Whether you are listening to her songs as you go to sleep or you are just wanting to hear beautiful songs of love, solace and adventure, you will struggle to find anyone who produces a more captivating sound than Beattie Wood aka Capt.Lovelace. Having lived in Norway, been an avid traveller using the European railways and meeting people from many different cultures, Beattie's quaint folk is striking to say the least. Having only moved to Brighton in January 2015, Capt.Lovelace has let her music do the talking, quickly making a name for herself in Brighton’s music scene. I caught up with Beattie to find out more about her and her music.
 
Where did you grow up? Is there much of a music scene there?
In the south of France, close to Bordeaux in a small town called Arcachon by the sea. No, it’s just a small town with fishermen and old people. I would only watch the sea and spend time with friends. I moved to Bordeaux for my studies and I could finally go and see gigs. I didn’t have many friends that were musicians but we still all went to see concerts. I then met someone who was a contributor to a webzine and a local newspaper, so I got a lot more involved with music.
What made you move to Brighton?
Brighton is really really exciting with so many bands. I was working for an IT company in France that specialised in email and I had always wanted to work in an English speaking country, as I studied English at University. I found a good company in email marketing that was based in Brighton, so I started googling more about Brighton and discovered that it was the perfect city for music and arts. I have a good friend that lives in London who I have visited a couple of times and he said I had to visit Brighton. So I took the train from Victoria to Brighton and thought “ok, I definitely want to settle here!”
 
What kind of music were you brought up on?
I thank my mum forever as she was into The Beatles, Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac. My dad was more into Chanson Française (french songs) like Jacque Brel, but that was less my thing even though I was surrounded by that scene. I was into English music such as Cat Stevens.
 
What was the first instrument you learnt to play?
I went to a music school when I was a child where after two or three years you had to choose an instrument, as at the beginning all you do is theory and play the flute – which I thought was quite boring and frustrating. I can remember the teacher showing the class a video of an orchestra and I fell in love with the trombone. I must have been about 9 years old and I started to play the trombone.
 
What drives you to write music?
I am really interested in words and their meaning. My first songs were covers of French poems in English.
 
What is the story behind the name Capt.Lovelace?
‘Lovelace’ refers to Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, as she was a great mathematician. She was the first programmer who used algorithms math formulas that are considered as the first computing programme. I really wanted that geeky reference as well as the link to the porn star Linda Lovelace which I thought was quite funny. I wanted to keep the ambiguity with ‘Captain’, keep a bit of mystery. I was born by the sea and my grandfather was also in the French Navy with many other members of my family.
 
Tell me about your band?
Capt.Lovelace was always a solo project and I recorded my songs with a friend of mine in Bordeaux. Since I have moved, Brighton is a great place to find other musicians and to experiment. I now play with Nathan who is the guitarist, El is the drummer and David is the keyboardist, but we all change instruments too.
 
How would you briefly describe your music?
It is soothing and also melancholic. I play music about what I feel. It helps me to move on, because all my songs are about people I was in love with or still in love with or really just close to me. It helps me deal with my emotions, so there is very much a cathartic thing to it.
 
What inspires your music?
When I studied English at University, I really enjoyed digging through dictionaries. Some of my songs are phrases that could sound a bit strange but for me it is a way to play with words and language. Since I have moved, I have been listening to BBC 6Music all day and it has been interesting to see how you can structure your language. I also really like Virginia Woolf and then its bands like Calvin Johnson, Arthur Russell and so many others. I can remember the time when I found an old tape of Joan Baez in my parents living room, that was a big moment. I then discovered Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, PJ Harvey and Beth Gibbons form Portishead. Herman Düne was also a big influence.
 
Tell me a bit about /*Preview Pane*/ EP?
I have been writing songs for 10/12 years now and have never recorded anything. I had written ten songs that I wanted to record and picked five for this EP. They are about steps in my life so I want to record the five other songs just to finish this chapter. The EPs title comes from the name given to the preview in your email inbox. It is something I am obsessed with – writing, emails, letters and having correspondence.
Have you been thinking about recording an album?
It’s very early days but I think it is going to have a theme of maps. For two years now I have travelled a lot worked in lots of different cities and have read lots of different books about wandering and nature, finding lots of old maps. I want to explore this visual aspect and how we can find a way to connect people.
 
What has been a musical eye-opener?
I saw Pattie Smith at last year’s Field Day festival and she played Horses – I cried, it was such a strong experience. A friend of mine runs a record shop in Bordeaux and he gave me a Calvin Johnson record. He is part of this USA DIY scene and that helped me a lot to see that I can do music with anything or everything. Also the first time I heard Bob Dylan was when I was about 20 years old – it was such a different way of song writing.
 
If you could make a supergroup, who would be in it?
Marissa Pasternoster (Screaming Females) on guitar, Kate Bush on keyboards, Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club) on bass, Greg Saunier (Deerhoof) or my friend Claire on drums in the style of The Shaggs. Joe Meek (Shirley Bassey/Tom Jones/The Tornados) would be around for the recordings/production! 
 
What would be your perfect line-up of any three acts for a concert you are putting on and where would it be?
I could have ended up with a list of 30 names but I think The Pastels, Orange Juice and Belle & Sebastian all have a common characteristic. It’s hard to choose a venue – I love outdoor festivals as when it is light and when it is night is a very different experience, or to play in a church would be amazing if you can find a place with different yet really good acoustics.
 
If you could work with any artist, who would it be?
I would love to collaborate with John Grant, Delia Derbyshire, Antony and the Johnsons, King Krule, Xavier Dolan, Miranda July, Walter Benjamin & Amandine Urruty. I have recently sent emails to Scout Niblett to see what she's up to.
Have you been to many gigs since you have been in Brighton, any that have stood out?
I saw Sea Of Bees at the Marwood Coffee Shop which was amazing. I saw ESG at Sticky Mikes Frog Bar which was really fun – I just danced. I really enjoyed Sweet Baboo, he was talking about Cardiff so I bought a ticket there for three weeks soon after.
What are you listening to at the moment?
I was listen to modern French pop today and also Françoise Hardy. I’ve been listening to some film soundtracks by François De Roubaix when I have been working as they are instrumental and you can stay focused. I recently discovered British Sea Power.
What are your future plans?
We will be contributing to a compilation which will be the first song I record with the band. I'm  playing on Thursday the 17th December with Chris T-T at the Brunswick in Hove. I have organised to play in a small bookshop in Copenhagen on the 3rd of January as I am going there for New Years. We are on Radio Reverb with Pete Jones in the New Year. I am going on tour with Kath Bloom in Spring 2016 which I am really excited about. At the end of April, I will also be playing with Splintered Man.