Dutch and Indonesian singer KIA is an authentic artist based in Los Angeles whose soulful sound and memorable timbre is ready to be heard. Much like her own mixed heritage, her music is a blend of various genres; a base of neo-soul with a strong emphasis on pop and touches of jazz, funk, hip-hop, and R&B.
KIA has written and recorded for several productions like web-series “Hard Medicine” (USA), G’ Day productions “Honoring Liam Hemsworth and Helen Reddy” and “Standing Together” (USA), movie “Help! I Shrunk My Friends” (Germany), upcoming series “Madam$” (USA), and “The Walkers” (USA).
She recently received her first American Award (NAMM President’s Innovation Award), became a top finalist at the IMSTA songwriting competition, a semi-finalist at the International Songwriting Competition, and with her solo project she just released her latest single “Worth it.”
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Discuss your singing ability.
I always listened to pop and soul music when I was younger and tried to emulate the sounds, the phrasing, and the articulation of the singers. I wasn’t serious back then though; it wasn’t until I was about 17 years old that I really started taking classes and developed a specific sound. This didn’t happen overnight; I studied jazz and pop music at a conservatory and I just finished my master’s degree in commercial music.
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Tell us the reason you want to sing.
I feel a sense of freedom when I sing. I love to share my interpretation of something and connect with people’s senses and emotions.
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Tell us your most memorable live performance.
Oh wow, there are so many. If I must be brutally honest, every live performance is memorable to me. You create something magical together with the band, so every gig is different, and every audience is also different.
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Discuss how you build your song.
This differs from time to time. Sometimes something pops into my head and I need to record it quickly or make a quick production in Logic. Then I’ll send it off to a producer who can make the song sound good.
But most of the time I’m co-writing with producers and other writers and things can happen from scratch. It depends a little bit on what kind of song I’m writing, but most of the time I start with the hook, a theme, or a word and then build a whole world around it.
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Tell us how you impress your fans with your music.
I want people to feel something rather than impress them. Music to me is more like a self-journey rather than a competition. Everyone has his/her own path and if my music takes you to where you need to go, then that’s a beautiful thing.
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Discuss the relevance of promotion to the music business.
Promotion is necessary for your music to get heard and to reach people outside of inner your circle. Finding creative and effective ways to do this like good visuals for advertisement, email lists, and social media strategies will help you along the way.
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Tell us what you will do apart from music.
I love cooking, organizing, and clearing my mind every now and then at the beach…
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List the names of the instruments you can play.
Piano and trumpet.
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Tell us if you have any music background.
Back when I was a kid, I played trumpet, French horn, and classical guitar. But unfortunately, I kind of dropped this when I got older. I picked up the trumpet again as a minor for my Bachelor of Music degree, but I put more focus on piano playing at that time so that I could write my own music.
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Tell us the piece of advice you will give to a new artist on entering the music chart.
Don’t let up. Keep your foot on the gas pedal.
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Elaborate on melody and rhythm.
These two things are so intertwined and yet so not. They always have to work together but they can be contrasting at the same time. It’s like a love and hate relationship except maybe not that extreme…
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Tell us about your future goals.
I want to write, record, and perform as much as I can. I’ll always keep working on my art and share my stories through my original songs.
I want to continue writing and recording for productions, TV and movies, and my solo project.
My near goal is to work towards a publishing deal.
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Share your music experience with us.
I strongly believe that in every phase of our lives, music is what will always connect us. It will move us into a better place when you’re up and down, and especially now during these hard times of the pandemic. All we have to be is patient, safe, and smart and the tide will turn.
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Tell us the most difficult part of the recording.
Sometimes it’s hard to get fully into the emotion of a tune. You don’t have the audience in front of you; just a microphone so it really comes down to an inner reflection and your job is to translate that through your voice.
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Discuss the greatest mistake you have ever made in your music career.
Always wanting to help others; which is not necessarily a bad thing, excepts when it gets to a point that people take advantage of you.
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Tell us how you build up your composition.
I like to start with the music, and then the instant composition of lyrics and melodies. The music already gives me so much information; a vibe, an emotion that will most likely lead to a story.
When I found something to grab on, I sometimes make a mind map with this word or theme and try to come up with as many words as I can that are connected to it and work from there.
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Discuss the relevance of the lyrics to the listeners.
Lyrics are most of the time not the first thing people listen to, unfortunately, but nonetheless, I believe every word should mean something to the person who wrote it. It can be interpreted completely differently by a listener…
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Elaborate on the song.
When the song first started, I had this idea of self-love in a social setting, it was based on an external personal experience, but as I continued writing and listening to it, it applies in so many different aspects of life. Something we don’t stop searching for. There will be struggles and there will be doubt, both external and internal, but the only person who is going to get you out is yourself. It’s important to find self-love, self-respect, and self-worth. These lyrics couldn’t be more honest to me.
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Elaborate on your artist’s name and the title of the album.
Well KIA doesn’t stand for KIA Motor as I get the joke many times.
My full name is Saskia and ever since high school people started calling me Kia which kind of got stuck with me.
The title of the studio live album “Tomorrow’s Mind” (which will be happening when things are going back to normal again) is part of a lyric from my song “All Night”, where I’m saying; “Tomorrow’s Mind Ain’t Nothing But a Yesterday’s Guide.” I love to play around with words and in this sentence, I was thinking about a concept where we can’t plan every little thing in the future and at the same time how we can only learn from whatever happens today.
Eclectic, Emotive Rock! Fires of Freya are a North East of England based electrifying rock band with exhilarating monster guitar riffs and powerhouse raw vocals. Their supercharged emotive music is an eclectic mix of rock songs that create a live performance that’s engaging from the very first note to the last.
Formed in December 2017 the band consist of:
Lead Vocals & Keyboards (Cheryl Reynolds);
Backing Vocals and Guitar (Shaun Evans);
Drums (Dan Baldwin); and
Bass Guitar (Harry Iveson)
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Discuss your recording experience with your producer.
Cheryl – We do not use a producer currently; we write and produce our own songs with the help of sound engineer Adam Forster of The Old Church Studio in Thropton, near Newcastle. We’ve used Adam for both singles we have released. The studio is a small converted church. It’s beautiful and the perfect setting to get creative with our music.
Normally it takes about 2 days to fully record, mix and master one of our singles but sometimes takes more. The more complex and more instruments we use the more time it takes, which we don’t mind too much as we prefer to get it sounding the best it can.
Dan: We recorded our latest and last single at the Old Church, and it was a lot of fun. I have always enjoyed the recording side as well as playing; seeing each bit to come together. It was great working with Adam, he’s extremely easy to work with and really listens to us. If anything needs changing after we get the song back from being mixed and mastered, he’s very willing to do so.
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Discuss what comes first and last while creating a song.
Cheryl: It depends on who wrote the initial idea for a song. If Shaun writes the initial idea, he’ll play the riff or melody on guitar, record himself doing that and send onto the band’s WhatsApp chat. I will then write lyrics for the song and the whole song will then be pieced together at band practice with bass and drums being added to finish and sometimes keyboards. We also sometimes have a jam at practice and songs have been created from them.
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Tell us the piece of advice you will give to a new artist.
