A Musical Jigsaw: Rebecca Vasmant Interview

Producer, DJ and record collector Rebecca Vasmant talks in depth about the vibrant Glasgow jazz scene and the making of her magical debut LP

I like to think I keep up with what’s going on in Glasgow, despite living in London, but it appears that a healthy jazz club scene appeared under my nose. Of course scenes don’t happen overnight and it can be almost impossible to tune into what’s happening in the early days if you aren’t on the ground. It wasn’t until I discovered DJ, record collector and now producer Rebecca Vasmant (through Gilles Peterson rather than any home town contacts) that I was clued into what’s happening with jazz in Glasgow, since she is one of the key creative forces and collaborators behind it all. Rebecca’s WW Glasgow show on WorldwideFM quickly became essential lockdown listening for me, with her explorations into spiritual jazz and beyond particularly resonating with where I was at musically. Even that didn’t prepare me for the wonder that is With Love, from Glasgow however. That the LP is Rebecca Vasmant’s debut as a producer makes it even more special – there’s nothing tentative here, just an artist who has found her own sound and communicated it beautifully. With Love, from Glasgow takes a hip-hop approach to spiritual jazz and offers oceans for a listener to get lost in over time. It’s up there with the very best records of 2021 so far.

I was delighted to get the chance to speak with Rebecca about the Glasgow jazz scene, the making of a magical record and more.

How are things in Glasgow at the moment?

Things in Glasgow are going a lot better and looking a lot more positive coming off the back of everything the past year and a bit now. Glasgow has an insanely exciting music scene, such a buzz surrounding all of the new and exciting bands that are forming in the jazz scene here, and it feels like such a hugely exciting time to be going into the reopening of the music scene. I really do feel like things are going to be really amazing once we can get back to playing music to audiences and dancefloors again.

I’ve heard you talk about seeking emotional content in music and I wonder whether that has intensified over the past year? Are there perhaps records that have subsequently become more important to you in different ways?

I’ve always looked at music through my own lens, which I feel like sees and feels emotions rather than music style or energy or vibe even, and with the past year, I actually feel like the way I listen to music didn’t change as such, but that I had more time to just sit back and appreciate what music actually sounds like, and how I enjoy music with no end goal. I noticed that it felt like a really different experience buying and listening to records without thinking about which gigs or radio shows they were for, and just having the time to properly listen and appreciate records just for the music was really beautiful during lockdown, I found.

I feel like all of the records I appreciated before, became wonderful trips to memories of the past, and the new records that I was discovering during the time of the lockdowns, felt like I wanted them for different reasons. I have to say, the Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points album really made so much impact on me in the first weeks that I listened to that. I really hugely love that record, and had a bit of an experience to myself listening to that on a long car journey that really made me feel like my life was changed forever. It’s just so beautiful.

I’m currently living in London but hoping to move back to Glasgow in the not-too-distant future. Although for ages I’d somehow missed the fact that there was a thriving jazz club culture scene happening there, with you as a key figure. Obviously nightlife has been on pause, but could you talk a little about the scene? How did it develop and where is it at?

With so many key moments of UK musical history having happened here in Glasgow — Soma Records discovered and released the first Daft Punk record, King Tuts led to the accidental signing of Oasis after Creation Records boss Alan McGee turned up to the venue 1993 and stumbled across them playing a set, signing them immediately, many electronic artists have passed through iconic venues such as Sub Club, SWG3 and Berkeley suite — the city seems to have an endless amount of musical richness, both past and present. As the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music and UK’s top cultural and creative city (European Commission 2019), it is no surprise that Glasgow’s vibrant music scene is considered one of the best in the UK. We have one of the finest conservatoires in the world, as well as classical and jazz orchestras that tour the world regularly. This is all in addition to our traditional scene, which is strong as ever and internationally renowned, with Celtic Connections festival attracting people from all over the world on a yearly basis.

All of this makes Glasgow the target of a lot of the wider UK and international musical press, but there seems to be something missing when it comes to our jazz scene getting the attention it deserves. There seems to be an endless queue of journalists and brands all hungry to be involved in parties here when it comes to techno, electronic music and some of the other scenes, but with jazz, it feels at times like we are fighting to be seen and heard.

Glasgow’s jazz scene is still relatively young, with the jazz course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland having only been launched in 2009. Many of the musicians coming up through the Glasgow jazz scene have finished their training within the last decade. The young musicians who are coming through are forming bands and making music with outside influences, from hip-hop to funk, from Afrobeat to neo-soul.

