The double life of a rare talent, The Herald, december 29, 1993
(photo)

David Belcher on the life and times of Herald illustrator Aggi whose other talent is music and who treats both with equal importance.
Ms Wright’s double life spans two christian names and two artistic disciplines, encompassing Japan and The Herald in the process. As Annabel Wright, she has been a bespoke illustrator to this paper’s women’s page for the past six years. Her drawings also appear in lots of ads, magazines, books, most recently in a series of Cambridge University Press teach-yourself-English books.
Additionally, her drawings feature prominently on record sleeves for discs by Glasgow’s godparents of post-post-post-post-punk, the Pastels. And what’s the name of the bass-playing Pastel, the one who sings as well as writing Pastel song ? Aggi. Aggi who ? Aggi Ressive ? Aggi Ravation ? Aggi Wright ! That’s you reinventing yourself in time-honoured Warholian manner, Annabel-Aggi, that is, isn’t it ?
It is. Sort of. Up to a point.
" My double life is very important, " says Aggi, who much prefers being gritty Aggi to flowery Annabel, as indeed anyone would if, like her, they had grown up in unflowery Alloa. " I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I’ve studied hard ; I understand it ; I love doing it. And I feel the same about my music. I think there are some people in groups who draw, and some illustrators who might have a band as a hobby, but I feel different in that I try to take both things as far as I can. Neither is secondary.
" I think some people feel that you can’t do both things seriously, but I can’t imagine solely being in a group. It would be too narrow, too self-obsessed. You’d be too easily sucked into the music business as well, and it’s not a business I like. I think doing both things helps me keep a sense of perspective.
" Admittedly, I’ve done more with the group lately, because the group has a momentum. That has meant that I’m not actively exploring all the avenues for illustration right now. I’m aware that I can’t actively go out and search for the most demanding work. But I feel that there is time for that later, and that that can be a positive factor.
" A lot of illustrators seem to have a huge potential when they first come out of college but burn themselves up, running out of ideas too quickly. They’ve dived in straight away and had their style flogged to death. I’m naturally slow at developing ideas anyway, and I think it has been better for my work that I have had the time, due to the Pastels, to do it more slowly still. "
Ironically, Aggi’s life with the Pastels had recently developed a trans-global jet-set aspect. Last month the band spent 10 " very strange " days in Japan, playing six sell-out shows to thousands of adoring Pastels-fanatics in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo.
" It was weird to be treated like pop stars when don’t feel comfortable with that role. We didn’t have to worry about our equipment on stage – in fact our japanese roadies wouldn’t let us plug our guitar in ourselves. And after Stephen had been getting electric shocks from a microphone, the roadie who fixed it didn’t just say ‘Is that OK ?’, he insisted on testing it for possible shocks himself.
" We’re used to milling about with our fans in Britain after a show, but the Japanese promoters rigorously cleared the halls with brusque loudspeaker announcement saying things like :’the Pastels have left the building… please leave, the show is over’. We’d be smuggled out of back doors and bundled into taxis, with fans desperately pressing gifts up of teddy bears at the windows. "
Being big in Japan, it’s a funny old game.
" Maybe it’s because there’s the obvious language barrier, but Japanese fans are very keen for you to sign things for them, like record sleeves, and be photographed with you, shaking hands. Almost wherever we went we would be surrounded by groups of them on all sided, but they’re so polite that there’s never any sense of physical pressures.
" We played a few songs in a Tokyo record shop and then had to stand very formally behind the counter to sign autographs, while the fans were made to queue up. Girls would turn out at the different stations to see us off whenever we travelled by bullet train. One girl kept appearing in different places with different record sleeves, reintroducing herself every time.
" After a sound-check, Katrina went out to buy some film, and thought she’d just ask some of the fans outside where she could get some. After much excitement, four fans decided they’d take her and show her, but they were so distracted they nearly got every-one knocked over by a car. Then, after a short while, they decided it would be more proper to walk a few respectful paces behind Katrina, instead of leading her.
" They’ve written her letters since.’I was one of the film girls. I went with you to buy film (ISO 400). For you it was insignificant, but for us it was a very special thing.’ The most peculiar thing is being surrounded by all these happy, excited, smiling faces… but when you speak to young Japanese people, they all tell you how unhappy they are, and how they want to leave Japan, but they don’t know why. "

In contrast, happiness for Ms Wright is doing both the things she does in all the places she does them.

Annabel Wright’s work will form part of an exhibition organised by Illustrators In Scotland at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Gallery in January. One of her works will also be on display in a fund-raising exhibition for Shelter Scoltland at Glasgow’s Scotland Street School Museum, February 7-27.