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Discover Adult Contemporary/Soft Rock Artist Lana White

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Singer/songwriter Lana White loved to sing to herself from an early age and by the time this Alabama native joined her high school’s show choir, music had become a calling that she wouldn’t give in to and she regarded it as a curse. After graduating from Jackson State University with a degree in exercise science, Lana ran a gym for NASA on the Redstone Arsenal, but the music called her once again and she performed in a duo performing covers as well as being a lead singer in various bands. It wasn’t until Lana had married and tucked away her dreams of pursuing a life of music, that she thought the music curse was finally defeated. While busy raising her family, Lana felt drawn to music again and would write songs she thought no one would hear.

After a few years, Lana had written a number of songs and knew it was time to pursue her dream. She found Dave Anderson (guitarist for Brother Cane and Atlanta Rhythm Section) who would produce Lana’s first professional project, the aptly titled EP “Letting Go”. After marketing herself and seeing some success, Lana met her current producer Randy Younger who has produced several Grammy nominees and winners. Younger has a recording studio on a farm in North Alabama and was searching for an artist to develop when he heard Lana. In 2016, they began writing and recording together and in 2017 they released 3 full-length albums – ‘Better’, ‘Bridge Between’ and her latest one, ‘Beautiful Secret’.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Lana about her latest album ‘Beautiful Secret’, her songwriting process, how her music calling/curse became a blessing, and much more.

Congratulations on your latest album Beautiful Secret that was released in October. Explain the concept or theme of the album and how the idea came about.

The title track “Beautiful Secret” is about letting your life unfold, rather than trying to force fate.  That concept is really the umbrella for the other songs on the record too. For example, the line in the song “Mercy”, “I always was at the mercy of others…” is an awakening to my own Beautiful Secret.  Realizing that my life doesn’t need to be defined as 100% people pleasing at the utter expense of taking care of myself.  If I run out of energy trying to keep everyone else happy and ignore myself in the process, I won’t have any meaningful energy left to give.  It is unsustainable, and fuels discontent.

Beautiful Secret was your third album released in 2017 along with Bridge Between, and Better. Explain the strategy behind releasing that many albums in one year.

In our look at the music marketplace that has emerged we see that “content is king!”

In the YouTube world, if you are trying to make a sustainable living, you need to be continually publishing new material.

The days of building up to a release and trickling out teasers and doing a lot of time-sensitive promotion seem to be a thing of the past.  The attention span of the consuming audience is so short now that we want to be able to provide as much content to them as they are willing to engage with, or even purchase.  The more we have out there, the more opportunities we have to engage the audience.

All three of your albums begin with the letter ‘B’.  Was that intentional? If so, how are the concepts or themes connected? 

That wasn’t planned at the beginning.  When we were discussing the title track for the first album, “Better” bubbled to the top because of its strong thematic lyrics and positive message, and it just felt right.  Then when we did “Bridge Between” a similar thing happened.  After we noticed they both started with the letter B, it became a thing.  But it was kind of a synchronicity thing too because we didn’t even know if we would have a “B” song on the 3rd record.  As it turned out, when I wrote “Beautiful Secret” pretty early on and then there was no question what the title track would be.  That said…  the pattern will be broken for the next album, which we believe will be entitled “It’s Not Over Yet.”

Explain how you found Dave Anderson (well known for being the guitarist for Atlanta Rhythm Section and Brother Cane) who produced your debut EP, “Letting Go”. 

When I finally decided to go into the studio for the first time, I put the word out in my town of Huntsville Alabama to see if anyone could recommend a producer.  Everyone kept responding with Dave Anderson’s name.  I had not gotten in touch with him yet, but while I was searching for a studio, I came across Sound Cell, and it turned out that Dave was a partner there.  It seemed like fate was guiding me that way, and I met with and hired Sound Cell and Dave Anderson to produce my first EP “Letting Go.”

I really give Dave a lot of credit for encouraging me and nurturing me as a new recording artist, and he did a wonderful job with the album.

You marketed “Letting Go” yourself and saw some success. How did you market it and what kind of success did you achieve?

I should explain that we pulled “Letting Go” off of the shelves because it was really intended as my toe-in-the-water experiment.  I was very serious about the project and getting going as a recording artist, but my goals during that project were significantly different than those with the 3 LPs.  We are reworking all of those songs and releasing one or two on each new LP until we have released them all.  I think we are planning for two of them on the next album.

As for market success, since it was my first effort in trying to understand how the self-made indie artist world worked, it only had modest success.  However, it had enough that I realized this was viable for me, and not just a flight of fancy.  It really helped me get my arrow pointed in the right direction!

How did your current producer Randy Younger (who has produced several Grammy winners and nominees) find you? What made you decide to become a songwriting team? 

After I had released “Letting Go,” I began to contemplate my next steps.  I knew they were to continue this, but I wasn’t sure exactly what path I would take.  I was leaning toward just putting more songs together and repeating the process.  Then, I got a message on Twitter one day from this Randy Younger guy asking me what I thought my next steps were.  He then indicated that he was a reputable producer, and he and I had a number of friends in common and he encouraged me to thoroughly vet him, and then if I was interested in talking we should talk.  I did, and we did.

When we met, he told me that he had been working in artist development for a little while and had built a studio in North Alabama and would like to try and develop someone locally if possible.  He said that he was looking for someone that wanted to make real LP records like the old days with an eye toward writing and recording songs that would last, but not just songs, whole albums that people will want to drink in as a complete work.

He then offered to partner with me straight down the middle and said that I could have as much studio time as I wanted as part of the partnership.  He then asked me to take a couple of days to think about it, and after thinking about it for a few days, I accepted.  The out for both of us would simply be if it wasn’t working, we would let it go.  It has been about a year and a half now, and we have a very inspired and excellent complementary workflow and working relationship.

As for writing together, Randy has been writing for years and has written with and produced several well-known artists.   His style and my style are truly synergistic. 

Finding a writing partner is such a delicate thing and it either works or it doesn’t.  We are really fortunate that it does for us.

 

Explain your songwriting process.

The process can vary, as I’m sure it does for a lot of songwriters.  Usually, I will be thinking and a phrase like “peaceful indifference” will pop into my head.  When that happens, I will use that idea as my “North Star,” and begin to describe all of the possible things that phrase can mean.  When doing that, I try and think of images and poetic devices and then capture those ideas from a personal perspective.  I do use a lot of metaphor and simile in writing.  I try to paint a picture about the subject with words.  I am less of a conversational or storyteller writer. 

Randy and I also keep our notes apps up on our phones and when we are talking, if during the course of our conversation we hear something that would be a good song idea or line, we religiously write it down.  Then, when we are co-writing, we always read through all of them to see if any fit the song we are working on.  Most of the time, there is at least one line that will fit or the idea itself works and we can tweak it to fit.

As for music, when I have the lyrical idea, I just grab my guitar and begin noodling with chords and the lyrics and somehow the song begins to emerge almost on its own.  Then I will make a quick voice demo and send it to Randy and he will begin fleshing out a track.  Then I go into the studio and we work more on the track and lyrics together until, viola! Song!

Sometimes Randy will send me a track without any melody or lyrics and I will just start singing to the track and it emerges that way, and sometimes he may even have a starting idea, and I will take that and run with it.  But no matter which approach we take, we work and keep working on it together until we both are convinced its right.

You have described “the music curse” that followed you most of your life but you only gave in to it after you raised a family.  Why did you think of it as a “curse” and not a calling? If you had given in to it years earlier, what do you think your career would be like now?

