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Song Review: Verity White – Own Me

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Own Me
Verity White / Own Me Cover Art: Verity White

Multi-award-winning singer Verity White has earned her reputation as a prolific songwriter by having released in just over a year, her two EPs Parentheses and Stripped Bare, and a double A-side single Too Much / Look Inside followed by her brilliant debut album, Breaking Out (read our review of it here) which was released in Winter 2017.

Verity has a new album forthcoming in Winter 2018, but that isn’t slowing her down. She’s hot on the songwriting trail with a new kick-ass single, Own Me, which was released on June 11. 

You can’t judge a song by its title and this one is no exception. It’s deceptively clever and that will come clear to you after the opening guitar riff when Verity’s impassioned voice sweeps you in. Then you’re in for a lyrically wild ride over a relentless rocking 90s influenced melody that you can’t get out of your head.

Verity showcases her sing-softly-but-carry-a-big-vocal-stick strategy which comes to fruition as she ramps it up powerfully along with the band and sweet background harmonies in the chorus sections. This matches perfectly with Verity’s growling vocal of the in-your-face lyric You don’t own me/You don’t know me. Verity then follows each chorus up with a fierce dressing down of a someone who voices their outdated opinions and perceptions about what she should be.   

Toward the end, the song comes to an abrupt halt with the bang of the drum and a hard strum on the guitar. As the guitar note hangs in the air, a slow heavy drumbeat takes over, accompanied by angelic background harmonies. It builds with a dramatic anticipation you can actually feel. It’s here that Verity switches to an enticing sultry vocal that springs it on you that she’s not that delicate gal that you want her to be. Be warned, there’s a bad-ass devil that lies inside her.

Highly recommended.  Verity White is a talented songwriter backed with a soulful, rocksteady set of pipes. She should be on every playlist of essential music collections. You don’t want to miss out on this tasty morsel of what is to come with her new album.

Catch Verity at The Troubador (UK) on August 03, 2018.  Venue & Ticket Information: Ticketweb.uk

Purchase “Own Me” on Bandcamp  and iTunes (UK)   

Stream “Own Me” on Spotify and Apple Music 

Follow Verity White on:

Facebook: veritywhitesinger

Twitter:  @VeeBear   

Instagram:  @original_verity   

YouTube:  TheVeebear  

EP Review: El Mar – Walking With Dogs

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El Mar
Photo courtesy of El Mar/Joey Primero

Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter, Joey Primero, alongside a collective of New York City-based musicians, is El Mar, who has garnered rave reviews from Billboard, Paste Magazine, Impose Magazine, The New York Observer and more with her debut EP ‘The Road’ in 2015 and her debut album ‘Try To Forget’ in 2017.

Primero records under the moniker “El Mar” which in Spanish translates to “The Sea”,  is a nod to Primero’s roots and seaside upbringing.  A Miami native, she was raised by a single mother who came from Columbia to the US as a teen. 

Her new EP, Walking With Dogs, was released on June 15. Recorded in just two days in Brooklyn in the Fall of 2017, the EP was written by Primero after she left a music industry career working as a music publicist for over 5 years.

Primero had worked with many bands, including notable ones, but the artist and songwriter inside her longed to be heard and she missed performing. It was then that she decided it was time to get back to what she had come to New York to do. 

Walking With Dogs is an honest, raw exploration of loss, love, rage, and envy through an emotionally candid lens. 

The first track out the gate is in-your-face and clever I Want Some Money.  The opening is a soothing guitar and bass melody accompanied by bright drums that gently lead you into not what you expect. You’re jolted from this relaxed state with Primero’s strong, commanding vocals beginning with her declaration that you “grow up”.  Her powerful vocal ability is showcased in the chorus with emotional, scorching notes.  Lyrically it brilliantly conveys sarcasm and feeling bitter about a friendship that is ending and wanting back what you invested into it.

One of the EP’s stand-out tracks is New Life, the can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head song. You can read my review of the infectious post-breakup song when it was released in February this year.

The track Sin Sin is an emotionally charged song written by Primero who says it is “about her estranged Cuban-American father who was in and out of her life throughout her childhood after struggling with drug addiction.”  The song is stripped down to acoustic guitar and light percussion accentuating a slow, somber melody. Primero’s impassioned vocals during the song are especially poignant in the chorus and harmonies as the lyrics paint her heartbreaking story.    

