The Happy Couple Talk New Album, Favourite Instruments And More
The Happy Couple are Judith Goodman and David Ross, a unique ambient folk duo who make music inspired by the beautiful countryside surrounding their home in the Yare Valley on the Norfolk Broads. They chatted to us about their new album ‘Lullaby Of Broadland’ and more:
Who is in The Happy Couple, what do you play and how did you meet?
The Happy Couple are Judith Goodman and David Ross. We met 31 years ago on the bus replacement service from Mile End tube station to Leyton.
“Judith came and sat down next to me, I asked her about the book she was reading thinking it was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which I had just read, but it wasn’t, it was Nausea by Sartre! – we’ve been together ever since.”
Judith plays from her varied collection of obscure string instruments, Lap Steel, Cittern, Stoessel Lute, Tenor Guitar, etc and David plays ‘primitive’ early instruments, the Mouthbow, a selection of Jaw Harps from around the world and occasionally the Diddley Bow. He introduces subtle live processing by using an electronic sustain pedal.
When did you begin songwriting?
Although we were both working musicians, Judith as a classical French Horn player and David a drummer and multi-instrumentalist, it took us 17 years to start writing music and begin performing together
Judith had some health issues curtailing her career as a classical brass player and began experimenting with string instruments. During this time David rediscovered the Jaw Harp, an instrument he had as a boy. We found a combination which was portable and ideal for playing outside during our walks in the woods and by the sea.
What is your earliest musical memory?
David – my earliest memory of seeing music performed was when an Early Music ensemble came to perform at my primary school. At the moment they started, the room transformed from a dull school hall into an indescribably colourful and an evocative scene.
Judith – I loved playing the recorder in my primary school. In fact, I don’t know why people ridicule the sound of beginner recorder clubs….I love them and it was always my favourite class as a music teacher!
Your new track ‘Sparkling Horizon’ is out now. What was the inspiration/story behind the track?
‘Sparkling Horizon’ starts with audio of waves crashing on Dunwich Beach. The tune captures the atmosphere of a particular day. We got there very early and had the entire panorama to ourselves. Judith swam in the glinting water before we sat playing on the beach and came up with this tune.
The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?
The video is made from Judith’s photographs of flint in our garden wall. They were taken during lockdown when we were confined to our home and finding inspiration in things close by that had gone unnoticed. We were amazed to see how the images looked like imaginary cosmic landscapes, which chimed with our need to feel unconfined and in an awe inspiring landscape like Dunwich Beach. David had the idea to show the wall itself at the end of the video.
You have your new album ‘Lullaby of Broadland’ which is out now. How did you want to approach the making of the album, Where did you record the album and who produced itanddo you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?
We self-record at home or in the Norman church we live next door to, or sometimes at various places we like to frequent out in the Norfolk countryside. Judith likes to record some of these environments, often at different times of day, which we like to weave into the music here and there. We recorded some tracks at the Rectory, a beautiful old house in Norwich belonging to friends who offered us a place to record when our adjoining neighbour was having some heavy building work done. Fairless, our host and former engineer on Concord, rigged up a standard lamp with a red bulb and a remote switch in the hallway outside the room we were recording in so we could denote when recording was in progress, just like a studio in a radio station.
We only ever record ourselves playing live together. We don’t overdub or edit what we play in any way. We like to capture the feeling of the moment. As we live together, we have a lot more flexibility than most groups when it comes to playing and recording, so we can choose the right moment to do it and we also have the luxury of time you don’t get in a studio, to get the pieces exactly how we want them. David engineered, recorded and mixed the sessions. He also worked with the mastering engineer at the final stage to produce the final result.
Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?
David – I used some microphones inherited from my dear late friend, Stephen Schumacher including his Coles 4038 Ribbon mics, a nice pair of Sony condensers and my trusty Audio Technica AT4050. I use the mics with a Broadhurst Gardens Dav 1 pre-amp/
The Tascam digital recorder we use has analogue outputs for each channel. I use this to run into my small studio mixer and the few bits of outboard I use, including a Drawmer compressor and a TLA Audio valve EQ. No computer was used until the final mastering stage.