Where would I be now if I had started much earlier?  Well, I think I may not have had the wisdom or maturity to avoid being taken advantage of.  I think I might have been put through the expectation mill and would have been molded to be hyper-sexualized, and objectified.  I have always been a strong person, but at an earlier time in my life, I had not trained myself to have any healthy cynicism.  I tended to just think the best of everyone without really examining ulterior motives.  So, I kind of shudder a little bit to think of where I might be, but my gut tells me it might not have been where I had hoped to be.  What I mean by that is that I might have had what appeared to be phenomenal success, but at what personal and emotional cost?  If I could take the today me back there I might get looked over because I would not be an easy target.  So, in all, like in the first album “Better,” I am letting the journey unfold as it should.

So as for the “curse.” 

I feel that a calling becomes a curse when it is unanswered.  If you are meant to do a thing and you don’t do it, it will haunt you.  Hence, curse.

For me, it never left no matter how hard I tried to put it away both mentally and in practice.  When the calling began to be answered in earnest, the curse really manifested as a blessing.

Explain your experience running a gym at NASA on the Redstone Arsenal.     

After I graduated from Jacksonville State University with a B.S. in Exercise Science, I moved to Huntsville and eventually took a job at Huntsville Hospital working at the wellness center there.  A person from the NASA (Marshall Space Flight Center) wellness center also did some work at Huntsville Hospital and said I would be perfect for the NASA center.  One thing led to another and I eventually got the job running the wellness center and doing all sort of really rewarding things like delivering health and wellness lectures to the NASA staff.  I was able to travel some, and it all was an amazing life experience.

I read that you are also a personal trainer. How do you manage being both a personal trainer and a musician?

I have two elementary school aged boys that I stayed home with all through pre-school and into elementary school.  When they began to go off to school, I had time during the school day to begin taking on personal training clients.  So I have classes in the morning, and then go into the recording studio and work from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM during the weekdays.  It is how we manage to be prolific.  It is literally our day job.  We also rehearse our live set at the studio most days so we are always ready to play.

Why did you and your producer believe that the music industry was ailing and had a diminished landscape after meeting with major labels and publishing companies? How is it more advantageous to stay an indie artist than to sign with a major label company?

Simple… music is free now.  At least that is the perception of the general audience. 

No industry can thrive if their primary product is, for all intents and purposes, free. So, it is clearly ailing.  People aren’t buying physical CDs anymore, and vinyl is a kind of specialty product.  Digital download sales are being killed by streaming.

So in meeting with labels, some things became crystal clear. 1. Labels help those who help themselves.  The first question out of a major label executive’s mouth to us was “What is your social like?”  Well, that seemed like an interesting question because they have the power to promote and “break” an artist right? So why that question?  Well, it seems as though the answer is, we want artists that have already done the heavy lifting and proven that they are a thing.  2. The path to radio is all but gone.  Since the purpose to sign with a label for us would not be to produce music, but rather to get it distributed and marketed to radio (a dying industry in itself), and since terrestrial radio is so heavily syndicated now and only the chosen few are getting spins, it would be a long shot at best even if we were signed.

Randy has worked with a number of big name signed artists, many of which are no longer signed, and knows from all indicators that the old model is essentially dead.  So, why would we give up a huge percentage of ownership to get a slim chance at radio?  We wouldn’t and we won’t.

Now we get all of the profit from everything we sell.  We utilize social media to elevate awareness about the music and to meet new people.  That has led to so many opportunities that would have traditionally come through the label or management, but that is all bypassed now.  We own the relationships that we make, and that gives us more power over our own destiny.

We also have the luxury of controlling our own artistic content and deciding where we are going to focus our marketing efforts.  We don’t have to pay someone to do what we can do ourselves.

What do you think about producing your own albums in the future? 

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” We have a great established workflow much like Jeff Trott and Sheryl Crow.  Ironically, Randy met Jeff last year, and I met Sheryl, which were high points for both of us!  We are about 75% done with the 4th album and it should be out this Spring.  Then we will make another, and another, etc..

What do you think are the challenges that women face in the indie music industry? How can women be supported more?

We, women, need to also really work together.  I always see men from several different bands in town get together at local venues and play together.  I don’t think I have ever seen that from female-led groups.  Whatever happened to things like Lilith Fair?  I would love to see all women-led group festivals. 

We should be working together, and not viewing one another as competition.  We can lift each other up constructively, and we should be intentional about doing so.

 

What advice would you give to women pursuing or wanting to pursue a career in music?

I say pursue a passion in music.  If you have the curse, then you will know that pursuing the passion can be fulfilling and a really rewarding means of answering your calling.  But, if you are seeking fame and fortune, I view that as different than pursuing your calling.  If you do music to share your art and your passion with others, then it is about what you give, not what you get.

If that’s you, then I say do your best to level your expectations with reality.  Also, define what success means to you.  If you get a comment on your song from a stranger that it affected their life in some meaningful way, you and are thrilled and fueled by that; then that IS success!  I am not saying set your bar low.  I am saying, point your arrow in the right direction for the right reasons and aim it high!   

What projects are you working on for 2018?

We have 7 songs for our next 10 song LP either completed or very near completion.  We think we know what number 8 is, but we have 2 to write from scratch.  We plan on releasing that project “It’s Not Over Yet” in mid to late Spring of 2018. 

What are your tour plans for this year?

We are not touring in the traditional sense this year.  We are playing specific selected dates in various places.

On February 3rd, we are featured guest for a live show on the Grinders Switch Hour on 96.7FM (Kix 96) in Centerville Tennessee, which is about 45 minutes out of Nashville.  It is also Minnie Pearl’s hometown.  It is a very quaint and cool place and Blake Shelton lived in that town for a number of years.  Lots of Opry stars have played on the Grinders Switch Hour, so it is a really cool opportunity.

Thank you, Lana, for the opportunity to interview you!

Get a copy of Lana’s albums on her new website

Follow Lana on Social Media:

Facebook: lanawhitemusic

Instagram: @lanawhitemusic

Twitter: @Lana_White_

Check out Lana’s YouTube Channel

Getting to Know Award Winning Producer Lauren Deakin Davies

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Lauren Deakin Davies aka DIDI
Lauren Deakin Davies

Music producer Lauren Deakin Davies has been in music and in bands since the age 10, beginning with a folk band made up of school friends and by 18, Lauren had become a music producer. She recently won NMG’s Producer of the Year Award in 2017.  At 22, Lauren is a studio owner with many production accomplishments that include 9 albums (6 as sole producer) of which 2 are award-winning, over 25+ EPs, and has produced or written 200+ commercially released tracks, to name a few. In March 2017, Lauren launched her project and campaign as a solo artist under the name DIDI (an abbreviation of Deakin Davies).

I recently interviewed Lauren about her music, music production process, women producers, and much more.

 

Congratulations on winning NMG’s Producer of the Year Award!  In your statement about winning, you said that it validated your work because for so long you didn’t know if you were good enough (as a producer). Can you explain why you felt that way?  

I think as someone who never properly studied music production it’s easy to think that the people around you are better than you or that you don’t actually know what you are doing. I also think it slightly affected me being surrounded by men who were so confident in what they are doing, and it makes you doubt yourself if you are not matching their level of confidence. Also I had achieved quite a lot of things which seemed to impress people before I was even 20 and sometimes people make you feel bad for being young and getting on with your life and some people also made me feel like I was being naive for believing that I could do what I wanted, to follow my heart as it were, and for being so enthusiastic. But it was my blind naive enthusiasm that made me get as far as I did! I remember walking out of school (and never returning) the day that the teacher who was head of sixth form said to me ‘get your head out of the clouds and stop believing that you could ever have a career in music’.

