No matter what they tell you, everyone has typed their own name into a search engine at some point to see what comes up. For most, it’s a disappointing exercise in discovering just how irrelevant we are. For Vashti Bunyan it was a different story. She Googled her name and discovered that she was a bona fide, long lost underground legend. How insane would that be?
Like most kids in the 60s, Vashti Bunyan was an art school dropout who decided to move into music. She was spotted by the Rolling Stones’ manager, who had every intention of making her a pop star and got her to record a song written by Mick Jagger. Great. Maybe. Instead of jumping in wholeheartedly, Vashti gave a stiff finger to pop music and instead made her way up to a commune led by ‘Mr Mellow Yellow’ Donovan.
The fact that she literally took a horse and cart meant that the journey took almost two years by which time everyone had left. Bummer. Luckily for her, she wrote an entire album about the trip and documented it on Just Another Diamond Day—a genius record which no one at the time bought. Obscurity beckoned and Vashti was forgotten. Somehow though, almost 30 years later, her album became a rare classic which people started online bidding wars over. She didn’t submit to the pressure of producing a second album though until dudes like Animal Collective and Fourtet convinced her to have another stab at it.
Vice: What did it feel like to discover you had become a cult legend?
Amazing, it was such a shock. I’d been living in the country for 30 years and had no reason to believe anything had changed. When I found out about all these fans, well it felt nice.
How hard was it to reclaim the rights to your first album?
I spent 3 years e-mailing, phoning, faxing, and waiting. At times I was tempted to just bootleg it myself, then I discovered that someone already had. I was mad at first, but then I realised it was just advanced publicity. In the end I got it back and for that I’m eternally grateful.
What’s your take on the whole folk revival happening at the moment?
I can’t stand being labelled a folk singer, yet I don’t have another name for what I do. It’s more like experimental acoustic music I guess.
Now that you’re back in the saddle do you think you’ll record another album?
I’d love to. I’ve opened an incredible door for myself and I couldn’t just close it again. I’m enjoying it too much. I think the next thing I’d like to do is some arranging, just a beautiful piece of music.
MARTIN DOYLE
Vashti Bunyan’s New Album Lookaftering is out now through Rogue Records and Inertia.
