INTERVIEW WITH... SOUL INFLUENCED FOLK ARTIST I USED TO BE SAM
I Used To Be Sam is the musical moniker of Soulful Folk Pop artist Annie Goodchild uses for her new musical endeavor. The Singer-Songwriter who you may recognize from her work and time as a featured artist with Postmodern Jukebox. Goodchild on her forthcoming self-titled EP, tackling on identity, transracial adoption and her complex journey through all of it into self discovery. I chatted with the singer and she provided TRB with an exclusive performance of the lead single “Seamstress”. Watch and read below!
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Hi, Annie! How has your year been so far? Thanks so much for doing this performance!
I USED TO BE SAM: Hi! My year has been a labor of love. I'm tired, grateful, and really excited to share my project with everyone.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Can you tell us a bit of your backstory and how that plays into your current artist story?
I USED TO BE SAM: Sure. I've been writing and playing music for a while now, and up until recently, I hadn’t written or talked about a major part of my identity. I am a TRA (Transracial Adoptee). For me, and I think for many adoptees, there is a kind of shame around adoption; it can be a solitary existence. So when I ended up taking a DNA test and connected for the first time with some of my birth family, and at the same time, got re-rejected by my birth mother, I knew I couldn’t hold onto that by myself anymore. That immense pain and sense of loss was really the catalyst to the “I Used To Be Sam” project. Samantha, I confirmed, had been my birth name.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: I found the music video for the track ‘Seamstress’ all at once haunting and freeing. Can you talk about how the music video came together?
I USED TO BE SAM: I really wanted the visual to “Seamstress” to be almost vague and just enhance the song itself. I filmed seamstress in the woods of Switzerland on a cold and foggy day. It was physically a hard shoot, but I also think the weather and atmosphere really helped create the right tone. I knew I didn’t want a strong narrative or a lot of singing into camera, but rather have a sense of aimless wandering and carefully pick where I lip sync the words.
The one moment I do this is lyrically and musically the moment of realisation where I’m finally admitting to myself that this woman, my birth mother - who I’ve imagined, wondered about, and yearned for my whole life - will never want to know me. The idea of floating just above the ground is in some ways my ignorance and my hopes. When I finally touch my feet down to the earth it represents my knowledge of the truth and “at least now I know.”
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What lyric from ‘Seamstress’ do you feel is most apropos to our current times?
I USED TO BE SAM: One of my favourite lines from Seamstress is “I've hemmed all my trauma so it doesn’t drag on the ground.” I think in a time where people are finally talking about their mental health without a sense of shame, this line really rings true for me. I don’t open up very easily, and feeling vulnerable enough to get the support and help I need can sometimes feel impossible. So seeing other humans being able to challenge this fear, especially in the current adoptee community, has been really huge for me.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What’s your early prediction for the song of summer 2022?
I USED TO BE SAM: Ooh that’s hard! At least for my summer, Gabriel’s “Love and Hate in a Different Time”
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: And to close out, what’s next on the horizon for you and anything else you want to add or say?
I USED TO BE SAM: Thanks so much for having me. I'll be releasing my EP this Sept, and performing a big release show in Basel [Switzerland] with a choir. I'm really excited to get a chance to show everyone the vocals that I've written and put together for this project. In the meantime, I will continue to educate myself and others on adoption and hopefully keep collaborating with other TRA’s. I also wanted to add that even if you aren’t personally affected by adoption, I think the themes of self worth, family, fear, and rejection are very human ones. So I hope my music and this project resonates with you.
I USED TO BE SAM // SOCIALS
| YOUTUBE | TIKTOK | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER |
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INTERVIEW + MUSIC PERFORMANCE WITH FOLK ACT SOUND OF THE SIRENS
Sound Of The Sirens is the U.K. Folk act featuring artists Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood. The duo's new album, 'Damage Control, is out buoyed by the lead single, 'These Are The Days'. The album showcases a body of work that is beautifully evocative and filled with layered harmonies, an album that cements why Sound Of The Sirens is quickly becoming a mainstay in the U.K. Folk and festival scene. I got some time to chat with the duo about the album, their creative process, artistic background, and more. The duo also provided an exclusive stripped-back performance of 'High Hopes' as well. Check it all out down below!
