Poppy Ackroyd
Brighton Rock
POPPY ACKROYD: BRIGHTON ROCK We chat over coffee before an East London soundcheck with the brilliant Poppy Ackroyd, one of the most interesting and exciting artists in today’s evolving modern classical scene. Words Adam Protz The modern classical scene has been very Berlin-centric for some time, and its representing composers have been a little male-heavy. But about 700 miles west, in the seaside city of Brighton, there’s a composer who’s rapidly gaining ground on the likes of Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds. Poppy Ackroyd is becoming increasingly accomplished with the recent release of her third album, Resolve, and in October, will play her biggest show to date at London’s Southbank Centre. I grabbed a coffee with Poppy before her soundcheck at Vortex Jazz Club in East London, to find out how it’s all going. My first question seeks to find out why she’s based herself in Brighton - of course, an arty and creative city, but not as seemingly
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obvious a choice as London (where she grew up) or Berlin, where she’d be in the company of luminaries such as Dustin O’Halloran, Lambert, and, of course, Nils Frahm. “I love Berlin,” Poppy says. “I first went there to have my first record mastered by Nils Frahm. If I hadn’t been in a very long-term relationship, I would have actually stayed there. But it’s also nice to not be part of the scene — I went to an aftershow party at Nils’ studio after Piano Day, and it is a very close-knit scene, and I like to be separate. “My partner and I did try to get a studio together in London, but we just couldn’t afford it. But I’m really happy to be in Brighton, so it’s all worked out.” While a lot of the artists in the modern classical scene write their music and dress as
a rejection of classical music’s rules, Poppy very much went down the classic route. She studied piano and composition at Edinburgh University, before completing a Master’s degree in piano performance. Those hours and hours of practice certainly come through in pieces such as Feathers, a song which really marries Poppy’s use of music technology, and her hard-earned virtuoso ability.
Behind the Music
Resolve, album number three from Poppy, represents something of a sonic shift, but in a pleasing way and staying true to her earliest material. “Escapement was all piano and violin sounds,” she says. “And then Feathers was all keyboard sounds. For the new one, I wanted