Being encouraged by other people in my life, to not believe in boundaries or limitations has continued to propel me in my career in this field.

I love music production so much and I feel so happy that I get paid to do this on a daily basis. I love learning and know I’ve got a lot to learn still and nothing anyone can say would make me not want to continue pursuing it as a career.

 As I’ve got a little bit older I look back and have remembered people implying things, like I only got various achievements because I was a young ‘pretty’ woman, rather than because I actually had any skill and that is very hard to ignore and at a subliminal level makes you feel invalidated, because it means people are not taking you seriously. I think it’s important to reflect on that and acknowledge it. So many things have happened since then (although it still happens every now and again) and now I am really being validated for my hard work and skill in this field by winning awards or getting the radio plays for my work, as well for being asked to sit on various music industry panels and run workshops and lectures, and I am still as such early stages so it’s very exciting to see what happens next!

 

Why do you think women producers aren’t taken seriously in the studio?  And is this possibly why there are so few of them?

I think in reality they are taken seriously (in the studio) because if you’ve got to the point when you’re in the studio and you’re operating the desk then people will assume that you are the producer. But also there are just not that many of us, and when they have seen women in the studio before they are usually the tea girls or receptionists, so it just takes an adjustment of mindset, as it’s a change to see women in positions of authority which they are not historically associated with. The main problem I have had in the past (not so much now) is that people don’t assume that I’m very good if they have no context, ie when meeting me outside the studio or at a music-related event, but I do think that is more reflection on the fact that I’m young, although I don’t think a guy would be getting the same amount of flack that I did/still do? I find whenever I am talking about music production I have to validate myself in the first few seconds although no matter what happens if you have a conversation about music production with me, you will realize within a minute that I am very serious about it!

 

How do you think this attitude about women producers can be changed?

 Often people say that there are not many women going into music production because there are no role models which I think is an interesting concept because, in reality, it would make sense! Although the lack of role models was definitely not a factor for me as I went into it because I loved music tech, ‘nerdy things’ in general as well as writing songs so it seemed like a natural progression! It didn’t occur to me that there were not that many women in music production until I was about 18 (and got my first BBC Radio 2 play for a track I had produced) and people kept asking about it. I’ve had a couple of interesting situations happened recently, one of which was when a girl came up to me and asked ‘how scary is it to be a female producer?’ and that kind of upset me, because I do think that an image is being painted that you have to be hard as nails or have a superpower or something like that to go into music production as a woman, where in reality everyone’s pretty kind and chill and most people who are producers are introverts anyway! I think it’s a very friendly environment to be in but you’ll just have to deal with some levels of sexism which I’m pretty sure that almost everyone deals with on a daily basis in other careers anyway! You don’t have to be particularly fierce to be in this industry you just have to really like it and commit all your time to it, lol! So I think with more women coming through it will change people’s attitude just because they will probably know a female producer anyway!

 
How do you think more women can be encouraged/supported to become a producer? 

I would say it starts at a much younger age where a lot of STEM subjects sit, so often women are not encouraged to go into more techie engineering roles and when it comes to the breaking point where they making a decision over things like their GCSEs and A-level or equivalent they decide not go down the music production route because that’s not a ‘girl’ thing to do.

I think it is more subliminal than an active decision and that’s why I’m part of various programs to help educate young people in the variety of roles in the music industry!

So yes, I can already see that more women are getting into production and being encouraged and championed, especially with studio gear getting much cheaper and therefore being more accessible.

 

Can you tell us about your production process? Do you go by instinct? Do you experiment with sounds? Improvise?

I think like most people you start with limited equipment and do the best you can with it. At least that’s definitely what happened to me! I had very poor equipment to start with and was using Audacity with my laptop microphone! I came up with some really interesting sounds and messed around with various feedback loops, smashing sounds through compressors, making drum sounds with the various inanimate objects in my room etc. I think those sorts of things are integral to how my production style has developed now because I still use techniques that I used back when I had a very limited equipment to make some more interesting unique sounds! I do think music production came to me quite naturally partly because I was a musician and I have been in so many studios as a recording artist. By the time I was 16 I had recorded 2 EPs with the band I was in, and I recorded my first EP for someone else when I was 17 and it was then that I learnt so much about working with other people.

I think so much about being a good music producer is actually being able to deal with people and making them feel comfortable so you bring out the best in them and help them shine.

I massively improvise with so much of what I do, and back in the day I only had one microphone which meant experimenting with different panning techniques and I quickly learnt about phasing issues where I double up tracks! I’m a massive nerd so I always loved working things out to make the sounds I like, doing it on my own terms which is why I never really got taught how to do this, I would just try things out and then consult my other music producer friends to see if I was on roughly the right track and most the time I was right. But my oh my, when I learnt to sum my mixes to mono, it really changed a lot in my mix process aha!

 

I read that you “have the ability to draw the best from a song and relax the artist”. Can you explain that process?

 Well, I think the first step is to make sure that you make the artist feel comfortable and make it a level playing field. I think some producers think they are more important than the artist and like to show it which is so damaging. I know so many artists who find it incredibly uncomfortable to be around an over domineering producer and ultimately they hate their recordings because they didn’t feel like they could give their opinion or that if they did it was going to get ignored anyway. I can’t tell you the amount of times that I have had specifically female artists come to my studio telling me about horrible experience that they had working with producers because they wouldn’t take them seriously. It’s like 8/10. It really angers me.

So I always try to ensure in the first moments that I show my respect towards an artist and they are the most important person in the room.

It’s done in lots of different ways but first off is just straight up listening to them and asking about their previous experiences. I will spend a large portion of the beginning of my first sessions simply talking to the artists I’m working with because although some people may seem like it’s wasting time, because you’re not recording, you save so much time in the future because you can make correct assumptions or decisions over the type of things that the artist likes. It’s also important because you know when to push someone or when to let something go because you know where their personal thresholds are and without that, you can’t get the best performance from someone. Also being in the studio as an artist means that you are incredibly vulnerable to other people’s opinions,  you are pouring your heart out in a performance and you need to make sure as the producer that you are creating a safe environment in which the artist is able to give the best performance they have ever given. And that might take a number of takes. And it’s vital that you don’t get impatient and show them that you are in this ‘til they are happy with the take. I think also it’s about having fun. I love my job and the people I work with so of course you’re going to have a great time when you spend time with each other! I’ve become such close friends with people I work with and you have to because it’s a very intense project, you might be spending a week with someone who is actually living with you (we offer basic accommodation and meals in our home for many female artists in particular), and before that week you might have only had ever met once and then you both have the best time ever!

 

You were drawn to the recording studio at a young age. What was it about the studio that was so exciting it made you want to become a producer?

I think, ultimately I am just a really nerdy person and engineering/gear/wires/buttons and effects make me really excited and happy, so it seemed quite natural to go into the engineering production side of things! I was also in studios from a really young age and was lucky to record at Universal Studios, Metropolis Studios and the local Cream Room Sound Productions studio as well as some others when I was 16 and that really firmed up for me that that is what I wanted to do! I wanted to be able to create songs and music and have a good skill of understanding of production!

 

What did you learn about producing when you built your own studio and started recording?

