music seems to exist in its own self-contained universe. Naturally then, they find it a tad irksome that every bit of Smoke Fairy press centres on their image. More specifically, on their gender and their looks. It’s a bit of a yawn, they believe.
“It is frustrating,” says Kat. “A few reviews that I have read have focused on our appearance before describing the music or the album.”
Jessica is in agreement.
“It’s 2011. Women have been making a lot of folk music and a lot of blues since the beginning of these genres, so why is it a big deal?”
The solution?
“We’ve purposely chosen photos that don’t define our features,” says Kat. “We don’t want people to be distracted by what they perceive us to look like.”
That hasn’t stopped them catching the eyes and ears of the esteemed and established artists mentioned at the top of the page. It’s not only flattering, it’s a confidence booster, says Jessica.
“It gives you encouragement. These people are the best to get advice from. Richard Hawley is always taking us to the pub.”
While it’s easy to imagine Hawley down the local, we’ve long pictured Jack White living in a red, white and black art deco building filled with nothing but guitars and ashtrays. Sadly, Smoke Fairies say this isn’t the case. But at least Mr. White’s call-up was a surreal experience.
“I was temping,” says Jessica. “When we got the call to say Jack wanted us to record with him I was on the reception desk! One minute you’re doing this shit job and then the next thing you know you’re doing something really cool… And then you’re back to the crap.”
Well, maybe not for too much longer.