FEATURE
Ian’s definitely helping me with my harmonies, I’m not naturally a harmony
singer. I haven’t got much experience in that, but he was really good directing
me in my harmonies to do all my own backing vocals.
"I find there’s
something really
amazing or beautiful if
something really bad
has happened to you
and you’re able to
create art out of it,
taking a positive out of
negative situation that
other people can relate
to."
I have to ask a question about your voice! You have such a powerful, soulful
voice. Who or what inspired that?
It’s a difficult question to answer. As I’ve got older it’s become more and
more soulful. I can’t ever pinpoint one particular genre or artist that’s
inspired me. The only thing I would say is when I was really young I loved,
and still do - I still maintain it’s one of the best albums ever produced - Alanis
Morissette ‘Jagged Little Pill.’ I was obsessed with it when I was younger. I
loved her voice. Even though I was too young to really appreciate the lyrics,
now I’m older I can and how ridiculously sad they are. She was authentic and
at the time there was no one like her. I was also very much into pop, chart
music, like any kid is really. My Mum and my Dad liked a variety of genres as
well but they played a lot of Motown, a bit of blues and jazz. I think it was
only until I started singing and my musician friends would say you’ve got a
real soul/jazz voice that I started going away and listening to a lot of jazz,
blues and soul. I think that’s what influenced my sound now. It’s always been
there I just didn’t know what it was until people confirmed that was the sound
that suited my voice. I also went away and listened to a lot of Amy
(Winehouse) and found her songs suited my voice, Duffy as well has a really
distinctive sound. So, I guess that developed in the end.
Performing live vs recording…where are you most at home?
That’s a tricky one! I love recording live, as an artist I think it’s important
that you can perform live. You could be amazing in the studio, but if you can’t
bring that sound on a live basis you’ll never connect to your audience, it’s
something you can’t get in the studio. But then again, I’ve really noticed the
creative process in the studio. You can start with the bare bones of
something, an idea you have in your head one day, and the suddenly it’s
brought to life. It’s suddenly out there, it’s got all those elements added to it,
it’s building and building. It’s a different kind of buzz. I do love to co-write, I
think it gets the best out of my songs. I love that other people’s ideas are
brought to the table. So, to be honest with you, I lov e them both in equal
measures but for different reasons!
What inspires your songwriting?
General life, like most songwriters, things that have happened to me.
Mainly in the music I’ve written so far, they’re inspired by past relationships,
situations you have, failed relationships. Then again ‘Live a Lie’ was about
living your dreams despite other people telling you you can’t do it, stick to
what everyone else is doing, stick to the 9 to 5, that’s the way of the world. It
was written when I hadn’t got into music but I really wanted to do it, so it was
basically about that. I tend to write better when I’m feeling reflective or a bit
sad. I find there’s something really amazing or beautiful if something really
bad has happened to you and you’re able to create art out of it, taking a
positive out of negative situation that other people can relate to. I think it’s a
strong thing to offer. Don’t get me wrong, my songs don’t all sound sad, but
they’re quite dark. There’s a lot of dark elements to my music, I think that’s
something I naturally do. What I’d really like to do is to write for other people
and pitch songs to other artists. I sometimes write songs I don’t ever see
myself performing but it’s not necessarily a bad song, I think someone else
could do it justice and put a spin on it. So that’s something I’d like to pursue.