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: How did Sound of the Sirens come together? Can you delve into your artist's backstory a bit?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: We met when we were both working at a nightclub in Exeter -Timepiece. We would sing on the walk home from shifts and on various nights out. We loved that place and George the owner was kind enough to give us our first ever gig as Sound of the Sirens-one Thursday in Sept…..what feels like a million years ago.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What has the creative and writing process been like this time around when it to this album? What about the recording process?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: It's been a different experience as some of these songs started life in 2019 and we were gigging them and trying them out on audiences and then in 2020 the whole world stood still. We continued to write and some of the songs have a direct link to this time-like the final track on the album-The hope that we sail on. It was during the gaps in various lockdowns and rules changing that we were able to travel to Scotland to record this album. It was such an exciting trip for so many reasons. We finally got to record an album we had been working on for so long, with not just any change of scenery but the incredible backdrop of the highlands and lochs of Scotland.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: How do you feel you've grown as artists from your debut 'A Long Way to Fall’ to now with 'Damage Control'?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: Our accents are less American! There are certain phrases on that recording that make me giggle although we are still so proud of the songs and the journey we’ve been on since we recorded that album in 2013. Recording that first album was the key to us offering something to our live audiences and certainly helped us get where we are. All artists starting out should have something to sell! That album was recorded live over 2 days with just our vocals, guitars, and percussion. This album has layered vocals, we play with more guitars, Han adds her piano, and then Andres added some incredible drums and Saul adds Bass and more. This album was produced and so the sound is fuller and stronger.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Do you have a lyric from Damage Control' that you find particularly felicitous to our times?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: ‘This is my head, this is my role, and the damage I must control’
This means ….we will all experience difficult emotions. But whatever mess that causes to ourselves or others we must remember that we are responsible. We picked this lyric for some Hoodies that are available from our Townsend store.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What's your process for dealing with performance anxiety?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: Breathe. Focus on what you want to feel and how good that feeling is and don’t stop until you get it. Get the audience on your side, talk with them, laugh with them …and then they stop being scary.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: If you were to describe your (upcoming) album in only three words. What are they?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: Powerful, intriguing, catchy
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: If you were to throw a message in a bottle into the ocean, what would it say?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: Abbe -You’re it! (That would make me laugh anyway)
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What was your favorite book as a child?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: Abbe- I loved the story of the Elves and the Shoemaker when I was really little. We used that song to help us write a track called ‘All for the best’ on one of our EPS from 2015.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What’s your earliest music memory?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: Abbe- I think it would be singing in the car with my family. My Dad would hit the steering wheel whilst we all sang out. They were always quick silly songs that we still sing now.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Lastly, what is up next for Sound of the Sirens?
SOUND OF THE SIRENS: After the success of our Album launch in London, we are so excited to take this album out on the road with Lucy Piper on Drums. We have 20 shows in the next 2 months and we will also be supporting Tony Hadley on his tour during this time. We have festivals over the summer including Kendal Calling and more to be announced soon. Keep an eye on our website and socials for more details. We also post almost daily on our Patreon page with regular Podcasts, behind-the-scenes photos, live streams, etc!
Abbe and Hannah are a lively bunch! Thanks for sharing your music with us. Please if you live in the U.K. do check out a live show of theirs!
SOUND OF THE SIRENS // SOCIALS
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Stream Sound of the Siren's new album "Damage Control" out now
INTERVIEW + MUSIC PERFORMANCE WITH FOLK POP SINGER MARIE NAFFAH
Marie Naffah is an artist that TRB has championed quite a bit. Her honest and engaging Indie Folk meets Art Pop tales that invoke a bygone era of singer-songwriter music. Even her very DIY approach to touring and promotion. Now as Naffah preps for her latest release 'Trains'. I caught up with the singer a bit and she also recorded an exclusive performance of her new single off 'Trains' titled, "Angie".
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Hey, Marie! How have you been? Thanks for doing this performance!
MARIE NAFFAH: Hey Brittney! I’m good thanks - great to be releasing new music again. And thank you for inviting me! I loved our interview last year so it’s a pleasure to play for you and your readership.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Can you delve into the backstory and inspiration behind the track “Angie” that you’re singing today?
MARIE NAFFAH: ‘Angie’ is the third track off my upcoming EP. The song is written about a character called ‘Angie’ who is having a difficult time. I don’t actually know anyone by that name, but I wanted her to be a composite of people that I’ve encountered: a bit of me, a bit of people I know, and strangers, too.
As for a backstory, I was looking back at lockdown and how it affected people I knew. There was a lot of pain, but also a lot of hiding. A pressure to present oneself as positive. I wanted to make a song that says ‘whatever mood you’re in, I’m here’.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What would be your favourite lyric from this song?
MARIE NAFFAH: ‘You’re taking longer showers cos it’s somewhere to hide’ - probably one of my most favourite lines I’ve ever written.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER:What’s your early prediction for the song of summer 2022?
MARIE NAFFAH: Maggie Rogers’ album ‘Surrender’ is out in July - that has my full attention right now.
Everything she does - every trailer, every caption, every movement is so meticulously thought through. I love that.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: "Are you listening" is also the first track off your upcoming EP? What can you tell us about that EP?
MARIE NAFFAH: My EP is out on the 27th of May and there are some very cool things that I’m planning alongside it so please follow me on Spotify, say hello on Instagram or TikTok.
If you’re a lover of something more intimate, you can sign up to my newsletter.
https://videopress.com/v/vuf6cOKe?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&loop=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Marie Naffah performs "Angie"
Stream Marie Naffah's "Angie" out now