Having been here in the city since 2008, it has been fascinating to watch the journey of the city’s jazz scene, which has developed and grown into this crazy melting pot of bands and musicians. Over the past 3 years, it has grown at a pace that I have never experienced before, and it has been mind blowing to watch. We are at a point now where things are really bubbling, about to pop, with some local bands having been signed. Sometimes, it feels like each day that passes, there are two or three exciting new projects forming. I wonder where this is all going to go in the future and where we will be in another 5, 10 or 20 years time.

Much of the narrative concerning the current UK jazz scene centres around London. Is this a journalistic convenience rather than truly reflecting what’s going on all over?

There are many logistical reasons for this, a big one being that we are so far from London. This makes it harder for London venues to book less-established bands without financial risk. However, this creates a vicious cycle, as artists need to be given opportunities in order to let them break through and thrive. How is a city supposed to be able to raise its voice if there are frustratingly limited amounts of opportunities available?

It needs to be said that the music industry as a whole has a responsibility to be more inclusive of other UK cities, not just London. With jazz thriving in Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and many more, allowing space for these artists could help the UK jazz scene to grow. After all, the term ‘UK jazz’ should be inclusive of all cities within the UK, not only our capital. Matthew Halsall has done this with his label Gondwana Records for Manchester. Liverpool has countless great parties and collectives playing amazing stuff, such as Anti Social Jazz Club. Bristol has the likes of Ishmael Ensemble, Snazzback, and Worm Discs have just released their compilation of Bristolian jazz, New Horizons. Abstract Orchestra from Leeds have been making some insanely great records. I was lucky enough to have supported them in Glasgow last year, it was one of the most jaw dropping gigs I ever saw, let alone participated in. It is frustratingly clear to see that there is a lot of outstanding jazz music happening outside of London.

In the smaller cities, there seems to be a beautiful feeling of community spirit, musical families all working together and helping each other, a collective fight. It somehow feels a bit disconnected to London. It feels like the London scene is one thing, and the smaller cities are separated. It would be absolutely wonderful to feel more connected and supported out here in the smaller cities. If the whole of the UK worked together, we could potentially create something better, stronger, bigger and more inclusive.

What the London scene has done is nothing short of remarkable. We are in a wonderful place right now and the whole world is looking on, marvelling at all of this new music coming from the UK. It has paved the way for this music that we love so much to be accepted by wider audiences than before, it has seen international festivals book jazz artists, when before they would have only had techno headliners. It has created the path for new generations of young musicians to follow, and for that, we are all eternally grateful. Perhaps the last piece in this puzzle is linking up the smaller cities, acting more as a UK-wide scene and allowing space for new bands from outside of London to add to this exquisite piece of musical history.

Jazz is (and always has been) about passion, collaboration, team work and community. For all of us who see this amazing music as a way of life, we would never have given up on it even if this explosion of popularity hadn’t happened. But now that it is here, let us use this opportunity as best we can. Let us keep collaborative spirit alive by supporting one another however we can and being inclusive and open minded. After all, jazz is indeed a way of life, and collaboration is a huge part of it.

We all need to work together to make sure that everyone has a voice.

What would you say sets the Glasgow scene apart from that of other cities? Is being a bit of a club culture underdog (compared to, say, house and techno in the city) within Glasgow creatively freeing for those involved?

I think Glasgow has always had a truly special energy, and the people are so amazing, receptive and hungry for discovering new music here, but Glasgow has always been a very techno focused city, as mentioned earlier when talking about Soma records. I think that it’s very limiting and often actually makes things more difficult for jazz musicians, or has done in the past, but I think perhaps things will become easier and more open now for other styles of music to be accepted on the dancefloors.

I know now, that putting a jazz band on, that are playing cover versions of things like Fela [Kuti] tracks and original material mixed in and stuff like that, that that would hold the dancefloor. But I think it has been a case of persuading the general public that they want to come and see that. Having got to the point where the Glasgow music scene is ready for jazz gigs, It’s still to a certain extent difficult, but I think it’s now going to become a bit easier to do it. And it’s very exciting because I feel like young people are hungry for it now.

And young people actually want to pay to go and see jazz while they’re in a party environment and not just sat down or at gigs. So, I think we’re at the sweet point, we have a very young jazz scene in Glasgow, where it’s really exciting. And when events are allowed back again, I think it’s gonna just all kick-off. It’s just it’s bubbling melting pot of all these amazing musicians.

I was talking about shopping at Honest Jon’s and SOTU with a Glasgow pal recently and although we are both massive fans of Monorail, he wondered whether there was room for a jazz/soul/outernational specialist too. Is this something you’ve thought about as a record collector? What are some of your favourite record shops?