I tried lots of different techniques when I was working on my own studio, setting it up was a slow long process and even now I’m still always upgrading because I don’t think you ever really stop, especially if you’re a ‘gear head’ like me! When I started out I always made sure I immediately reinvested any money that I made back into my studio gear so the first EP I ever recorded I charged nothing so that I had something in my portfolio, then the next EP I recorded I charged £10 a song which meant that I had £50, with my own savings and bought a better microphone than from then I charged £20 a song and then £50 a song so on so forth until I’ve got to the point where I am now charging decent day rates (but with no additional studio hire charge as I have my own studio so that keeps me competitive price wise) but I always make sure my studio is running as efficiently and professionally as it can!

 

How did your session work for other people help you learn to produce? 

I think session work is a really good way to get experience because not only are you involved in other people’s recordings (so get to go to other studios you may not normally have the opportunity to go to) it also means that you get to see other engineers and producers workflow.

It also is a very strong discipline because you’re being hired to be professional with your instrument, you need to be very good at it and not mess up or mess around, it also teaches me how other people work so I can get in the headspace, which means that when you’re working with other people you have better people skills to communicate what you’re trying to get across and have a nice working flow. You also pick up new techniques and ideas all the time working with other people which is why I love doing it!

 

What led to you being hired at 17 as a lead producer on a project at Cream Room Sound Production? What did you gain from that experience?

This is one of those crazy situations and I’m so lucky to have met Martin Lumsden from the Cream Room. When I was about 15 I was busking with my friends on the street with our folk band and a random guy came up to us and said he really liked our sound and wanted to record our music. He then proceeded to write down his information on a napkin and hand it to us. I’d be lying if I said we weren’t a little skeptical but I’m so glad that we did try it out because after recording there for a while Martin really believed in what I was doing and asked me to work on Alexa Mullins’ first EP and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity!

 

Please tell us about your involvement with Red Bull Studios workshops that mentor women in music production. 

 Last July I was really lucky to be asked to present one of the engineering workshops at the Red Bull Normal Not Novelty sessions set up by Brandon Harding. Red Bull #normalnotnovelty are trying so hard to help women in music production and every month they put on workshops with three different classes on engineering, music production and DJing for women only, to help them improve at production and also give the opportunity to network with other amazing people within the scene in a safe non-patronizing environment. I felt really lucky to be asked to actually present one of these, bearing in mind 2 years before I had attended the event as a noob (still am lol!) and it genuinely changed my life because of the amazing producers there, such a Steph Marziano, who I had met at the one she was presenting 2 years before! I did not imagine that I would be asked to present so early in my career but am very grateful for the opportunity.

 

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

I see almost only advantages because I have been a musician from the start I know what it’s like to be in the studio from that perspective, and how important it is to have validation and support from the producer. It also gives me an insight into how people are writing songs and also how you want to perform things. I definitely see myself as a producer in the sense that we create songs when we work together and obviously I’m engineering and having involvement in the arrangement as well, as that’s ultimately what you’re coming to the studio for, so that you can end up with something that you are in love with and you think it’s the best creation and output for the song that you have ever done. So I think being a musician I can get on the same wavelength with them and really try to make sure that that happens. The only potential disadvantage at the moment is the fact that doing music production does consume a lot of my time and obviously putting all of your energy to being a solo artist also takes up a lot of time so it’s hard work to find the balance – I’m always list creating and reprioritizing stuff everyday lol – but ultimately I think that being in both camps has contributed to my success so far by having the combination of the two avenues. And it’s insane the amount of people that I have met because of doing either of those activities which have directly helped the other.

 

What artists/bands would you like to produce in the future?

I don’t know if I can answer that question because I find it really cringe in case any of those artists see I have asked to work with them! Also, I kind of like it when it just comes towards me so I don’t have to feel self-conscious!

 

You launched an exciting solo project in March 2017. What inspired you to dive back into music as a solo artist?

I never intended to be a solo artist. I always loved playing with other people so it was a massive surprise to me when I did it! when I wrote the song that sparked it all off which was ‘Sorry’ .

DIDI by Howard Key 01
DIDI

I wrote and produced it with the intention of no one ever hearing it! But after I wrote and recorded it I decided that I didn’t completely hate it so I showed it to my mum and she said she didn’t hate it either and both of us just looked at each other, and we were like, ‘we need to work out what we’re going to do here’, so within a couple of days we had come up with the whole release plan and name and everything and then two weeks later from the moment I wrote that song I launched a whole project and campaign from that point. But honestly, I had not thought about anything before then. I think part of why the song worked was because it wasn’t intended for anyone to hear, it was purely for me and I think that kind of shows. At that stage, when I thought it was private, I was unselfconscious and I wasn’t worried what people thought of the song or the lyrics but now it’s out there, I definitely am now lol!

 

Your latest single ‘Back Off’ has a great in-your-face punk vibe to it. What was the inspiration behind it?

First off thank you! and there is a story behind it. I was on a late night train home from London on a Saturday and a drunk girl got on the train. She wasn’t really bothering anyone but she was talking quite loudly and she made friends with the girl next to her. Suddenly an older guy about three rows back decided to start screaming his head off at her telling her that she was talking too loudly, he then proceeded to start dissing her age, her ethnicity (his words not mine) and her education which really got me riled up! I was going to get involved to help the girl, but she had a sassy comeback for everything he said and it wasn’t necessary to get involved. I did ask her how she was afterward though and clearly had dealt with it before, which made me sad as well as angry. From that point I just desperately needed to pick up a guitar so as soon as I got home I wrote ‘Back Off’  and that’s how it came to be, but let’s put it this way, ‘Back Off’ is the radio edit name!

 

You have an impressive list of successful producing projects and now your own solo project. Do you love staying busy and how do you balance life/work?

Different type of work seems to come in waves and depending on the time of the year it does depend on how much production versus guitar session work/performing solo I end up doing. The summer is usually extremely busy for gigging because of festivals and the winter is solid with recording for everyone wanting to do their releases for the spring after which they will then be touring them. I can’t say that I’ve got my life work balance sorted because I don’t know if anyone really has! I seem to work 24/7, 7 days a week, but try to grab a few hours downtime when I can. I try to also prioritise time with my friends- I even give some groups affectionate names, and I love my girl gang, aka the ‘Blue tits 2k13’ (Long story).

I think it’s so important to make sure that you have got a supportive friend group and I try to factor in keeping in touch as part of my workday because it’s so important to have a network around you of people who understand you.

People who are in on what’s happening in your life so that if something bad happens they can completely understand. It’s easy to accidentally push people away because you’re too busy but you can really damage your friendships and yourself, but overall, yes I love staying busy cuz I love my job!

 

How do you see your producer/artist career evolving?

It’s so hard to ever truly predict what’s going to happen but I definitely do see both strands as something that go hand in hand and I would like to think that one doesn’t get brushed under the carpet because of the other! I feel like they are something that help each other, and I can see the potential for success! At this point I’m not seeing a limit, which might be to my detriment because it could end up being extremely difficult to make it work, but I like to think it’s all worth it in the end! I love doing music production and I think having a mix of both makes me so happy and keeps me on my toes, I see them evolving strongly together and I can’t believe how it happened in the past year so I’ve no idea what is going to happen in the next three years!

 

Do you have any interests you pursue outside of music?

Oh yes, do, but these days I definitely seem to be spread a little thin. I really love carpentry/woodwork and I’ve made my own ukulele in the past and half the furniture in the Den (my studio) are things that I have made anyway! I love making/engineering things, when I was younger I was really obsessed with robot wars and used to modify remote control cars with meccano sets and attack my dads ankles with them! I’m also quite into art and end up doing quite a bit of the artwork – logos, posters and EP art for example – for artists that I work with (as well as for my own DIDI aesthetic)! I also love extreme survival camping because you know that’s a normal thing to enjoy doing lol! (Bear Grylls has a lot to answer for!)

