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Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
@jeremydwilliams
3:09 PM 20th January 2016
arts

Interview: Stephanie Kirkham

 
Stephanie Kirkham first made headway on the music scene with her single Inappropriate back in 2003. Followed swiftly by the debut album That Girl, it appeared that the Lancashire songstress was destined for global stardom. Although she followed her debut with the equally striking Sunlight On My Soul in 2006, she opted to step away from the music world to focus on her artwork. A decade later she returns with the irrepressible cheer of Tiny Spark. We caught up with the now Cornwall based songstress to learn and about the record and her current ambitions.

It has been a decade since your last release. Are you excited to return to music?

For me it has always been an ongoing process, although it seems like I've not been doing anything, I have always been working on it. There hasn't been a big gap, even though it seems like there is. I am looking forward to the album coming out and I love it so much. I am happy with it. I am not really thinking about everything else really. Sometimes thinks just take time to create. In that time I have written two albums worth of songs and the next album is written, and I have lots of other ideas. It was more that I wasn't really driven to go out looking for a record label. I thought I was older and wouldn't get those opportunities, maybe my confidence was just a bit knocked. It wasn't a priority anymore, whereas before it was my priority to get my songs out into the world. These days that's not so important, I have even been thinking that maybe it would be nice if someone else was able to sing them. With the recording with Phil (Thornalley), they took time as no one was paying for the album or whip cracking, we just got together when we had a strong idea. It was all very natural, so took its time. It just got to a time where we had a reasonable number of songs and I thought that they could go on an album. It just happened that way.

It sounds like a very natural, organic and creative process. Would you say it was more about enjoyment than ambition?

We really did enjoy it. It was great as whenever I had an idea, I would sing it into my phone and send it to Phil. He'd listen and let me know when had some time. Nothing was forced and nothing was hard work. It has been a really enjoyable process and I think you can tell as it is really happy.

It is the happiest album we have heard in a very long time. Was that a conscious decision?

I wanted to do that. Music has been so important to me. Listening and writing. Getting my ideas on paper, written down, has always been a good way for me to communicate, with myself sometimes. The happy songs are just so uplifting. Easy A 1,2,3 came out first. We worked on that and it got used on the Peugeot advert, that gave us a little bit of a boost and so we thought we'd carry on and do something else. He sent me a backing track to me that he and his friend had written, it was very pretty sounding like an old fashioned music box. I wrote a melody and lyrics to go over that and it became Happy Ever After. We thought that every song that came out after that sounded similar, we would put it with those and have a collection of happy songs. It just grew from there really.

How would you say your ambitions now differ to when you released That Girl?

When I released the first album I was quite nervous really. I was very worried by it all as I hadn't been in a band or really performed before. It was all very new and it was like I was out in the sea and unable to swim. I was just out of my depth. I suppose I was quite nervous. Now I am older and things don't bother me as much. I am happier with myself, as you get when you are older. Maybe worrying is a bit of a waste of time, you just have to follow what you love and keep doing it, as maybe then it will all be alright. My ambition is to make people smile, if the album does that then I am happy. I don't want to be the next big thing, because that isn't me. I just want to be able to keep on making music. Now that Easy A 1,2,3 has been used on other things - EDF in France and Miracle Grow in America - I would like to have all the songs used on other adverts to create money coming in, which helps me to live and do more creative things that I want to, then I am happy. I am not a material person, but I do want to make more music. I don't know if I will be singing them, I would like to write for other people. I have got this other album written and I would like to get that out. It may sound like I don't have many ambitions, but I am just quite happy. I have moved to Cornwall, I am in a relationship that is working for me and I have a lovely dog. We got her last year, she's a German Shepherd and I've always wanted a German Shepherd. So I've got my dog and my cat, I live in a nice place and I just want to keep living and stay happy. When people get back to me and say they've been smiling and singing along, that's my boxes ticked. I want to put something out there that is appreciated and that's happening with this album, so I feel quite happy really.

How will you determine the success of the album?

I want people to enjoy them. Music has been my life saviour. There is something about the sound of nature. There's the sounds of kids laughing, dogs barking and the sea in there. Life is filled with sounds and sometimes when you are feeling down you don't hear them. You need to hear them. It may not always be easy to just up sticks and go to the sea to hear it, but you can put something on that allows you to hear it. It makes you remember your childhood or a cheerful moment. It gives you a way to feel better and feel happy. Music can help you with that. The more people that hear it the better. I am not wanting to be a millionaire or a big name, it's not important. I was to be happy and spread happiness through my music. I don't care if people think that sounds twee. Some of the songs sound twee. So what? A bit of twee is alright by me!

With the album being warmly received, are you tempted to do some shows?

I am going to go out and do some gigs. That is something I shied away from before as it petrified me. It doesn't anymore. It is a case of just do the best you can as you can't do anything more. I've found a good guitarist down here in Cornwall called Kai, he's great and performs all the time. He's really confident and a happy go lucky guy, which is ideal. We've been and performed for a few radio shows and will be doing a couple of local festivals this summer. This will be the year of me singing to people more, so we will see where it goes from there.

Which song are you most excited to perform live?

I quite like Future Come On. That has a bit of power behind it. It is about being in a pattern, feeling like you are stuck and banging your head against the wall. It is about how if you don't work through that properly, you will be stuck in that loop properly. It is about resolving it properly, walking away and looking to the future. I feel it is quite a powerful one.

We know you have another album written. How will you know what to do once that is released?

It is now just about living in the moment. I will just go with where the road takes me. Before, a lot of the time, when I wasn't feeling confident, I constantly questioned whether I was or wasn't on the right path. I would ask why I wanted to do this, even though I felt it was so hard for me. I wondered if I should do something else. One day I just realised it was a crazy way to live as your energy is all over the place. I am on that path and there is nowhere else I could be. I only have one path, so it is a case of being where you are right now and seeing where you want to go next. Feel the way you want to feel. Pay attention to how you feel. Right now I feel it would be nice to sing in front of people, so I will do some gigs. As far as other people singing my songs, that would be great.

Would you advise others in your position to simply give it another go?

I would definitely say to. If it was me looking back at myself, I was so upset by it all as I found it all so difficult. I had all these ideas and it was just so frustrating as my problem was confidence, but people have all sorts of problems. I would just say to not give up. You have got to listen to what is in your heart. We are all here for a reason. It may feel like you don't have any value in the world and you question what it is all for, and everyone can feel like that. But don't give up. That's all I would say. It has taken me a long time, but I could never give up. I tried doing other jobs or doing other things, but when something creative needs doing, you have to let it out. We aren't here to be machines, we are here to express ourselves. We are all unique and have a reason to be here.

Lastly, what is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

It was when I was modelling. I worked as a model for five years, which is a whole other story, but one day I was on a job for a music video. Sinead O'Connor was there, I think she was seeing the director. She came in and I was completely in awe of her. She was so lovely. She had no make up on, she was just in a jumper and jeans. I knew I wanted to speak to her, so I spoke to her about her music. I told her I had some songs that I was writing and that I was scared of doing anything with them. She told me that, 'God never gives you more than you can handle.' That was really nice advice. You don't have a dream, if you can't fulfil it. That would just be wrong. If you have a desire, there must be a way to fulfil that desire. When she said that, I thought maybe I could do it. It just gave me the possibility.