Singer – Page 33

March 9, 2020November 25, 2020 Mew Zikwryder

Q&A with singer and composer Valeska Rautenberg

Berlin-based singer and composer Valeska Rautenberg has worked as a musician, producer, teacher, composer and voice-over actress for many years now and has started releasing her own music again in 2017, after taking a few years off for her private life.

She paints with sounds. Her voice creates colours. Images come alive in your mind, you wander through them, discover them, feel them. Valeska Rautenberg takes you with her – she doesn’t give you a choice other than to follow her into her cosmos of music.

See our exclusive interview with her below:

What are some of your earliest memories of music?

Ha! Me going crazy to ‘Jump’ by Van Halen in the living room after kindergarten. It was awesome, I loved that song! I guess, I must have been around 4 – 5 years old.

Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?

Not at all. Each song has its own life and it is my task to accept that and to nourish its growth. The music I’m releasing at the moment is instrumental – neoclassical, ambient piano music – like the first single‚ ’Twilight’, off the upcoming EP‚ “Into The Still White – Songs For Piano, Wind & Water”.

My piano pieces usually start with a melody that suddenly comes popping up from my subconscious, which sparks a certain mood. Then I’ll go from there and see what happens. Or if I’m somewhere outside and I hear a sound that interests me, I’ll record it on my phone and use that field-recording as the base and play along to it on the piano.

My vocal music lives more in the realm of Trip Hop, Downbeat, and Indietronica. The starting point for me is mostly with the voice or a lyrical theme, and from there I’ll start to develop the song further. Sometimes it’s the other way around and I’ll build the beat first and let that inspire me. I guess there are no rules and no “right way”. Whatever works for you is the best way. Your job is to accept that there are a million different ways and to be open to letting the song come to you ;-).

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?

I used to be on stages a lot and loved it … it’s exhausting as well, but back in the day, it was totally my thing. These days I’m more of a sound nerd. I love composing and creating sounds. It has become my language. Maybe one day I’ll be drawn back to the stage but for now, I’m geeking out over my newest plug-ins and love to create music, whether it be with the piano, my voice or any instrument under the sun.

What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?

Oh, I was fortunate to have had a few memorable responses so far and it always warms my heart. To hear people say how much a song touched them or how they could identify with the lyrics, or how one of my songs inspired them to be creative themselves is such an enriching and powerful experience. Getting a message from a stranger from the other side of the globe letting you know they enjoy your music honours me.

One very memorable moment was when one of my songs was compared to the feeling of the cherry blossom scene at the end of the Last Samurai movie … that was quite something.

If you could put together a radio show, what kind of music would you play?

It’d span a lot of genres – from Tori Amos, A Perfect Circle, and Hozier, to Godspeed You! Black Emperor … music has to touch me, make me feel, be meaningful … no matter the genre.

Name five artists and their albums who would appear on your radio show

Only five? Oh, dear …

Fiona Apple – Tidal

Pj Harvey – Rid of me

Tool – Ænima

Radiohead – Amnesiac

Portishead – Dummy

What would you like to achieve with your music? What does success look like to you?

Of course, every musician wants their music to be heard … and I want that, too. I just don’t want to compromise or to step down from my musical convictions in the process.

I love being an indie artist these days … it’s a crazy jungle but it enables you to do everything by yourself, which is a lot of work, but you get to do everything the way you want to do it. That’s amazing.

Success to me is being able to create the music I want to create.

I make my living with music, I get to write my music on my own terms, and have a couple of thousand monthly listeners – that to me is already a success and I’m very grateful for that. If I were able to reach and maybe touch even more people, that would, of course, be wonderful. But in the end, success to me is simply to be happy.

One last thought to leave your fans with?

Love what you do and do what you love and support indie musicians 😉 That’s where the passion is. And thanks to everyone who’s shared, supported or bought a song from an indie artist.

Follow Valeska Rautenberg online

Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | SoundCloud

March 9, 2020November 25, 2020 Mew Zikwryder

Q&A with Singer Uma Bloo

Chicago-based singer Uma Bloo had started a multi-faceted project in 2016. Focusing on emotive music and character performance, Molly Madden invented an otherworldly, immersive artistic experience.

At each event, an interactive set is built so as to bring the audience into Uma’s world for a night. Uma’s lyrics have been described as “mediations on vulnerability.” While often compared to Nico, Angel Olsen, and Florence and the Machine, Uma Bloo’s music defies traditional genre while enticing crowds into reckoning with their past.

See our exclusive interview with her below:

What are some of your earliest memories of music?

