Can you hear the Irish call?
If you're in Cape Town this summer, catch Folk/Rock artist Ciara!
Streetlamp: Tell us about your background? Where do you come from, how did you get into music...
Ciara: I was born in Dublin, raised in and living in London. How did I get into music? Erm, well my Mum and Dad were always really into music, a lot of country, oh and Rod Stewart? I played recorder and violin in primary school but they never really stuck. My earliest memory of playing guitar is my brother teaching me the bass line to stand by me on a three stringed acoustic guitar when I was 9 or 10. I bought my own guitar shortly after that. A huge black honda thing that I could hardly see over, which, 10 years later got thrown out by an ex partner's angry mother. There was definitely a short mourning period for the loss of that one, (the guitar that is)
I had half hour guitar lessons a week in secondary school from a really great guy called Roger. Was supposed to be learning the likes of Classical Gas and Romanza and quite often I'd spend the lesson playing Alanis or Sheryll Crow, oh dear. We did a Chuck Berry tune once too. Roger, myself and my English teacher, in front of a couple of hundred people at an arts evening in school. Again, oh dear. I remember my music teacher giving me a tape of Joni when I was 16. I'd never heard of her but she thought I'd like it, she thought right. That was the first time I heard Blue.
SL: To those who have yet to hear your music, how would you describe your sound?
CC: Melodic bass lines and delicate guitar riffs glued together by a voice that is both feisty and angelic. Well, you gotta write something? Yeah, I guess it’s melodic Folk/Folk Rock.
SL: Who are your main musical influences?
CC: There are definitely musicians/songwriters that have had a strong influence on me. Joni, Alanis, Tracy Chapman, Crosby Stills and Nash to name a tiny few. Whether or not all of those influences filter through into the music I don’t know. I suppose most things I experience will at one time or another be reflected in the music I write. I’ve loved lots of different music at lots of different times. Went through a period of listening to ‘August and Everything After’ by Counting Crows non stop. Some Guano Apes, System of a Down, Chilli Peppers, Linkin Park, Roxette, Skunk Anansie, Pearl Jam chucked in there to name but a few. Listening to the Dresden Dolls and Jake Morley at the moment, they’re amazing!
SL: Do you write your own songs?
CC: Yep………thought at least one of these answers could be a short one.
SL: What is your music about? Is there an underlying message?
CC: Not really. Usually it’s just stuff that’s happened, that’s made an impression.
SL: How do you write music? Do the words come first or the music?
CC: Might play around with riffs and guitar lines for a while but usually the words and music come together at the same time.
SL: If you could collaborate with any musical artist, who would it be?
CC: Off the top of my head, Jake Morley. I love the male/female vocal thing and I love harmonies. He’s a great guitarist and wonderful songwriter.
SL: If you could perform anywhere in the world, where would it be?
CC: South Africa, he he. No really, Oppikoppi, that’d be cool! Do I have to pick just one? I’d love it if someone put on a show in Woodstock, Inistioge in Ireland.
SL: Where is your favourite place to play music? (venue)?
CC: I really like the Troubador in Earls Court and the Twelve Bar Club in Denmark Street.
SL: Do you play any cover songs when you perform? If so, which ones?
CC: Yeah, we play Waiting, Watching, Wishing by Antigone Rising (originally by the Push Stars). Sometimes we play Mr Jones (Counting Crows), Both Hands (Ani DeFranco), Revolution (Tracy Chapman) Or I might do Angel (Sarah MacLoughlin) or All I want (Joni) by myself. We do loads of covers for the pub gigs which are quite different from original gigs. They’re a lot longer and you wanna play a little something for everybody. So it varies depending on the venue. Usually Irish pubs so there’s plenty of Irish covers thrown in there.
SL: What do you do to pay the bills, or does music earn you enough? ...
