Bass player Huw V Williams, originally hailing from rural North Wales, has collaborated with musicians in the field of jazz and improvised music including Jim Black, Huw Warren, Jeff Williams, Laura Jurd, Emma Frank and Ivo Neame. As well as being jazz bass player, he also plays in the rock world with musicians Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and Kliph Scurlock (formerly of the Flaming Lips). Huw lives in London and has two children, aged nine and 22 months old.
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UK Jazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling parenthood and career?
Huw V Williams: I’m not sure I remember any advice on the balance/juggle, since we were around 26 when we had our youngest. It all felt very new and we were the first in our group of friends to have a child. I think someone said to me “get your practice in now!”, which is/was a very valid thing to say, since time becomes scarce.
UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?
HVW: Make the most of your pockets of time, find a way to power through (I’m still trying to do this). Also, I wish I knew better how to switch from musician mode to parent mode, rather than trying to do it all in one go.
UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other parents in jazz:
HVW: It’ll all be okay in the end. Everyone’s situation is different. You find your way. Even though both me and my partner are self employed musicians and not on a full time salary, we’re lucky that we have family to help when we’re in need of childcare and support. I know plenty of musicians whose partners are on a full time salary, which can afford childcare a bit easier, but then have a little less freedom in the gigs/music they make, it’s all a sliding scale. I try not to give any advice, since I’m still figuring it out (as I’m sure most of us are).
UKJN: Travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice. This can be gear or gadget-related, or pertain to approach/what to do/what not to do:
HVW: I’ve been lucky with big tours, my partner and family have been able to look after the little ones. A few years ago, I was playing a gig with a singer songwriter (outside the jazz world) in a big venue, so I decided to take my eldest daughter along to the soundcheck so she could see what it was like there. I think I put her off being a traveling musician, there’s only so many times you want to hear a bass drum being hit! There’s been a situation where I’ve had to take the youngest with me to a gig for my partner to pick her up. It’s fun carrying a baby in a sling while wheeling a bass around Central London, totally doable.
UKJN: What is one way that figures or structures in the jazz industry could better support parents who are working jazz musicians?
HVW: There have been some situations where people have said they didn’t hire me for a gig or put me forward for an opportunity because I have a child, which really frustrated me, that’s when you need the work most! It only happened a few times, but it’s nothing compared to what mothers go through, it’s a common occurrence in the “real job” world where they lose out on opportunities when pregnant and I’m sure this happens in the music industry unfortunately. Everyone’s situation is different in terms of parenting and childcare, so I wish those people wouldn’t just make assumptions on your behalf.
UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?
HVW: Time is a rare commodity, having to find pockets of time to practice and do the admin work, but I feel more on top of it since having children than I did before. I can get into that flow state a little better, even if I’m on gigs where I didn’t get as much time as I’d like to prepare, somehow my ears and reading have become better, maybe it’s a survival tactic.
I think I’ve become happier playing music since becoming a father. I had an unhealthy mindset before, where my biggest goal was to only do the art gigs, but since having kids I’ve felt OK taking on the work gigs, which I’ve also come to love as there’s an art to those as well. I feel being a musician is a privilege and I feel very lucky I’ve been able to put off getting a straight ahead job so far. Aside from that, I’m still as keen as ever to still have my own voice as an instrumentalist and composer/bandleader, it just takes a little longer to finish (time/money etc).
UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a parent in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?
HVW: While taking a gig, it has to tick some boxes, especially since there are multiple mouths to feed. For example, if there’s a one off gig that requires a lot of rehearsal, I have to consider whether to take it or not, since I can’t afford to take too many days off/sort childcare. I really have to weigh up some gigs these days financially, as much as I’d love to be able to take the chance and do everything like I did in my 20s, I wouldn’t be able to justify a random door gig where I go home with a few quid, unless it’s something that’s really worth it artistically. But the one big thing I would say to bandleaders is, let the band know with plenty of notice when soundcheck/gig time is, can’t organise childcare on the same afternoon so easily.
The new band which Huw V Williams leads is Di-Cysgodion – the Welsh for ‘Anti Shadows’ – with Jay Davis on drums, Billy Marrows and Mike De Souza both on guitar. Di-Cysgodion are at Jazz at MAP in Kentish Town on Sunday 8 June, and will be releasing music later in the year.
(*) Parents in Jazz was started (first as ‘Mothers In Jazz’) by vocalist Nicky Schrire in August 2022. The initiative aims to create an online resource for jazz industry professionals with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who are parents. The insight of the musicians and administrators interviewed for this series provides valuable emotional, philosophical and logistical information and support that is easily accessible to all. “Parents In Jazz” shines a light on the very specific role of being both a parent and a performing jazz musician or jazz arts professional.
