Emma Louise Niblett (born 29 September 1973), better known by the stage name Scout Niblett, is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Niblett debuted in 2001 with her first full-length studio album ''
Sweet Heart Fever
''Sweet Heart Fever'' is the debut studio album by singer-songwriter Scout Niblett, released in October 2001 on Secretly Canadian records. Although the album received little media attention, ''Pitchfork'' gave the album a highly favorable review. ...
'', and has gone on to release five more studio albums. In 2013, Niblett released her sixth studio album, ''
It's Up to Emma'', which she mixed and produced.
Niblett's music is frequently minimalist in style, many of her songs consisting merely of vocals accompanied by either drums or guitar. She is also known for her intimate live shows.
[Morris, Kurt. ]Biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
Allmusic. Retrieved 23 February 2006. In addition to songwriting and music, Niblett is also a professional
astrologer, and often incorporates astrological themes into her song lyrics.
Early life and education
Niblett was born in Stone,
Staffordshire, England, and was raised in the nearby historic market town of
Rugeley
Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...
.
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
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
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
''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...
''.
[
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
Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...
, who had been given her demos by Jason Molina
Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...
of Songs: Ohia. The following year, Niblett released a 7" split-single
In internal combustion engines, a split-single design is a type of two-stroke where two cylinders share a single combustion chamber.
The first production split-single engine was built in 1918 and the design was used on several motorcycles and ca ...
with Songs: Ohia, contributing the track "Miss My Lion". Niblett followed the single with her debut album, ''Sweet Heart Fever
''Sweet Heart Fever'' is the debut studio album by singer-songwriter Scout Niblett, released in October 2001 on Secretly Canadian records. Although the album received little media attention, ''Pitchfork'' gave the album a highly favorable review. ...
'', released by Secretly Canadian in 2001, which she recorded a
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.[Miles, Terrance. ''I Conjure Series''—ReviewAllmusic. Retrieved 23 February 2006.]
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 n England
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
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 n England
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
so I had to leave". She has resided in Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
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: " iblett'sminimal 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
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
's " No Scrubs" and " Nasty" by Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
.[ Her sixth studio album, '' It's Up to Emma'', which she recorded in Portland, Oregon, and mixed the record herself. It was released on 21 May 2013 also on Drag City, and received positive critical acclaim from '']Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'', ''Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
'', and ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''.
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; " wanted tomake 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
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, and in particular the guitar of Kurt Cobain. She also stated that she was largely influenced by Hole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
's first record, ''Pretty on the Inside
''Pretty on the Inside'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the al ...
'' (1991): "I was seventeen when I first heard it. For me, the thing that I loved about them and her (Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...
) 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, ndethereal."
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.[Liss, Sarah (28 Jul 2005).]
Cosmic Scout
". ''NOW Magazine'', Vol. 24, No. 48. This drumming technique has been a particularly distinctive feature of Niblett's records with Steve Albini, whose method is to place the drums centrally in the mix.[ An example of Niblett's minimalist approach to songwriting is "Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death", included on ''I Am'' and as the B-side to "I'll Be a Prince." It consists solely of a drumbeat with a cheerfully delivered repeating lyric, "We're all gonna die!", eventually concluding, "We don't know when, We don't know how." According to Niblett, she had originally composed the song on guitar after nearly getting in a car accident while on tour during a winter storm.][Too Pure]
. Retrieved 23 February 2006. Also of note is her downbeat cover of Althea & Donna
Althea & Donna were a Jamaican reggae vocal duo, consisting of Althea Rose Forrest and Donna Marie Reid. They are best known for their 1977 single " Uptown Top Ranking", which was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom in 1978.
Career
The Jama ...
's 1978 reggae hit "Uptown Top Ranking", which Niblett released as a single after it became popular at live performances.[Secretly Canadian (2004). ]
SC089 Scout Niblett – Uptown Top Ranking
'. Press Release.
Niblett has also cited Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...
as a lyrical influence, and her music has often been likened by critics to PJ Harvey, Cat Power, and Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...
. 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
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
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
;Albums
*''Sweet Heart Fever
''Sweet Heart Fever'' is the debut studio album by singer-songwriter Scout Niblett, released in October 2001 on Secretly Canadian records. Although the album received little media attention, ''Pitchfork'' gave the album a highly favorable review. ...
'' (2001)
*''I Am
I Am or I'm may refer to:
Language and literature
* " I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name
** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible
* "I Am" (p ...
'' (2003)
*''Kidnapped by Neptune
''Kidnapped by Neptune'' is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Scout Niblett, released on Too Pure records. The album was Niblett's second collaboration with producer Steve Albini.
Track listing
Personnel
*Scout Niblett - vocals, guit ...
'' (2005)
*'' This Fool Can Die Now'' (2007)
*'' The Calcination of Scout Niblett'' (2010)
*'' It's Up to Emma'' (2013)
References
External links
Scout Niblett's official site
Scout Niblett
on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niblett, Scout
1973 births
Alternative rock guitarists
Alumni of Nottingham Trent University
English songwriters
English women guitarists
English guitarists
English astrologers
20th-century astrologers
21st-century astrologers
English contraltos
English experimental musicians
Women guitarists
British women drummers
British indie rock musicians
Living people
English multi-instrumentalists
Musicians from Nottinghamshire
Musicians from Portland, Oregon
People from Rugeley
Drag City (record label) artists
Guitarists from Oregon
21st-century English singers
21st-century English women singers
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century drummers
21st-century American women guitarists
Secretly Canadian artists
20th-century English women
20th-century English people