Both Charlotte Brimner and Andrew Wasylyk have raised the profile of Dundee’s music scene over the last five years.
But when it comes to things they have in common, the list appears to begin and end with their shared hometown.
Singer-songwriter Brimner, 26, known on stage as Be Charlotte, has been a BBC Introducing regular with her stream of radio-friendly, spangling pop ballads.
Meanwhile Wasylyk, 41, has made a name for himself as a composer and producer, with a 2021 Scottish Alternative Music Award and several acclaimed albums under his belt.
With one known for her guitar playing, brightly-coloured ensembles and online presence, and another for his moody records, artwork and as a sometimes-member of Idlewild, Brimner and Wasylyk have inhabited different worlds in the same city.
Both played on the main stage at V&A Dundee’s opening ceremony five years ago, however Brimner admits that though they knew each other “in passing”, they didn’t know one another personally.
But in a full-circle coincidence, this weekend with see the pair take to the stage together for the first time as part of V&A Dundee’s fifth birthday celebrations.
And both assure me that it’s going to be a performance to remember.
Collab is a way of ‘completing the circle’
“I’ve really admired Charlotte’s work for a while now, so it’s a thrill to be collaborating with her,” says soft-spoken Wasylyk, who recently performed alongside Deacon Blue and Ged Grimes at the Caird Hall’s A Night For Keith. “Aside from being a great writer, her voice is sublime.
“We both played at the opening of the museum in Slessor Gardens five years ago. Perhaps the V&A inviting us back to work together was a way of completing that circle.”
“I’m really buzzing to work with Andrew,” echoes Brimner.
“He’s super talented obviously, and I think it’ll be a really exciting and intriguing collaboration for me as well.”
Although the collaboration is fairly open-ended, the pair tell me the idea is to take some of Brimner’s guitar-strumming bops and reimagine them in Wasylyk’s instrumental style.
“I think our hope is to sort of filter Charlotte’s music through the lens of an eight-piece group,” he explains. “To gently reframe these beautiful pop-leaning songs with brass, strings and synthesiser and such.
“And to hopefully arrive some place new together.”
New sound can ‘pull out emotions’ says Charlotte
For independent musician and Enough Records label boss Brimner, the opportunity to learn from other artists is one to be relished.
She herself runs songwriting camps for budding songwriters, so she understands how valuable collaboration can be for learning to grow as an artist.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how Andrew and his band work, and I’m always up for trying new things and learning things,” she says.
“I did a similar collaboration a few years ago with Scottish Opera, where we reworked one of my songs, and we had a string quartet and an opera singer. So I love doing stuff like that, it sort of reimagines music and pushes it in different ways people might not expect.”
Indeed, Brimner reveals the thing she’s most looking forward to is hearing her more upbeat releases recast in Wasylyk’s dreamier light.
“I like to play around with that,” she says. “You can have an upbeat song and then the new arrangement can pull out the sadness, the emotions of the lyrics.”
Fifth birthday line-up is ‘nice mixture’
The pair are part of a varied line up for the V&A’s birthday celebrations, alongside DJ/violinist twin sisters Kintra, BBC Introducing’s 2023 Scottish Act of the Year, Terra Kin, and the Shetland-based Queen of Harps.
“Terra Kin was one of the artists at my songwriting camps,” reveals Brimner, with a flicker of pride.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing her. It’s a nice mixture of genres, V&A have done a good job with that.”
Asked if they believe the design museum has “bedded in” to Dundee during its first half-decade, Wasylyk commends the organisation’s leadership, saying: “I think that’s a pretty seismic job, but since Leonie Bell arrived as director I’ve never felt more hopefully about the museum’s role in the city.”
“We have tourists coming to Dundee now, which is new!” Brimner chimes in.
“That wasn’t happening when I was growing up and gigging. So it’s good to see the way V&A’s become part of what goes on in Dundee.”
We Are 5, the fifth birthday event at V&A Dundee, takes place on Saturday September 16, with free entry to the museum’s Tartan exhibition and free entry to all live acts. For more information, visit the V&A Dundee website.
