Soul savers

MUSIC:Body Soul grew from a seed planted in the minds of two friends to become first an add-on to knowing festivals such as The Big Chill and Electric Picnic and then a unique stand-alone festival in Co Westmeath. Its co-founder tells TONY CLAYTON-LEAhow it happened

‘WE GOT THE idea in San Francisco about 15 years ago,” says Avril Stanley, festival director of Body & Soul. “A friend and I had just come back from Burning Man, and it blew our minds wide open and, in the desert, my friend and I shook hands, and said this was what we’d do for the rest of our lives. It was a naive, open-minded, but committed plan. We started doing parties in woods and deserted warehouses. It wasn’t about building an empire; it was purely a passion we had.

“I ended up in England, where I trained as a shiatsu practitioner and a contemplative psychotherapist, which is a Buddhist form of psychotherapy. But I also went to festivals, and during one – The Big Chill – I detected a gap in what they were doing, and I offered to run an area within it called Body & Soul. So we started doing a healing area there, and it went from a small space to quite a substantial area. After a while we wanted stages and bigger budgets. We wanted to expand on the idea of what Body & Soul was all about.

“Ultimately, though, we wanted to get away from the idea that Body & Soul was just a healing area for holistic arts, well-being and chilled-out music. It was at this point – about eight years ago – that Electric Picnic asked us to run Body & Soul within the festival.

“What are we about? Daring to be different, but not so different that it marginalises anyone. The holistic side of the event? Well, it isn’t like you have to find your inner child or heal your deep traumatic wounds. The doorway to that is left ajar, and if you want to walk through it you can. If you just want a deep-tissue massage that gets you ready for a night of dancing that’s there too.

“There is nothing holier-than-thou, nothing dogmatic, nothing religious at all. There’s a place in Body & Soul where if you want a moment away from everything and everyone you can do that. If you think that’s a load of la-la, then ignore it and enjoy all the other stuff that’s on offer.”

Tunes, chocolate, chill 10 things you have to see and do at Body & Soul next weekend

LISA HANNIGAN

Hannigan, up there with Ireland's best contemporary singer-songwriters, is a perfect fit for Body & Soul. Along with her 2008 debut See Sew(still a fond memory), it's likely that she will be previewing material from her eagerly anticipated forthcoming album. If for some reason you don't get to see her at Body & Soul, Hannigan is undergoing a nationwide tour – but really, this is the time and the place.

NATASHA’S LIVING FOOD EMPORIUM

If you like chocolate, make your way here. If the desserts, superpower cacao smoothies and the cacao “all night long” love drink (it’s a top secret recipe, so don’t bother asking) appeal to your sensibilities, then imagine what you’ll make of the hotly tipped choco-massage and silky-choc yoga. Add in late-night acoustic multicultural sessions (blues, rockabilly, world, bluegrass, folk and gypsy) and you’re sorted.

PLAID

London-based Plaid (Ed Handley and Andy Turner) handle electronic music the way a bomb disposal engineer holds a pair of wire cutters: carefully, full of due consideration and respect for the workings of something they inherently understand. When they're not creating music that is equal measures glitchy and tuneful, they are remixing the likes of Björk, Goldfrapp and Red Snapper. Expect fave tunes to be performed, as well as snippets from their forthcoming album, Scintilli.

LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY

Grammy winner Perry (75), quite likely the oldest person at Body & Soul, is something of a legend in reggae and dub circles – he started his career selling records, and then went on to pioneer both reggae music and sampling. His mixing- board experiments, meanwhile, effectively created the sonic pushes, pulls, shoves and waves of dub. Perry has subsequently lent his skills to dubstep and beyond. Still a mover and shaker, and still a musician to be reckoned with.

INSIDE OUTSIDE

Photographer Aoife Banville is a Body & Soul stalwart, and is a firm advocate of early photographic techniques such as pinhole cameras. This year she is creating the Inside Outsideinstallation, which will transform a garden shed into a camera obscura, wherein the outside world is reflected on to the inside of the shed. All well and good, but Banville has a few tricks up her sleeve, so prepare to be surprised.

LAMB

Manchester electronica duo Andy Barlow and Louise Rhodes have experienced more splits than a dance troupe, so it’s gratifying to know that, on yet another reunion, the pair are taking the time to visit Ireland. Think a smart fusion of musical styles here, from trip-hop, dub and jazz to folktronica, drum’n’bass and breakbeat. Whatever way the music pans out, though, you can be assured of virtually anthemic music that is infused with passion (Rhodes has been described, correctly, as a “trip-hop Edith Piaf”) and commitment.

HOLISTIC HAVEN

If comfy cocoons, gently waving flags, chimes that chink and the occasional craniosacral caressing makes your heart go all aflutter, then this serene space, located on the shores of Ballinlough Castle’s lake, is just for you. There will be up to 30 therapists on site for those who want to blend music with a range of massage that includes shiatsu, Ayurvedic and aromatherapy. There will also be yoga teachers and dance workshops. Fancy taking lessons in devotional classical Indian dance? Form an orderly queue.

NICOLAS JAAR

Only 21 and already he’s known as the Renaissance Man of electronic music? Shouldn’t be allowed, is what we say. New York’s Jaar is the kind of smart DIY musician and producer (have laptop, will travel) who innately trusts his instincts while also running free with ideas. Dance music? Maybe. Deep house? Perhaps not. Techno? Ah no. What then? How about Jaar’s own description of his ruminative, often melancholy grooves: “blue wave”. Yes, that’ll do nicely.

GAEL WINDS

Woodwind instrumentals in the woods? Yes, please. Gael Winds are Cliona Warren (bassoon), Rebecca Halliday (oboe), Conor Shiel (clarinet) and Vourneen Ryan (flute), and their plan is to make sure that after a performance by, for example, Holy Fuck, you can wind down with their mischievous, 21st-century take on classical music. You’ll hear the likes of Mozart and French composers Françaix and Bozza – with a twist.

THE BOG COTTAGE

During the day, this wonderfully named building (it isn’t a toilet, by the way) serves up freshly baked bread and the like, with a side order of foot spas, soaks and rubs. After the sun goes down a range of events take place, from music (trad to classical jazz), improv karaoke fun and games on the upright piano, and a very late (or very early, viewpoint depending) disco.

Body & Soul Festival takes place at Ballinlough Castle, Co Westmeath, June 18-19. bodyandsoul.ie