Hitting the Right Note: An interview with Tess Savigear composer of Weird in the Wade’s theme

Why I’m obsessed with podcasts

I love podcasts, I wouldn’t have made Weird in the Wade if I didn’t. I’ve loved radio all my life and podcasts are really just mini radio shows listened to on your own terms. Some of my fondest memories are of listening to the radio, the Archers omnibus on a Sunday as my Mum prepared the lunch or listening to the dramatization of Lord of the Rings whilst we ate it. Listening to Steve Wright in the afternoon throughout the 1980s, and the top 40 countdown on a Sunday evening, tape recorder ready to record my favourite tracks. There was also those late night radio shows we’d have on in the car as we drove home from holidays with my Granny or Nana. I remember one night listening from the back seat as callers to a radio show shared ghosts stories and urban legends, many of which seemed to involve cars being stopped on lonely highways late at night!

As a child I used to record my own radio shows, often cookery shows, sometimes forcing my little brother to be a guest. His monosyllabic answers driving me to distraction!

So I was primed and ready for podcasts when they came along, And in this post I want to focus on a very important aspect of podcasts and that’s there theme music.

Music matters

And if you think theme music doesn’t matter, just listen to the theme music to Serial, one of the most popular podcasts of all time. That staccato piano introduction that is later joined by a mellow melody and then, it transforms into a jaunty multi instrumental march, before returning to it’s staccato beginning. It has been the inspiration for so many other podcast themes, and parodied ever since. Because music matters, it sets the tone, and when it’s the theme to a podcast you love, just hearing those first few notes either helps you relax or be on high alert for what’s about to come.

So I wanted to make sure I had a distinctive theme to my podcast. Something that would set the scene for my listeners. A track that would sum up the kind of gentle weirdness I was hoping to convey. And I am extremely fortunate to have a wonderful friend who is a musician and composer. And thankfully she said yes when I asked her to compose my theme music.

Meet Tess

I’ve known Tess since I was 11 and I moved to Newquay in Cornwall with my family. In less than a year of us arriving, Tess and I were fast friends. If you’d told us back then when we were 12 or 13, that I’d be making a radio show (podcasts didn’t exist back then) about weird history and the paranormal, and Tess would be helping me with the music and voice acting, I’d have been utterly thrilled. And in a way I wish someone had been able to tell me that because it was such a dream of mine to do something like this and for years I just didn’t know how I could, or have the confidence to try.

Anyway, I want to introduce the listeners of Weird in the Wade, to Tess Savigear. I sent her over some questions and asked her to imagine that it was a Smash Hits style interview. (sorry another 80s reference.) One of our favourite things was to read out Smash Hits interviews to each other, often taking on the different pop stars being interviewed. I remember one time where read as Neil Tennant and Tess was Chris Lowe from the Pet Shop Boys.

Below are Tess’ lovely answers to my questions about her music, her writing process, influences, and also a great spooky story from her too.

The interview

Can you tell us a little bit about your musical influences? Who are your favourite bands / singer songwriters?

I love folk rock and pop music and tend to fall in love with individual songs as opposed to artists, but I’ve always loved Suzanne Vega and Heather Nova (who I actually got to meet a few months ago…although I was so paralysed with awe that I don’t think I actually made eye contact) and the way their music sounds so earthy and like they’re confiding in you. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of New Americana, artists like Sarah Jarosz, Allison Russell, Katie Pruitt and John Smith. I like anything a bit dreamy and acoustic, especially if there’s a piano or fiddle in there somewhere.

What was your reaction when you were asked to compose the theme to Weird in the Wade?

Completely thrilled, flattered and a little bit nervous.

How do you go about composing something like the theme to weird in the wade?

I usually start with a few piano chords and then ad lib a melody until something inspires me. I take an online challenge every year to write and record an album in the month of February, which is chaotic and incredibly fun, and often results in very rough demos and a handful of motifs that may be useful later. The Weird in the Wade theme came together very naturally because I loved the idea of writing something for the podcast that also reflected Natalie as a person – something ethereal and spooky but also very feminine. A piano line I wrote for a song I abandoned many years before that sounded like a clock ticking immediately came to mind and once I started playing around with it, the theme grew from there. It was lovely to breathe life into that motif and it felt like I wrote it for Natalie long before she asked me.

Do you have any recording studio rituals or superstitions?

I always record my very first ideas for any projects I do – just press record before I do anything else. Also, I have fairy lights along the ceiling of my studio, and they’re definitely lucky. They put me in a totally different frame of mind and it doesn’t feel quite right without them.

What’s the best music related advice anyone has given you?

The best projects happen quickly and naturally. If you have to think too hard about something, it’s not working. My piano teacher would probably think that was terrible because music theory should help make composing easier, but I tend to go with my gut and worry about whether I broke the rules of music theory later…

Have you ever had a weird or paranormal experience?

I’ve had a few spooky experiences but recently I visited a C12th manor house with a friend to see if it was a suitable venue for her wedding reception. There was one bedroom in particular that had the most chilling atmosphere – it was like there was an invisible line in that room that you were not permitted to cross. It felt like someone was screaming in my face, or it was filled with angry dogs. Later that day I did some online research and discovered that building was considered to be one of Britain’s most haunted and I had pinpointed the room with the most activity. Not wishing to offend my friend, I told her I thought it was a perfect spot for her wedding night…

Promote your stuff!

I quit my sensible desk job a few years ago and now work mostly as a voice over artist and musician in my home studio. I’m yet to get rich but I wouldn’t swap it for everything. I really believe that you’re wasting your time if you’re not doing what you love, so if you have a dream and a chance of pursuing it – don’t think twice. My huge passion is the piano and I’ve started working on a collection of compositions for a book I want to release – so many beginner pieces are aimed at very young children, and I have a dream of creating a collection of easy, dreamy sheet music for adults. I have an album out at the moment called Aurora, under the recording name Peppermint Sky that’s a collection of very early songs I wrote with a folky new age feel with the hugely inspiring producer Geoffrey Armes. And I’m currently working on a project with fantastic rock musician/producer JS Tolar under the band name Visions of Nell, I’m really excited about it – can’t wait for everyone to hear it.

It was a wonderful honour to compose this music for Weird in the Wade, and for Natalie, who has been my great friend for most of my life. The whole thing came together so naturally it felt like it was meant to be.

Thank you

I just want to say thank you so much to Tess for her music and for her support with the podcast over the last couple of months. Do give Aurora a listen, it is a dreamy, swirling summer’s day of an album that transports you to somewhere magical. Its great for doing yoga to or just sitting back and chilling out with.

If you’ve not heard Tess’ brilliant theme music for the podcast yet, you can find Weird in the Wade episode one: the haunted pound stretcher, where ever you listen to podcasts or at the website here.