Cheryl: We are new artists so if anyone wants to give us advice, that will be greatly received! We’re about 2 years into being a band. We’ve had a few member changes in that time so not as far forward as we would like but we’ve still achieved a lot! And we’ve learned a lot too! We’ve played multiple festivals at home and further afield.
We’ve entered the battle of the bands and competitions (one of which saw us grace the O2 Academy Newcastle mainstage) and we’ve played more gigs than I could count at home and in multiple other UK cities.
I think the advice I would always give is playing live gigs, as much and as often as you can. Every new fan counts when you’re small and you need to start somewhere. I’d also give the advice – believe you’ve not yet written your best work. I always try to think this way and it makes me want to keep going, keep writing, and to keep aiming for that golden song, album, etc. I think it’s also important to write songs that you like, not what you think others will like. If you believe in your own music, really feel it and enjoy playing it, that will shine through and convince your audience that what your doing is something to listen to and pay attention to.
Dan: Try and start networking with local bands to help each other out. You can support each other to allow you to play local venues. It can be hard to find good places to play and quite often other artists will know which ones are best to suit your genre of music.
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Discuss your worst experience in the music business.
Cheryl: We were approached by someone who wanted to manage us. At the time we thought that was great. This person must really like us and wants us to go far if they are willing to put their time and effort into us. Wrong. This person spoke in riddles and did nothing to further the band. When they did book us gigs, they took most of the money earned that night for themselves and once this person even cancelled a gig we had on the day because they wanted to spend the night with a new flame and didn’t want to lose the opportunity to take all the payment for the night. We had to call the venue directly to learn this!
Safe to say, some people do not believe in you because they show interest. They want to use you and nothing more. We left this person quickly and now have brilliant management in Epic Venom. We looked them up and asked for them to support us, they only did after listening to our stuff and deciding they liked us and could provide a helping hand. And so far, they have helped massively in raising our profile and providing solid advice.
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Tell us how you deal with rejection.
Cheryl: We take feedback on board and use it to better ourselves. We understand that not everyone will like our music and that’s ok. We aim to find those who will. We write music for ourselves; the music we like, and we try to remember why we do this. We do it because we enjoy making music together, we enjoy the friendships the band has brought us, and we just want to enjoy the journey. We have no idea where this will end up so there is no point in worrying about that.
Dan: Everyone has their own individual opinion about music genres, not everyone may like your music but it’s their own view. All I can say is try not to let it get you down. Just keep working hard on making music you enjoy and making it the best it can be and there will be people out there that will like it.
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Tell us what you are doing to impact the people around you.
Cheryl: We play live shows, write music that’s based on life events, thoughts, and feelings. The music is really to get us through our own difficult or indeed happy times, and we hope others will relate and place their own meaning on our songs.
While we sit in lockdown, we have been impacted by Covid-19 and have lost a friend. We’ve written a song in our friend’s honour, a song that tries to explain the pain of what’s happening right now, the cost, and the love that holds us all together.
Dan: At the minute, the whole world is having to deal with a profoundly serious change with the Covid-19 virus, which is causing heartbreak to many people. We are using our social media platforms to keep in touch with our fans sending out clips of our music and are in the process of writing a new demo to send out to people, to help everyone get through this tough time.
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Tell us the music that makes you happy.
Cheryl: Melodies that you can sing your heart out to, catchy riffs, harmonies from the heavens, soaring vocals, and blinding solo probably sums up the type of music that makes me happy.
Dan: Music has been a part of my life for a while now, I have a quite broad range of genres I enjoy. Nowadays, anything that has a good beat I will listen to, but my favourite genre has always been rock including blues, funk, and punk.
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Tell us how you make instrumentation to your song.
Cheryl: Our songs are a combination of Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, and sometimes Keyboards.
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Tell us how you feel when you sing, and your fans sing along to your song.
Cheryl: I don’t think you can describe that feeling in words. It’s just amazing to think that the lyrics you wrote are stuck in someone else’s head. They are moved enough by your music to sing it back to you. It’s doesn’t get better than that.
Dan: You would have to ask the other band members about when they sing lol, but it always makes me happy when you can see people at gigs singing back or recalling lines of the songs back to us after.
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Tell us the goals you aim to achieve when creating a song.
Cheryl: We want each song to land in peoples’ heads and stay there. Memorable, catchy, powerful, meaningful songs are what we aim to create. We want people to be wowed by our vocals, melodies, lyrics, riffs, solos, and more.
Dan: When writing songs, we try to aim to make sure it is the best it can be; it involves breaking it apart and changing little bits if needed. The main thing is making sure people are going to enjoy listening to it and will want to keep listening to it. This will help us gain extra fans.
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Tell us about your approach to writing.
Cheryl: Lyrics are written when the mood strikes, or if a song spurs certain emotion.
The actual music comes together often with each musician sitting down and adding their instrument individually to a song idea.
Sometimes songs are born from a fun band practice jam. There is no one way of doing things, that’s what makes music so exciting. You could give 5 people the same 5 chords to write a song and you’d have 5 completely different sounding songs from each. The possibilities are endless.
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Tell us how you plan to develop a unique music style.
Cheryl – I guess you could say we are still developing our sound. We try not to pigeonhole ourselves into one specific genre or sound and that makes us quite unique. Not conforming to any one genre.
I believe our sound will change and evolve in the years to come, I look forward to that, it will keep us interesting and fresh.
There are many different influences in this band as we want to draw upon them all in a way to make our own music, how we like it.
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Tell us how to record a song.
Cheryl: We record a ghost track 1st. So, everyone plays the song, as if it were a live gig. This ghost track is then used to aid each musician in building the song. Drums are normally laid down 1st, then bass, then guitar, the keys if we are adding them in, and then lastly the vocals.
Then we leave the raw recordings in the magical hands of Adam who mixes and masters our song into its perfect state.
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Tell us if you are collaborating with other songwriters or you write alone.
Cheryl: For this band, we write alone. I have been asked to guest sing on other bands material and we would probably be open to this as well at some point further down the line. We write all our own music and lyrics and plan to continue this.
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Discuss your experience with fans.
Cheryl: We’ve had some great times with our fans. We played a small venue in Newcastle called Bar Loco and honestly; this was one of our favourite gigs. There must have been no more than 10 people in the room, but they made us feel like there was 100. The feedback we got was amazing. We even got hugs!
Edinburgh was a great gig as well; we met our fan Brian who is sixty-something years young and still rocking out to live local band nights. He asked to get pictures with us that night and follows us religiously to this day. We really do have the best fans.
Dan: We love playing music live, showing everyone the effort, we put into the band, and creating music. We tend to have a fun experience with fans, and we have had positive feedback from them about our music.
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Tell us your experience of booking gigs and shows.
Cheryl: It takes time to get the gigs rolling in locally, but they start coming eventually. Our 1st couple of years have been very busy indeed. It really does help to make friends with other local bands. We all play with each other and support each other and that’s where most of our gigs come from. Never consider other local bands as the enemy or competition. It’s likely your writing completely different music so why be threatened?
Agencies are helpful as well. We’ve worked with booking agents such as SSD concerts and Bedlam booking and they are both fabs. Have gotten us some crazy good gigs over the years in the best venues. It’s harder to get gigs outside your hometown because it’s hard to convince promoters and venues that you can pull people in to come to see you. But they do need to understand that you need to play the area to gain a following. You may start off with small numbers but with determination and some good songs that will change.
