Q&A Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres
portrait by Mark Arrigo
Today there's a fine interview on the official Q3Ambientfest website,
which Sebastian and me had with the inspiring musician Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres.
A few lines from it:
"My mum had a piano in the flat I grew up in London and used to play with me on her lap from a tiny age. So literally from when I was born I was immersed in music and I started learning to play very early both clarinet and piano."
Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres
Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres is a Bristol-based film composer and solo artist and multi-instrumentalist. On stage, Alexandra’s passions lie in the duality between the classical and electronica worlds, moving picture and her love for the piano. Her debut album ‘2 Years Stranger’ featured on Tom Ravenscroft’s BBC 6 Music Recommends describing ‘Dance’ as “absolutely beautiful music” and BBC Radio 3 Unclassified, with lead single ‘Waiting’ described by Mary Anne Hobbs (BBC Radio 6) as “beautifully haunting”. The latest album 2 Years Stranger was reviewed by The Guardian as having a “devastatingly emotional effect”.
Finding Inspiration
The output by artist and composer friends in this time. I am constantly inspired by the brilliant community of artists around.
Gain & Loss
Writing a lot of new music and film composition work.
Physical Stage
Actually it terrifies me but I think the presence of a live audience and a presentation of a piece and sharing that moment with people in one moment can’t be beaten.
Studio & Workspace
I have a lovely studio space with lots of natural light and I can work standing up or sitting down. I have a big mirror that I write my ideas on and some boards with lots of treasures pinned up behind my work station. The room and cupboards are filled with lots of different instruments and notebooks.
Daily Routine Every day is different but I do like to try not to work past 10pm. I’m also not very good at working before 10am so I tend to do admin in the morning and then have a real flow in the afternoon and into the evening.
Dream Collaboration
I mean Philip Glass would be a dream come true
Entry Points
My mum had a piano in the flat I grew up in London and used to play with me on her lap from a tiny age. So literally from when I was born I was immersed in music and I started learning to play very early both clarinet and piano.
Finishing Records
This is an interesting one, as far as I know it’s a gut reaction. I’m not really sure there is a proper answer for this from me.
Health & Productivity
I try and get outside and also work a bit standing up.
Resonating Releases
I go through phases of obsessive listening. Recently not so much as I was listening to a lot of choral music and film sound tracks for research!