Martha Hill has released her new single ‘Grilled Cheese’. The track is the first single off her upcoming EP ‘Summer Up North’. After being tipped as one of BBC Introducing’s “ones to watch”, followed by a feature on Jools Holland, Martha Hill is one of the most exciting upcoming artists of 2020. Funded by the coveted PRS’s Women Make Music Fund, and also a Rebalance finalist, Hill released her debut EP “Be Still” in October 2019 which received support from BBC 6music, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio and Spotify Playlists (amongst others).
Thriving on a deep rhythmic beat, ‘Grilled Cheese’ presents Martha Hill’s engaging and edgy musicianship through a blend of soft pop and biting indie. The light verses are presented with hypnotic guitar strums between bouncy drum beats while Hill’s soft rasped vocals caress the melody. The track becomes dynamic as it builds to its harsher chorus. Crashing guitars slice with angst while a rampant bass groove and intensifying drums create the tracks raw backdrone. The song is surrounded with melodic hooks and vibrant soundscapes to create an effervescent expressive number which lyrically dissects the tumblings of a relationship. Hill crafts her music superbly and this invigorating tune is a glimpse at the potential of this talented artist.
AER Music, Fluttertone and dootdoot Records have come together to create an opportunity on the Zoom platform for artists to perform. They have called it Virtual and this week’s event hosted the amazing talents of Lucy Robinson.
I sit with many others (who are in their kitchen and various rooms in their houses) ready to watch Lucy Robinson live on Virtual. The last gig she will do as Lucy Robinson as she has changed her moniker to Nicha. It’s becoming a regular gathering on a Wednesday night and livestreams becoming the “norm” as members of the audience watch while doing the dishes, preparing their dinner, chilling on the beach or just sitting down relaxing.
Lucy Robinson is an outstanding performer. Her warm rich and rasped tone has a deeper more resounding depth than most of her singer songwriter counterparts and her songs are fun nuggets of delight. Sitting in her room adorned with green foliage, a lava lamp and soft tropical colour scheme the setting is perfect for a sunny summer’s evening. Lucy takes time to say hello to the viewers and banter with them showing her fun humour and charming bubbly persona.
Lucy didn’t disappoint. She served up a live performance interspersing raw musical talent with thought-provoking lyrics and beautiful vocals. She manages to mesmerise even within this acoustic setting. Her melodies wrap around the intricate strums and picks on guitar with ease adding to the golden radiance she emits. ‘Mustard’, ‘Poison’ and ‘Chess’ have the viewers bopping and swaying with cheery smiles on their faces. A little girl watching dances with her kitten teddy while the muted clapping and thumbs up manage to create a cosy and warm setting.
Lucy took the crowd away from the stress of the world outside to indulge in an evening of storytelling and song-craft. Her tunes are intimate and melodious as each song made the platform feel personal and comfortable. She treats the viewers to a few new songs – ‘Red and Blue’ is quite the sultry delight. With jaunty guitar striking between the smoky rich tones of her voice, it’s definitely a track to look forward to. Gearing up to release a new single ‘Devices’ on the 9th July Lucy gives us a glimpse of what we can look forward to. This golden ditty drifts upon a sweet as honey melody while the lilts through the chorus are earworm worthy. I actually woke up the next morning singing it in my head and I only heard it once. Lucy has quite the knack for crafting simple vocal hooks and her equally sweet personality is so warm and inviting it’s difficult not to be charmed by her.
A brief Q&A brings the session to an end as viewers ask Lucy questions about her influences, who she would like to collaborate with and how she deals with pre-show anxiety – I think she gave the best advice I’ve ever heard, don’t picture the crowd naked!.
Lucy Robinson is a unique artist and a wonderful singer. I’m certain the livesteam experience is nerve-racking for an artist however all the behind the scenes work with sound checks etc paid off. The end result was an entertaining, emotive show boasting an abundance of musical precision, originality and the enticing talent of Lucy Robinson.
