INTERVIEW WITH FREYA BEER: ART, POETRY AND MUSIC
Eclectic singer-songwriter Freya Beer has released her first single of the year ‘Siren’: a bewitching and moody masterpiece inspired by T J Waterhouse’s ‘The Siren’.
The single, released on the 26th of February via Beer’s own label Sisterhood Records is both intense and beautiful, pairing classical lyricism with an alt rock sound. Her voice is powerful and brooding, the overall sound reminiscent of Wolf Alice and Nick Cave. In a genre lacking female artists, Beer is a breath of fresh air; new and exciting.
Beer is set to embark on her UK tour in May, of course providing Coronavirus restrictions are lifted. She is to play Ramsgate; Birmingham; Leeds; London; Bristol; Manchester and Glasgow.
Carrot was lucky enough to catch up with her, asking about her experiences and inspirations ahead of the tour and single release.
How has covid effected recording and creating music? Has it made it better or has it made it worse?
I would say probably made it better because obviously we can’t go into a studio and have someone record it for us so were sort of left to our own devices and left For us to explore logic and learn how to produce stuff ourselves so I think obviously at the beginning of obviously the lockdown it was sort of like how is it all gonna pan out? but it was like a natural thing … it was a natural thing and I mean it’s sort of working in my favour because I've learned how to use logic and make my new songs so yeah… be good.
Are you worried you may not be able to tour in may? What happens if not?
Well I mean the situation at the minute, it looks like it will probably be rescheduled till like autumn, December along with everyone else so it’s nice to have that hope that there's a possibility especially with like the vaccine rollout and everything but again it’s very unpredictable with everything so it’s probably most likely gonna be rescheduled to the end of the year.
Do you find that quite frustrating?
Yeah because like everyone else, live music is an experience which you can’t really have anywhere else and it is just like having that connection with an audience as well. Like it is great to have online live streams but it’s different like recording to a camera obviously, because there is no reaction.
Have you been doing live streams?
Yeah I've done a few but like where I am in Dorset like the WIFI is rubbish so like the quality hasn't been that great but you sort of just do it anyway because you’ll benefit something out of it whether that’s like new listeners so I mean that doesn't stop me It’s just a bit annoying that I can’t really control that part like the signal connection, but yeah it's been good.
What's the best thing about performing live?
Probably the adrenaline you have because obviously it’s like a mixture of nerves and excitement and I mean once you're on stage well for me, it goes away and you're in your own world like you kind of just zone out and play your music.
What sort of audiences do you attract ? What's the vibe like?
I would say it’s probably a mix. A mix of age groups which i guess is good because I don't really want to narrow it down into one sort of audience. But i would say my audience is more of a listener rather than like moshing … not yet.
What’s been your favourite live performance so far?
Probably supporting the poet Dr John Cooper Clarke purely because he is someone who has influenced my writing from a young age and it was really surreal just the fact that I had the opportunity to support him. And like the venue in Southampton the ‘1864 it was a bit of a full circle because I went to uni in Southampton and it was like one of the bigger venues there so it was quite nice to end the year, well my uni time, there supporting John Cooper Clarke.
I read that you found inspiration in classical literature. What is it about classical literature that you find so inspiring?
I think like the imagery that classic literature sort of brings to the reader… yeah I’ll have to get back to you on that one.
Do you think your audience relates to the classics?
I mean I guess it’s a certain type of audience which I have because i have noticed that some of the listeners, they recognise like I would have like a Sylvia Plath reference in my lyrics. So I guess it’s the type of audience and I think I’m attracting the right audience.
Whose work are you most influenced by?
Probably I mean the first poet which I started reading was Alan Ginsberg, who was from the 60’s. He was part of the Beat movement in New York. So I would say probably Alan Ginsberg because especially in my older writing, I would reference his poems a lot, whether that was in the lyrics … obviously… but yeah probably Alan Ginsberg was the main one.
What's your favourite book?
Hmm I read a lot. Can it be a poetry book? Probably, Eclectic poems by Charles Bukowski, because I think his writing is very raw but very brutal in a way because it is just the reality of life, which I really like because I’d rather have an honest writer rather than a writer who sort of makes it all sort of lovey-dovey. I find writers who are more brutal in their words, they appeal to me more, because you can relate to it really.
Do you feel like those themes are reflected in your work?
Well I guess the subjects in my songs definitely do have a darker aspect and I’m not too sure where that comes from, because usually when I write I always joke that there's some conscious energy channelling through me. I mean like in ‘Arms Open Wide’ I talk about ‘the devil sends the one you regret.’ Where did I get that from? But I guess it’s just from reading into poets who have darker themes. That definitely does reflect in my writing. I just like to use the words for the listener to create a world in their heads and have their own take on it. Rather than writing blunt lyrics like ‘I loved him, he left me’, I wanna give it more imagery for the listener.
Moving onto ‘Siren’, what is the inspiration behind it? What's it about?
Well the name I got from a pre-Raphaelite painting called ‘The Siren’ by John Waterhouse. I have always rooted to pre-Raphaelite for inspiration, even when I started off young and I had zero life experience. I always went to art because there's always a story. It gave me a starting point and then I could adapt my own take on it so it becomes more relatable to myself.
Does the song have a specific meaning or is it open to the listeners interpretation?
It’s definitely open to adaptation by the listener because the opening line is “picking up fruit from the rotten tree, reminds me of the time you enjoyed fooling me”, so it makes the listener think. I’m not really into saying it as it is, I prefer to put a bit of a twist to the lyrics and a bit of a story behind it.
Are you working on any more projects at the moment?
After this single, there will be another single preferably in May maybe and then releasing my debut album ‘Beast’ which I’m really looking forward to. I’m currently working on that at the moment, with recording remotely. The debut album is sort of the build up.
When is “Beast” being released?
Probably June. I can't wait because obviously, I've never released an album before and it's gonna be on vinyl as well. That’s gonna be very cool, to sort of just hold your own work.
I read that you have your own record label; Sisterhood Records, what was the motivation behind that?
It was suggested by my managers, I think purely because as a new artist I’m not gonna be signed immediately by a major label, so I think creating your own label for the moment, it looks good that you have music under a name. ‘Sisterhood’ itself, like the name, is rooted from me and my sister because my sister would always come to all my gigs with me, so we were sort of a team (we still are a team). So I thought it was the perfect name for the label as well.
Does having your own label give you more creative control as an artist?
Oh yeah definitely! Because obviously it’s just me and my team. There’s loads of creative control and I mean who knows in the future, maybe I’ll take it to another level where i’ll introduce new artists to the label. But at the moment I think it’s a good platform to release my own music. It looks more established that way.
Thank you Freya!