Saving the best track for last is the latest single release, The Best One. This song is a unique, 90s flavored ballad of being hopelessly in love without it dripping in the usual sappiness of most love songs. Written for her guitarist and husband-to-be, Fred Sladkey, Primero explores the joyful upheaval of loving someone so fully. The song opens with a beautiful silky melody on acoustic guitar and Primero’s angelic voice. Then it switches over to the guitar strumming which hints that this is not your usual ballad. After the next few verses, the song bursts wide open into a robust chorus, with a tight guitar, bass, percussion, gorgeous background harmonies, and Primero’s powerhouse vocals. This song is for anyone in love with someone who makes them, as Primero declares about Fred, “stupidly happy”.

Highly Recommended.  Walking with Dogs is an EP you should have in your collection. Joey Primero/El Mar is a talented songwriter who lets her vulnerability create memorable songs and whose voice will capture your heart.

Walking With Dogs is available to purchase on iTunes and cdbaby.

Stream it on Spotify

Follow El Mar on Social Media:

Twitter: @i_am_el_mar

Facebook: iamelmar

Instagram: @i_am_el_mar

Check out El Mar on Soundcloud

Song Review: Edgewater Angel – Done With You

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Photo courtesy of Edgewater Angel

When Los Angeles based songwriters Kaylee Atherton and Mario DiLeva met in the summer of 2017, they never intended to be a band. But when the two friends who shared similar musical tastes and influences (Modern Alternative Rock and 90s Grunge bands) began to write songs together, the accomplished performers and musicians realized they had something special.  They wrote their first single, “Done With You” after a couple of weeks of writing together.

Wanting an authentic voice and sound for their songs, the songwriting duo created the four-piece Alternative Rock band, Edgewater Angel.  K-Lee Marie is the lead vocalist; Mario is the band’s bassist.  The name is a combination of two homes — one inspired and one real. Mario’s hometown of San Pedro, a port town on the edge of LA,  inspired “Edgetown” and “Angel” is short for Los Angeles where Mario and Kaylee are based.

After many marathon writing sessions, Edgewater Angel took their songs to the studio in March 2018 and recorded their five-song EP.  Edgewater Angel plans to release the EP single by single with the full EP released in early 2019. The band is currently performing in and around the Southern California area with a tour planned for the Fall of 2018.

“Done With You” right out the gate is a kick-ass, take no prisoners rocker.

The opening guitar riffs are fierce and furious emulating the 90s grunge sound. They drop off to a single guitar loop that awaits the entrance of vocalist K-Lee Marie. With her beautifully smooth and enchanting vocal, she draws you in first with a statement and then a question. She incorporates a wonderful sing-song quality in the pre-chorus lyrics that set the emotional stage to come. If you think you know where this song is going, don’t hold your breath; you’ll pass out.

The drums, bass, and guitar slowly ramp up together with K-Lee Marie’s voice as the song creeps into the line of the chorus. Then this is where the “Buckle Your Seat Belt” sign comes on. The band explodes into a heavy hitting launchpad from where K-Lee Marie’s powerhouse vocals take off and soar to the atmosphere when she sings, “The lullaby that makes you cry” and onward. You can’t count the goosebumps on your arms. She brings her vocals back down to earth with a gritty conviction in her voice with the last line “I’m done with you.”

You get to take a breather in the next verse which circles back to the first in musical style and vocal tone. It’s here that the lyrics convey some self-doubt creeping in. Once again, the verse builds into the pre-chorus which then explodes into the chorus along with K-Lee Marie’s vocal prowess. But don’t get comfortable; this song is beautifully unpredictable as it gets to the bridge.

At the bridge, the music abruptly stops and then just the drums provide the melody. It is here during the bridge that there is a nice twist in the lyrics. After declaring being done with this person you thought was perfect because when you peeled away the layers, you found them rotten to the core, you take pause. You question yourself. Am I really done with you? There’s that doubt again. In real life, we often second guess ourselves when we think we want to cut our relationship ties and move on.   

Then K-Lee Marie’s vocals drop full force back into the last chorus and with the last words, “I’m done with you”, the song abruptly ends. Like the finality of having made your decision.

Highly recommended.  If this is a preview of their forthcoming singles from the album, we’re in for quite a ride. You’ll want to add Edgewater Angel to your Bands To Watch List so you don’t miss out on these very talented songwriters and musicians.

You can purchase “Done With You” on  iTunes and Bandcamp

Stream it on Spotify
Listen to it on Soundcloud

 

Follow Edgewater Angel on:
Instagram: edgewater.angel
Facebook: edgewater.angel
Spotify Artist Link
YouTube Channel: Edgewater Angel

 

Discover Indie Pop/Rock Artist Ruen

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RUEN / Photo courtesy of Palm Bay Music

Indie Pop/Rock singer/songwriter Ruen is the solo project of music producer turned artist, Rhiannon Mair. Based in Margate, England, Ruen started out behind the scenes working in some of the UK’s most iconic studios with artists such as Laura Marling, DIDI, Bryde, Kimberly Anne and Emma McGrath. 