 

At 22, you’ve become a successful producer and artist. Would you consider yourself a role model for young women aspiring to do the same?

I think the expression role model gets used quite a lot and it’s progressively being used with reference to me which I find crazy! But also a complete honour! I think everyone is unique but if anyone can find something positive about what I’m doing and use that to encourage their own ambitions then that’s more than I could ever ask for. I have been asked to be a mentor for excellent London artist, MIRI’s School Ground Sounds project which I find very stimulating. To think that I could potentially be contributing to someone else’s success makes me happy beyond belief!

 

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

The genuine answer would be to have a business mind about it. You have to follow your heart about what you want to do but also be practical about thinking how you are actually going to achieve it.

Having a grand dream is amazing and you must use that for your motivation but you need to be aware of the stepping stones you have to use to get there, create a strategy, which can be adapted as needs dictate, and try not let that become too daunting and stop you from even trying!

You have to practice a lot too. Even the best people in the world whose music and production might appear to come to them naturally, are the people who do it all the time and keep on challenging themselves to improve.

If you want to get things done quickly, talk to lots of people, i.e. network. and tell them what you want to do and what you want to achieve (ie put it out there) but also be aware of what they want and find out how you could potentially benefit their lives or career. In this way you can create a really good synergy between people, generating a strong network which creates a safety net and also brings you more opportunities. Taking responsibility for your career also involves understanding what organizations like PRS, PPL, MPG, FAC, AIM, MPA, MMF … do, and how they can help you – all of which are under the umbrella of UK Music (if you’ve more than a three letter acronym you need not apply lol!) and of course, there’s so many more who support the emerging music scene. Getting involved with these organisations and putting yourself out there to get on their radar takes time and effort but leads you onto a path which can help you attract the right people to your team. You may not have a manager or a booking agent or a record label but if you know people that do all of the key elements that you can’t do, then you can create a team which is customised to play to your strengths and you’re going to be a lot stronger for it!

 

Thank you for the opportunity to interview you!

Thank you for asking me such in-depth questions, I feel very honored that you have asked me. I hope that I have answered the questions in a way that was somehow helpful!

 

Interview: The Isle of Wight’s Nakamarra

By

Nakamarra
Nakamarra

Nakamarra is a soulful powerhouse indie pop/electro band hailing from the Isle of Wight. Since forming in mid-2016, they’ve found themselves riding an unexpected wave of success on the Isle of Wight music scene, including their successful debut EP ‘Zacapa’.  In the summer of 2017, they played several festivals including performing on the Main Stage at the Isle of Wight Festival, Common People, and Bestival festivals. They’ve recently released their new EP, ‘Glittery & Mess’.

In our November 2017 interview, Nakamarra talks about their beginnings, their festival tour, future plans, and much more.

Did you take your band name from the song Nakamarra by Hiatus Kaiyote (on their Tawk Tomahawk album)? What is the meaning or origin of Nakamarra?

We did indeed – but the reason for choosing the names is because of the many meanings of the word itself – one, in particular, was: harmony – this is shown in love for the arts and beautiful aesthetics. When faced with creative works of art all that is felt is admiration. It’s also an Australian tribal skin name hence our following being called #NakaTribe.

How did you meet and decide to form a band?

We all met at uni. Jamie and Joe (the guitarists) started writing together a few months before getting the rest of us involved – it was far more electronic then, but deciding to incorporate raw instrumentation, caused the formation of the band.

What degrees did you complete at Platform One College of Music in 2017?

Four of the five of us have just graduated in Commercial Music – Silas is in his final year now!

You sound like a band who have been playing professionally together for years, yet you only formed in mid-2016. Has your success been a surprise? Why or why not?

It has come as a bit of a shock, most definitely – the amount of people who support us and really believe in what we’re doing is incredible – and I suppose because of that support, it has pushed us more to write and rehearse and make our performances and music releases better each time.

Tell me about your experience getting to play on the Mainstage at the Isle of Wight Festival in June of this year. How did it feel to be supporting Arcade Fire, Catfish and The Bottlemen & The Kooks?

It was honestly one of the most surreal moments of our lives – the entire experience was incredible, getting a taste of what it’s all about. It was also interesting to see the other side of it – a couple of us have actually worked as artist liaison for the same stage a few years prior. I definitely know which one I prefer! Opening the stage for the likes of those artists was an absolute honor.

IMW: Are you all involved in writing your songs? What inspires your songwriting?

Yes! It usually starts with a guitar line or riff, and each of us builds on that. The guys focus on the music and I (Charlie) then fit a vocal melody and lyrics to suite. We all have vast music tastes and our individual styles seem to compliment each other’s quite well. I’d say musical inspiration, as a whole, would be Bonobo with old soul and newer indie vibe thrown in for good measure.

IMW: You played a lot of big summer festivals in 2017. What your plans are for 2018?

We love the festival circuit so definitely more festivals,  gigging with similar bands and meeting more like-minded musicians, people and fans. We enjoy seeing new places too – so perhaps a tour may be on the cards!

IMW: Where (cities or countries) would you like to play/tour in the future?

I think realistically extending your gig radius by 20-40 miles at a time is reasonable at our current stage, so each gig will be a litter further afield, Brighton, London, Bristol. Saying that, we would love to tour Europe – earlier this summer as part of our degree course – some of us got the opportunity to gig in Amsterdam and was a great insight to how they consume music as a city. Very honest! Seeing and performing to different cultures would only benefit us as a band.

IMW: When did each of you get interested in a music career?

Charlie: I’ve grown up with a musical family so going to countless festivals and gigs were commonplace, and I kind of love the chaotic musician life, but after our main-stage slot at the Isle of Wight festival this year I realised that it could potentially be a career.

Jamie: Music had always been the priority for me, however, it was during my second year of uni I began to think it could actually lead to a career. Focusing on the band and investing more in music production has been a natural progression for me, both as a musician and towards Nakamarra’s maturing sound.

Joe: I started becoming interested in music when my parents use to play Northern Soul records all the time. I then found an old guitar my sister had and couldn’t stop playing it.

Jacob: I started learning bass at age 16 and from then it became an obsession and a passion, so it just made sense for me to pursue music as a career.

Silas: Attending my first festival in 2006 when I was 12, fell in love with how music brought people together, ever since then been hooked.

Any of you self-taught musicians in regards to instruments or singing – if so, how did you learn?

Charlie: I went straight into vocal lessons, but actually learnt more from rehearsing with different bands.

Jamie: I started guitar self-taught through some people my mum knew. My granddad then encouraged me to learn piano which has translated to using other instruments such as synths and bass. I think it’s been a combination of both self- taught and tutor-led learning which has allowed me to explore different instrumentation and writing styles.

Joe: Before getting lessons at college I used to just play tracks at home and try to work out what they were playing on the guitar.

Jacob: When I first started I learnt just by continuously listening to Muse, Green Day and RHCP albums and learning all the bass lines via chord charts, tab and eventually by ear. After I had learnt the basics (no pun intended) I began taking instrumental lessons. After about a year of playing, I joined a music college, which pushed me, taking my playing to the next level.

Silas: N/A

IMW: What band/solo artist experience have you had individually prior to Nakamarra?

Charlie: I was in a handful of projects before Naka – a blues-rock band, a funk and soul function band and a featuring vocalist for an electronic act who I performed with on the main stage at Bestival in 2015.

