Under Canvas 2014: Ellie Mason, Lights On The Mountain
Kicking off our UC2014 coverage, Alex Mackay interviews Ellie Mason from this year’s opening act, Lights On The Mountain.
Under Canvas is gearing up for its sophomore appearance on the St Andrews ball circuit and expectations are sky high; last year, The Stand itself called out the UC committee for “an incredible first event”. We sat down with Ellie Mason, from this year’s opening act, Lights On The Mountain, where she teased us on what to expect as the night kicks off.
Under Canvas is popular amongst a broad corpus of students for different reasons. Why do you think there is such a buzz about it this year?
Last year seems to have gone well and I think an event which focuses on showcasing good music will appeal to a lot of different types of people.
Did you attend last year’s festival, and do you think we can expect lightning twice?
I was actually abroad in Canada last year, so I didn’t get the chance to go! But from what I’ve heard it was great and Stokes, William, our friends who opened the event last year, said that they had a lot of fun. There’s no reason at all why this year would be any different. I’m excited!
Your group, Lights on the Mountain, is opening UC this year.What are you hoping to bring to this year’s festival?
Live instruments! It’s important to have some real instruments on stage at a festival, and we’re bringing a ton. Guitars, mandolins, fiddles, banjos, a harmonium, a double bass…you name it. We’ll make sure it’s worth getting there early.
Are you excited/nervous about the greater exposure UC will bring to Lights on the Mountain?
My sister and I have been playing music together for ages and have performed before at events in St Andrews such as Pimms, May Ball and Christmas Ball as a part of four or five other bands, so we’re not nervous! But we’re excited to be playing with our own full band, who are based in London and to bring them up here as a part of Under Canvas. Right now I’m more nervous about getting the double bass on the plane…
Under Canvas ticket sales are April 4th from 2-4 pm at The Vic, and the event is April 19th.