Dublin- based singer/songwriter Kevin Casey has released his new single ‘It’s Alright’.Long standing regular in the Irish music scene, Kevin Casey has released several singles, two EPs, and a full length album since 2014. He has done two European tours and gigged extensively across the country as well as in Germany, the U.K and the USA, including two consecutive years at Electric Picnic. He is known for his raw vocals, versatile songwriting, and for keeping Irish rock and roll alive and well.
Casey has warm tones and oodles of passion flooding through his indie rock tracks and is sure to make for a enjoyable evening of tunes.
Kevin Casey has just released his new single ‘Alright’ check it out below
Miles Graham has announced the title of the new single ‘Give It Up Now’ which is set for release on 10th July, along with his EP ‘All the Right Things’. Graham’s latest track ‘Don’t Change’ resulted in him performing the single live on BBC Radio 5 and a stunning version of Dido’s Thank You, and picking up further airplay from BBC Introducing. It accelerated a fresh stage in the Irish singer-songwriter’s career, having previously scored international dance hits alongside Don Diablo and L’Tric, as well as being playlisted on BBC Radio 2 for his breakthrough moment ‘I Can’t Love You Again’.
‘Give it up now’ showcases Miles Graham’s rich soulful sound as he uses passionate emotive songwriting, intricate arrangements and crisp production to create a hair raising listening experience. It’s an earnest piano led ballad as Graham’s velvety soulful vocals melt upon an elegant backdrop of R&B beats and timeless retro tones. It’s a bittersweet number complete with lush harmonies and graceful laments on strings while the strength, emotion and drive is provided by the wonderfully sweet and soothing tones of Graham’s vocals.
Graham builds the song superbly offering his retro soul pop with oodles of power and gusto however he is by no means overpowering. Graham weaves subtle layers within this track to create intrigue. Each verse provides movement and a sultry fluidity that takes this ballad to more dynamic and powerful heights. A great listen.
About the track Graham explains, “’Give it up now’ is about being free of the turmoil that comes with antagonism. It has conversational lyrics that give a fly on the wall incite to break-up, the EP is an emotional narrative within my very dynamic journey . The freedom of letting go ‘It could be better for all you know..’ is perhaps a teasing lyric in the song to some kind of better life ahead, but is ironically ambiguous in it’s positive/negative balance. “
‘Give It Up Now’ is set for release on 10th July, along with his EP ‘All the Right Things’. For more you can follow Miles Graham on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/MilesGrahammusic/
Tipperary singer-songwriter Johnny Bourke is set to release his new single ‘Can’t Do Without’ on the 3rd July. This summer number drifts coolly on smooth pop hooks and zesty spurts on guitar. Bourke adds a dash of edge into this radio friendly gem with a jangly guitar riff between the dreamy melody. Though the song has a simple smooth coating there is a decent amount of intricate sonic elements weaving through the tracks underbelly.The song has a groovy R&B funk flavour that complements the charm of Bourke’s warm country- esque vocals. With a buoyant drum beat creating wiggle ready infectiousness, catchy chorus and a steamy solo weaved between the humid crescendo, ‘Can’t Do Without’ is an impressive sweet as pie indie pop bop.
Dublin- based singer/songwriter Kevin Casey has released his new single ‘It’s Alright’.Long standing regular in the Irish music scene, Kevin Casey has released several singles, two EPs, and a full length album since 2014. He has done two European tours and gigged extensively across the country as well as in Germany, the U.K and the USA, including two consecutive years at Electric Picnic. He is known for his raw vocals, versatile songwriting, and for keeping Irish rock and roll alive and well.
‘It’s Alright’ is a steady rock anthem. Kevin Casey slowly seeps emotion into the track as he creates space within for the instrumentation and tones to flourish and blossom. It’s a guitar driven song that chugs into motion with raw guitar melodies, and a foot tapping beat. The rhythmic pulse is the heartbeat of the track as the bass and drums simmer though the verses before pounding into the chorus. With soaring string flurries and lush orchestral samples the song builds becoming more grand yet maintains the relaxed pacing throughout. The rasped vocals and lush vocal harmonies teamed with zesty guitar wails and richly layered production create tension and brief gasps of relief throughout the song making it an enjoyable number to listen to. There are elements of Oasis with tones of The Beatles and even some Bryan Adams peppering which makes the song quite easy on the ears. Casey took the best part of these artists and blended them with his own style to create a moving power anthem for the crazy times we live in now. With an 80’s rock hue, scorching guitar solo and dynamic wall of sound ‘It’s Alright’ is quite the impressive mature number.
