Hugh Carswell left London and headed for the hills.  He wanted to make an honest kind of record and he knew the perfect place to do it…

Well, almost perfect.  His family’s ancient cottage on the remote island of Jura on the west coast of Scotland was romantic, but completely dilapidated and lacking a few basics – like a bathroom and electricity!  With a long winter approaching, and no keen local workforce, he realised that if he wanted to make this place into his home and his studio, he’d have to rebuild it himself.

So for two years he worked practically single-handedly renovating the old black-house and creating an adjoining timber building with views over the magnificent ‘Paps’ of Jura.

Working with his hands and living on a building site, he found himself gradually deprogramming from conventional modern life. The history of his ancestors on the island was all around him.  He was living in one of the wildest, most beautiful places in Britain, hardly separated from the elements.  He found inspiration in a simple life, the wilderness of the land, and the acceptance and warmth of the small local community.

Now the building is finished and he has returned to his main purpose – working up and recording the music.  Under the title ‘I’Anson’ – taken from his grandfather, the writer Hugh I’Anson Fausset, the record is due for release in 2012.

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