Interview - KT Tunstall - Friends of the Earth Scotland

Interview - KT Tunstall

“I don’t have a television. I don’t have a car. I use a bike. I never ever fill the kettle to full unless I really need to.”

KT Tunstall is a chart-topping singer songwriter. She recently performed at theStop Climate Chaos I Count gig in London's Trafalgar Square

Why did you decide to support the I Count event?
If my music can help the day be a success and help people enjoy it then that
that’s great, I feel like I’ve done something good for the day.

Do you think that the trend of seeing more musicians expressing their
political opinion is a good thing?
I’m not sure about musicians getting political. I’m not here [at the I Count
gig] to be political. I’m here because I really, really care about the
environment, And yes, I’m here to try and get politicians to do something
about it. But I don’t think this is political. This is a really dire situation that
is affecting everybody on the planet and politics is part of it. But everybody
needs to do something.

What do you do to help stop climate chaos?
As soon as I made my album I signed up with the Carbon Neutral company and they plant trees to offset my emissions. So that’s my CD output, the delivery vans that take the CDs to the shop, my tours and my flights. I realise that it is only just storage and that when the trees ever die or get cut down that carbon is out again. So really it is about finding ways of dealing with that and of not using fossil fuels. The biodiesel thing is great and that is really starting to kick off in America with tour bus travel. All musicians should use biodiesel buses. It should be a rule.

And personally?
I don’t have a television. I don’t have a car. I use a bike. I never ever fill the kettle to full unless I really need to. I’ve also started turning off unnecessary electrical items during the day.

Do you have an environmentally bad habit?
It is probably getting on a plane. It’s a really, really terrible habit and
it is just something at the moment I feel I have to do. I mean I could not
get on the plane but I want to take my music to other places in the world.
So at the moment that’s my biggest vice.

What do you enjoy most about being a musician?
Just to be able to do what I passionately love doing as a living. It’s a
very lucky position to be in.

And least?
Not seeing my mates. I want to see my mates more.

What do you miss about Fife?
I miss the landscape. Which is another very big reason why I’m into all the
environmental stuff in the first place. Because I grew up in a very
beautiful part of the world.

Career highlight to date?
That’s very difficult one to pin point. One of my favourite moments was
going on Top of the Pops on my own with an electric guitar. That was good.

Do Scottish audiences differ to those elsewhere?
Yes. They are pure mental.

Most embarrassing moment?
When I punctured myself through the pinkie with a broken string and I had to
pull it out of my finger in front of 400 people. I was quite embarrassed.
But secretly I was really quite excited about it, It was all very rock and
roll.

What would you like for your next birthday?
A new American president!

Scottish singer songwriter KT Tunstall was raised in St. Andrews, Fife. Her
double platinum selling debut album Eye to the Telescope was nominated for
the prestigious Mercury Prize. She is currently recording her next album.
www.kttunstall.com
For more about I Count and what you can do to help Stop Climate Chaos,
please visit: www.icount.org.uk

Interview by: Lang Banks

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