Last night indie folk pop artist Owen Denvir performed this week’s live stream on Virtual, A series of intimate evenings of exclusive live performances from the best emerging and established artists organised by AER Music, Fluttertone and dootdoot Records. An intriguing thought was implanted into the audience’s heads by Denvir as he wondered if the people with their cameras turned off were on the toilet – with that thought, Denvir began his set.
Another outstanding singer songwriter, Denvir takes the second show of the series in his stride. His passionate warm vocals delight the bopping heads and cheery faces of his audience. Once again we are joined by charismatic fans who clap and engage with warm encouragement as Denvir switches between guitar and piano for his heartfelt tunes. With a wall adorned with a lego image of the Beatles, Denvir confesses he was “debating wearing shorts” as the camera would hide it but thankfully he decided against it as “it’s a paid gig, better put on a shirt”. Denvir’s tunes revolve around his velvety warm vocals ‘This Could Be Love’,’I want You So Bad’ and ‘Stones from Paris’ all frequent the set list while the audience sit in their sitting rooms and kitchens with a cuppa or glass of wine, swaying and singing along.
The stripped back version of each track is quite refreshing and shows exactly how talented Denvir is as an artist. It’s starting to feel like a weekly gathering as some familiar faces appear on the screen. A little girl lines up lego figurines along her table to join the audience for Denvir as he greets and acknowledges as many of the viewers as he can. Denvir doesn’t clutter his tracks with over production, instead he slowly simmers them with raw emotion and this translates beautifully through the Virtual medium. ‘Stay’ in particular is quite the time stopping piece.The lonely guitar accompaniment laments with a Spanish tone around Denvir’s emotive vocals creating a pinnacle moment. Each track is beautifully created and if you weren’t aware of Denvir’s songwriting; live streams like this are a fantastic way to become totally enamored with an artist’s style. There is majesty and a rich complexity to his songs; the melodies elegantly and sweetly interplay with the soft piano or guitar. It feels like they don’t need anymore production than just this raw live setting to be truly enjoyed.
It’s an easy going soulful set. Denvir’s quirky banter has a cheesy charm to it. He buys time due to the heat “playing the The Hokey Cokey with my tuning” however he appears at ease with the peculiarity of the live streams. Small hiccups aside, Denvir presents a lush tapestry of songs, he treads very lightly into soul territory with his indie folk-pop providing a wholesome warmth and earnest quality to his tunes. Denvir is definitely an artist to check out.
A Q&A with the audience ends Denvir’s breathtaking set. It was a relaxed knockout performance from Denvir showcasing his moving, wonderfully crafted musicianship. Check out Owen Denvir, his emotive wholesome music won’t disappoint.
Seba Safe has returned with his third Single ‘Drip’. Seba Safe is the brainchild of Galway songwriter Michael D’Alton. Finishing up 2019 with second release ‘Wired’ and a string of sold out Irish support slots with Columbia Mills and Malaki as well as securing the Spotify editorial playlist A Breath Of Fresh Eire. December saw Seba Safe join the crowds and revelers at Other Voices in Dingle, where he made his debut playing the Dingle Gin Music Trail.
Encased in lush soundscapes that blend smooth R&B with dreamy pop and sparkling indie elements, ‘Drip’ showcases Seba Safe’s rich, diverse and wholly consuming musicianship. The dreamy melody drifts sweetly over a dark sticky beat while light twinkles on guitar illuminate the track as the song blossoms into its vivid chorus. With the warm guitar rays playfully weaving between the flourishing electronics, echoed backing vocals and chiming pop surges Seba Safe has developed a tight and engaging sound. His soft velvety vocals melt upon the honeyed melody creating a pacifying and soothing quality within the track while the backdrop draws you into its luxurious pool of intricacies and prismatic elements of folk, dance and indie pop. ‘Drip’ is a sublime and satisfying new single from Seba Safe.
