Bex Marshall is a globe-trotting British Blues guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who has recently released her new album, Fortuna, and is in the midst of lots of travel at the moment bringing her music to the world. While each of her albums has been a little different sonically, they are all built on a Blues foundation. Fortuna fits firmly in Blues-Rock, ready to shake things up for audiences in terms of sound as well as in terms of the themes that Marshall takes on, from desire, to regret, to moments of revelation and decision.
The album was recorded at House Of Mercy Studios and Snakepit Studios in London, produced and arranged by Bex Marshall and Nick Hunt (Dave Stewart, Boy George, Placebo, George Clinton). The tracks that are included on Fortuna show Marshall’s broad sweep of ideas and sounds when songwriting, and that’s no surprise given Marshall’s strong commitment to songwriting, even holding songwriting retreats twice a year in Cyprus. Now that she’s back on the road, she’s committed to lots more playing and songwriting ahead. I spoke with Bex Marshall about how the lockdown period shaped this batch of songs, the importance of live playing for her, the centrality of songwriting to her life, but also why the Blues will always be life to her.
Hannah Means-Shannon: I know this album spans a particularly long period for you, but I see you’re also out touring now, so this must be a busy time.
Bex Marshall: This is really the start of getting back from lockdown for me. My new album gives that a boost. I can get back out here and kick proverbial butt. I’m definitely ready to get back.
HMS: Have you had a chance to play these songs yet? Were they already part of live performances for you before recording?
Bex: I have. Obviously, throughout the lockdown we had a chance to demo them. We got on top of the songcraft for them. I’ve been playing them live solo for quite some time. I’ve done several impromptu shows where we bashed them out, but it’s fresh. I always liken it to embedding the songs in. They need to be worked in, like a new pair of shoes. They will probably change on the road, too. There are always little things that change, and that’s all part of the live experience. You don’t necessarily tour with the original band line-up and I also do a lot of solo stuff.
I’m a live performer. That’s what it’s all about for me. I’m on the road now, in Phoenix, and I leave today for LA, then back to New Mexico, then back to London, then back to New York! Which is good. That’s the way it was for me before the lockdown. That chaotic sort of lifestyle is where I’m happiest! [Laughs]
HMS: That initial push of getting in motion seems to be necessary, but then it’s easier, at least in my life.
Bex: Yes, once you’ve greased up the old wheels. It’s like riding a bicycle. But it’s very easy to get into being static and comfortable. Back in London I get involved in “village life” talking about the neighbors. My mother’s moved in with my neighbor next door, and she’s at the door every two minutes. It’s wonderful, but I’m definitely ready to hit the road again!
HMS: Something I noticed about these songs is that they are not spare at all. There are a lot of interesting layers, and bits and pieces. I wondered if having more time in one place led to that more expansive thinking about the songs.
Bex: I think I’ve always been like that. My previous album, House of Mercy, isn’t much different from this one in terms of Production. I really enjoyed incorporated more Roots musicians on that one, musicians from Nashville and Virginia. That’s an Americana/Bluegrass influence on that album, even though it’s Blues at the core. I would say that this one is more Rock, but I wouldn’t let a record out of my grip unless I was very happy with the Production of it. I do like to do those sort of frills! [Laughs] It’s a natural progression for me. My album Kitchen Table was more acoustic, but Bootlace was a more Produced record. When you’ve got the opportunity to be in the studio and it’s like a blank canvas, I’m very much an expressionist in that way.
HMS: You had some amazing friends come in on this record, too. Did you have it worked out in your mind who needed to be on what tracks?
Bex: For me, the procedure is about getting the core song down. For me, it’s about keeping true to the sentiment of the song. I’ve got the luxury of having my own studio back in London, so I didn’t rush it. Sometimes you have to give your ears a break from listening to hear what you may need. But I did have a great core band and their expertise and their flavor is there. I did talk in depth to them about what flavors I wanted brought into each track. We get to a moment where I think, “That works for me. That’s the core track.” We’ve gotten it down.
Then, embellishments, including my vocals, and my harmonies are added to deliver the lyrics and the emotions. B.J. Cole guests again on the final track, “When It’s Gone.” There’s a bit of percussion from Danny Bryan, who’s been on my last few records. There’s Shola [Adegoroye]. It’s a proven formula for me to craft this sound. I think you’ve got to find your sound. You drag in whatever gives you a kick and find out what molds your style. I did it all.
HMS: It makes sense that it has to be motivating and emotional for you, too. It helps you reach where you need to be.
Bex: Yes. And obviously, I’m going to do much more recording in the coming years. I’m not going to leave such a gap again. I think the lockdowns made me realize that you can’t say, “I’ll wait for the right moment.” Because it’ll never really be the right moment. You just have to get going. I’d like to do much more recording around the world now, not just in London, and I’m doing a writing retreat twice a year now, too. I’m very up for co-writing and maybe working with other Producers to do different things, too.
HMS: I had noticed that you sometimes do cowriting and I wondered how you view that. Is it helpful to have different modes of writing that you can alternate between?
Bex: I’ve been 99% sole writer. That way, you don’t have to please anyone else while writing, and it just sort of flops out of you. Then I revisit something several times and keep tightening it up. I like to get into a sort of a focused little world of my own. Getting in that right frame of mind is where things really spark for me. I concentrate on the lyrics and mess around with melody lines. When it hits me emotionally, I think, “Yeah, I’m getting there with this one.”