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Tell us if you consider a song placement in TV or Film.
Cheryl: We would, and we have. One of the songs off our demo EP Crash and Burn made it onto two short films, one film named “Without Light” has our song “Give a Reason” in it and so does another film called Holli. We’re very proud of this fact.
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Elaborate on the song.
Cheryl: We’ve recently released our 2nd single “Complicated”. This song talks of the demons of the mind and how they can destroy a good thing before it even has a chance to start. Have you ever liked someone who has recently broken up with someone? Have you ever thought that person would be perfect for you if someone else hadn’t broken them first? Have you ever thought you’d be perfect for someone if you hadn’t been broken first? Well, that’s what “Complicated” is about.
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Elaborate on your artist’s name and the title of the album.
Cheryl: We’re working on our debut album, it’s yet to be named.
The band’s name is Fires of Freya. We named the band this after Freya the goddess of love, war, sex, and lots of other things in Norse mythology. We’re geeks and we like that sort of thing. “Fires” had a nice ring to it.
I have not had writer’s block yet, and if I did, I read poems and listen to other music, and like to go for walks. This all helps to find some inspiration.
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Tell us the tricks behind making a hit song.
I’m not sure I have had a hit song yet, but it’s nice to know people like my music.
I think it is about your songwriting and doing something new, and the secret I feel remains in the repetition of a sentence or a word.
I think a good or successful song is the one that gets stuck in people’s heads!
A good example of this kind of lyric repeating is the chorus in Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do.
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Tell us how you get feedback for your demo before working on it.
My record labels CEO (Scoop) of Live & Dangerous Records pitches my music to the presidents of different labels inside Universal Music, Warner Music, and non- president people at Sony Music get my music too, so he makes sure people know about me in the big 3.
On my side, I will send a message presenting my project with my demos to people, then I send a reminder a week later if I don’t have an answer.
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Explain your recording experience in the studio.
I went to New York to record the music after I was discovered online by music legend Bob Leone (Who discovered Lana Del Rey and managed Lady Gaga).
This was the start of one of the most incredible experiences in my musical career so far as I worked with 2X Grammy winner and music legend and music executive Robert Cutarella (Joss Stone, Cyndi Lauper, Eric Clapton, EMI, CBS Sony Music).
Everything was so fluid and so natural when we worked together, and I believe this is why people have really loved what we created.
I had an incredible feeling that I found my sound in the music industry, and I think it is slowly showing.
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Tell us how you compose.
I have several ways of composing my music, either I start with the melody or with the lyrics and often I am alone to avoid anything disturbing me, and I often listen to the music in a loop. It allows me to concentrate better…
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Tell us if you add effects to your vocals to sound better.
I just add a slight reverb to add more depth to give me a better and live sounding feel, and then I leave it up to the amazing talent of Robert Cutarella, he then works his magic.
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Tell us the best streaming platform to get new fans.
Spotify without any shadow of a doubt. It’s the absolute leader of the streaming platforms I believe, and they have 130 million subscribers so that helps.
People are always searching for new artists to listen to, and I am seeing this by being added to over 50 public playlists on just my 3rd ever release. Thanks to all the people supporting me in their playlists.
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Tell us your opinion on music education.
I would say that music education is the key, and it is necessary to train the musicians of tomorrow.
As far as I am concerned, I believe I wouldn’t be doing this well if I had not studied at a music school to give me the knowledge I have today.
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Discuss the shooting of a commercial music video for a song.
It’s a very exciting experience to have a team working on the music and vision you created, and the hardest part can be to put your emotions on camera and be believable, it is a real acting game!
I filmed my clip ‘What Happens’ in Paris and it was a lot of fun to look for the places where to shoot the scenes. I loved having my makeup done, and the coolest thing is to see the end result when it all comes together, and everyone who was part of it can walk away with some pride.
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Tell us how you interact with other artists.
Most of them are personal relations, but also social networks are excellent to create new professional connections.
The trick is to support others and doesn’t just make it just about what you do.
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Tell us if you can collaborate with an artist of a different genre.
I’ve never done that yet, but it would be a very good experience to mix my style with Indian or flamenco music!
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Explain how to finance a music project.
We have not spent a penny on the marketing budget for my latest releases and I did 10,000 streams in 7 days and went from a few people to 7000 monthly listeners on Spotify in just 7 days too. It is all about the people around you and your team and everyone having the same vision and end goal, in my team it is The CEO of my label, Scoop, Robert Cutarella, Jason Howard, Jay Stansfield, and Matt Schipsi.
If the artist cannot find a way to finance their own project and is not lucky enough to have an amazing team then there are options.
Crowdfunding campaigns or a Record label may have the resources to invest in your music.
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Explain how to copyright a musical work.
Well, the first thing I did was print all the lyrics to all my songs and then recorded all of the tracks to a CD (I then sent everything to my home address,) and OF COURSE, I WILL NEVER OPEN THIS MAIL IF I DO IT WILL LOSE ALL ITS LEGAL VALUE!
Then in my case, I registered it with “SACEM” (in France.) This also keeps my copyright with them secured.
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Tell us how to generate income from a musical work.
There are many ways to generate income and therefore it is important to register your work with a music society if you can, (in France it is the SACEM) who collects your income for some royalties.
A good record label will pay you when you make enough money from your streaming and downloading income for (Spotify/Deezer/Apple Music / Napster etc.)
There is huge debate thou that these streaming sites do not pay enough, and I am inclined to agree here. Then there are live shows and publishing that can bring huge income in.
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List the name of organizations you know can be helpful to new artists.
There are loads of great distribution companies who work with signed and indie artists like Spinnup Universal Music, Level Music (Warner Music,) and AWAL (Kobalt Music)
There are some excellent places to find opportunities like Song Link, Bandit Newsletter, Songtradr, Sentric Music, and Music Gateway. I have left a few examples below.
Distributions
Spinnup Distribution part of (Universal Music Group.)
AWAL Distribution (Part Of Kobalt Music.)
Placement Opportunities
Song Link.
Bandit Newsletter.
Songtradr.
Music Gateway.
Sentric Music.
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Explain the process involved in recording a vocal.
A smartphone can do the job for getting rough ideas down, but after you have the vibe going you need to buy a good microphone and use a music program to record it into. (You can download Audacity for free.)
A lot of vocalists who record at home are using something called Garage Band, but if you have a friend with a decent home studio or the money then go to a proper studio as they will do a good job on vocals, however, a home studio can do just as well.
I would also like to say, find producers who can pitch your vocals too, the greatest singers in the world like Whitney Houston and Etta James have pitching on their vocals, it is so important to do that every time or your music will not sound the best it can be, and this can damage you to the major labels A&R.
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Elaborate on the song.
First, I will find the subject and feel the vibes of the music then I start to give the lyrics shape to the music. There are no rules really, it can happen in many ways.
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Elaborate on your artist’s name and the title of the album.
My artist name is my real name. I have decided to keep it because I find that it has character.
To really connect with your fans, you must be someone they can relate to as if they had just met you at a show or in the streets.
The title of the album is the same as the leading song “What Happens”, however, due to this awful virus we are going to only do single releases though, as I am not sure when the studios will be opened again.