Fintan McKahey performed the first ever show on the new platform that is, Virtual. AER Music, Fluttertone and dootdoot Records have come together to create this opportunity on the Zoom platform where everything is focused on the artist and we can financially support them by buying tickets to the show. This streaming makes the whole live scene feel very weird at the start; seeing fans in the comfort of their own homes with cups of tea and wine, some snuggled beneath cosy blankets while others potter about in kitchens while watching the live stream. However the banter in the comments sections and the wonderful music from Fintan McKahey swiftly puts everything at ease.
McKahey performed his mesmerising set from the refuge of his own home studio in Cork. Unlike a venue show everything was punctual and smooth sailing. With signs held up by fans saying ‘’Fintan You Rock’’ the show began. McKahey’s tracks are laced with passion and warmth, it’s difficult not to bop and sway to his tunes. His setlist is the perfect soundtrack for a chilled evening. McKahey’s warm rasped vocals melt upon his heartfelt, luscious melodies like butter on toast while fans head bang, hold up images of lighters on their phones and sway with lighters in their hands. The most unusual part of this show is the clapping after a song. You can see the clapping but can’t hear it as all the mics are muted.
‘Lost Balloons’, ‘Innocent’ and new single ‘Platinum’ present McKahey’s chilled and effortlessly laid back sound perfectly. He uses rich blends of pop, indie folk and alternative to create a downtempo vibe that is calming and instantly pacifying.It’s refreshing to see tracks like ‘The Rebound Effect’ which is usually bewitching with a full band sound, stripped back to just McKahey’s moving vocals and slick guitar work.
‘Outro’ from ‘God Games’ EP is the special moment within the set.The soft pacing, immaculate guitar and beautiful ambient vibes created within this track is phenomenal and I really enjoyed just being able to listen to the music without being disturbed by yapping people or any other noise which is the norm in a live venue setting. This Zoom platform suited the calm pace of McKahey’s songs perfectly.
McKahey is a charismatic artist, he banters about his girlfriend’s pear diet ( 20 pears a day! that is dedication) and longing for his band to meet up and play in live venues again.Some fans hold up images of his spotify to help with promotion and encourage onlookers to check it out while others dramatically clap and display thumbs up in support as if attempting to make up for the lack of audience noise.Too often in live shows the theatrics and lighting are allowed to dominate at the expense of the artist’s songs. However here, where the tracks are stripped back the heart of the songs emit beautiful tones and vibes. With a crowd of all ages gathered from a little girl dancing with her teddy right up, it’s easy to see that McKahey has a sound that reaches a wide audience.
Once the set draws to its finale the audio mics are tuned on and the whoops and clapping can be heard. Maybe there is something to be said for keeping the jubilant cheer to the end. Fintan McKahey put on a wonderful, professional and tight performance. The entire event was well handled and seamless which is saying something, live streams such as this are difficult to organise and put on. A short Q&A session brought the show to an end as fans asked questions about McKahey’s inspiration for tracks, his thoughts on live streams, what covers he does and his love of oat milk as well as his inability to grow a beard.
This intimate style is an impressive and fun way of quenching fans thirst for live music. It is certainly a different feel to a live venue but McKahey took it in his stride. He is a mesmerising artist who writes wholesome passionate tunes. I enjoyed his set and can not wait to see him in a live venue soon.
Stream Fintan McKahey’s new single ‘Platinum’ below
After some small technical difficulties and discussions of which mode of contact would be best due to Johnston’s phone’s decision to pack in, I sat down to have a chat with singer-songwriter Sion Hill (Nate Johnston) last week. A lot has happened since our last chat. The world went into lockdown, Johnston’s shows were postponed and he released a new single ‘Speak Up’. Given the fact that everyone now is living a new way of life due to covid-19, the track has been released at the perfect time as it discusses mustering the courage to tell your surroundings how you really feel. ‘Speak Up’ is an infectious, upbeat and utterly radiant tune. It’s quite the ray of sunshine on a miserable day and for Johnson it speaks about his anxiety through a natural upbeat and melodious medium.
