Chatting With Berenice Scott

You may have heard Berenice Scott’s music on such hit shows as Vigil, Liar, and ITV’s The Suspect, or even seen her onstage with the likes of Simple Minds and Heaven 17, or on tour with P!NK, to name a few.

A multi-instrumentalist who splits her time between composing for TV and film, touring with prolific acts, and writing and performing her own material, her new release A Joni Kind Of Mood features her own moving and intimate personal arrangements of Joni Mitchell songs and some other original surprises.

Berenice Scott releases A Joni Kind of Mood on November 3rd, so we caught up with her to learn more.

Hi Berenice, first, how are you?

I’m very well, thank you! I am currently walking through Primrose Hill with the dogs after a day in the studio composing for Vigil 2 with my scoring partner, Glenn Gregory.

It is an exciting countdown period for you currently. Tell us a little more about the upcoming album...

Yes, thank you; it’s actually very exciting! This is a project that I initially started thinking about and feeling about six years ago! I can’t quite believe it has been that long, but in that time, of course, we had the pandemic, and a couple of years were taken up for me with touring. Because this material is so intricate and layered. I wanted to give it the amount of time I felt it needed, no matter how long that took. There’s been a lot of blood. sweat and tears! But overall, it has been one of the most intense and satisfying creative things I have undertaken.

Joni Mitchell is so heavily revered; was it daunting working on a covers collection?

Definitely... hugely daunting; a lot of chatter in my head about it! But ultimately, I started this as a personal healing process, as I suddenly found myself in a place where I felt totally burned out. musically, creatively, and personally, and that was a hard period in my life... So in a way, I just tried to approach her material with as much love and care as I could, while at the same time being true to myself musically and performatively.

What is your personal favourite Joni song?

Oh wow, so very hard to pick... They all have a place, every single one. If I really did have to choose an 'album', I think it would be Hejira as a whole body of work. That album has been a very special friend to me, as I’m sure it has been to millions of others.

What do you think is the secret to a good cover?

If someone has been touched by someone else’s work enough to learn and re-interpret it and then commit to their own individual performance, I think that is a really special journey to go on, and I think someone somewhere will be touched by that in some way.

Do you have an all-time favourite Joni cover (by someone else)?

Is it okay to pick Joni Mitchell covering her own material?! Both Sides Now from ‘Both Sides Now’ is just stunningly, achingly beautiful, for so many reasons...

The album will be followed by a one-off performance in London. What do you have planned?

As the music is of such a poetic and intricate nature, I feel very passionate about making this an intimate experience for everyone. I hope that people will be in the mood to revisit their love for the times they’ve needed it and listen to Joni Mitchell throughout their lives... I also have a few other original moments planned that will be in keeping with being inspired by her work but not necessarily written by her.

Could a tour follow in the aftermath?

I am definitely looking forward to taking this show on the road. It would be amazing to be in other places amongst other audiences and just explore this work... I really like how arrangements and performances can change and develop over time, so touring is something we are thinking about carefully.

You have been on the road with some huge artists; what is the best advice you've ever received?

I would have to say that the most enduring advice I was given was for my first tour: ear plugs and proper slippers for the tour bus! Also, remembering that loved ones at home are on their own routine, so respecting that and calling at nice times—not 1:30am!—for them is hugely important, I think. At some point, you are going home, and your life on the road is technically just a job, and as a musician, it's not a particularly complicated one, so I think it’s good to be as grounded as possible.

It’s very easy to party every night, but that doesn’t mean that that is the right thing to do!

Lastly, is there someone you dream of still sharing the stage with?

I’m pretty obsessed with Michael McDonald. It’s Michael McDonald all the way for me.