In Conversation With Colin: Gemma & Nicky Kirk of Lost Chimes

Husband and wife song-writing duo Gemma and Nicky Kirk, who perform as Lost Chimes, capture the dynamics and nuances of long term commitment and ever changing relationships that invariably evolve through pain and love.

Colin Palmer found out more about Lost Chimes for ‘The Rock Vault’ radio show.

Lost Chimes latest album Now I Swim released June 6th, was recorded in London with renowned producer Gerry Diver, who has worked with the likes of Martyn Joseph, Billy Bragg, Van Morrison and Damon Albarn.

Gemma explains about the initial meeting. “About two years ago we started the process of thinking about wanting to do this album and I was working at an arts and cultural centre in Hampstead. Lisa Knapp (radio 2 folk award winner and Gerry Diver’s wife) was performing and we got put on a bill with her and some other people and it was really fantastic.

“We asked her who produced her album and she told us it was her partner Gerry Diver, and so this process began which is akin to dating, in that we met for coffee and he turned up at our gig and we had a bit of a chat there. It was a joy finding out what his process was and he helped to guide us by asking questions like ‘what’s your big vision and what’s the theme and wider goals’. That was helpful to us because it pushed us out of our comfort zone. He told us that the music world is very crowded and what you need to do if you want to stand out is create moments that grab people’s attention, either through the vocals or the instrumentation or the format of the song-writing, and so we progressed along that route.”

The album’s sumptuous production and arrangement reflect their sophisticated song-writing and the result is an ethereal musical soundscape. Drawing on ancestral strengths as a means to use people’s voices to preserve their stories, and helping people find joy through healing inter-generational trauma is something Gemma feels passionate about, as she explains. “It sounds quite a lot but it’s something I would say most people that I know are dealing with on which ever level. We’ve all got different family histories, some of its good and some of its not so good, and if you can actually try and heal it then it creates hopefully an easier and healthier world.”

Through talking to some of their friends and acquaintances with a series of interviews about their childhoods, Gemma and Nicky used parts of their conversational stories and wove them into the tapestry of the album. One such conversation provided the inspiration for the title track ‘Now I Swim’ and features their Irish friend, Sheila; a Galway resident whose late father was a pro-wind surfer in the 1970’s, he would tell Sheila mystical tales about magical myths and legends of Ireland that formed a lasting and profound impression. Sheila now swims every day in the Irish Sea to help her cope with the loss of her father and to connect with his memory.

There are wonderfully rhythmic and melodic textures running through the album, including intricate guitar-work and lush strings. Over the layered instrumentation, Gemma’s tuneful voice is rich and immediately captivating. As Gemma delivers her profoundly poetic words on the song ‘Something Different’ – “Way way out into space / In the farthest reaches of our galaxy / A tiny piece of dust remembers where it came from / Somewhere between you and me” the song slowly builds until reaching a crescendo.

Gemma explains the origins of the song. “Something Different is about how relationships evolve and adapt and endure over time, and how everybody who has been in a relationship for a long time go through better periods and harder periods but through the adversity you generally get stronger. The 2nd verse of Something Different is very much getting us to think about the bigger picture, we’re tiny dots and we’re all kind of dust really and other elements floating around in this big cosom and somehow people come together, and isn’t that just amazing!”

Gemma’s chosen musical instrument is the Roland AX-Edge Keytar, unlike most performance synth keyboardists who perform behind a traditional keyboard rig, keytar players including Gemma appreciate the diversity the instrument offers.

“It’s very heavy”, says Gemma laughing. “It looks good and it makes you feel incredibly powerful so that’s good enough for me. What we’ve been doing lately is to use the instrument to provide a warm wash under Nicky’s guitar and my voice, it does a really good job with that in mind. It sets a mood for each song, especially if there’s only two of us playing we have to try and create a mood with what we’ve got, I’m literally playing bass notes most of the time and it’s got something like a thousand sounds, I’ve just scratched the surface its nuts!”

Nicky continues, “It helps because a lot of my guitar work is quite intricate and there’s a lot of finger picking quite high up on the fret board as well, especially when we’re playing a more lively gig then it does help to add that bottom layer underneath everything and give it a full weight.”

Lost Chimes’ second album release is another carefully honed collection of deeply personal songs that reflect the gamut of human emotions and explore trauma, healing and identity. The London based duo are making a name for themselves and Now I Swim is an atmospheric and alluring album, one thing that stands out is the pure love they have for what they do, and that is an important factor on this album.

Excerpts of this interview were broadcast on ‘The Rock Vault’ June 3rd 2025.

Listen here: https://player.autopod.xyz/917979

Photo credit: Katrina Campbell

Written by Colin Palmer