Contemporary
songwriter, folk blues, jazz and soul, mostly acoustic guitar.
Who are your main influences musically?
Right now I'm
listening to Gregory Porter and Gil Scott Heron and Mia Dyson. Everything
influences me if I like it and I remember aspects of good music.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
To create sounds
and music and words that have meaning to me.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
There are many things, but working and living in Vienna with Filippo and
family for the recording of Begin Simple stands out as an important moment that
I had the good fortune to experience.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
I have nothing
I want to forget.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
I could not do that, as all are separate
and unique in my opinion.
I’m from Melbourne, Australia - The Great Oz as I
call it.
How would you describe yourselves and your music?
My
genre is very ‘bitter sweet’; I do not limit myself by writing exclusively
‘pop’ songs. I like to bend the rules and experiment with my song writing so
that every song is diverse, but remains within my “genre”, if that makes sense.
My songwriting is honest and from the heart because I write only from a place
of experience. Everything my music is, I am. You could say I’m a bitter
sweetness, and I most definitely honest. I thrive of the connection music gives
me to people, it’s why I don’t want to seek a 9-5 job, it’s just not me
haha.
Who are your main influences musically?
All forms of music inspire me, so it’s so hard to
narrow that down. One of my favorite lyricists however is definitely Anthony
Kiedis. I’m a huge RHCP fan, which may sound strange but true. My favorite
voices to listen to are Sia, Chris Cornell and Rihanna; another odd mix I
guess, but I can’t help it. Generally speaking, my musical influences go from,
The Beatles to Imogen Heap, Sia, Nirvana and Beyonce and of course those I
mentioned previously. The list goes on and on. I try and expose myself to all
types of sounds; you never know what you’ll be inspired by. Creativity sparks
by having had lots of experience with different types of music, so I do my best
not to limit myself.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
I always aim for the best possible result in
anything I do. So the same goes for music. Anything is achievable if you work
hard at it. Nothing is ever enough for me, so there won’t be a point where I
think, “Yes I’ve achieved everything”. But for now, it would be to reach a point
where I can push past the point of being an “establishing artist”, even though
you can never be fully established, but to build a “tribe” around me who can
help me get my feet off the ground and run with it.
What has been the highlight of your career so far,
and why?
I’m still in bloom; I’m at the very beginning of a
long journey ahead. But to have finally released my art after so much
preparation- whether that be writing or designing album covers- has been the
most rewarding so far. Having people listen to your music is like opening the
door to your soul, which may be cheesy, but true because it really is quite
confronting. There is nothing that I love more though, and being able to share
it with people and have them connect with what I’ve created is what I find so
exciting and in most ways, liberating. That’s the best part about being an artist,
entirely…well I think so anyway.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
That’s a great question haha! Embarrassment will be
the death of me. There’s nothing more that I hate, except for like bananas or
something. But in all honesty, I think everything that has happened or will
happen to me along the way isn’t worth forgetting, because it helps shape me as
a person and prepares me for what’s to come. There’s not enough time for regret
in an industry like this and quite frankly, I don’t at all believe it regrets.
Things happen because they’re supposed to and it’s how we learn. So no, I don’t
want to forget anything.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to
represent your music, what would it be and why?
Perfect Dream. It’s the most recent one written
that is featured on the EP and I think that’s because it’s the song when after
I wrote it, I thought, “Wow I’ve really got a shot at this” and I knew exactly
what I needed to do next. It’s the song that completed the EP. The entire
notion around who I am, not only as an artist, but personally is “a bitter
sweetness” and I tried to mirror that through the songs I had chosen. Perfect
Dream just screamed “bitter sweet”, both lyrically and musically, and it screamed
“me”. The idea of a something that isn’t easily defined or even tangible,
something that is perfect because it isn’t, is what spoke to me most.
Where can we listen to it?
The EP came out October 16 and is available across iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube etc. You can subscribe to
my YouTube channel, relax, sing along and find out more details there!
Ricci Riccardi, Louis Riccardi,
Dave Troke, and Steve Williams.
How would
you describe yourselves?
We are a contemporary country band.
Who are
your main influences musically?
Everyone from Stevie Wonder to Dolly
Parton.
What do
you hope to achieve in music?
Our hope is to continue making albums,
touring, and taking the world by storm!
What has
been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
There have been
many highlights, but our highlight as a band was probably playing
the Country to Country Festival and finding out that we filled the
Brooklyn Bowl to capacity on both days and had a huge queue of people
waiting to get in!
If you
had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what
would it be and why?
It's hard to choose just one but it would probably
be the new single 'You Can't Stop Me'. It gives you a really good idea
of what the whole album is going to sound like.
Anything
else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask? Our debut
album 'Here We Go Again' is out now! Check our website for festivals
and tour dates.
CONTEMPORARY folk band Ryan O'Reilly are preparing to release their first full album in the UK. But in the meantime the globe-trotting singer-songwriter who gives his name to the band has been living with his bandmates in Hamilton, Ontario. He told RealSoundsOK: "Our new video was shot there with two children acting as our guides, traversing through the empty buildings, industrial smoke and natural landscapes. "Northern Lights is the title track from our most recent EP. We released it in North America last month. Tyler [Kyte] lives in Canada, while myself and David [Granshaw] live in the UK, so it was past time for a proper Stateside release. "Although we use my name, the group is very much a band. We also don't plan on being home much. A decade of transatlantic songwriting makes you hungry for the road." Born in England to Irish parents, Ryan says his musical career started at the age of ten. He added: "My father stuck a guitar in my hands declaring, 'You're never going to impress anyone with your looks or your charm so you better get good at this'. We're not big on compliments in my family." You can watch the video for Northern Lights below and for more on the band - currently touring across Europe - visit ryanoreilly.uk
Your name: Johnny Anwyl (Manager with no musical talent whatsoever).