“I think I wrote it about a year ago. I suppose a lot of people are thinking nowadays about technology, social media and everything else. I suffer a lot from anxiety and I don’t know where it’s brought on. I’ve always kind of had it but I think there has always been a stigma with talking about that. People are getting up and speaking about mental health issues in the last few years and I think it’s a great thing. With the walk into light and that, a lot more people are aware of it.Especially guys, who are just not very good at talking about their emotions in general. It’s still taking a while but I think people are better at it now, you know at least calling up a friend. In all my tunes I just try and keep a pretty positive upbeat melody and the music is always upbeat but I still try to say something that has some meaning. I mean most of the songs I hear coming out are just the same old story so I’m trying to say something but also keep it upbeat and hopefully that inspires people.”
Johnston slips into country/ traditional folk territory with this track especially with the perky fiddle melody. However it wasn’t his original vision for the track. In fact it was almost different tune altogether.
“ I actually listened back to the original demo I did for the song which is like five munites long.There’s two verses in it and a completely different chorus and its much slower. Its just electric guitar and voice. It was never really intended to go anywhere. It was just something I wrote for myself and I played it for a producer I work with in Hamburg and a couple of lads from another band that were there at the time. There was a fiddle player and we just started jamming and we sped it up slowly because there was a few people around and we were having some beers and we were kind of in a party mood. So we sped the thing up and it worked really well in this more upbeat faster tempo and then the fiddle player started playing this thing. He was actually German so we had to tell him how to change the notes in a way that would give it that Irish feel.
He was a seriously good violin player but it was more in the classical style so we had to get him to venture into this Irish thing.It wasn’t the intention of the song, it just went in that direction and it was cool. I mean the producer I work with, he is just insane with producing beats and finding new melodies and soundscapes so it was just a collaborative thing really the way it developed. The original song is completely different.
It’s really funny, sometimes going back and listening to the old demo, it was a different name on the computer and I was just listening to some old tracks for inspiration. Sometimes I go back to old songs and listen to them again and see if there is something there, you know, why did I stop working on this track, did I work it into something else or can I re-work it into something else and this was one of these tunes. I was looking through stuff and I heard it. I thought how on earth did that become this. It’s interesting how that happens sometimes. Its really cool when you see the end result and go back to the beginning and see how far it came. Sometimes it doesn’t change at all which is also pretty nice. “
Johnston recently represented Ireland performing his new single ‘Speak Up’ in the Free European Song Contest in front of a TV audience of 4 million viewers, finishing in the Top 10. The Free European Song Contest is a music competition in the Eurovision format that aired on German, Austrian and Swiss TV, organised by the German broadcaster ProSiebenSat Media and Stefan Raabs production company Brainpool TV. It served as an alternative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was planned to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A surreal experience!
“Its really funny that whole thing. I was probably the first unofficially elected Irish representative for the fake Eurovision. But yeah it’s a shame the actual Eurovision was cancelled. I haven’t been a big supporter of it since Dustin the Turkey was our rep. I just thought after that it kind of went a little bit downhill. There was a couple of nice entries the last few years, the whole thing is just such a big spectacle now but it has a really loyal fanbase.
There is so many people that love that and were really missing it this year. There’s this guy, Stefan Raab and when he heard it was cancelled he was like I want to try and do something along the same lines as the Eurovision. He has a production company and he is a huge German talk show host. He’s actually retired for 2 years but his production company only runs Germany, Austria and Switzerland so he was like look that’s kind of the best I can do, so it was only open for live viewing if you were in those countries unfortunately. So that meant back home people couldn’t actually watch it live or tune in to vote.It was more of a German Eurovision style but it was on the same level. I think there were 4 million people watching and Conchita Wurst presented it. It was still a huge production and a massive audience but its not really the Eurovision at the end of the day. They knew that and they made a tongue in cheek version and they made fun of a lot of the countries but in a nice way before everyone went on.
It was also terrifying with the social distancing, that was still going on over there although Germany is pretty much opened up now at this stage but they were still wearing masks going in between backstage and onto the stage.There was perspex glass everywhere and people were dressed up in these ghostbuster outfits with visors, but it was a pretty surreal experience. It was cool to be able to perform after 2 months without playing a gig. Even though it was only 1 song, it’s still nice to get to stand up on a stage and perform.”