Jamie: I’d been involved with a couple of projects with other musicians but they were never really my projects and were always over pretty fast. Nakamarra was the first project that I felt was a ‘real’ band

Joe: Played in a couple of bands before Nakamarra. All of them being with other people I met at college.

Jacob: I have been a member of many bands and a fair few other short-time projects along with countless session work. I’m also currently a member of punk/rock band which formed in 2015 and cover band Rhythm Valley.

Silas: Played in a shitty Indie punk band with some best mates, we were so so bad! But you gotta start somewhere!

IMW: The Isle of Wight is known for its fantastic live music scene and great local talent. Do you feel musicians have to eventually base themselves on the mainland (as Level 42 did before the advent of the internet) to be successful or has YouTube and social media changed that?

We all have completely different opinions on this, so it’s hard to say but I think it is unarguably easier to promote yourself as a band now, and really don’t think if we were based on the mainland our success would have progressed any quicker.Saying that, the ferries are most definitely an extra expense when we do gig off island and they do limit us from certain things – due to the timetables etc. But if that is the only thing preventing us from succeeding we will cross that bridge when we come to it… if they ever build one.

IMW: Are there any artists you’d like to collaborate with in the future?

Uh, acts like Bonobo or Kevin Parker would be amazing, perhaps as a producer or co-writer role. I think there’d be too many people to list if we had the choice though.

IMW: Are there any particular charities, organizations, or causes you support?

We have supported a few charities in the past playing special concerts for Homeless shelters and Cancer Hospices, if we believe strongly about the charity there is no doubt we will do our best to support it. Music ultimately brings people together and that’s seriously power help spread awareness for charity organizations. Obviously, it goes without saying that PRS and The Musicians Union are also fantastic organizations that have done incredible and game-changing for things for the industry too.

Their new EP Glitter & Mess is available on iTunes

Be sure to follow Nakamarra on Twitter @nakamarramusic and on Instagram: @nakamarramusic 

Interview: Award Winning Singer/Songwriter Erin Bennett

By

Erin Bennett
Erin Bennett / Courtsey of Attack Agency

Erin Bennett is an award-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist from Ft Worth, Texas but makes her home in Scotland.

Her first band Syren was formed with notable musicians Amada Smith-Skinner on bass and Jo Heeley on drums, which grew a following within its first year of touring. Unfortunately, in 2011, drummer and Erin’s wife, Jo Heeley was diagnosed with breast cancer which took her life in January 2012. 

Erin won Songwriter of the Year at the Scottish Music Awards in 2012 for the song ‘Never Give Up The Fight” which she wrote in Jo Heeley’s memory.

Syren (with a new line-up) played their final show in 2014, and in 2015 Erin released her debut album “ReFlowered” as a solo artist.

Erin Bennett built a new band, The EB Band, comprised of former members of Rockbitch and local talent to launch her new prog/rock album, ‘Post Sexy, Post Truth’ (release date November 2017).

On November 14, 2017,  Erin spoke to me about her new album, her tour, The EB Band, and women in Indie Music.

Congratulations on your new album, ‘Post Sexy, Post Truth’. Explain the story or concept behind it. 

 Thank you very much! Bit of a long answer, so here we go:

All of the songs on the album share the same general subject matter which is that of someone who is really fed up. I got to a point within myself where I was seeing how I was, who I was, how I reacted to different situations…how I always find myself in tense situations because of the decisions I’ve made. And I just got really sick of it. Sick of myself. I realised that it costs me nothing to change and be the person I wanted to be, rather than the person I had become due to my conditioning up until that point in my life. And within that, I realised that most of my perceptions of myself were born out of insecurity and feeling worthless and that’s just not a great place to be. So in the songs on the album, I’m literally talking to myself, or at least that half of myself that spends its time and energy reminding me how shit I am…and basically, I’m telling it to fuck off.

The album name ‘Post Sexy, Post Truth’ is the umbrella concept under which all of the songs sit.

‘Post Sexy’ describes the current feminist mindset about personal sexuality.

We’ve wonderfully come to a place where people can be more sexually free than ever before, BUT, the act of expressing that sexual freedom is still looked at with suspicious eyes. Feminists seem to be chomping at the bit to flay a woman for being comfortable with her body. I get a lot of shit because of what I wear on stage and at the end of the day my attitude is this, ‘I’ve got big tits, I’ve got big thighs. They’d still be there if I wore jeans and t-shirts on stage, but I feel sexy wearing skirts and crop tops so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.’ True equality, (if that is even what people want anymore) is about everyone being able to be themselves and no one being ‘greater’ or ‘less’ than anyone else for doing so. So in some ways, in my opinion, hardcore feminism is creating the gap it supposedly works so hard to bridge.

‘Post Truth’ pertains to the age in which we find ourselves where the vast majority of humans are happiest sitting in front of their TV screens being told what to think.

And none of what’s being fed to them is the truth. You have two opposing political groups feeding their agendas into everything you see and hear and whoever screams the loudest wins the minds of the masses and look at where its landed us! No one thinks for themselves anymore, they wait to be told what to like, what to wear, what music to listen to… And when presented with a hard truth, an uncomfortable truth, it’s easier to ignore ignore ignore and then post selfies on facebook showing how ‘amazing my life is really is…’ What I’m expressing in my album is something true. Something real. This is REALLY what I’m going through and I KNOW I’m not the only one.

Wake up, basically.

You recently mentioned on Twitter that you are working on music videos and photo shoots. The music video for the new single ‘Tension’ really rocks! Who is producing your music videos? When will the new ones be released? Are the photo shoots only for the album or also for promotion?

Ah, yes! Tension was great fun to shoot. It was filmed and produced by Art Attack Films. I’ve worked with them for pretty much all of my videos even dating back to Syren days, simply because they work WITH me on the concepts for the videos. I give them my ideas and then they work their magic to make it happen. We’ll be filming the video to our next single ‘Two Folds the Pain’ within the next couple of months. I really look forward to that one because the song is so angsty and tense. It’s exciting to be able to put that across in the video.

We are doing a photo shoot for the album and I’m sure some of those will be used for promotion. We’ve been through a massive ‘re-brand’ as a band. Our sound has changed, our look has changed and our energy on stage is ramped up. We’re heavier…grittier… So it’d be great to get some studio shots that capture that.

You’ve just toured the UK to launch ‘Post Sexy, Post Truth’. What has the response been like?

The gigs have been great! It was more a ‘warm-up’ tour than a promo tour. But still, it’s been amazing. Our live set now is made primarily of songs from the new album. We released a few singles over the course of the last year to warm people up to our new sound and we’ve had really positive feedback from it.

Having said that, live, we’ve always been a bit heavier than on our records. So people are less surprised to hear the real ‘head down’ rock that we’re playing live nowadays. It’s the main reason for recording the new album the way we did. We recorded it live all in the same room together so that we could really capture that energy of a live performance. We really don’t want much of a difference between our recorded and live sounds. I guess so that people know exactly what they’re going to get when they come to a gig.

We’ve had a lot of press reaction in the UK off of the back of the gigs we’ve done so far and some pretty good gig offers have come through as well. So the band and I are all really pleased with the package of ‘Erin Bennett & The EB Band’ at the moment.

 You have an exciting new band for 2017 comprised of local talent and former members of MT-TV and Rockbitch. Can you tell us how that came about?

