INTERVIEW WITH ELERI ANGHARAD ABOUT HER LATEST SINGLE, BLANK WALLS WHILST WE GET TO KNOW HER

Last Friday (24th April), I caught up with Swansea based artist singer-songwriter, Eleri Angharad to talk about her brand new album and single whilst always talking about her musical journey.

Earlier this month, Eleri released her album, Earthbound followed by her latest single, Blank Walls.

Good Afternoon, Eleri. Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview with me.​
Firstly, I would like you to introduce yourselves to our readers?​

Hi, I’m Eleri Angharad, a Country/Pop singer-songwriter from South Wales.

How old were you were you decided to start writing your own songs? And when did you write and perform your first song?​

I picked up my first guitar at 13 which is when I started writing songs. I think my first song was something really cheesy with about two chords but I wrote a lot of songs growing up and even had a little country duo with my best friend, Claire. We wrote a song called Cider & Chocolates and first performed at a mini festival in mid Wales.

Where and when did you first perform any of yours songs and how old were you?

When I was uni I wrote a lot of songs by myself and had my first gig at a venue called The Parrot in Carmarthen when I was 18. I think I played a couple of songs that ended up on my first EP.

What is your favourite country song and who is your favourite country artist (can be more than one)?

Oh, that's such a tough one! Probably Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton, I'm a sucker for a sad song and that one's so powerful! I really love Dolly because her personality and energy is so infectious. I've been watching her instagram videos and she never fails to make me smile. Some other country artists I'm loving at the moment are Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Campbell (Glen Campbell's daughter!) and in the UK I love The Wandering Hearts and Rosey Cale.
Who doesn't love Dolly Parton!

But, I'd like to think this question is even harder but I'm going to ask anyway what is the most inspirational song you have heard?
Ooh, I actually answered this for one of those 30 day song challenges today. Follow Your Arrow by Kacey Musgraves! It's a really fun song and just encourages you to be yourself and not care about what everyone else is doing or thinking.
Now this is a great choice.

Now let's talk about your 2020 plans and your latest single, Blank Walls.

I released Blank Walls about a week ago now (April 17th) my first single of 2020! I've had a great response to it so far so that's really promising. It's one of my favourite songs I've written because it's very personal to me and I really love the stripped back production of it. For the rest of the year I am in talks about doing some more touring, though we'll have to wait and see on that with everything that's going on. Plans are a little up in the air, but you will definitely be getting more music from me!

My next question for you is, I'm very intrigued to know personally, how look did it take you to write Blank Walls?
The whole process of writing this was actually very quick. The idea came from a film I watched called Interview with a Vampire that just has so many really dark, moody but quite sensual images, like candles and red wine. So that was the initial spark and then I drew on things that were happening in my own life and the lyrics started forming as lists and rhymes. I sat down at my mum's piano and got the verses and choruses down in about an hour. Then when I was playing back through it a few days later I added the middle 8 section.

Did you always know that you wanted to release Blank Walls as a single?
I was quite unsure at first whether I thought it was 'single material' but I loved it so much so I knew I wanted to record it. I did think about not releasing it during the current situation in the world but after playing to a few friends I decided to release it anyway and I'm so glad I did because it gave me something to focus on. I even did a live Facebook release party from my living room which lots of people tuned into and managed to raise money for NHS Wales in the process!

Then, I have to ask you how was the recording for Blank Walls?
I recorded the track back in January on the beautiful Grand Piano at Fieldgate studio in Cardiff with the incredibly talented Lee House as sound engineer and producer. He's great to work with and always helps build on my ideas, he also recorded the whole of my first album with me last year.

You also released your debut album, Earthbound  on 12th April, how was that for you?
I release Earthbound in April 2019 and had been working on writing and recording it for about 2 years before that so it was the biggest project I've ever done. I also funded it entirely through the money I earned from live gigs so I'm so proud of what I managed to achieve with it. I love all of the songs on it and I'm so glad it's out in the world. I had some great responses to some tracks in particular with the title track Earthbound being playlisted on BBC Radio Wales and Staircase being my first song on Spotify to reach 20k streams but the best part is just having messages from people who connected with my music.

How did you chose the songs for the album, and can we expect a few single releases from the album throughout 2020?

It was quite a challenge choosing songs for the album and there's definitely a lot of songs that didn't make the cut. I have a few people that I really trust that I play every song to before I decide which ones I'm going to record and it really helps to gather their opinions. I feel there's a nice thread running through all of the songs on Earthbound  s the album centres around travels and coming home again, which is what the last few years of my life have been all about really. I've also been writing a lot of songs this year including some exciting collaborations so I definitely want to release more singles as soon as I can get back into the Studio with Lee.

I love asking this question in our interviews but how would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Ooh, that's such a tough one, I'd say creative, thoughtful (probably too much of an over-thinker) and determined.

Then your music in 3 words?​

Musically I'd say honest, calming and nostalgic.

Also, I have to ask what have you been doing this past 4 weeks of this challenging time?
I must admit I'm actually enjoying spending more time at home, even if I get a little restless at times. I've been doing a lot of sorting, tidying etc but also some more fun things like playing piano, baking muffins and finding new recipes to try. I actually had my birthday party in lockdown a couple of weeks ago, my partner baked us a focaccia bread and we had a picnic in the garden while friends came to wave from the gate and drop off some presents. It was lovely! I am missing people but I'm very lucky to be able to stay safe at home.
​​

What do you hope 2020 will bring for you as an artist?​
Well, I would really like to release some more music and finish working on the collaborations I mentioned - I've been lucky to work with some incredible artists already this year. I'm also concentrating on connecting with new audiences online, and finding radio stations and country music blogs to get in touch with! Of course, I met you (virtually) too so it's been great so far.​​

Thank you so much for your time, Eleri.

You can follow Eleri on her Social Media

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