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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned London based singer Lucy Mair to find out more…

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
Originally I’m from Chesham in Buckinghamshire but I’m currently living in South East London! I guess I got into music because my whole family is really musical so writing songs just seemed like a really natural thing to do as my dad and siblings were doing it. It was only until I was about 14 or 15 that I realised I could maybe make a living from it and it didn’t have to be just a hobby so I started going to open mics in London with my songs and it kinda went from there.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I grew up listening to whatever my dad put on in the car really, lots of Steely Dan, lots of R&b and lots of pop music. Then when I was 13 my singing teacher at the time introduced me to Billie Holiday’s ‘God Bless The Child’ and that opened the door to jazz singers and jazz music for me. Now I listen to a bit of everything but I think the jazz and pop foundations have definitely stuck aha.

How would you describe your sound?
It seems like most people describe it as jazzy pop which I think is true but I think my sound changes with each track and I really love that aspect of writing and arranging music. I don’t feel like just because one of my songs was more ‘jazzy’ or ‘poppy’ than the other that I then have to stick to that sound, especially at the moment I really want to experiment with my music and see what I can come up with.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
My latest release was a song called ‘Nina Simone’! The main (and pretty obvious aha) influence would be Nina Simone but I guess the song lyrically is about time and my relationship with time passing. Especially in the music industry, which is an industry so obsessed by youth, getting older can be terrifying. I wanted to contrast that with something or someone that I think is timeless and I believe Nina Simone’s music to be timeless therefore she seemed like a good fit for the song.

What’s your local music scene like?
Back in Chesham there is a pretty small music scene with not much going on to be honest, there’s one music venue that is very good but that’s about it. South east London however is a completely different story, there’s an entire spectrum of artists and music being made and performed.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Any albums or festivals?
So much! I’m writing a lot at the moment and working to get together 2 EP releases for next year so I’m a busy bee! But I’m really excited about it so it’s really good fun.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Anyone at the moment really, I really want to experiment with my music and see where it would go. Although there is this one London based artist called Celeste that I think is amazing so I would absolutely love to write a track with her.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Aha loads! I could mention many weird gigs, mostly pretty bizarre audience members really, although one band that played before me at this open mic said they were number 2 in the Russion charts with a song about burgers, it was a truly great work of songwriting.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
That I’m really really excited about the music I’m going to release next year and I cannot wait for people to hear it x

You can find out more about Lucy via SoundCloud, or Twitter.

UPDATE: Lucy is now performing under the name Goosey, and you can find out more via Facebook, Instagram, Spotify or YouTube.