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Send a message to your fans.
Thank you so much for your love and support, I am thrilled to know you like my music and you can find more music on Spotify of mine and let’s connect on Social Media…
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Share your press release and review with us.
‘Live And Dangerous Records’, a label distributed by both Spinnup (Universal Music & AWAL Kobalt Music) presents 24-year-old Franco-Spanish singer-songwriter Melissa Salazar, a new 24-year-old Franco-Spanish singer-songwriter, who starts turning the heads in the music industry.
Her deep and powerful voice, her Soul musical style with nuances of Jazz, blues, and New-Soul and the influences of his idols like Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, or Amy Winehouse, grants her with a surprising vocal identity.
Over the years ‘Live and Dangerous Records’ have run national campaigns with unknown artists leading them to score within the top 20 in the Music Week charts and above some major labels and names.
The label is all about supporting and giving unsigned and indie artists a voice to the major labels who may not notice them yet, and the major labels see them as the bridge to the unsigned and Indy world.
When Live & Dangerous Records listened to her music, they knew within 30 seconds that they wanted to work with her. Their first-ever meeting was incredible, as Scoop brought on the music legend, Peter Rafelson.
Peter Rafelson was instrumental in the Career of music Icon Madonna, and Peter co-wrote Madonna – Open Your Heart. He has also been involved in 30 number 1 records and sold over 300 million worldwide records. To have names like Peter Rafelson, Robert Cutarella, Bob Leone and a full team behind her music is very unusual for an emergent artist.
Since being with the label she has released two tracks ‘What Happens’, and ‘Like It Never Started’ distributed by Spinnup Universal Music London, and in a very short time she has been seeing amazing results, including major growth with the first song she put out on her own called ‘Leave Me Alone.’
As briefly mentioned above, we have seen a huge amount of buzz and attention on her music on Spotify since she joined to Live And Dangerous Records, getting to reach near 10,000 monthly listeners on Spotify in just 4 weeks, and over 23,000 streams across her music so far.
More!
Melissa Salazar was born in 1995 in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where her maternal family have their origins for twenty generations, and Parisian by her father.
She arrived in Paris at the age of 3, hardly speaking few words of French. Singing quickly becomes her mean of expression. Her primary school teacher already noted in her school notebooks: “Melissa has a very pretty voice, the intensity of which she has little control over! “.
Graduated in 2016 in Vocal Jazz and after her first concerts in the most legendary Parisian Jazz-Clubs (Baiser-Salé, Café Universel, Sunset-Sunside…), she was discovered in 2018 by Bob Leone (who discovered Lana del Rey and managed the beginnings of Lady Gaga …).
Detecting a very promising musical future for her, Bob Leone encouraged her to write her own songs, and following his advice, she recorded the EP of her first compositions at the end of 2018 in New York, with a legend in the music industry: the American producer, two-times rewarded with the Grammy Awards, Robert Cutarella, an exceptional man whose humility can only be compared to his fabulous career for over 45 years with the greatest artists on the planet like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Eric Clapton, Cindy Lauper, Joss Stone, and many others. He is the editor/producer of more than 3000 songs, including 160 platinum records.
I am releasing a new EP this year, I’m not sure of the date yet, but if you keep an eye out you will know soon! 😉
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Tell us if you will change the style of your music to get signed.
I personally wouldn’t ever change anything about my music because it represents who I am, and it tells my stories.
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Elaborate on this song.
It was a fun song to make. I recorded this one in London with the producer I usually work with, Paddy Hunt.
I wrote the songs in less than twenty minutes because at that moment that is exactly how I felt about a specific person in my life. Realizing that in fact, you need to love and like yourself as much as you can before letting someone else in your life, and if that someone is damaging, then just let him/her go, it’s honestly a waste.
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Tell us if you have a guideline or standard set for your music production.
I usually know how I want the songs to sound and work from that with my producer.
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Tell us your preparation for a live performance and how you make sure the quality of sound is high.
The live shows I have played in the past have been mainly acoustic; me and the guitar so it was easy to do a soundcheck before the show.
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Discuss how to live in a healthy way.
I think living healthy isn’t just about our bodies, I believe we need healthy relationships with the ones around us… healthy thoughts and a healthy lifestyle.
There is no strict diet, I think if we eat as healthy as we can and indulge in cravings when we want to, that’s healthy for me.
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Tell us if you are in control of your performance or you are still learning.
I have always done acoustic sets so therefore I have always been in full control.
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Tell us that precious moment you chose music as a career.
I always knew, ever since I was a kid I would sing everywhere.
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Tell us the greatest feedback you have ever received on a song of yours.
Someone said that I was going to be the new pop face of UK, I was like wow do they really think that.
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Tell us your side interest apart from music.
I love painting, drawing, dancing even though I am not very good.
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Tell us the artists that influenced you.
Lany, Lauv, Lennon Stella…
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Tell us if you prefer singing as a solo artist to collaborating with others.
I love singing solo as it gives me freedom, but I would love to collaborate in the future.
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Tell us the organization you will set up to fight a cause and state your reason for fighting the cause.
I am doing a live stream for War Child on the 28th of May.
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Tell us about your mood while performing.
I love the energy of the crowd but also the silent moment when people appreciate the meaning of the song. It’s a cool connection.
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Tell us the mistakes to avoid in the music business.
Changing who you are.
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Tell us your opinion on smoking; health is wealth, but people still smoke.
I personally don’t smoke, but I can understand how people have their own little rituals, even though they might not be healthy.
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State your artist’s name and elaborate on it.
Edith, it’s just my actual name.
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State the title of the album and the reason for choosing the title.
I once felt like this – I always write songs from my own experiences, therefore I once felt like this, but I do not anymore which is very relieving.
The music and artists I have always been most inspired by are the big and soulful, powerful vocalists like Aretha, Chaka Khan, Janis Joplin and Jennifer Hudson to name a few.
And lyrically my inspiration usually drives from personal experience; I like to believe I am quite an honest songwriter.
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Discuss how you develop your music style.
Usually, I start with both melody and lyrics, for me they tend to come together, from there I take my idea to my lush band, and we develop it until it becomes a finished piece.
I do try to write in various ways, but this is my favourite most consistent method. 🙂
And style-wise, I try not to restrict myself; I write freely, and usually, it fits with my soulful style.
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Tell us the best means of reaching fans.
For me, I think there is no better way than at gigs, them getting to hear me do my thing and it allows them to see who I am as a person and doing what I love most.
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Discuss the process involved in launching a musical career.
I think there are so many ways to launch oneself into the industry; social media, TV Competitions, Networking, but for me, I like the old-fashioned way of gigging and building your fan base organically.
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Tell us how to develop a lyric to a full song.
I would suggest starting with a concept or theme, write the lyrics to a point where you have ideally a couple of verses and maybe a chorus idea, and then think about what direction you want the song to go in.
Listen to music you see similar to your idea and that inspires you, it will more than likely help you find the tools to finish the song.
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Tell us how you come up with a melody.
For me the melody is the first thing I think of, but it genuinely just comes naturally, a melodic line comes to my head, I ride with it and find more melody as I build on it…
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Tell us your ideal type of recording studio.