CC: I left my job of 4 years in April 2007. I’d been talking for so long about how great it would be to be able to make a living as a musician, to do it all the time and not to have a safety net to fall back on when it got tough. Even if it meant just surviving, I knew I didn’t want to waste anymore time. I loved the guys that I worked with but essentially, all that I was achieving was earning money. If I was going to spend 8 hours a day working at something it needed to be music. Since then I’ve been gigging, recorded the acoustic album, got a rather random job playing guitar on a Sony Walkman advert at the end of last year. Just a few days work but it kept me afloat for a while. Bits and pieces, you know. Who knows what else might be in the pipe line. I have a few things I’d like to try before the year is out.
SL: What's your outlook on the record industry today?
CC: I think record labels today have less control because they’re not needed to get your music to your audience. With the introduction of sites like Myspace and Streetlamp, you can get your music heard by a far bigger audience than if you were just playing small local gigs. You have to work really hard to promote and market your music if you don’t have the financial and professional backing of a record label though and with CD Sales on the decline, it’s got to be gigs, gigs, gigs if you want to make any kind of a living.
SL: What are the biggest obstacles for up and coming bands or artists?
CC: Diminishing CD sales. Making a living without the middle man, without the backing of a record company.
SL: What inspires you?
CC: Music that I like inspires me. (wow, that’s profound isn’t it, but it’s true). When I really love what an artist/musician is doing. Sometimes I’m inspired by the smallest of things. Looking out the window of a moving coach at everything and nothing. Movement inspires me, moving somewhere, anywhere. Friendship inspires me. Energy onstage! Musicians being tight and really tuned in to one another! The Dresden Dolls’ excellent drummer and the singer perched on the edge of her huge piano stool titled onto one leg, rocking out non stop for almost 2 hrs. Yeah, stuff like that.
SL: What music do you listen to?
CC: As well as everyone else I’ve mentioned…erm. Been listening to Regina Spector a bit, very cool! Jill Scott, Janis Joplin, Joan Armatrading, Led Zepplin, Just Jinger, Kings of Leon. Sometimes just listen to back to back Irish tunes, Christy Moore, Mary Black, The Boondock Saints, The Pogues, Christie Hennessey etc.
SL: The best album you ever bought?
CC: Toxicity. System of a Down. I love this album, you can’t just listen to one track. It’s gotta be the whole thing start to finish while your jumping around like a fool in your bedroom I’m not saying it’s my only favourite but it’s one of the ones I can think of that wasn’t a present or borrowed, that I bought. (I think?)
SL: You'll know you've made it when.....
CC: I hear a complete stranger singing one of my songs.
SL: It'll be time to pack up the gear for good when....
CC: I have arthritis in my fingers. (what a lovely thing to say) No, I think as long as I’m loving it and feel that I’m progressing, still writing and learning, then I’ll keep playing.
SL: I'll never forget the first time I...
CC: Played Hand in my Pocket. In front of bout 400 people at school when I was 15. Pretty cool.
SL: What are your plans for the future?
CC: At the moment I’m getting ready to go travelling for a short while. Gonna come over to South Africa, say hello to that fella that got me hooked on Linkin Park. You know who you are! Have a wander around, maybe see Cape Town this time. Heading to parts of North America first and Thailand. Back in London in January where it’ll be full steam ahead for recording the studio album. Want to re record some of the songs from the acoustic album with a full band but there’ll be lots of new stuff too!
SL: Can you give us a good cocktail recipe?
CC: Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. (never seen them in London) They’re yummy!
1/2 ounce Vodka
1/2 ounce Triple Sec
1/2 ounce Yukon Jack liqueur
1/2 ounce Peach Schnapps
1/2 ounce Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce cranberry juice
Fill with lemon-lime soda
Build in an ice-filled Collins glass, filling it with the soda. Stir with a long straw.
SL: Is there any other info you would like to share with Streetlamp fans?
CC: Might do a gig or 2 while I’m over there in Nov/Dec of this year. Would like to ask Streetlamp fans if they know of any nice venues in the Pretoria area or anywhere really along the East coast down to Cape Town?
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