Indeed! Well, the band (who have affectionately named themselves ‘The EB Band’) have played with me since the beginning of recording ‘ReFlowered,’ except for Kittie who came into the fold last year. Officially upon getting all of them together, the record label was trying to push me as a solo artist and keep the musicians who played with me as more of a ‘backing band.’ But that’s a really difficult thing for me to want to try to stick to, not least of all because I’m spending every waking moment with these people; in rehearsal, in promotions, in the studio, on the road and they’re really family. The idea that I get on stage and never turn around and interact with them is just like betrayal almost. I love being in a band. And while they still push me to the front, the label folks are a lot less intense about it these days. So because of that, we were able to focus a bit more on the EB Band’s history as musicians. Some of the guys come from an incredible background, having been in Rockbitch back in the 90s. I mean, there’s nothing to prepare you for world touring and the pro’s and con’s of fame like being in a band like that.

Because they’ve been friends of mine for many years, recruiting them back in 2013 when I was in need of great musicians and real stability as a budding new artist, seemed the best possible move for me to make. Our drummer, Anna on the other hand…well, we nicked her from a University in Edinburgh when she was finishing her BA in Popular Music. Many people had their eye on her because she’s one of the most technically skilled drummers out there, but WE got her. mwah ha ha…

On your current tour, did you play any MT-TV and Rockbitch songs? If so, how did you decide which ones? If not, do you think you will in the future?

Unfortunately no. Not that I am against the idea at all. I’m a HUGE MT-TV/Rockbitch fan and know every song they’ve ever done by heart. But it boils down to the fact that I try to avoid covers where possible, period. Also, Julie of Rockbitch who’s now writing and touring with her EDM outfit, ‘Krow and The Electric Temple’ is one of my biggest influences as a singer and absolutely one of the best vocalists on the planet. I’m waiting for my feet to grow before I ever try to fill those shoes. 

When you play a show, what do you want to deliver to the audience? What do you want the audience to feel?

First of all, I want people to be sucked in by the music.

I want to create an environment where it becomes nearly impossible for people to look away from the stage.

I want people to be able to forget about all the shit that’s going on at home or at work, or with their everyday lives and get lost in the layers of music, passion, show, and energy. I want to bring people back to when music was a refuge- a safe place…not just background noise whilst you check your email or update your bloody Twitter. Apart from that, I want the audience to feel free to be themselves and express it.

You’re an experienced road warrior having played an incredible 200-gigs-per-year tour in the US and Continental Europe in the past. Do you have any plans to tour extensively for this album?

Absolutely! We’re going to be doing an acoustic ‘in-store’ tour in music and record shops around the UK early in 2018 interspersed with full-band gigs at various festivals around the UK. There are talks of heading back to Europe but I pretty much just go when/where they tell me. I’d love to go back to The Netherlands. So *fingers crossed*

It would be nice to go back to the USA to tour again…but that takes a crapload more organization and funding so we’ll see where we go with that, but I think it’ll be something to aim for.

You’re booked to play at Planet Rock’s Winter’s End in February 2018 supporting The Amorettes. How exciting is this for you? Do you think you could be a headliner next year?

Playing Winter’s End is going to be awesome. I’m looking forward to it a great deal. The Amorettes are a really cool band from a town not far from where I live. I really like their in-your-face rock and I’m excited to see them live. JoanOvArc are another band I look forward to seeing. As for headlining, it would be nice, and of course, I would if asked. But all I really care about is playing music to people- the details of when don’t bother me too much.

 Your music trek has been from folk rock to pop/contemporary pop to the current hard rock/progressive sound with The EB Band.  Can you explain this evolution of your sound over the years? 

 Ha! Yeah, it’s kind of funny. With Syren back in the early 2000’s we were primarily folk/rock with a bit of country-ish, blues in there. That basically just happened because I was from Texas and that was how my songs always wound up sounding. Though I was and still am influenced by no end of different musical genres…think I’m a blues girl at heart. Jo and Mandy (in Syren) added their almost ‘prog-rock’ virtuosity which toughened the sound up a bit. It was that that made us appeal to the likes of 60s rock bands like Hawkwind.

In 2011 I worked with a couple of DJ/Producers for a re-working of an old Kosheen track called ‘Hide U’. We collaborated on a few songs and these guys (Darren Bailie and Ronen Dahan) sort of helped me understand the formatting of a ‘pop song.’ So I took that knowledge and added it to what I already knew, wrote hundreds of songs over the course of a year or two and got ‘ReFlowered.’

The label made it intentionally a little bit more ‘poppy’ than how it was written because, again, at the time I was meant to be a solo artist. And it was great! I’m very proud of that album.

But at the time I was suffering from severe depression and going through a bereavement and never felt that I put 110% of my potential into the songs- in terms of writing.

So in 2016 feeling finally like I had my head above water, I stepped right back and took in the bigger picture of myself, my music, and as I mentioned before, I got a little grumpy with myself. I felt there was a lot I missed because of the experience of depression and felt that it had affected the type of person I was and that was transmuted in the songs I was writing. When I stuck the 13 demos of the album songs together in a playlist it was shocking just how homogenized the sound was. They were all in the same vein of rock and I don’t think I’ve ever written an album this uniformed. For me, it seemed okay to let the music go down the rock route because live we’re always so much heavier. It made sense. For myself and the EB Band, it meant that we could get away with more musically than we had been able to in previous tours. We wrote some pretty expressive segues that tie each song together live and it helps to really paint a picture.

We all feel, and I know I can speak for the others on this, that we’ve found our sound as a band.

Explain your production process when you record in the studio.   

Well, it’s pretty routine. I’ll write a song on my own or with the band and record it after we’ve played it a million times. My producer Finn and I spend a great deal of time understanding the song as if it was like a little person, you know? Understanding what it’s saying, where it’s coming from and then thinking ahead to stuff like, ‘Well who is our demographic and who should we produce for?’ Once we’ve worked that out, he’ll come up with a draft and then we’ll massage it together from there. We work wonderfully together and he’s really helped me get used to being produced and letting my songs go. I mean, I’ve produced some songs myself before, but being the songwriter can sometimes cloud your judgment in a business sense. I used to struggle a lot with the loss of control…it felt like someone was taking a puppy I just birthed myself and was slicing it to bits right in front of me. haha…More often these days, we produce in rehearsal either as we write or as I’m presenting a new song to the band. And we don’t stop until its done.

When did you start playing guitar? Did you teach yourself? 

 I must have started properly when I was 13. I was given a guitar by a relative when I was 9 to shut me up because my sister was in lessons and I was jealous. haha But apart from an ‘A’ chord I couldn’t play it. My first instrument and love were the drums. I built myself a kit out of buckets (before it became trendy) and just loved every minute of it. Eventually got an actual drum kit and you couldn’t tear me away from it.

But already at 9 years old, I’d written my first songs. I’d memorize the melodies and words and just sing them acapella. The thought of adding music to them (apart from drums) seemed too far out of reach. So, I never got around to picking the guitar up for writing until 13. I got one of those books of chords and starting teaching myself rhythm and practiced changing from one chord to another until I was quick enough to throw three chords together into a tune and then write a melody over it.

I never bothered having lessons, mostly because my family couldn’t afford it and by the time I started working and earning my own money I’d come far enough in guitar that my songs were totally fine without me needing to know the difference between Phrygian and Mixolydian mode. I’ve sometimes regretted not having had lessons, thinking I’d be a better player but I’m not interested in being a guitar god\I’m interested in playing stuff I love.

Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with in the future?

There are lots of great artists both known and unknown that I’ve met and would love to work with. But if we’re talking ‘dream collaborations’ I’d absolutely LOVE to do some stuff with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Even if we were just recording ‘Kumbaya’ for the Ultimate Campfire Compilation album…haha…To be able to watch those two work and be a part of the process would be a dream come true. 