I am currently creating my own studio with my drummer; these five singles were all recorded there; we just need to save up for some more snazzy equipment.
I have enjoyed every studio I have ever recorded in but for me, it’s being your own, whether it be from your home or garage, it is yours and you can fully relax and be in control with it which is great as an artist.
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Describe the factors you consider in a good song.
For me lyrics are important, I need to be able to relate or interpret them in my own way and enjoy singing them.
Melody is important for me also, but more than anything the feel of the song if you can connect with it, it’s a winner.
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Tell us how you impact your listeners with your songs.
My songs are very honest, and I like to think relatable, this allows my listeners to get to know me more, and to connect with me, and my music.
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Tell us how you interact with producers and music directors.
I think the most important thing is to know what you want and how to communicate your ideas.
I’ve now built on 12 years of recording experience (the first time I ever sang in a studio was in Newcastle at a lovely facility called The Cluny Studios for my 15th birthday), I’m now in a place where I am confident in my ability vocally and most of the time I am able to express what I am trying to create musically.
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Tell us how you feel after the completion of a song.
Buzzing that I’ve completed another song I am proud of, but also nervous at the thought of releasing to the world. I think music and singing is a very intimate thing.
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Tell us your worst song and state the reason.
My worst song is also one of my favourites if that makes any sense. It’s called ‘One More Time,’ it is a beautiful and very intimate ballad about losing someone you love.
The reason I would select the song is that at the time I didn’t have the creative input or say on what I wanted to really build the song, looking back I was hurried by someone I was working within the industry and I think wrongly advised.
However I will go back and explore this song again, I wrote it and I love it so I want to look at the production on it (things like adding in strings and more dynamic to match the intensity of the lyrics and vocals), I think I will put a new version of this single on to my debut album.
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Tell us what you will change in your music.
I think my music is forever changing and growing, but right now I am finally happy with what I am creating, and I have a direction I’d like to ride with for a while yet, that is soul!
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Tell us what is special about this release.
It’s the first music I have ever recorded myself, not had to hire a studio, my band and I have worked hard to do this.
Also, I love that it is the first chapter in a series of 5 releases, and all 5 singles have a great music video to accompany them and they all carry the theme of self-love and the importance of honesty.
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Tell us about your future goals.
My debut album – That is the main goal! I am working on it already; I plan to have 100 songs to pick from…. I have 10 so far so there is a long way to go.
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Tell us how you overcome obstacles.
With support, I have amazing people in my life, my band are my team and they are the best, also my mum and my partner.
Friendship and self-belief are the ways I overcome anything. And I definitely lack the second regularly so it’s an ongoing process of self-development for me. This music is definitely being a big step in that direction.
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Elaborate on the song.
‘I Promise (that I got you)’ is about the importance of honesty and communication in a relationship, what you wanted at the start of a relationship may be totally different 5 years in, but if you love someone and are comfortable being truly honest in your needs and beliefs, then you should be just fine!
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Elaborate on your artist’s name and the title of the album.
My artist’s name is my real name hehe, Beth Macari 🙂 The ‘Macari’ comes from Italy, I have an Italian family so I like that it’s a little different, and it’s part of who I am and my heritage.
And I currently don’t have an album title, but these 5 singles all form a short film (the music video for each release will be connected together for a director’s cut), and that is titled ‘I AM EVERYTHING’. Each single taps into self-love, and respect for yourself and others!
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Share your press release and review with us.
Beth Macari’s original music has seen her support Rae Morris, Maverick Sabre, and The Hot 8 Brass Band from New Orleans and has enabled Beth to tour across Europe & The UK, including performing to 26,000 at The South Tyneside Summer Festival and playing alongside the likes of Melanie C, The Kaiser Chiefs, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, and Jessie Ware. She also fronted the live house band on Sky One celebrity panel show ‘Bring the Noise’, performing alongside Nicole Scherzinger and Tinie Tempah, to name a few.
In January 2018, Beth released a single with Radio 1 legend Kissy Sell Out; which landed number 10 in the Beatport Dance charts. She has also collaborated with DJ/producer Axwanging on a remake of Delirium featuring Sarah Mclachlan’s ‘Silence.’
Beth’s debut single ‘Clone’ received one million radio plays in the USA alone. After being championed by Gaby Roslin on BBC London, Beth’s following self-release “Boy” received an exclusive premiere on BBC Radio 2.
2019 began with performing at The Sage, Gateshead as part of BBC Introducing’s “New Year, New Artist” show before releasing her powerful-pop single “Stronger”, which only a month later had clocked up over 100,000 streams on Spotify as well featuring as BBC London’s “Track of the Week”.
Beth has since been focusing on new music and creating an EP that is really true to her soulful tones. Each single is essentially a chapter, and with each chapter, there is a retro-inspired music video; which at the end will essentially form a short film…
‘Falling Stars’ was written and recorded in Los Angeles last December.
I wrote the melody with different lyrics at Ace Hotel in London.
The back vocals were created with Kevin Cho, at the end after recording to give more body to the song.
Inspired by One Republic.
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Tell us the best means of becoming a famous artist and selling more records.
It’s different for every artist. We all have a combination of different skills. When you zoom out, it’s the same rules as to becoming successful in any field.
Self-awareness – optimizing strengths and finding solutions for weaknesses. Focusing on one thing at the time.
Finding your identity in the industry and your WHY. Not be too hard on yourself as you can always do better and most of it ends up being luck. Just do it and have fun with it.
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Tell us how fans are reacting to your music.
It’s been getting better and better. They are literally witnessing me learning – writing better, saving to record and trying different release strategies. If I had the time, I’d share more.
In terms of streams for this song specifically, SoundCloud and YouTube got the most streams so far. Perhaps because not everyone can pay for Spotify.
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Explain how to deal with fear on stage.
I get a bit nervous just before, but once on stage, it just feels natural. I like entertaining people, it’s fun.
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Tell us your point of view on the quality of production of today’s songs to old songs and point out what you think has changed.
It has become easier to produce your own songs, and not as expensive as it used to, to work with the best producers. Music costs a lot to make and doesn’t generate that much when you compare, so it is good that it happened, it gives an opportunity to talented people who don’t have much to invest in their career. But ideally, streaming would pay artists more so that more it could raise the quality of their music.
I’ve met extremely talented artists with tracks that could be outstanding but were not well mixed/produced and that often affects the response from the listeners.
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Tell us any interesting experience in your music career that is significant.
I had a job for the first time ever during the second half of 2019. I took sick days off to fly over to a show in Portugal and got back the day after. I felt a bit like Clark Kent as no one at work had any idea I made music. I don’t work there anymore.
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Tell us how you come across the lyrics of this song.
Interesting. I wanted to write some sort of anthem for people who are truly outstanding and never get recognition. Their “light starts to dim” because reality doesn’t always reward them as it should. Life isn’t always fair. I wanted to shine a light on that, sometimes all we need is someone to believe in us to keep us going until it finally happens.
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Tell us your best means of expressing yourself.
I like sharing messages through the lyrics, and then putting it in a melody that sticks with you so that you don’t forget. I want mostly to share optimistic perspectives in life, I’ve written sad songs but only released one, perhaps the chorus was more EDM, it’s kind of brightened it up.
