Scout Niblett

Early life and education

Niblett was born in Stone, Staffordshire, England, and was raised in the nearby historic market town of Rugeley. She was classically trained on piano and violin as a child. Niblett began recording compositions she made up on the piano as a child, and later in early adulthood on the guitar. She studied music, fine art and performance art at Nottingham Trent University.

Career

2000s

Niblett began performing at clubs in Nottingham while attending college. She chose her stage name in honour of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the protagonist in Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

After sending out her EP demo CD "Alene Had It All" (recorded under the name Lion, and accompanied by drummer Kristian Godard), consisting of vocals, guitar, and drums, to multiple record companies, Niblett was approached by Secretly Canadian, who had been given her demos by Jason Molina of Songs: Ohia. The following year, Niblett released a 7" split-single with Songs: Ohia, contributing the track "Miss My Lion". Niblett followed the single with her debut album, Sweet Heart Fever, released by Secretly Canadian in 2001, which she recorded at Chem Nineteen Recordings in Hamilton, Scotland with producer Andy Miller.

Her follow-up release was a one-sided 10" EP, I Conjure Series, recorded live, where Niblett plays all the instruments herself.

Niblett relocated to the United States in 2003 to continue pursuing a music career, saying: "The underground music culture in America is big enough so that you can make a living from it without being super famous. The mainstream culture of music [in England] is so different, because it's all based on selling things... In America you don't have to enter into that, you can still survive. You don't have to be in the industry there and you do [in England], so I had to leave". She has resided in Portland, Oregon since 2005.

2010s

In 2010, Niblett released her fifth studio album, The Calcination of Scout Niblett, marking her debut release with Drag City. The album received positive critical reviews from Pitchfork and Spin, who noted: "[Niblett's] minimal songs – just one guitar and sporadic drums – unfold laboriously, as though forcing themselves from Niblett's clenched mouth and hands." Niblett followed this with a single, No More Nasty Scrubs, in 2012, which featured covers of TLC's "No Scrubs" and "Nasty" by Janet Jackson.

Music and influences

Niblett's unorthodox musical arrangements have been noted by critics, particularly her sparse instrumentation and dramatic shifts in tempos. In her earlier work, specifically I Am and Kidnapped by Neptune, many of Niblett's songs consisted of vocals accompanied only by drums; "[I wanted to] make drumming and singing be as accessible as me playing guitar and singing," she said in a 2004 interview. Her later albums featured Niblett mainly on guitar, and with a backing drummer.

Niblett cites among her influences a number of grunge period bands, including Mudhoney, Sonic Youth and Nirvana, and in particular the guitar of Kurt Cobain. She also stated that she was largely influenced by Hole's first record, Pretty on the Inside (1991): "I was seventeen when I first heard it. For me, the thing that I loved about them and her (Courtney Love) was the anger, and aggressiveness, along with the tender side," said Niblett. "That was something I hadn't seen before in a woman playing music. That was hugely influential and really inspiring. Women up 'til then were kind of one-dimensional, twee, sweet, [and] ethereal."

Her drumming technique, however, is inspired, she says, by a man who played at an open-mic night in Nottingham and would accompany himself on the drums while playing Beatles covers. This drumming technique has been a particularly distinctive feature of Niblett's records with Steve Albini, whose method was to place the drums centrally in the mix. Also of note is her downbeat cover of Althea & Donna's 1978 reggae hit "Uptown Top Ranking", which Niblett released as a single after it became popular at live performances.

Niblett has also cited Daniel Johnston as a lyrical influence, and her music has often been likened by critics to PJ Harvey, Cat Power, and Courtney Love. During the recording of her sixth album, It's Up to Emma, Niblett stated that she listened to Black Flag and the Rollins Band for inspiration.

Personal life

Niblett seldom discusses her personal life. Apart from her career in music, she has an obsessive interest in astrology and is also a professional astrologer. "My dad bought me a book about astrology when I was about seven and I literally haven't stopped studying it since," she said. Themes and references to planets occasionally appear in Niblett's lyrics, and she explained the naming of her third album, Kidnapped by Neptune: "The reason that album was called Kidnapped by Neptune was because Neptune was what they call 'transiting my ascendant' at the time and it literally did feel like I didn't know who I was. The energies of Neptune are dissolving your ego and it really kind of shakes you up. Right now Pluto, but also Uranus are equally battling, challenging my Sun." She also is said to use astrology to predict the best place and time to record her music.

Discography

Main article: Scout Niblett discography

;Albums

• Sweet Heart Fever (2001)
• I Am (2003)
• Kidnapped by Neptune (2005)
• This Fool Can Die Now (2007)
• The Calcination of Scout Niblett (2010)
• It's Up to Emma (2013)

References

References

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20. Liss, Sarah (28 Jul 2005). "[http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-07-28/music_feature2.php Cosmic Scout] {{webarchive. link. (15 January 2006 ". ''NOW Magazine'', Vol. 24, No. 48.)
21. link. (11 February 2006 . Retrieved 23 February 2006.)
22. Secretly Canadian (2004). ''[http://www.secretlycanadian.com/onesheet.php?cat=SC089 SC089 Scout Niblett – Uptown Top Ranking]''. Press Release.
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