I mean, I would love to see someone open a shop like SOTU or Honest Jon’s, but I don’t see anyone doing it because Glasgow’s music tastes lie so largely in other things.

There actually is a few amazing shops who sell a lot of similar things to those shops though, Underground Solush’n in Edinburgh being one of them, and Mixed Up in Glasgow being the other. You should absolutely check those two out, you will be able to find most new jazz releases and reissues there that you would want, and they are owned by really lovely people too.

With Love, from Glasgow is not only a wonderful album (I bought a signed copy from Monorail and was already down for the Test Press Club version too), but it really brings your particular sound world to life. It’s a very powerful artistic statement, particularly as a debut. How would you describe the record and what do you hope listeners take away from the experience?

Ah that is really lovely of you, thank you so much for buying it, and I am so glad you liked it, and I’m very grateful that you took the time to listen.

I would describe the record as a collaboration between all of the amazing musicians on the record and myself, which allowed me to turn all of the thoughts inside my head into a piece of music, or multiple pieces of music that I hope allows you all some insight to who I am, and who we are as people. I would absolutely love, and hope, that people are left feeling calm, and some kind of inner peace.

What’s the journey from record collector and DJ to producer been like?

It has been filled with many moments of tears and struggles along the way, I have been making music for around ten years now, and it has taken me a long time to get to the point where I have built up the confidence to even let anyone hear it, let alone think about releasing it. I actually have to say a massive thank you to my good friend Matt aka DJ Format, because he was really the one who has been there for me throughout this journey, and who helped me gain the self confidence enough to believe that was I was doing was actually something that other people should hear, and that it might actually be received well by others.

It’s been hard, it’s been a journey of overcoming my inner demons and barriers that I put in front of myself in regards to self belief in what I was doing, its been a long journey to get here, and I feel VERY grateful, and still a bit amazed that we are actually at this point now.

And to be honest, I am still struggling to comprehend all that has actually just happened, and how well the album campaign went, and all of the amazing support that it had from so many people that I admire and respect, it’s just all so crazy. Amazing but crazy.

Yours feels like a really organic, almost hip-hop approach to jazz. I’m thinking about someone like Madlib as a point of comparison. How do you see your approach?

Ha! Well that is a massive compliment, thank you! I absolutely love Madlib, and hip-hop is how I first got turned onto jazz, so I guess that does make sense. I mean the way I make music and my process is very similar to hip-hop, I use a lot of sampling, use my MPC and samples as a starting point for tracks and move from there. I guess I would say my approach is kind of layering, and what I like to call a musical jigsaw, sewing up lots of pieces, and creating something from nothing.

Could you talk about the process of making the album? Did you adopt any music making rituals along the way?

So I recorded the album at home, in my flat all on one mic. I use samples and my MPC with Ableton to start the base layer of a track, I usually have some kind of idea of the direction I want to go with a track when I sit down to first start working on something, but often, part of the excitement is that you never know where it’s going to go.

I’ll then think OK now I want to record horns, I’ll do that with some of the musicians, then from there do vocals, then maybe drums and percussion, it really just depends on where my mind goes as the track forms and all of the layers are created. Like I said before, it’s a kind of musical jigsaw, and I really love it.

You adapt the concept of sampling on “Jewels of Thought”, by utilising the heady source material of Pharoah Sanders’s “Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah” / “Prince of Peace” to make something of your own. It’s a bold move that massively pays off. Can you tell me about how this track came about?

I wanted to make a tribute to Pharoah Sanders since I love him so much, and his music means so much to me, so myself and Harry Weir who plays sax on the track got together, listened to a load of Pharoah music and then got in and recorded this. It really came together thanks to Harry and his shared love and understanding of Pharoah’s music. He really plays like Pharoah anyway, so this one came together really quickly and easily actually. Brought to life of course by the excellent and beautiful vocals from Paix, it just was one of those tracks that just happened. It flowed out so easily.

This feels like the right opportunity to talk about spiritual jazz. How important is that music to you and what is it about it that appeals? What are some of the less celebrated spiritual jazz records that mean a lot to you?

Before, I didn’t really realise that I was so heavily into spiritual jazz, and then I had a bit of a moment when I was looking through my records for a gig or something and I just was like… OK, 80% of my records are actually of this sound and I realised OK I think I am a fan of this kind of sound. I know that might sound silly, but I actually thought that my collection from recent years anyway, was a lot more varied, and it is very varied in many ways, but I always just keep coming back to this spiritual jazz sound.