Championed by Music Tech Magazine as a ‘rising UK production star’, Ruen has now brought her engineering and production skills into her own music.  Her first single, “Bad Behaviour”, a song about being close to someone in an abusive relationship, was released in April 2018. 

Ruen is currently writing and recording new music she aims to release early next year. She also is co-writing and producing a couple of artists. As for touring, Ruen would like to plan a small European tour next year. For now, she’ll be performing some shows this summer.

You can catch Ruen at her next live show on 3 July 2018 at The Finsbury, London.

I recently interviewed Ruen about her new project, new release, producing, her love of drums, and more.

Congratulations on your first single release, “Bad Behavior”. What is the concept or theme behind it?

The song is about being close to someone who is in an abusive relationship. Watching how they go back again and again to an abusive partner knowing that they are bad for them.

Congratulations also on launching your solo project! You have been a producer for an impressive list of artists and Music Tech Magazine recently championed you as “a rising UK production star’.  What inspired you to become a solo artist?

There were moments when working with other artists where I was starting to think ‘this is really cool’ I wish I could do something like this on my music. I have always written music and I think I got to a point where I felt that I could create the sound I wanted to by myself.

How did you come up with the name RUEN?

After a few drinks in my local pub.

Now you’re a solo artist, do you see yourself still producing other artists? Why or why not?

Yeah, I think I’ll always produce music, whether it’s for myself or other artists. I enjoy the process and it feels pretty fulfilling bringing artists’ musical visions to life.

Explain your production process.

It varies for different artists and depends on the type of song you’re producing. RUEN tracks started as demo’s which I later went back to. With Bad Behaviour I kept in a lot of the demo ideas and most of the lead vocals were the demo take.

It certainly takes longer producing your own music; I find myself having to have time away, then go back with fresh ears

where I’ll be like ‘yeahhh that idea doesn’t work’ or ‘that’s great as it is’ It’s a very time-consuming process.

What do you see as the advantages of being both a producer and a musician? Are there any disadvantages?

The main advantage I guess is being able to hear in your head how you want your track to sound and then being able to create it. Being able to hear the drum parts, what you want the bass to do, what effects would work where etc. For me, the disadvantage is that you can get lost sometimes in the production and either add too much or not have enough.

Explain how you got interested in sound engineering and how it led to becoming a producer.

I’ve always had an interest in engineering. When I was little my mum used to take me to her gigs where I’d spend most of the time hanging by the sound desk annoying the engineer by asking ‘..and what does that button do? And that one? And that one?’ I studied music tech at college and spent all my spare time in the studio there, just playing about and experimenting. I really loved the hands-on approach of how you could capture and manipulate sound. After college, I borrowed a little digital 8 track from a friend and started recording songs I had written.

I loved how I could layer up parts and add effects and it was from there I guess where I became hooked on production.

 

Do you think there aren’t enough women producers? Why or why not?

I think there are lots of female producers that are perhaps not being acknowledged as much as they should. There are a few out there at the moment like Catherine Marks, that are bossing it, which is great to see. It would be nice to see a great deal more.

You mentioned in an interview you’d like to get more recognition as a producer. How do you think women producers can achieve this?

That’s a hard question to answer. Male or female, trying to get recognition in such a competitive industry can be challenging. I think you just have to be good at what you’re doing or doing something that’s a little different.

It always feels a little sad to me that women producers have to gender-fi themselves to raise their profiles (We don’t call men male producers)

 

When and why did you learn to play the drums? What drew you to them?

I remember being bored one day as a child, it was raining outside and I was looking for something to do. I randomly picked up some of my mum’s cake tins and started hitting them along with some music. I thought to myself ‘this is fun!’ and kept doing it. After ruining my mum’s cake tins (which she wasn’t happy about) she brought home a drum kit for me as a surprise and that was that I was hooked.

You briefly studied to be a session drummer but after your first year, you decided it was not what you wanted to do.  What didn’t you like about being one?

I went to a few auditions and tried to find work but kept getting the same response ‘your a great player, but you don’t have enough experience’ It felt pretty disheartening, how are you meant to get experience if no one will give you it?! It felt like a catch 22 and I eventually gave up and decided to go into production.

What would be your dream collaboration as an artist?

Karen O from Yeah yeah yeahs – she is fierce, I love her.

How do you think women artists in indie music can be supported?

I think by supporting each other in what we all do.

