7 October 2024
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with London artist Anna Aarons to find out more…
Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I’m a Londoner born and bred 🙂
My parents have always been great music lovers but I was a dancer before I was a singer. But started going to open mic nights at uni in Leicester and then when I moved back home I started busking on the Underground and it all took off from there really (very slowly but still!).
I am a solo artist but do work with a band so want to answer this question too 🙃 I produced my show ‘In Memory of Amy’ 8 years ago and needed a band so asked my friend Stella Angelika to borrow hers! They’ve been my band ever since and we continue to play together and also write together too 😊
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Growing up in the girlband / boyband crazy 90s that would be a bit of an embarrassing one to answer haha. But to be fair my parents listened to a range of great music – for example, the likes of Stevie Wonder, the Eurythmics, Queen, Joni Mitchell, Carole King – so I was exposed to the greats from a young age. As a teenager I got into Adele, Corinne Bailey Rae, Gabrielle, Kate Nash and then Amy Winehouse but actually a bit later on, not when she first got big. I now actually say my music has been inspired by all of those artists in different ways. But I dedicate a lot of my career to Amy and she inspires most of my songs in a more direct way, with the influences from others coming in to the overall sound.
How would you describe your sound?
As above! I always struggle to define what genre I fit into – and I’m always worried that sounds arrogant! Haha I’m not saying I’m like JoJo Siwa and have invented a new genre (!) but as you can see from my influences, they span many different genres and so my music has easy listening vibes like Eva Cassidy (another inspiration) but a bit of soul vibes, a funky bassline as my writing partner is a bassist… I’d say my sound is commercially appealing but also a bit different to the usual stuff you hear out there? I don’t know, I’ll let listeners be the judge of that!
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
It’s called Mother and it was actually written for a competition 2 years ago. They gave a theme and I usually can’t write meaningful songs on demand but the theme of mother was easy to write to. The reference tracks I gave to Mehmet (Raif, bassist in my full band and guitarist in my acoustic duo) when we wrote it was Amy Winehouse’s ‘Brother’ but also Joni Mitchell’s ‘All I Want’… it needed the soul and groove of Amy but to feel like a song my mum would’ve wanted to listen to growing up too. I love getting a song from concept to fully produced sound, as the released track sounds so different from our demo, thanks to working with different producers who I met while studying my Masters who had some ideas that really helped make it what it is 🙂
What’s your local music scene like?
Well living in London I have pretty much anything on my doorstep! But actually in my immediate local area there is a live musician night that runs every few months, there’s a jazz club, there’s a music venue about 10 minutes away in one direction and 15 in another. So there’s a lot I can get involved with but juggling lots of things often makes it hard to do so!
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
I would like to get my two shows into new venues – ‘In memory of Amy’ which takes audiences on a musical journey of Amy Winehouse’s music and influences, as well as ‘Female Songwriters of Our Time’ which sees me and three other current female songwriters collaboratively perform covers of all different female icons that inspire us, as well as performing our original music. And I do have some more songs in my back pocket that I’d like to release if I get the chance but I’m also getting married in March so next year may be a busy one!
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Amy Winehouse 🙃 well, people that worked with her would be amazing. Randomly, I always loved Will Young when I was younger and I saw him live recently so I’d love to do a song with him if he’s interested 😁
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
The other day at my gig I said ‘post-hummus’ instead of posthumous referring to Amy’s Lioness album 🙃 there’s probably a lot more but I perform quite a lot so can’t think of anything else at the moment!
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
I am a genuine person and a hard worker and I hope that comes across in the music I create and the performances I put on. I want to share experiences and a joy of good music within my recorded work as well as the shows I produce. Authenticity is key for me and so I don’t think you’ll ever see me churning out song after song for the sake of it. I release when I have something I’m proud to release and I want listeners to appreciate the artistry and musicianship rather than it just being a catchy tune (or, as well as it being a catchy tune!).
Upcoming live dates and performances
Thursday 19th December – the Camden club for the In memory of Amy show. You can find out Anna’s upcoming gig dates here.
You can find out more about Anna on her website or via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok or YouTube.
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