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Iona Fyfe
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Q& THE
WITH IONA FYFE
PICTURE: EUAN ANDERSON
Award-winning folk singer and Scots-language advocate Iona Fyfe releases her latest single this month. In our Q&A, she fronts up about her love of Chihuahuas and war movies, and recalls that time she and her mum hounded poor Richard Madden
Who would you like to see playing you in the movie about your life? Who do you think the casting people would
choose? You know they apps that do the ‘what celebrity do you look like?’ Every time, it comes up with Saoirse Ronan. A few people have said I look like Saoirse. It’s a huge compliment. So, I guess, it would be Saoirse. She was ace as Mary Queen Of Scots, so I know she can nail the accent!
What’s the punchline to your favourite
joke? Who has favourite jokes?
If you were to return in a future life as
an animal, what would it be? I could be tropey and say ‘a bird because then I could fly’, but in reality, I’d come back as a wee nippy Chihuahua. I love Chihuahuas. I actually met a now-close friend Sharon, through Borrow My Doggy. She let me borrow her Woody.
If you were playing in an escape room, name two other people you’d recruit to
help you get out? Alan Cumming. I reckon he’d be good at an escape room, and if he’s rubbish, then at least he’d be guid crack. I’d also enlist the help of my childhood (and adult) best friend Cit, who would probably do all the work. Just like with my dissertation (joke, if anyone from the Conservatoire is reading this).
When was the last time you were mistaken
for someone else? I’m a bit of an unsociable hermit, so I don’t leave the flat much if I don’t have to. I don’t even have an answer to this, let alone a good one.
What’s the best cover version ever? I love Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook, where she covers loads of ace songs by Scottish artists. My favourite cover version has to be Laura Marling singing Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’.
Whose speaking voice soothes your ears?
On tour in 2019, Aidan Moodie and I got into the true-crime comedy podcast My Favourite Murder. During lockdown, the only way I marked the passage of time was each Monday and Thursday when Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark would release new episodes. Their voices soothe my ears in a familiar, companionly sort of way.
Tell us something you wish you had
discovered sooner in life? The transpose button on my digital piano.
Describe your perfect Saturday evening?
I’d visit Bar Vini in Glasgow for some great Italian food and a few Negronis, then kick back and watch a war film. I have started to really enjoy war films. Have I officially become a boring bastard? Don’t print that if you can’t.
If you were a ghost, who would you
haunt? I’ve got my hitlist (*taps nose*).
If you could relive any day of your life,
which one would it be? Probably my graduation from The Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland in 2019. Mostly because I didn’t have breakfast and helped myself to one-too-many post-ceremony Proseccos. Then, together with my mum, hounded the honorary doctorate Richard Madden for a photo. The RCS have now updated their alumni wall, and I’m up there next to Richard Madden and Alan Cumming. Full circle crack, right there.
Did you have a nickname at school that you were ok with? And can you tell us a nickname you hated? A classmate at university called me Spice, for reasons you
Think of that Kim Kardashian meme and times it by 100 ”
cannot print. I think some classmates at school would occasionally call me Fyfey, which I hated, but now I’d like to mobilise my listeners to call themselves #Fyfeys. Like #Swifties, but less cool. Maybe I’ll make stickers and no one will want them. The opportunities are endless.
If you were to start a tribute act to a band or singer, what would it be called? I translate lots of Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift songs into Scots and post the cover videos on TikTok. I think Taylor is my favourite artist, so it would be a Swift tribute act: Swift In Scots?
When were you most recently astonished
by something? Every day, the patter of some people on Twitter astonishes me.
What tune do you find it impossible not to get up and dance to, whether in public
or private? Miley Cyrus’ ‘Party In The USA’. I’m on my first US tour in September, so I’ll be blasting this in the car on our drive from California to Seattle.
Which famous person would be your ideal
holiday companion? Can I answer with Taylor Swift again?
As an adult, what has a child said to you
that made a powerful impact? I was recently teaching Scots Song at the Scottish Culture And Traditions Youth Camp in Aberdeen, and one of the participants said something along the lines of, ‘my teacher at school used to tell me to speak proper, but I told her that Scots is a language because I learned it from your TikToks.’ Job done. That’s me retiring noo.
Tell us one thing about yourself that
would surprise people? I grew up in a loneparent, working-class household in borderline poverty. People see a glint of ‘success’ and are so quick to try to re-write your narrative or your story, so much so that I find comments on Twitter or Reddit claiming that I was ‘born with a silver spoon in my mouth’ or that I was ‘middle class’ because I had an education at the Conservatoire. It upsets me. All I want to do is inspire people and show that if you have ambition and work yer bum aff, ye can achieve guid hings. Cringefest ower.
When did you last cry?
Last week. I’m an ugly crier. Think of that meme of Kim Kardashian and times it by 100.
What’s the most hi-tech item in your home?
My WeeKett (kettle from a Scottish-based company) which is connected to my Alexa. I can literally boil the kettle from bed, just as long as there’s water in the kettle first.
What’s a skill you’d love to learn but
never got round to? I really would like to learn how to play the mandolin. Inspired by Sierra Hull, Chris Thile and, closer to home, Graham Rorie of Gnoss, who has produced every song I’ve released since 2019.
What’s your earliest recollection of winning
something? The under-six Doric poetry competition at the Keith Festival circa 2003.
By decree of your local council, you’ve been ordered to destroy one room in your house and all of its contents. Which room
do you choose? I guess my bedroom? It’s the one with the least music gear, CD stock or books. I need a new mattress anyway.
If you were selected as the next 007, where would you pick as your first luxury
destination for espionage? Copenhagen. Amazing city. I did the Build-A-Bond podcast and despite having never seen a Bond film, it was actually great crack. My episode is called ‘Hyundai-Another-Day’, because my Bond car was my own trusty Hyundai.
Iona Fyfe’s new single Lady Finella is released on all platforms, Saturday 3 September.
NEXT TIME
It doesn’t seem that long ago we were all getting excited about a summer jam-packed with festivals. Now, there’s Christmas chocolate in the shops and ‘autumn specials’ are all the rage. We’re not quite doing one of those in our next issue but we will be covering a whole range of October highlights, such as eclectic instrumental ensemble Snarky Puppy, recordbreaking comic Jordan Brookes, jolly TV historian Lucy Worsley, and dystopian sci-fi thriller writer Ever Dundas.
n Next copy of The List will be out