I always try and reach out to other females producers, mix engineers, and session players.

I think also some more female-fronted acts at the bigger festivals would help as a lot of festivals seem to be male-heavy.

What advice would you give to women who are interested in becoming a producer and/or a solo artist or musician?

To go out there and just do it. If you want to be a producer – go hang out in a studio or find a producer to hang out with. Get some software on your computer and ask if you can record your friend’s band. If you want to be an artist go to open mic’s, go to gigs and ask other artists if you can support them, but most importantly to keep writing – it’s all about the music.

What is your 5-year plan? Do you see yourself more active as an artist/performer, or as a producer/engineer?

In 5 years I’d have loved to release an album. I’m really enjoying the writing process and I think an album’s worth of material will appear over the next year or so.

I love producing and being an artist so if I ended up doing one more than the other I wouldn’t mind. 

 

What are your tour plans for 2018?

There will be a few shows over the summer. I’ll be at The Finsbury in London on 3rd July. I think I’ve like to plan a little European tour for next year,  even though I know that’s pretty ambitious.

What other projects do you have planned for 2018?

I’m going to be doing some more co-writing and have a couple of artists I’ll be producing. I’ll also be writing and recording some more of my stuff and aim to release some more music early next year.

Thank you, Ruen, for the opportunity to interview you.

You can follow Ruen on Social Media:

Twitter: @iamruen

Instagram: iamruen

Listen to her music on:

Soundcloud: iamruen

Spotify

Discover Indie Rock Artist Sabrina Fallah

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Sabrina Fallah

Indie Rock Singer/Songwriter Sabrina Fallah credits Green Day, one of her favorite bands that she grew up listening to, for getting her interested in becoming a rock singer. At 14, Fallah started playing the guitar and later she would study the vocal styles of Green Day, Bon Jovi, and Billy Idol because they matched her low, raspy, deep singing style. But vocal training would help her perfect her rock style vocals.

Fallah hails from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where she performs extensively as well as in Central Canada,  and at various Canadian and international venues, festivals, and charity events.

She has worked with some renown producers such as Stuart Epps (Elton John, Led Zepplin) with whom she recorded her self-titled rock EP.  Her 2015 single “The Frontline” was produced by award-winning producer, Chris Birkett who has worked with Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones, and more. In 2016, Fallah got the chance to work with veteran producer Kent Wells in Nashville for her EP “Kiss is a Killer.”

Sabrina is writing new songs and currently has no tours planned.

I interviewed Sabrina recently about her EP, her DJ gig, working with notable producers, international venues, production, and more.

Congratulations on your EP ‘Kiss Is a Killer’. What is the concept or theme? 

When I went to Nashville to co-write, I wanted to write about what I and others have been through in their life. I want people to relate to my music when they listen to it.

You have worked with notable producers such as Stuart Epps (worked with Elton John, Led Zepplin, and more) for your self-titled debut EP and with award-winning producer Chris Burkett (Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones, Buffy Sainte Marie and more) for your successful 2015 single “The Frontline”.  How did the opportunity come up to work with them? How was it to work with them and any plans to do so again in the future? 

I was in my Producers class in college and Stuart, through Skype/video chat, gave a lecture to the class about the music business and himself. He asked the class some questions like “who writes music”, “who plays an instrument”, etc. I raised my hand up a couple of times. I didn’t know he could see me since I was sitting in the corner of the room. He then asked my teacher if he could talk to me. We had a wonderful chat and then he asked if he could hear some of my music. I then got his contact information from my teacher and forwarded a few of the songs I had already recorded. Stuart expressed an interest to work with me and that is how we got to work together to record my first EP self-titled “Sabrina Fallah”. Stuart and the band he provided for my record were amazing to work with. They made me feel at home and very comfortable right away. I would love to work with them again.

When I was in Toronto, I was songwriting and I wanted to find a producer to work with. At one of the meetings at SAC (Songwriters Association of Canada), I met someone who suggested that I should contact Chris Burkett who was into rock music. He then gave me his contact information and I gave Chris a call and arranged a meeting with him.

Working with Stuart Epps and Chris Burkett was a lot of fun. I would definitely love to work with them again. 

For your current EP, you worked with veteran producer Kent Wells in Nashville, Tennessee and co-wrote with several songwriters there. What was that experience like? How did co-writing compare to writing original songs yourself? Would you do it again?

My first week in Nashville was really intense, co-writing almost every day with different songwriters. Before arriving in Nashville, I was in contact with the team I was going to work with, so they knew the styles of music I wanted to write and record. Although I had many of my original songs with me, I decided to start fresh and write completely new ones. Every songwriting session was about 2 to 3 hours long, some were written in their offices and some where I was staying.

