This week, Signature got in contact with Evie Waddell, a Gaelic, and Scots singer with a passion for expressing her emotions in the creative realm. Evie highlights the ways her relation to sound has influenced her approach to music. Additionally, Evie outlines the personal reasons to why she intertwined Gaelic and British Sign Language into her performances.
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- Can you tell us a bit more about where your passion for music and dance originated from, was there anyone in particular who inspired you?
Music and dance were often around me in my life and I have always enjoyed lots of different genres of music. Specifically, I was lucky as a child to have such rich and informed experiences of traditional music but that probably wasn’t much of a passion until I went to uni to study it. I think like many people I benefitted from my parents supporting my music education long before I really appreciated it.
Dance on the other hand I think I connected to when I was a younger age. Perhaps I felt more inspired and excited by dance which of course includes the music and being ‘in’ the music.
I also think musicals like Billy Elliot and Mamma Mia had an impact on me, particularly as I saw that opportunity of synthesis between music and dance more clearly. I also think it took me a while to find the right instrument to become really passionate. I started off on the fiddle and then the clarsadh and only five years ago began performing with my voice and becoming confident singing solo. I am also currently inspired by traditional Gaelic step dance as a dance form as well as a percussive ‘instrument’ and how that echoes many of Gaelic rhythms I am singing and connects through my body all the way up to my voice.
- Why for you personally is it so important to intertwine both Gaelic and British Sign Language (BSL) into your performances?
I’m often not confident in how I talk, partly, because when you’re deaf/partially deaf you’re never sure what others are saying and if your response ‘fits’, but also because in Gaelic medium school we didn’t speak English, and the grammar is different, and I even dreamt in Gaelic at that time. And then I learnt BSL and both the Gaelic and the BSL have different word order from English and impacted my grammar and sentences. So, I am ‘weird’ when it comes to writing and sometimes speaking, but I am starting to not want to worry so much or be ‘corrected’ and starting to like, or even feel comfortable in the way I talk, which is so important for expressing ideas.
In life I have to concentrate really hard to hear and it takes time to process what I am hearing and then I feel behind the curve of the conversation- so it’s often hard to contribute and keep up with the pace of hearing people. And actually, as I only started learning BSL as an adult, it’s also hard sometimes to keep up with the speed of deaf signing people. So, in the performance or creative space, it’s really nice for me to get into a smooth flow or expressing myself where I am not worrying about all of that and that I have control.
- Do you believe that your relation to sound has influenced the way you approach your music?
DEAFINITELY! I do lean into it for the creative writing side of things. I am interested to think about silences and dynamics a lot- possibly more than hearing people. And I think I connect to the feeling of the physical body when I am singing, the resonance of sound in my body as a kind of ‘hearing’ and feedback. And I think of my whole body as my instrument which is why I try to integrate the choreography and BSL signing and percussion of the step dance with the songs really carefully. I often approach performance with a lot of extra anxiety as, even when I send an Access Rider of my needs, we often don’t get enough time for sound checks and that does make me more anxious in a performance. But on the plus side I am looking as my accompanists and engaging with them a lot which really helps me but also helps the blend and the vibe of the performance. When I sing I try to be very clear with my words, without it sounding patronising. I just want the audience (even if they are hearing) to take in the words as that’s my task as a storyteller through song. I want to be clear in a world that isn’t clear to me. I also like songs that are really to the point and less waffle, just like when I am talking to someone. I am still trying to find out which technologies work for me and what configuration of people as if there are too many instruments the sound can get muddy for me. I also love going to gigs with strong bass and vibration and like to put my hand on my heart and it feels amazing.
- You recently created Fàilte gu BSL, can you tell our readers what this is and the process of making this show come to life?
Failte Gu BSL is sort of a Ceilidh format. Inviting you to sing or dance or sign along the way. It’s for hearing people and deaf people. You might learn something new about the Gaelic language or you might learn something new about BSL. I loosely connect each piece to the feeling of disenfranchisement as I try to look at the similarities and differences between the Gaelic community and the deaf community and their languages. I share knowledge and demonstrations of step dancing, waulking songs, Gaelic lullabies, working songs, Gaelic mouth music and political songs. I want to show a range of typical Gaidhlig themes but not just the miserable ones and also about the modern, urban Gaelic community. In this show I share some things for the first time about my deaf experience and perform a song about my deafness which was also in Gaelic. I get the audience to help sign some choruses of songs and I lead workshops teaching Gaelic through Sign Supported English which has been great fun. This was my first time directing a show and I have loved working with both deaf and hearing artists, interpreters, translators, and thoughtful sound engineers.
- Here at Signature, we are incredibly excited about the prospect of a BSL GCSE. Can you tell us about your thoughts on this, and do you wish this had been something you could learn within the classroom?
Of course! It’s strange to think I have needed to spend so much money learning a language that I need. And there must be so many people like me in school that can hear a bit so the assumption is we don’t have any needs and we can just bend to the hearing world. I also think that it made me think I was a bit daft or not clever because I couldn’t always understand. And when I thought about BSL it seemed like such a marginal language and community that I could never be part of it, which is mad looking back. But if everyone has an opportunity to learn it at school then it will normalise things which is great. Sign language also helps not just deaf people but also people who have auditory processing issues or concentration issues and can be used more than verbal communication in many environments. But it would be even better if there was better provision for adults too.
I try to use sign language often, both in work settings and personal settings. And I do feel a pressure to always sign (to be inclusive for others but also to normalise it), however I am starting to learn that I need also to relax more and try to see how my communication can be less effortful somehow as being deaf in one ear can be far from relaxing.
- What key pieces of advice would you give to your younger self?
I am not sure if my younger self needs advice, but advice I need to continue to give myself is to try do less pretending and nodding that I can hear. But at the same time forgive myself when I don’t always advocate for my deafness, because that can just be as draining as straining to hear. And then when you advocate, you have to use words (not my favourite) and it feels like telling people off- so loads of issues. I also need to remind myself that I am not dumb- just slower at processing sound because other people don’t often accommodate or know how to.
- Finally, do you have any aspirations for the future or exciting projects that you would like to share with our readers?
I love creating music videos, so I am working on a few of those at the moment. They are a place where I can put so much creativity and ideas both sonically and visually, blending my traditional music background with my contemporary dance background and creating verbal and non-verbal things.
For some of these videos, I hope to work with other dancers. I think dancers, as well as vocalists, are often tokenised or kept almost as ‘sub-contracted’ artists. It is common that a singer is brought on to a set for just a song or a section, while the instrumentalists are the ones who have the power to make the key artistic decisions, which needs changing.
Also, I will hopefully be doing more performances and release some music with Hammy Sgith where I do a combination of hip hop and step dance and vocals to his Gaelic rap music which is such a buzz.
Here at Signature, we would like to thank Evie for sharing her passion with us. Evie outlines her unique approach to music with a blend of Gaelic and BSL in her performances. Being hard of hearing has shaped her approach to music, emphasising clear storytelling within her music. Evie’s recent creation Failte Gu BSL serves as a platform to bridge communities. We wish Evie all the best in her future endeavours.