But I did a writing retreat down at Glastonbury with one of the members of Squeeze and it was great. There were about 22 people and we all went off into little groups of three. We came up with a fantastic song and I loved doing it. We wrote it from the perspective of Pamela Anderson, actually, for her to sing! We’re going to try to get it for her. It’s a really catchy tune.
HMS: I saw that “I Can’t Look You In the Eye” was a song that you worked on with Scott [Coopwood].
Bex: That’s true, yes. We cowrote that. He’s more of a Rock guitarist, so he sent me a rhythm track. He sent me some rhythm, Rock tracks. I was surprised, with him coming from Clarksdale [Mississippi]. I was thinking it would be more rootsy and bluesy. But he was giving me almost a British Rock track! I put the slide guitar on it, so I kind of put the Clarksdale back down on it and sent it back to him, which was quite funny. But I had that song bouncing about and thought, “This would be perfect.” It was a wonderful to be involved in. He got the guys in from Clarksdale on it, and then I mixed it back in London.
Then we did the video in Cyprus where I have the writing retreat, with a whole bunch of guys out there. The guy who filmed was actually the guy who did videos for The Spice Girls and Annie Lennox. Then there’s also an amazing Rock band out there called Blue Tears. So I was working with world-class musicians, and they joined me as the backing band in the video. For them, it was all fun.
HMS: What an amazing job on that video! It has a very convincingly Western feeling!
Bex: You just have to shake it up! Music overcomes all hurdles. It was great to be part of that bridge.
HMS: That song stood out to me because I don’t often hear a female perspective talking about attraction and desire in that way. I don’t mean that women don’t write and perform songs where they talk about love in a direct way, but when you look at Rock, Blues, whatever, it’s so often about male observation. This is a very real song.
Bex: You mean singing, “Getting a rise in between my thighs”?
HMS: There’s that! But I think even without that line, I would have been impressed. This is not a Victorian poem. This is a very real, human song.
Bex: I agree, absolutely. That’s what I’m really all about. I’m channeling that voice, that power of vocals, that female presence. Again, I’m also pushing forward as a guitarist, with those guitar skills, and as a good songwriter. I want to represent. I’ve been working hard on it for many years. I want to get to a confident level of stepping forward. I’ve always believed in that song. It’s not a stereotypical song, for sure.
For me, it’s always about the songwriting. It comes before the vocal, before the guitar, or you’ve got nothing. It doesn’t matter how good of a singer or guitarist you are, with a rubbish song, it’s pointless. You have to get those sentiments across, then it all makes sense. That’s another reason I’m passionate about the writing retreats, because that’s where the excitement starts.
HMS: Do you think your songwriting is influenced by songwriting in Blues tradition? Is that part of what attracted you to it? There’s so much there to explore.
Bex: Yes. Blues, for me, is the foundation of life itself. You have the Country music tradition which goes very in-depth into telling tales and stories. Then you have the Blues which is straightforward, even simple, in some ways. I like to tell a story. I really try to write lyrics that Pop and are not predictable. That’s the test, I think. The line, “I can’t look you in the eye. I tried”, is pretty simple, but it’s not predictable. I also like to bring humor in with songwriting.
For me, looking at Bernie and Elton, with that Yellow Brick Road album, is important. There’s Tom Waits, there’s Dylan. I like popping lyrics, even going into Rap. There’s a song on my last album called “Bourbon Street”, and it’s almost like a Blues-Rap. I’m kind of rapping the Blues. There’s a sack full of words that are all coming at you, with double-entendres, and slang. I like to get right in and be very wordy with rhyming syllables. If I want to write something like that, I can, or I can write something very simple if I want.
I think being able to song-write at a certain level is actually my priority. I’ll do songwriting sessions, whether I’m sat on a bus or at a retreat. You never know when you’re going to write a great song. I just wrote one down in Mexico a couple weeks ago. It’s humorous as well. I thinks songs need to make people happy or evoke some sort of emotion. I wouldn’t put a song on a record if I didn’t feel that it deserved to be on there.
HMS: I got the impression that you really have a focus on each song’s identity because your vocal style on each of these songs is very adapted to the differences between them. I noticed that on some songs, you even go close to spoken word, like we were just talking about. In other cases, you’re almost operatic. The mood of the song seems to be key.
Bex: There’s the song “Table for One” on this record which is quite wordy. I don’t push the register every song, either. I want to get the words and lyrics across in a listenable format. I don’t want to sing where people can’t understand what I’m singing. I worked with Janis Joplin’s original band and did more of a Janis style in the past, but my stuff isn’t really like that. Sometimes I go down quite deep. It’s a fine line between getting a good mix of belters and laid-back more artistic songs.
HMS: “Preaching to the Choir” has come out recently, and Shola’s on that track with you. It has a lot of energy to it. I think that’s the album opener, too. Is there a reason why you placed it there?
Bex: When you’re making a record, with every song as they develop, you feel whether it’s going to be a lead song. That one, for me, is more central. It’s bluesy, it’s upbeat, and the sentiment is more general. It could apply to a relationship, it could apply to a political situation. I like those possible meanings. It’s not easy to create something that doesn’t pin-point. There’s even a religious under-tone and people can choose how to perceive it. When I get in the car and it comes on, I love that intro. It’s a strong riff. It could be an anthem. I’m really proud of it. I wanted to lead with that one because I think people will appreciate it. Actually “5AM” has become a real popular one, as well as “Look Me in the Eye”, though.