I had such a great time co-writing, it was a different experience with each writer. They each had their own unique style of writing and structuring the song. I really like how all the new songs have turned out. It was really hard narrowing it down to the few songs we chose to record.

I love writing by myself, but having another songwriter to write with can bring up many new and fresh ideas into the song.

Honestly, I enjoy it both ways.

Explain your production process.

I had a pre-production meeting at the studio with producer Kent Wells. We went through each song to find the right key for my voice. We then chose five songs to be recorded, three with the full band and two acoustically. I was very happy that the ones I really liked got picked.

It was rather late in the evening when the band and I went into the studio to record. I sang rough vocals, while the band played to lay down the tracks to my three songs. It was such a great experience. The band was amazing, very kind and fun. They were such great musicians that it didn’t take us long to record. For the acoustic recordings, which I did the following day, I sang while Kent Wells put down the acoustic guitar tracks.

I had a lot of fun recording my vocals in the studio and learned a great deal.

Every studio experience has been different. Kent Wells taught me a lot vocally, which I will take with me and use when I record and perform.

You have performed extensively in Central Canada as well as Canadian and international venues, festivals, and charities. What other countries have you performed in and what were those experiences like?

I got an amazing opportunity to perform in Barbados at the Holetown Festival in February 2011. I performed on the opening day of the festival and then an evening show near the water during the week. I had such a good time performing and sharing the stage with so many talented musicians. The people were very welcoming and I got to talk to quite a few of the ones who saw my performances.  

I also performed in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States while I was working on new music. I got the opportunity to perform a couple of times at the Commodore Bar and Grill. It was a songwriters night and I got to sing my own original songs. There were a lot of amazing talents performing as well. It was really interesting how different that was from a songwriters night in Canada. They would have 3 to 4 artists on the stage at the same time and each would sing one song after the other for a total of 3 to 4 songs for each performer. As you know in Canada, they usually take one artist at a time on stage. I had a really good time and enjoyed performing there.

Sabrina Fallah
In an interview, you mentioned listening mostly to male rock singers (Green Day, Bon Jovi, etc) because they match your singing style (low, deep and raspy), but you also decided to have vocal training. Explain how vocal training helped your rock style vocals.

In the beginning, I started singing a lot of different styles of music with no vocal training. When I decided the style I wanted to sing, I got a vocal coach to help me with techniques to sing rock as well as how to protect my vocal chords. 

How specifically did your influences, Bon Jovi, Green Day, and Billy Idol, become a part of your unique blend of style? 

I learned a lot from them, especially vocally. They are the bands that I grew up with and Green Day is the band that got me into wanting to become a rock singer.  

Why do you play more acoustic when performing live? 

I play acoustic because I love the sound of it and also I perform at many smaller venues, which I thought was more suitable. 

What guitarists influenced or inspired you to start playing at age 14? 

I think it was more my cousin, Jeff. He has been around music his entire life and always introduced me to new bands to listen to. He would always play his guitar and that got me interested in trying it out myself and I got hooked on it. 

You currently are a DJ on Jungle 77.3, an online radio station. How has this helped your career as a musician?

 It is another fun thing to do in music. I love being a DJ on the radio, talking and playing awesome music. 

Explain why you don’t think there are many women rockers in indie music. How can more women be encouraged to embrace rock instead of pop music as musicians? 

I don’t think it is only the female singers. I think in general a lot of newcomers follow what is current and popular now. A lot of people in the music business and outside wanted me to sing pop music, but I stuck to my guns. I was lucky that

I found producers who had experience in recording rock music, working with female artists and they accepted and encouraged me to do what I wanted.

I personally enjoy rock music and at the same time wanted to be different.

How can women in the indie music industry be better supported? 

I believe it is a very tough business for women and as a female singer, all women need to stick together and help each other. 

What advice would you give to women pursuing or thinking about a career in music? 

Believe in yourself and do what you love to do.

Don’t let anyone say you can’t do it, because you can!

What projects are you working on for 2018? 

Currently enjoying being a DJ on Jungle 77.3 and at the same time, writing some new songs. 

What are your tour plans for 2018? 

No tours planned at the moment. 

Follow Sarah on Social Media:
Official Website sabrinafallah.com
YouTube:  thefallah
Twitter:  @sabrinafallah
Instagram:  sabrina_fallah
Facebook: Sabrina-Fallah
MySpace:  thefallah
SoundCloud: sabrinafallah
Reverbnation: sabrinafallah
Snapchat: sabrina_fallah

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