I like using metaphors in my lyrics. Sort of like encrypting the original message in a lighter concept. If you’d like to find the depth in it, it is there. If not, you can just enjoy the lightness in it.
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Tell us your opinion on using music to deliberate on issues affecting people like corruption, immoralities, politics, and religion.
I think music is an extension of us, just like any other type of art it should be used to express ideas and perspectives in all areas – if that resonates with the artist. And to that artist, there will be an audience. The most important is to remain true to yourself. “Your vibe attracts your tribe.”
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Discuss how you plan to create a piece of timeless music that your fans can cherish forever.
I was just thinking about this, this morning – ‘Falling Stars’ is that song. At least so far. I am genuinely happy I wrote it. I needed this song a few years ago.
I have some cards I write lines to inspire lyrics and one of them says “write about something that should not be forgotten” – I find that it keeps me focused on saying something new, something relevant, something that matters.
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List the names of individuals you can point out as legends and state your reasons.
So many! I think Michael Jackson, despite the controversy, will hardly ever be forgotten. He was that legend.
Freddie Mercury is outstanding. Thinking outside the box and reinventing the way you create music and how you present it to the public is what brings us all alive. It’s epic and exciting. Once you’ve learned it all you must throw it all away and reinvent.
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Tell us your viewpoint on discriminating.
Wrong. Unnecessary? It’s sad that it happens, it’s an extra wall to breakthrough.
We can’t expect everyone, including those with a bit more power at a certain time, to have a good sense of what is right and wrong. Using adversity as fuel to make things happen could be a great thing. It might force you to be better than others in ways you thought it didn’t have to be like that. And that might be true but who cares if it is easy for others if you can only live it from own shoes? This is what will make you a real legend. Perhaps once you get to the stage where people care about what you have to say you can share your story and help things to change.
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Tell us your favourite books and state your reason.
My favourite books are the ones that inspire me to do things differently. I read The One Thing by Gary Keller on a flight back from New York to London and it truly changed my behaviour and helped me focus on the most important things.
I have recently been listening to audiobooks with apps, The Dip by Seth Godin is good.
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Tell us what triggers your creativity.
Human behaviour, emotion, colours. How people react to each other. What hurts and what feels good. If I see something from a perspective I haven’t seen before, I’ll write something short and interesting that later, could end up in a song.
I write lyrics in different coloured paper to remember how it felt like when I wrote it.
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Tell us how you generate musical ideas for your composition.
I save lines in my phone all the time. The way someone says something. The way someone makes me feel, mostly if new or if I can’t do anything about it. A line in a movie. A photo description on social media. A comment. An ad? Anything. I took this one from Invisible Man: “Can’t you just forget I ever existed? There is nothing left for you to take. You’ve already taken it all.”
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Tell us your greatest song and state the reason.
I believe it is ‘Falling Stars.’ The one that performed best on streaming platforms last year was ‘Where U From,’ they really liked that song. I like it too. I changed the chorus of that song the hour before recording it. I’m glad I did it.
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Tell us how you compose your song.
I start with the message and the metaphor, making sure I have enough room to move with the message without having to break out of the metaphor. ‘Sugar High’ and ‘Falling Stars’ are perfect examples of this. The melody changes a lot throughout. I record on my phone and play between my favourite songs on Spotify to see how it makes me feel. If it sticks in my head after recording, it’s usually a good sign.
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Elaborate on the song.
Here’s the song’s backstory:
I wrote ‘Falling Stars’ with outstanding people in mind facing big challenges in their lives. My intent? Not let them quit.
“How can your story be left untold?” This song is about you, for you. You might have fallen, but that doesn’t change how amazing you are. You are important. A reminder that “the power in you no one can steal”. You might fall repeatedly, but you will, inevitably, never stop shining.
‘Falling Stars’ is being released earlier in reflection of COVID-19. For the healthcare workers, those keeping society together and functional, and all of us who have been self-isolating for too long.
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Elaborate on your artist’s name and the title of the album.
Mia Ferrari came as part of reinventing my presence online leaving the past behind and presenting something new to those who already knew who I was. Nothing particular about Ferrari, it just sounds good.
Marlon is a young 17-year-old urban rapper and artist. His lust for music and art, in general, is very early on.
At only 8 years old he starts listening to “sacred monsters” of Italian rap like Gue Pequeno and Marracash. Afterward, his influences become 360°, he experiments with new melodies for months, until he reaches an innovative sound in Italy.
He was known previously by the stage name Dr. Etern, until last year, when he decided to change his name due to management reasons, he chose Marlon as his new stage name.
Beyond what one can consider as a natural musical evolution because of the passing of the years, Marlon has gradually explored, starting from pure, almost underground rap, at first a more “contemporary” type of rap, which had less of a look at the past.
Then he embraced Trap, about two years ago, publishing on YouTube several pieces…
He loves to experiment with diverse and new sounds that allow him to best express his character.
Inspired by numerous West Coast artists, he expresses, today, what we could call a renewal of the Trap, that is no longer linked to the usual clichés that we all know well, rather a Trap that fully expresses the desire for redemption and revenge, but with a sound close enough, to R&B and Soul, which combines with Hip-Hop.
I listen to a whole bunch of bands that I like in different styles … and the inspiration comes back!
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Tell us the tricks behind making a hit song.
What kind of hit, I think a title shouldn’t just be successful commercially to become a hit.
A hit can be personal because the song struck something in us in positive or negative! We all have a unique song that we love without knowing why.
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Tell us how you get feedback for your demo before working on it.
I put the song on various listening platforms, then I had feedback from James Sanger on our title Unfair … It all started from there.
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Explain your recording experience in the studio.
Mad, magical like James the producer of the album. He’s a sound magician and a great creator! It is captivating. Each day was a new day, a leap into the unknown. There was an overall objective but not for the day. Feeling… musical!
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Tell us how you compose.
I take my guitar and I place chords … I stick to my dreams and a melody hangs on to me. I place words, I structure… and the piece constructed.
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Tell us if you add effects to your vocals to sound better.
That’s James’s manufacturing secret. There is compression, delay reverb, and other little things. 😉
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Tell us the best streaming platform to get new fans.
Spotify is the largest, well if you master the tool! Be careful not to get lost.
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Tell us your opinion on music education.
Too weak or even inexistent at school in France… I am self-taught.
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Discuss the shooting of a commercial music video for a song.
The idea of the script is crucial! intrigue, beautiful images…
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Tell us how you interact with other artists.
We like and share the songs we like. It’s important to help each other…
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Tell us if you can collaborate with an artist of a different genre.
We accepted the remix of Unfair proposed by a DJ – The Wooden Cross in a Deep House style. We are curious about all music so why not? We’re reaching a new audience.
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Explain how to finance a music project.
Self-production for the moment, we finance ourselves!
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Tell us how to generate income from a musical work.
Stream, Merch, Tickets… to start!
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Send a message to your fans.
Keep pushing with us to meet us in the most beautiful… 🙂
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Explain the process involved in recording a vocal.
Know the words well, focus on the meaning of the words, and give it your all!
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Elaborate on your artist’s name and the title of the album.
Deleo has several meanings, first, the contraction of two first names, Deleo was a duet originally formed by Denis…
Born and raised in Dublin. I’ve been writing my thoughts into song for as long as I can remember.
