Who are you and what do you do:
I am Mark Andrew of the Hamiltons, and I perform as Woodpigeon.
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Why do you do what you do:
I suppose because I couldn’t imagine my life without doing this. Everyone finds their voice somehow, and this is mine.
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Current obsessions:
Juliana Barwick, laundromats, learning German.
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Story told to you when you were a child that you will never forget:
First off that the only way to kill a tarantula was by throwing it straight up in the air and having it land on its back (told to me by my brother, and one which I had many nightmares over). Secondly that chihuahuas had poison teeth and, if bitten, you would have bad dreams every night of your life. This was told to me by the grandmother of a friend named Raenelle. She demonstrated the danger by holding her chihuahua close to our faces while it growled and snapped at us … Just out of reach …
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Song you wish you wrote:
ABBA’s ‘Lay Your Love on Me’, The Beatles’ ‘Hello Goodbye’ (especially that ending bit), The Kinks’ ‘Shangri-La’ … Everything Cohen. Thinking about it makes me feel incredibly small.
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Most played track on your itunes:
Alexis Weissenberg ‘Suite Bergmanesque: 3. “Clair de Lune”’ followed by the second movement of Brahms’ Concerto for violin, violincello and orchestra in A-minor. Also loads of Guided by Voices in the top 10, although I really only know one of their songs (‘Everywhere With Helicopter’).
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Most cherished musical object:
My piece-of-junk Nova baritone ukulele, or my grandmother’s autoharp.
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Go-to album on a rainy day:
Anything Leonard Cohen or Tim Hardin.
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Proudest moment:
Walking with my head held high, Stirling, Scotland, 2003.
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Most vulnerable moment:
Stepping onto the train platform in Vienna to meet someone, August 2011.
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Are you most influenced by your surroundings or your inner monologue:
I think they play off of one another, don’t they? Hopefully my inner monologue has his eyes open enough to see what’s around him too …
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Favourite venue to play in and why:
The first that comes to mind today is The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, having just played there with my amazing pals Withered Hand, Eagleowl, and Meursault. It’s such a lovely space, and stepping up on that stage you feel so confident and proud. There’s also this amazing place in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales called The Band Room. Playing there is life-changing.
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Dream venue to play in and why:
My “dream venues” are always those strange little off-beat places that are a little bit aged, yet still holding up. I love stages where I know my heroes have also performed — London’s Bush Hall, The Queen’s Hall, etc. But the best dream venues are the ones full of people, quiet and excited to see you. Doesn’t much matter where it is!
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Top album released this year:
I’m quite into the Julianna Barwick ‘Magic Place’ album, but I’m also working on a new album and don’t really like much outside influence (making her record rather perfect, without lyrics and more free-form than other things). Kris Ellestad’s ‘No Man is Land’ is absolutely amazing … Everyone should track him down and buy that.
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First band t-shirt you ever purchased from a merch table:
Probably The Smashing Pumpkins, Yo La Tengo, or Sonic Youth at some point in the early or mid-1990s. I’ve never been much of a band t-shirt buyer or wearer, though.
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Band you’d leave your bandmates for:
I had an amazing dream once that I’d joined Sonic Youth. We were touring classrooms somewhere in America, and I was playing atop someone’s desk having no idea at all what I was doing. Kim Gordon was not amused. Had I not woken up, I’m sure I would have been asked to leave.
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Album you wish your parents exposed you to in the womb:
I think they played an 8-track of Abbey Road quite a lot, so I really don’t have any complaints.
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Album you want to expose your kin to whilst in the womb:
Confusion is Sex.
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Last record you purchased:
Kris Ellestad’s No Man is Land.
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If for some reason you lost the ability to make and play music, what would fill that gap:
I suppose I’d have to find comfort in the coma I’d surely be in if that were the case! (What else would stop me?)
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