An In Depth article from 2013 said women in their 20s were changing indie music by their dominance, especially in indie pop. It’s now 2017. What are your thoughts on this?

I’m not sure what its like over in the US at the moment, but it’s been a real uphill struggle for women in music in Britain. It seems the only place for women in music here is in pop. It is slowly changing though with all female or female fronted bands of other genres popping up all over the place. And yeah, I think women in rock, in particular, are unapologetically in your face. We have to be, otherwise, the British music press won’t listen. They don’t listen anyway, but they certainly won’t if you’re quiet and just waiting for Mr. Record Company to come to your gig.

You have to work twice as hard to make it in the music industry here.

Its one thing I miss about the USA is that every state has hundreds of radio stations, magazines, and clubs catering to music lovers of every genre. There’s more space in the US music industry. In Britain, the scene is so crowded. The biggest percentage of bands and artists in the industry is made up of headstrong boy bands struggling to be the next Biffy Clyro or Ed Sheeran. There’s no space for the smaller percentage of bands made up of females. Also, Music press in Britain seems to be in bed with the major record labels and if you don’t sound like someone they’re already reviewing or spinning, you just aren’t going to get a look in. AND if the public doesn’t hear from the major music press that they should listen to your music, they aren’t going to do it. People are too scared to take in something new. They’re too scared to invest in something they don’t know…It’s why its important for bands to stick together and support each other – share fans, share events and help each other up that hill.

A New York Times article said that women in indie music are making the best rock music today. What do you think? 

Yes, I read that article and listened to the 25 bands it listed. In my mind, indie and rock have always been two different things. But I don’t want to get into genre wars…you’re either good, or you’re not, right? I don’t believe that female ‘indie rock’ is necessarily the best rock. It’s just the style of rock that is gaining the most press. Right now, grungy, feminist, punk, pop is infinitely saleable because we live in a society where everyone’s a fucking feminist. So if the New York Times prints about feminist indie rock in their papers, everyone’s gonna buy it. But if you look at female ‘hard rock’ acts like The Amorettes, like JoanOvArc or The Courtesans (I could list a million) you will see a totally different side to rock that The Times isn’t looking at because this music exists for itself. Not to back an agenda.  Don’t get me wrong, some of those bands in that article are great! But if the New York Times says that purple trousers are what’s in, people are gonna suddenly start wearing purple trousers whether they look good or not.

DISCLAIMER: I am a HUGE advocate of women in music. I will always support women in music. I will always throw my weight behind a female band. But I won’t support someone just BECAUSE they’re female. That’s not fair. And I refuse to give in to this ‘Post Truth’ culture that suggests that these types of bands are shaping rock because the New York Times says so. They’re not. And in that statement, I don’t care if you’re female, male, gay, straight or from another fucking planet. If you write songs like ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Hotel California’, ‘Living on a Prayer’ or ‘Barracuda’ I’d say, you’re writing some of the best rock music today! If not, you aren’t the best rock artist. You’re another artist working to become the best. And I include myself in that.

(I need to get a less heavy soapbox to carry. haha)

How can women musicians in indie music be supported so they get more recognition?

Well, women in any genre outside of pop (where women are the preferred gender,) all need support. We need music press to stop looking at what its comfortable with and take some risks. We need music buyers to try something new. I remember back in the day when people would just trawl the internet looking for music they’d never heard before. No one seems to do that anymore. And we need women to really band together and support each other.

When the ‘women in music’ movement is supported from within, it’ll be too strong to be ignored.


 I mean, there are 12.6 million women living in Texas. If every single one of them bought my record, I’d be set for the rest of my life. Puts it into perspective, doesn’t it?

You are from Texas but currently, live in Scotland. Is there something about the music scene that drew you there?

Oh good lord, no! haha. Whilst I do LOVE Scotland, I came here back in 2010 to mix an album I was working on with Syren. It was while I was here doing just that my civil partner and Syren drummer, Jo was diagnosed with and died of breast cancer. I had a strong group of friends here (some of whom would later join the EB Band) that really helped me through it and I think by this time I’d settled into living in the UK. As well, professionally I had a better chance musically here since Syren had been based in Europe for so long. So going back to the USA wasn’t really an option.

What was it like to win the Songwriter of the Year at the 2012 Scottish New Music Awards?

Really humbling. The song was ‘Never Give Up The Fight’ written in Jo’s memory. So it was a very personal song. And to win an award for something that was that close to my heart was very overwhelming. I get asked this question a lot and every time it’s almost like vertigo…’Oh my god, yeah! I won. Shit.’…haha…so it’s still new, even though it was 5 years ago.

What advice do you have for young girls and women who want to be musicians or are currently pursuing a music career?

Follow your heart and passion and don’t give up. Don’t give in to negativism. And don’t be afraid. Do your thing! And

don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something because you’re a woman

Most importantly, support your fellow women musicians! You might meet new people and opportunities because of it, you might learn something you never knew. And that’s priceless.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to interview you.

No, Thank YOU for the opportunity to answer! I truly appreciate it and hope to see you at a show in the future!

 

Find upcoming tour information, music, and more on Erin’s website: www.erinbennetmusic.com

Follow Erin on Twitter @ebennettmusic and Facebook: ErinBennettMusic

 

Music Review: The Rip Nancies – Blur the Angles

By

Rip Nancies
Rip Nancies/Blur the Angles – Photo courtesy of Atrial Records

 

Blur the Angles Is a Strong Debut for The Rip Nancies

The Rip Nancies are an indie rock band that describes their sound as “upbeat garage rock” based in Barrie, Ontario. Recently, they took the top prize in the 2017 Collingwood Live & Original Music Series 

Together since 2009, The Rip Nancies make music for the love of it and cite their influences of 70s rock, 90s alt rock, punk, metal, and pop. Both their passion for music and their influences meld perfectly into a collective talent showcased in their debut EP, Blur the Angles.

The current lineup is Cara Spearin (vocals/keys), Sarah Hull (guitar), Sarah Morano (bass) and Brit Lobsinger (drums).

Track by Track

‘Bloody Ankles’ could be a great movie title, but there’s nothing scary about it. This track’s dominating driving beat of drums, punctuated with clever hand claps, that will have you out of your seat dancing. Go ahead and sing along as loudly as your lungs will allow.   

Cara Spearin’s powerful vocals grab you from the start on the next song, ‘On Giving In’. She belts out the lyrics that force you to sit up and soak them up. Combined with the soothing backing of a subdued guitar and soft drums, the unique combination gives the alt-rock track its haunting feel.

The stand out track is ‘Full of You’. It deceives you as it begins as a laid-back, almost dream state rock song and then Sarah Hull’s guitar and Cara’s vocals erupt into a power pop/punk experience. The song drives itself back and forth in this manner, its lyrics holding you captive, until the very end.     

If you’re in a comfortable state of mind from the last track, ‘Mess’ is the cold splash of water on your face. It opens with some fierce guitar riffs. It’s a raw, pulsating song that fuses punk style vocals against the wailing guitar, strong drums and punctuating bass line. 

Blur the Angles delivers a set of powerful and raw songs that showcases the talent of this band.  The Rip Nancies should be on everyone’s watch list.  

Buy your copy of Blur the Angles on Bandcamp: https://theripnancies.bandcamp.com/album/blur-the-angles-ep

Keep up with the latest news on their website: https://www.theripnancies.com/ 

Follow them on Twitter @nanciesmusic & Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nanciesmusic/

 

 

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