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Describe yourself as an artist.
I find authenticity and honesty in music to be one of the most important things, and I guess that’s where I try to sit my art down.
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Tell us the genre of your music.
It varies depending on the song, but everything always a firm foot in the door of Folk (even if it ends up somewhere else – that folk base is always there).
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Tell us the story behind your song.
For You (Home) was written for a friend of mine who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders before he looks after himself… by extension, it’s for the people that you’d walk the ends of the earth for…
It is a song for those who feel that their anxieties, depressions, or ‘flaws’ make them less worthy of love and care. It’s a “hey, let me help you carry that weight, you don’t have to do it alone.”
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Tell us the problems you are facing as a musician.
Right now, it’s the canceling of gigs… this pandemic has stolen a lot from artists in the form of human connection. It’s hard to connect with people across virtual platforms, it’s not the same as sitting in a room and playing your experiences with people.
I’ve had a headline show canceled (rescheduled for the 13th of November) but the uncertainty of how long the restrictions on gatherings will go on for is making the lack of human connection difficult.
Also, trying to remain relevant in a time where your main port of call for relevancy (gigs) has been put on hold… that’s going to be a pretty big one now, I guess.
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Discuss the recording and production of the song.
The recording of the song was a tender process, it was important to me that every element that went into the song added to the sonic meaning… I’m like this with every song.
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List the names of blogs, radio, or television stations that have supported you so far.
TV: Virgin Media Ireland
Radio: 2FM, RTE Radio 1, Today FM, BBC Northern Ireland, Red FM, Galway Bay FM, Dublin City FM, 2XM, FM104, Radio Nova, Play Irish radio, WLR FM, Queens Radio Belfast
Blogs: Thelastmixedtape.com, goldenplec.com
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Elaborate on your music career, experience, and future goals.
I started and played three original songs to a jam-packed pub on George’s Street here in Dublin and growing on that tiny set I’ve recorded and released two EPs, two singles, played my own songs the length and breadth of our little island, dates in the UK, I had my first show across the pond last year in New York.
I’ve opened for James Bay, Dermot Kennedy, Billie Marten, Little Hours in the most intimate venues here in Ireland.
Future goals are to play to a broader audience, to play to and reach more people with my songs, to work with people who can help with that expansion, to make music friends and co-workers for life.
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Brief us what inspires you to write, compose, and sing/rap.
My life and the lives of my people, books I’ve read, stories I’ve heard… every one of those things spills very heavily into my writing…
Sometimes I’ll start writing something and realize halfway through it that I’m processing something, that I’m working something that I’m feeling out, working through a feeling.
Other times I’ll ramble-write and just spill my brain onto a page and see what I can stitch together from the chaos.
Human feelings though, that’s what inspires my writing the most.
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Brief us the top-secret behind making a hit song.
If I knew this, I would be doing it 24/7!
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Tell the advice you will give to an upcoming artist.
Don’t over-censor your work, and don’t let your insecurities get in the way of creating.
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Discuss at length your music careers, albums, songs, tours, recognition, or awards you might have received.
My music career and releases I guess are above… the most wonderful recognition I’ve received, two instances, being touted as one of ten acts to see before they’re famous by one of the leading (if not head honcho) music writers in Ireland – Tony Clayton-Lea in our national newspaper… and being playlisted and played several times on the intimately curated John Creedon music show on RTE Radio 1… John Creedon doesn’t play just anybody on his show. The latter was a bucket list tick of mine.
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Tell us how you write your lyrics, compose, sing, and record in the studio.
Writing, as I said, comes in different forms, a ramble-write, and then a sit with the guitar or piano to suss out melody…
Recording always must be in the mood. The room and vibe must sit with the song that’s being recorded. If that means recording vocals at 2 AM, then we record 2 AM vocals.
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Name your favourite artists for collaboration.
Bon Iver is the top of my list always. Novo Amor, Laura Marling, Smyl, Matt Corby, Rhye. The list is never-ending, to be honest!
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Share your press releases and reviews with us.
“Great Irish talent… a young woman who is starting to make waves”
– John Creedon, RTE Radio 1
“…Hughes can easily make a claim for having that little bit extra… Gentle yet steely, formidable yet tender, Laura’s a keeper”
– Tony Clayton Lea, Irish Times
“Such a beautiful voice, beautiful lyrics…the whole package”
– Across The Line, BBC Northern Ireland
“What a beauty. A beautiful hopeful, heartfelt song”
– Fiachna O’Braonain, RTE Radio 1
“…enchanting music that [makes] her stand out from the pack with a beguiling vocal and intricate songs. Hughes is without doubt one to watch.”
– TheLastMixedTape.com
“Laura has that rare ability of tattooing melodies inside your head while cutting your heart to ribbons simultaneously. Joyful, aching music.”
– Ciaran Lavery
Laura Elizabeth Hughes releases an official video of
A headline show at The Sound House rescheduled to November 13th
Thursday 2nd April 2020: Hopeful and heartfelt, those were the words used to describe the current single for Dublin songwriter Laura Elizabeth Hughes current single “For You (Home)”.Written for the people that carry you, the songshowcases a lush balance between soaring power and tenderness, culminating in sweeping piano riffs and Laura’s inimitable vocals.
Alongside the release of “For You (Home)”, Laura is partnering with Pieta House. The charity have recently had to postpone the annual ‘Darkness Into Light’ event due to COVID-19. Over 80% of Pieta House’s funding is through public donations and support. Laura is asking fans, if possible, to make a donation so that they can continue their amazing work in supporting people and communities affected by suicide, self-harm, and bereavement during these uncertain times. You can donate to Pieta House by clickinghere.
The video is a visual representation of anxiety’s control over body and mind. Directed by Peadar Gill (Lankum, Talos) it depicts the struggle some find to let people in, even at times when we need them most.
Speaking on the release of the video and Pieta House, Laura says “I wanted to create something beautiful that would also let viewers feel the discomfort ofanxiety and depression. I wanted to show the weight, the numbness, the breathlessness, the tension… but also the care that exists in the world to help relieve it. The care to overcome and step out of the dark, out of the sheer greyness, exists.
Pieta House is that light for so many people in Ireland, and to be able to contribute to their presence and ears is a gift. Their annual Darkness Into Light has had to be postponed due to this pandemic, and I couldn’t think of better use for a song that chronicles a journey out into the light. In a weird time where our physical health is being threatened, being in isolation means our mental health is too and is something that needs to be looked after with equal importance.”
Laura’s unique voice has seen her build a fan base from across the globe with over 2.6 million views on YouTube, including R&B star Joss Stone who posted the video to another of Laura’s songs, “The Dark,“ on her own social media.
