CREATIVE DUO 4: MAX THOMSON AND IONA FYFE
SHOWCASE DAY: THURSDAY 1ST JULY 2021
ABOUT: MAX THOMSON
Max is a composer, musician, and producer. From an early age, he has always been passionate about music. Max has a wealth of live playing experience in a band called FRANKY’S EVIL PARTY as well as years of composing and producing. Having different musical experiences has led Max to adopt a completely open mind for creativity within music. He likes to invest his time exploring alternative music and alternative music culture from the subversive to the obscure. He has a keen interest in electronic music, particularly when concerning post-digital aesthetics. As part of his masters in sound design and audio-visual practice, Max has completed a series of projects including compositions, audio-visual works, field-recordings, and the development of a performance practice for woodwind and electronics. Max also believes in music as a force for good. He sees music as both a cultural reflection of the world around us and as a powerful tool for change and activism.
ABOUT: IONA FYFE
Aberdeenshire singer, Iona Fyfe, has become one of Scotland’s finest young folk singers, rooted deeply in the singing traditions of the North East of Scotland. The youngest ever winner of Scots Singer of the Yearat the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2018, Iona has been described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer.”(Global-Music.de). Iona is a fierce advocate for the official recognition of the Scots Language and is a fine exponent of the Doric dialect, winning the title of Performer of the Year at the Scots Language Awards in 2020. Iona led a successful campaign to pressure Spotify to recognise Scots and add it to its list of languages. She was finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2021 award. With a number of high profile appearances under her belt, Iona has toured throughout the UK, Poland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Canada and Australia. A nominee forFolk Band of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, Iona has performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as part of the World Premiere of Disney Pixar’s Brave in Concertat Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
Iona studied at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and graduated with a first class honours degree in Traditional Music and holds an FLCM in Traditional Voice from LondonCollege of Music. A sell-out show at Edinburgh Fringe Festival for three consecutive years. In 2018, Iona performed at Interceltique Festival De Lorient where she was described as “a Scottish folksinger, magical and charismatic” (Rolling Stone, France).
Her debut album Away From My Window was held to critical acclaim and received nationwide airplay on programmes such as BBC Radio 2 The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 6 Gideon Coe, BBC Radio Scotland’s Travelling Folk, Take The Floor and BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal. Released in 2019, Dark Turn of Mind is Iona’s first EP entirely in English and features six ballads and songs found in both Appalachia and Aberdeenshire and has been described as “a new interpretation to the country genre”– Maverick.