Judith – plays the extremely rare Contra-Bass Stoessel Lute, her Fender De Luxe Lap Steel and hand-made Paul Hathway Tenor Guitar on the album which we bought on a visit to Paul’s house in Wanstead.
My instruments are also hand-made. The Mouthbows by Ant Scott, a Didgeridoo maker from the South West. My Jaw Harps come from all over the world. Every harp is unique so I have to find ones that blend well with whatever Judith is playing to find the right balance. I often play 2 or 3 different instruments during the course of a tune. You can sometimes hear me trying to quietly pick them up and put them down on the recordings.
Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
The track that makes us happiest is ‘Breathing’, perhaps- something special captured in the sound.
Angriest – none of them make us feel angry!
Most reflective – possibly ‘Daylily’, as it is really about us. It’s the flower associated with a 20th anniversary and celebrates our time together.
What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?
We hope that the audience experience the same kind of catharsis we hope to create for ourselves. The impetus for our music is to create a world we ourselves want to be in, a peaceful and loving place that engenders a feeling of wellbeing and calm that is lucid not soporific, sensitised to the very small details in the sound where all the expression lies. The second thing we hope for is that the listeners feel different and better than before we began.
Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?
For the stage Judith has been using her Fender Lap Steel and Tenor Guitar as they amplify well and stay in tune unlike a lot of her older and more obscure instruments. Between those two we have a lot of tunes and it gives us two very different textures and types of writing. I have a selection of Harps and Bows in various keys that are matched to these instruments. I have developed a sound using a single high quality amp to I can mix our sound before sending to the house desk. It’s crucial our sounds match each other – it is unlikely sound people have worked with this instrumentation so we have taken control at our end and just provide them with a single mono output and leave them very little to do. Live, I use a Shure Beta 58 mic into TC Helicon vocal dynamics and tone pedal into a Gamechanger Pedal Plus, and electronic sustain/freeze pedal that helps me extend the sonic possibilities of the Harps and Bows. Judith sometimes makes use of an EHX Pulsar Tremolo pedal and uses a real Spring Reverb for both Tenor and Lap Steel guitars.
Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
Judith is from Southend, then Lincoln. David was born in Whitechapel and grew up in East London. They moved to their new home in Surlingham Norfolk in 2016. They are therefore what might be described as ‘Incomers’. Surlingham is a beautiful village within a meander of the river Yare and has 2 nature reserves.
You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?
Anything by Olaf Stapleton would have mind-blowing imagery. We love the scene that I think is in his 1930s novel, ‘Last and First Men’, where the protagonist contemplates life on a tiny planet looking at the stars above, but also realising there are stars beneath his feet. We have a tune called ‘Stars Beneath’.
Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?
We have so many influences, but:
Judith – Ravel, Scarlatti, King Sunny Ade and Joyce
David – Billy Pigg, Milton Nascimento, Lee Perry and Bernard Parmegiani
Both – Antonio Carlos Jobim, particularly his music that glorifies the natural world.
Our contemporary inspirations/recommendations are also in a Brazilian idiom – guitarist Fabiano Do Nascimento and his lovely album ‘Lendas’ from a couple of years ago and also singer extraordinaire Dora Morelenbaum who has just released her debut LP.
Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024/2025?
Yes, we are hoping to play lots this year and are just scheduling things. We are actually playing this Wednesday (Oct 30) at the Amersham Arms in Peckham. We hope to visit Dublin as artists signed to the Dimple Discs label, sometime in 2025.
Who created/designed the album artwork?
All the photography for the sleeve and insert are by Judith who also makes all our films. We both choose what to use and David helps with the layout (he worked briefly as a designer and illustrator) and wrote the sleeve notes. The design was refined and polished to perfection by Bruce at Arthole, who often does work for the Dimple Discs label.
What makes The Happy Couple happy and what makes you unhappy?
Playing music out in nature together is what makes us happy, especially on Surlingham Broad in our rowing boat (called ‘Smile’), closely followed by eating out in our favourite spots mid-afternoon, when everywhere is at its quietest.
The commercial imperative behind everything, especially music, is what makes us unhappy.
Feature Image: Supplied By Red Sand PR
The Happy Couple’s new album ‘Lullaby Of Broadland’ is out now on Dimple Discs.
