FEATURE
HELEN
CONNELLY
Tipped as 'one to watch' by her
local press, Helen Connelly is a
powerful singer-songwriter with a
uniquely soulful voice that comes
from the heart. Songs full of
heartbreak, tinged with an edge
of darkness and blessed with an
air of jazz make this artist one for
your new music playlist. Kelly
Andrews catches up with her
not far from her home town of
Colchester, Essex.
What lead you in to music?
I’ve always been writing songs and singing since I was really
young. I went to stage school for a while, but it turned out to be
a nightmare and I ended up quitting. It was always something I
wanted to do but as I got older life got in the way a little bit and I
felt I couldn’t do it. I didn’t actually play an instrument myself so
it kind of felt out of reach. I went on to other things but couldn’t
stop thinking about it. I still really wanted to get out and do it, so
I bit the bullet one year, I think it was 2011 and I started looking
for a guitarist to sing with. I met this guy, an amazing guitarist
call Crazz, we hit it off and he really helped me build my
confidence in singing. We started doing a few covers and then I
started taking my original music to him, songs I’d written. He
started co-writing with me and putting his guitar over it. Then
we just went out to open mics really, that was a good way of
getting my presence out there locally, getting more and more
experience and confidence in performing. It escalated from
there! The reaction was really really good, it took me by
surprise and it spurred me on to want to do more and more.
Crazz and I recorded my first EP, 'Love, Life & Lyricality,' and we
released that independently. At the time I didn’t know how to
promote. I’ve got experience in advertising and marketing, but
didn’t know who to go to when. So, I didn’t do that much to
promote it really. Considering that, we got a really good
reception locally and I got support from my music blog.
Me and Crazz stopped working together, but not through any
ill feeling. I just wanted to do more and more and more and
he’s been there, done that. He didn’t want to do the whole
scene again, so he thought I should find someone younger,
who’s hungry for it. So that’s what I did. I worked with different
musicians, and now I’ve got my band behind me. It’s taken me
literally 3 years, to find the best band for me. It was a case of
constantly asking people, networking.
I’ve always loved singing, it’s been therapeutic for me, and I’ve
found it a release. I used to write poems, so it was always there,
but was lacking the confidence to pursue it. What I’d always say
to anyone wanting to do anything like that, is to just do it. Don’t
let anything hold you back. I think I let fear get in the way for
too long, so I was a little bit late doing it. Although, at the same
time I don’t think I’d have been as ready.
You mentioned your band. Can you tell us a bit more about
them…
Originally, I was asking for a guitarist to do a gig with me back
in February time and I met AJ. We hit it off and he learnt my
music really really quickly, he’s an amazing guitarist. I got
chatting with him about how moving forwards I wanted a bigger
sound live as my performances had always been acoustic. My
first EP was quite acoustic sounding, but my sound has evolved
from then, a lot bigger production, more produced. I was
worried that if people liked my more up to date music and
wanted to see me live it would be a bit of an anti-climax because
they wouldn’t be able to see what they’d been hearing. AJ had a
friend who was a drummer who loved getting involved with