Where are you from? North West England, Lancashire, Accrington/Blackburn area.
Name of band: Bad Cardigan.
Who else is in your band? Tom Randall and Jack Anwyl.
How would you describe yourselves? Acoustic, contemporary/alt folk.
Who are your main influences musically? John Frusciante, Alex Turner, Hendrix, Dallas Green, The Doors, Bon Iver and many, many more.
What do you hope to achieve in music? To maintain our originality and integrity, to continue to gig far and wide, to grow musically and lyrically. It would be great to achieve financial independence - to earn enough to sustain it as a full-time passion. We love playing live music, and would like to give up the day jobs! We're not interested in the fame culture that is blighting the music industry today, we just want to be able to focus 100 per cent on our music and still be able to eat and have a pint or two at the end of the week.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? This is almost impossible to answer......supporting The Levellers at Manchester and Liverpool Academies, playing at Beautiful Days last year.....there is one moment that stands out though. Playing at Bristol Folk Festival this year, the power went down, so we unplugged stepped into the audience and played without the PA, you could have heard a pin drop. It was one of those goosebump moments.
And what’s the moment you want to forget? Spending about £250 for a round trip to London to play at a non-paying gig attended by six people, where the outside temperature was -5C.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? The Mystery. Although we're only 20, our experience of people falling foul of drugs and alcohol is pretty extensive. This song captures a lot of what we are about - being contemporary and real. It also demonstrates our love of harmonies and our attention to meaningful lyrics....that sounds a bit pompous but we don't sing about about skipping through fields of swaying golden corn with flowers in our hair - that doesn't happen much up here.
Anything else you’d like to say that I forgot to ask?The most enjoyable gigs that we have ever played are those at which it feels as though the audience are on stage with us. Size of venue and attendance are irrelevant in most cases, we enjoy a bit of banter with the audience and once they're with us we're in our element.
Michelle Harris (or Shell) and Alex Dopierala (Dop).
Where are you from?
Shell is from Liverpool - Dop is from Nantwich.
Name of band:
DELIAH.
Who else is in your band?
Jack Batchalor (Drummer)
Wana Shibemba (Bassist)
Terrell Pharrell (Keys)
How would you describe yourselves?
Non smokers, dog lovers, and above all GSOH… But in term of music we're a contemporary R&B duo, formed at LIPA, so we are unfortunately music students.
Who are your main influences musically?
Amy Winehouse, Frank Ocean.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
We really aim to achieve longevity and credibility with our music… Oh and to create some sick choons.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
Playing the third year showcase at uni as second years was a pretty good achievement for us. But I think we would have to say the release of our first single Any Last Words. The feedback from this track has been brilliant!
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
We would like to forget the moment Dop's tuner decided to tune everything a semitone higher than its was saying it was… That was an awkward silence.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
I like to think I am a positive and adventurous kind of
guy. I've always jumped into adventures with a certain level of planning, but
always willing to adapt and learn as I go. I value connect with a great team
and especially when the goal is fulfilling a dream.
Who are your
main influences musically?
I would say I have a very eclectic taste in music. I
think this likely comes from growing up in a household where the musical tastes
would range from Saturday afternoon at the Opera to Roy Orbison and the Everly
Brothers. I would say now more than ever I am drawn to great interpreters of
song and strong vocalists. To name a few, Frank Sinatra, Ella, Pavarotti, David
Byrne and songwriters like Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay and Stars.
What do you hope
to achieve in music?
I have always wanted to find ways to connect with others
and my main catalyst naturally became music and performing. It truly does feed
my soul and there are very few things that bring me closer to people and the
world around me. I am always so touched at the true power of music, not to be
cliche, but it is the universal language that makes us laugh, makes us cry and
heals us.
What has been
the highlight of your career so far, and why?
I have had many adventures along
the way but if I were to name a few they would including singing for President
Bill Clinton, performing and MC Canada Day at age 11 and having the opportunity
to travel to Tel Aviv on three separate occasions to perform.
And what’s the
moment you want to forget?
That would have to be at the age of 16, hearing the
most powerful man in the world humming the national anthem as I stared down the
lens on national television for the opening of the US Embassy in Canada.
If you had to
pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
I am not sure I can answer that as there are so many different elements to each
song, particularly on the album that represent who I am and what I love. There
is something about Calling You, the Bob Telson track on the album that took
hold of me and has become my favorite track on 'These Miles'. Haunting, jazzy,
smooth yet powerful.
Anything else
you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
This was not
only a labor of love, but a lesson in the power of social media. It was such an
incredible adventure to work with over 60 musicians from 5 different countries
and record and mix the album in only 12 days. A whirlwind, but a true testament
to the dedication and passion of all those involved.
Gain a bit of a following, get some airplay, sell some CDs and have an impact in some way on some one's life.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
Playing a gig and seeing someone in the crowd, whom I've never met, start singing along to my songs because they downloaded them before the show and then came to check out the live performance.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
That I've been at this a long time and I always think "almost there"...
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
Your name: 