It’s a tricky time to release music as bands and artists can’t tour to promote their tracks. However, Johnston has already broken into the Billboard Top 100 songs in Germany and the Shazam Top 200 charts for ‘Speak Up’
“ Yeah its good, I’ve signed with Warner Brother Music but we released this with an independent label. Actually I think it was meant to come out this weekend but we brought it out early…I think a lot of people were shazaming it and it’s got a lot of radio play in Germany at the moment so we will see how it goes. I think it’s really difficult right now to release music. I’ve seen a lot of bands that normally would release an album then do a tour and have postponed the album release so that they can tour it but then some of them have just gone ahead with it. Yeah it’s such a weird time to release music you have so many battles with trying to get things into playlists you just can’t promote the song without playing it live. It’s doing alright though, I think in Germany its doing great. Hopefully it picks up a little bit in Ireland. “
The music video for ‘Speak Up’ was shot in Berlin.However this was not the original plan for the video but Johnston has had to improvise to get the shots he needed including creating fake rain.
“Originally I was meant to film it in Ireland.But that was cancelled obviously so when I went over to Berlin to do this competition. I had to quarantine in Berlin for 2 weeks and then I had to quarantine here for 2 week when I came back to Ireland. So that was 4 weeks for a 3 minute and 21 second performance its ridiculous! but we were just there and originally I filmed myself with a webcam playing the song and lots of different clips. I put it together and it was pretty cool but the label were like we want an actual video so I put all that work in and had to scrap it.
I called up some friends who work with a band in Germany called Giant Rooks and Milky Chance and they go around with them and do these live videos and photography and stuff. They came over to the apartment and I said let’s just walk around and film. I like their style I like their vibe its quite personal and sometimes that’s nice just the personal introspective look at the artist. I went for a walk and they came to the house, played the song a few times, went out, walked around the streets, drove through Berlin for a bit and that was it. Nothing major but sometimes its nice to just have a look at the artist just walking around singing the song.
Actually we used the film directors car. He had an old Mercedes Hatchback from like the late 80’s or early 90’s or something.It was quite a cool car to drive, the gears are really sticky and it actually has some decent acceleration on it as well. It was meant to rain that evening and it didn’t so we went down to this sort of car park old petrol pump place. It’s in the video, you can see me walking around there where I parked up. [We] tried to mimic the rain and the lights. [We] basically just put all these random things into the car and then just got one of those car wash spray things and sprayed water over the car. There was a girl who had to hold this, I don’t even know what she was doing. I think she had to hold a light and she had a massive rain coat on and she just got soaked by this thing for 10 minutes. You do what you gotta do to get the shot but its pretty fun being on these sets sometimes.”
Johnston always looks confident and at home in his videos.I wondered was he always confident in front of the camera or is it just something he has had to get used to.
“ Oh I’m not confident in front of the camera at all. I hate it but you have to do it. At the beginning, one of the first tracks I released we did a video that wasn’t released [ for it ]. It was with some directors that wanted a group of people, a few of them were dancers and I’m rubbish at dancing and they were like just do some dancing while your walking toward the camera. I was like, what! get me a choreographer, I’m not a dancer. It was the first music video I had done, the first video I had done since I was a kid when we just filmed things with little cameras running around the place playing Lord of The Rings, but now I’m more comfortable with it. I kind of know how it works.
I have a good few friends who are filmmakers and photographers so I chat with them a lot about how it works. Obviously it’s pretty interesting to hear about it first hand and to be honest I’ve done it enough times so it’s fine.I just prefer being behind the camera but in the end its difficult to convince the label guys and the management that I shouldn’t be in the video. Although I’d love to be able to film a story and maybe have a cameo or something or just not be in the video at all but they want you to be in the video unless you are like an indie rock band.