Dinah Washington’s ‘Blue Gardenia’ was on a soundtrack my parents used to play around the house. That’s the first song I remember singing along with, I wanted to be able to sing just like her. I still think her voice is one of the most singular I’ve ever heard. In the latter half of the song she sings “memories” like it’s two different worlds, or like the second half of the word sent her different from where she started. It was just such a surprise in the melody… the entire song is so special. I still listen to it whenever I need to be shaken up a bit.

Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?

I don’t know if there are any specific steps I take when I’m writing. When I sit down with an instrument most of the time I just start exploring different shapes and chords to see what I can find. From there I try to find some semblance of a structure and sing over it until whatever I needed to express has been expressed. There’s no real trick to it.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?

It’s not necessarily a preference but I think I enjoy the performance the most. At that point, the tediousness of the work leading up to a show can be let go and whatever happens, happens. It’s the exhale of it all.

What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?

I think once someone described my music as an exorcism which I guess sounds intense but I like that sentiment, haha.

If you could put together a radio show, what kind of music would you play?

I’d like to have the kind of freedom to play whatever was calling to me at that moment.

Name five artists and their albums who would appear on your radio show

Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits, Megan the Stallion’s Tina Snow, Pixel Grip’s Heavy Handed, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Show Your Bones, Lana Del Rey’s NFR!

What would you like to achieve with your music? What does success look like to you?

Ideally, I’d make something I could live off of, but that seems more a dream than reality these days for most artists. Really the most that I hope for is to consistently put out music I feel passionately about for as long as I can sustain it.

One last thought to leave your fans with?

We just released a single called ‘Marguerite’s Novels’ and will be releasing another one in April called ‘Coming Home’. Keep a lookout!

Follow Uma Bloo online

Facebook | Twitter | Spotify | Instagram

March 6, 2020 Mew Zikwryder

Singer Shawn Hook unveils new song, ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’

Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Shawn Hook delivers his heartfelt new single ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’.

An honest, emotion-filled song, ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’ sees Shawn lay his love on the line. With lyrics such as ‘I just want to talk now, but honestly I’m inside out, I’m blending with the walls and they’re closing in on me’ the British Columbia-born artist looks inwards and channels his feelings into his work.

A multiple JUNO Award-nominated artist with hundreds of millions of streams to his name, Shawn has collaborated with some of the industry’s biggest hit songwriters, also sharing stages with the likes of The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, The Chainsmokers and Camila Cabello amongst others. He is best known for tracks ‘Sound Of Your Heart’ and ‘Reminding Me’ with Vanessa Hudgens, both of which certified Double Platinum in his native Canada.

As busy as ever, recent TV appearances include Good Morning America, Today Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and So You Think You Can Dance suggest there are no plans to slow things down anytime soon.

One of the most successful Canadian artists of the past few years, Shawn Hook’s undeniable combination of slick vocals, touching lyrics and tight production sees him deliver yet another memorable hit.

Follow Shawn Hook online

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

March 6, 2020 Mew Zikwryder

Singer/songwriter Hannah Grace releases a new song ‘Blue’

Hannah Grace has released her brand new single ‘Blue’ via Never Fade Records. The new song finds Hannah bounding into 2020 with a bright new twist on her soulful sound. She enlists funky keys and horns alongside a bright pop sensibility as her jaw-dropping vocals fly high with feel-good assurance.

The single has been released to great support from Radio 2, with plays coming from both Graham Norton and Dermot O’Leary. Michael Ball is also a big fan at the station and has invited Hannah in to perform a live session on the show.

Regarding the single Hannah says, “I am beyond excited to share my new song ‘Blue,’ which was one of the first songs I wrote for my album and was quite different to anything I’d written before. I wanted to write something that made me feel good, something I could dance to and really enjoy performing live.”

“I wrote it about being tired of feeling blue all the time! I wanted to put all of my energy into feeling positive. It’s been very helpful for me to sometimes just be distracted from the stresses of life and surround myself with kind people and music to dance to! Everybody gets down with the pressures and sadness of the real world but sometimes you just have to let your hair down and let it go.”

Hannah is gearing up to release her debut album in 2020. The album will feature ‘Blue’, as well as her previous single ‘With You’ and also her gorgeous cover of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’.

Released last year ‘With You’ was added to the Radio 2 playlist and saw Hannah make her debut TV performance on the Sara Cox show. Her cover of ‘Praise You’ also proved a huge success and was used to soundtrack a Lloyds Bank advert before going on to sell over 60,000 copies in the UK.

Hannah Grace has also made an impressive mark on the UK live scene. Last year she played her largest show in support of Barbra Streisand at Hyde Park, while she has also supported the likes of Jess Glynne, Gabrielle Aplin and Hozier. Hannah has also previously caught the attention of Lady Gaga who tweeted a video of Hannah singing on YouTube and called her “a superstar”.