The Small Self on a Big Stage
Life is a Festival #115: Nick Mulvey
In the tradition of the English troubadour, Nick Mulvey is a soulful multi-instrumentalist, an Earth protector, and a student of Celtic shamanism. Most importantly, he is generous with his insights for young artists.
This podcast flows in three parts, first we discuss Nick’s musical background from studying in Havana at nineteen, to playing hang drum with Portico Quartet, to his embodied solo career as a singer-songwriter. We then discuss Nick’s pilgrimage to Embercombe in Southwest England where Mac McCartney taught him the spiritual nourishment of Northern European indigeneity and shamanism. Finally we explore Nick’s work as an environmental protector and his recent experience at COP26. Throughout the conversation, Nick drops beautiful gems of wisdom for emerging artists and offers playful backstories for some of his most popular songs.
Nick Mulvey is an English musician and a passionate environmentalist. He studied ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London where he was a founding member of the band Portico Quartet. Nick released his Mercury Prize-nominated solo album “First Mind” in 2014, following it up three years later with “Wake Up Now.” His most recent album “Begin Again,” explores reconnection to his ancestral roots.
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Timestamps
:06 - Calling in ancestors with a candle
:10 - Studying music in Havana at 19 and Nick’s advice to young artists
:17 - Busking with the hang drum and forming Portico Quartet
:27 - Nick’s solo career and the felt sense of songwriting from the body
:35 - “In Your Hands” - Telling stories about where lyrics come from
:41 - Nick’s Pilgrimage to Southwest England
:45 - The Elder Mac McCartney and Celtic Indigeneity
:52 - “The Shores of Mona” and the Ancient Celtic Institutions of Dreaming Technology
1:08 - Nick’s experience as an environmentalist at COP26
1:15 - Party Heal Serve
1:25 - Sharing your small self on a big stage
Graphics Designed by Andy McErlean
Audio Engineering by Trevor Coulter
Theme song ““Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi]“ by dj atish