It’s a brand in the end and you have to represent the brand, but then, Ed Sheeran, I think his first video, The A Team song, he’s only in like one clip, Hozier’s not in Take Me To Church. There are so many videos like that in the pop realms, because obviously when you go down into indie territory, rock music it’s often just a story. You’re not always going to have the band or the artist in the video.Sometimes it doesn’t matter, it is just an artists thing anyway. In the pop industry it’s rare that you don’t have the artist and it’s rare that they are not singing to the camera as well. I always find that a bit strange because it’s more of a hip hop style to actually sing to the lens. The hardest thing when you are on film or recording your own voice is listening back to it, especially with other people but once you do it and put it out there you get so much encouragement from people and you realise that people really appreciate when you do that because it’s not easy. Most people know it’s not easy. It gives you a confidence boost for the very first time you do it. It’s just the first initial get up and go that’s difficult. It’s like anything, like going for a run. Once you get out there you’re grand but initiating the run is horrific.”
Last time we spoke Johnston told me he had a new album in the works. Thankfully the lockdown has not slowed the progress of the album too much, although he has had to do a lot of remote collaboration with his band to lay down the drums etc.
“Yeah it did but it’s almost finished. I had one more session left to do that was cancelled..the ones I have done… my drummer, he’s got a studio in his house. So I sent him the tracks, he recorded some stuff, I sent some stuff to a violin player to put some things on, I sent some stuff to another guy who plays keys. Most of it was finished, half the songs are actually done.The rest of it, a lot of it has been done remotely and it’s really interesting sending it because when you are in the studio you can influence what happens and tell them what you want but when you just send something over to a drummer and say, yeah play on it and send it back. It’s going to be pretty cool to hear what they try and do to it. It’s coming along. I think it should be finished by the end of July. We have a session set up for mid July. I don’t know when it will come out but it’s nearly done.”
Johnston was due to perform at a number of music festivals and had the Last Minute Tour postponed which opened up his schedule a little. He has made the most of his time and has a few things planned for the coming months
“It’s not the worst thing, I think when I spoke to you last I was in Hungary. Those were the last gigs I played and around that time they were saying things were closing down and my tour was sort of being postponed around then so I knew it was coming. That was early March. I don’t know, you just have to make the most of it. I’ve been just writing songs. I think that’s been better for me right now. Just having time for myself, I think most people have benefited from this if you have a garden or an outdoor area. The weather has been nice so you have time to go out in the garden and get healthy. That’s sort of what I’ve been doing. I think tour life is not the healthiest so I probably saved myself a couple of years in this last few months.
It’s still quite busy though, I mean I went to Germany and I did that and you have to get up in the morning you can’t just be lying around the place. For me I just tried to get fit, start eating healthier, focus on myself and spend a couple of hours a day just writing. There is a lot of crap that comes out of it. After a while you kinda think yeah I need to travel and I need to meet people and go out in public and see things to find inspiration. I find it gimmicky writing from things you see online.I want to get back into the world. I think a lot of people need that. Writers, artists, musicians especially if you are writing lyrics you need to go out in public there is only so much you can do from your bedroom.
I’m doing a couple of these street music festival things. There is a couple around mainland Europe, in the Netherlands, one in Hungary again. I don’t know, they seem to like me over there, they keep asking me to come back. Which is nice I really like it there it’s beautiful.So I’m doing a street festival where they have a couple of small stages and they limit the amount of people that can come in and watch. Apart from that we are rescheduling some dates for September/October but I don’t know we will see what happens. I think things are opening up a little bit but it’s just hard to actually make a plan.I know loads of people have already set out tour dates but I’d be afraid of it being cancelled again and it’s just a nightmare when that happens.”
Sion Hill as an artist is gaining traction and his new single ‘Speak Up’ is a delight to the ears. He is developing his sound allowing the beautiful soulful tones of his debut album ‘Elephant’ flourish and blossom as he adds catchy pop elements and warm folk hues into the mix. Each of his releases have been tight, vibrant earworms. Johnston’s knack for sweet melodies make his tracks dangerously addictive. If his velvety tone, passionate vocals and swaggered personality alone don’t pique your interest then the upbeat sunny glows that surround his tunes, rich musicianship and irresistible hooks will get you for sure.
Watch the video for ‘Speak Up’ below
Author : Danu
Indie: (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself.