On stage is where Laura feels most at home and truly connects with people. Her showcase performance at Ireland Music Week, where she was named by the IrishTimes.com in their “10 acts to see before they are famous”feature,was a stand-out moment. In recent years Laura has shared stages of the caliber of Dermot Kennedy, James Bay, Billie Marten, Little Hours, and most recently Cry Monster Cry on their Irish tour which was unfortunately cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Laura was also due to play her biggest headline show to date at The Sound House in Dublin this month, with the date now rescheduled to November 13th. Tickets on sale now…
Credits “For You (Home)”:
Dancer: Taylor Graham
Director: Peadar Gill
Producer: Laura Elizabeth Hughes, Peadar Gill
Art Direction: Peadar Gill, Alice Murphy
Makeup: Alice Murphy
About Pieta House:
Pieta provides a range of services nationwide to support people and communities in crisis, including free therapy services and support for those who are at the risk of suicide, engaging in self-harm, and those bereaved by suicide. Pieta focuses on providing a community-based service delivering therapeutic support within a non-threatening, caring, and compassionate environment. Since 2006, almost 60,000 people have been through the doors in a state of crisis, and with over 80% of funding coming from the public, support is vital to help continue this lifesaving work. For further information on Pieta, visitwww.pieta.ie
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Tell us how you will spend a million dollars.
The first thing I’d do is to buy myself a house by the sea and save and try to live off the rest for as long as I could before needing to work again.
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Discuss music promotion and how you are boosting your fan base.
Music promotion is a weird one as a bit of an introvert. I don’t like promoting myself, but it has to be done… Getting in the ears of new people as much as I can with the songs doing their job first, I guess, which really only works with having a brilliant manager!
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Tell us how you manage other activities with your music career.
How do I manage… if you had asked me this last year! I work full time 37 hours a week (shift work too), and I’m undertaking a master’s degree, as well as trying to maintain a music career…
I try to be organized down to a tee with my time, otherwise, I can lose track of myself, and my mind gets overwhelmed… again this is where the genius of a manager comes in! I try to block off certain times where I can have a social life, or relationship time, or study… It’s not always a well-oiled machine, but the road I’m on is never so manic that it can’t be driven.
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State your artist’s name and elaborate on it.
Laura Elizabeth Hughes… elaborate. it’s just my name! It took me a long time to settle on just using my name, but nothing else felt right at the time. Kind of wanted to stick with the honesty of “this, my music, is me.”
It also takes up a nice bit of advertising real estate being 20 letters long, ha-ha!
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State the title of the song and the meaning.
For You (Home) – It’s ok to be struggling with the weight you carry, we can carry it together.
Cody Feechan is a singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. Taking influences from all sorts of genres, Cody’s music is probably best described as Alternative Rock with a touch of Pop. Cody has been noticed for her unique voice and subtle Scottish twang that shines through in her songs.
Over the past year, Cody has been going from strength to strength, and her most recent release ‘Free Falling’ quickly climbed up in the iTunes Chart in March 2020. She quickly reached Number 6 in both the Singer-Songwriter Chart and in the World Chart on iTunes before breaking into the UK Official iTunes Chart at Number 168.
Scottish DJ/Journalist Jim Gellatly included Cody in his ‘New Music Column’ in The Scottish Sun stating: “She’s been on my radar since last year’s debut single Manhattan Sky”.
Cody is an unsigned artist who released her debut single ‘Manhattan Sky’ back in November 2018.
‘Satisfaction’ was released in September 2019 and was quickly named Single of the Week on RAPAL at BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal.
Over the last few years, Cody has played at venues all over Scotland as well as performing on The Riverside Show on STV Glasgow.
Most recently, Cody took to the stage to perform at the Kingdom FM Local Hero Awards Ceremony 2019 where she also won the award for the ‘Home Grown Talent’ category. Cody has also played at top venues including King Tuts Wah Wah Hut as well as performing at The Barrowlands Ballroom.
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Tell us what your fans are saying about your music.
The support I have had from everyone so far has been amazing and I couldn’t ask for anything more. It can be quite nerve-racking putting your music out there but the feedback I have had so far has been very positive and it is such a great feeling.
My most recent release ‘Free Falling’ had an amazing response from everyone and you have no idea what that means to me.
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Tell us the factors you consider in choosing a song as your favourite.
I have always loved someone who has a unique voice. Someone who has a proper coarseness or huskiness to his/her voice always wins me over.
I have a few favourite songs however they are completely different for a variety of reasons; I suppose it just depends on the sound of the song.
I would say songwriting is a massive factor in choosing a favourite song. I always listen to the lyrics of a song and imagine the storyline in my head, I love when a song is meaningful and full of emotion.
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Tell us the names of the songwriters you will collaborate with if you have the chance.
If I had the chance to collaborate with any songwriter, then my top choice would have to be Paul McCartney. Elton John would be up there too!
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Tell us your favourite TV show and state your reason.
I don’t actually watch TV as much as I used to so I don’t have a favourite if I’m being honest. I do love a good drama series though. I recently watched The Stranger on Netflix and got totally hooked and binge-watched the lot. If I’m watching just normal TV then it is usually something like A Place in the Sun, Come Dine with Me or Dinner Date.
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Tell us your best mood to create a song.
I always find it easier to write a song when I am going through something and I have a lot of emotion to let out.
I always go through stages where I am writing constantly and have lots of ideas then I have a few months where I have a complete writer’s block.
I think I write better though when something significant happens in my life as I just throw all my emotions into my songs.
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Tell us your interpretation of fame or success.
Being a successful musician to me is being able to do music full time and being able to make a living from it.
At the minute I am working as a Mental Health Nurse within the Addiction Services and I do love what I do however it can be hard trying to juggle both a full-time job as well as doing music.
Ideally, my dream would be to do music full time. I would love to be able to write songs, record them, release them, and gig all the time! That would be amazing!
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Tell us the names of artists you will collaborate with if you have the chance.
Probably not who you would think but I have always said that I would absolutely love to do a collaboration with Macklemore.
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Tell us about your experience performing on stage for the first time or recording in the studio for the first time.
I remember the first ever gig I did at one of my local pubs, I sang three songs and was a nervous wreck! But I also remember the cheers between each song and the buzz I felt after my set, it was amazing.
I never had the confidence to do gigs before then, but my cousin gave me the push that I needed. It really is the best feeling in the world being up there on the stage.
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Tell us how you approach songwriting.
I always write my songs on my own. I usually sit back with my guitar and a note pad and see what I come up with.
Once I have written the songs then I take them forward to the band and we usually bounce ideas off each other until we’re all happy with the final sound. The guys in the band are amazing and so talented!
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Tell us your opinion on blending genres or experimenting with sound.
I am completely open to experimenting with different sounds. I always find it hard to identify an exact genre for my music as I think so far, all my songs have been so different.
I think it’s a good thing that each song is different as it keeps everyone guessing what is coming next.
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Tell us how you deal with rejection.
In life, everyone will face rejection at some point. You have just got to brush it off and keep on trying. If you truly want something in life, then you need to believe in yourself and work for it. Hard work eventually pays off.
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Elaborate on what compels you to sing.
I just love singing and I always have, it’s my way of escaping.
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Tell us the producer you used mostly for recording.
I have been completely loyal and have used the same person for recording and mixing my tracks as he never fails to disappoint, he is just amazing! I use the very talented Ross Saunders from GloWorm Recording Studio in Glasgow.
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Elaborate on the song.
My new single ‘Free Falling’ is a song that is quite personal to me for a variety of reasons.
The song is about addiction and it tells the story of someone who is going through the stages of addiction.
I wrote this song about a year ago and decided to bring it forward to the band. Together we worked on it and it developed into something big.
The response has been amazing for this song, I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more. Within the first day, I had broken into the Official iTunes Chart, which completely blew me away!