I’m actually so buzzing each time I read people describing it as spiritual jazz, because I felt like it is kind of my interpretation of what spiritual jazz is, and it really means a lot to me that other people have heard it like that too.

I would say there’s so so many that stick out, but one to go check out for sure is Haki R. Madhubuti – Medasi. I don’t need to say much more about it other than if you don’t know it, you really should. It might change your life like it did mine.

“Internal Dispute” sees you push things in new directions, rather like Emma-Jean Thackray does on her Yellow LP. What’s the story behind this song?

In a nutshell… it’s a letter to myself, and for any listeners, a letter to themselves, just embracing loving oneself and being kind to ourselves, as I think we all need to do more of that.

A little insight to my constant internal dispute, as the name suggests.

I’m getting some Attica Blues (the Mo’ Wax outfit rather than Archie Shepp LP) vibes from “Freefall”. A case of shared influences perhaps? Were Attica Blues a point of consideration?

I feel pretty ashamed to say this, but I have never actually listened to Attica Blues [the band], but it sounds like I need to! So sadly no, that wasn’t an influence, but it sounds like I have a new record to go discover now, so thank you!

Speaking of Attica Blues, Charlie Dark’s weekly WorldwideFM show has been such a source of good vibes for me and I’m now getting more good vibes from your show. I think one of the things you share with Charlie Dark is an absolute commitment to positivity. How important is that aspect to what you do?

I find that focusing on positivity, and sharing that with others, is important for all of our minds and mental health, and hopefully It helps some other people feel a bit of happiness and hope in these difficult times that we find ourselves in at the moment.

I’d like to hear about your album collaborators and any other Scottish jazz-related artists that are setting things alight just now.

I would say the best way to learn about them is to go check out their music for yourselves, they are all absolutely smashing it, and I am so proud of them.

Here’s a playlist featuring them plus some more local jazz musicians.

Who do you view as your contemporaries? Would Amanda Whiting and DJ Format make an appearance here?

It’s funny that you mention these two wonderful people because yes, absolutely I would say they are. Matt is one of my best friends, and largely one of the main reasons this album actually got released into the world thanks to him listening to all the early versions of the tracks, and I did the same with his album too. I am very grateful to know him and have him in my life,

And Amanda Whiting is actually in our band now ‘Rebecca Vasmant Ensemble’ which is going to be touring and performing the music from the album live. She has also become a very good friend, and we are working on a lot of music together at the moment remotely, so stay tuned for some music from the both of us soon!

You’ve set up your own record label, Rebecca’s Records, which launches with your album. What are your plans for the label? Do you have any other releases lined up?

We’re going to be releasing a range of music, definitely jazz themes and spiritual jazz themes, but not exclusively jazz, we’re going to obviously deal with things like the jazzier end of hip-hop and electronic music, and, you know, like, neo-soul, and all that kind of stuff. But I do want to try to focus the next 12 months on female-led projects within the Scottish jazz scene because I think that’s really important. And, I think that’s something that is not that there aren’t females in Scotland who are doing amazing, but I feel like a lot of them aren’t being given enough of a platform. So, it would be really good for me to be able to do that. And I would like to hopefully be able to achieve that.

The next 18 months release schedule is packed with some really exciting local artists that I am hugely excited about, and really honoured and grateful to be working with.

Will there be With Love, from Glasgow live shows when possible?

Yes of course! We will be playing our first live gig as a band at MIF – Manchester International Festival, on Friday 16th July* thanks to Mr Scruff booking us as part of his stage curation and we are SO excited.

The band will be :

Harry Weir – sax

Graham Costello – drums

Paix – vocals

Emilie Boyd – vocals

Josef Akin – keys

Brodie Jarvie – double bass

Amanda Whiting – harp

Myself – Ableton / percussion

(*the conversation took place before the event – Ed.)

You must be looking forward to DJing again? (I’m waiting for you and Gilles Peterson at the Sub Club so I can have a trip back up to Glasgow…) What record are you most looking forward to dropping in a club?

I am sure Gilles feels the same, but I absolutely CANNOT wait to get back to the Sub Club to play records with Gilles again, that time cannot come soon enough honestly. I am actually SO excited to play a track of mine that is due to be released soon on Tru Thoughts that I made specifically for a moment like this… you heard that here first. 😉

Rebecca is playing a DJ set at Riverside by Night (a one night festival-in-itself part of Glasgow’s Riverside Festival) on Saturday 4th September at SWG3. Tickets available here.

Rebecca Vasmant Bandcamp

Main photo credit: Steven McLaren