Michele Stodart
Michele Stodart is best known for being part of The Magic Numbers but now she has struck out on her own with her debut record Wide Eyed Crossing.
I caught up with her to chat about this new album, going it alone and how excited she is about hitting the road on her first solo tour.
- You have just released your debut album so for anyone who hasn't heard it yet what can fans expect from the record?
I think everyone can expect this record to stem for me and the acoustic guitar and these are just songs that I have written from a personal point of view.
We have added some extra instruments to the record such as pedal steel and brass and things like that.
- Most of your fans will know you as part of The Magic Numbers so how does this music compare to what you have done in the past?
I think it’s more of a melancholy feel to it compared to the more upbeat stuff that I did with The Magic Numbers.
It is from a different perspective because Romeo my brother wrote most of the songs on The Magic Numbers records.
It is hard because everyone is going to instantly compare it to or go ‘it is not what I expected’.
I would say that everyone should listen to the album with an open mind and just hear the songs for what they are rather than listen to it thinking ‘oh it’s the girl from The Magic Numbers’.
- I have listened to the album this morning and there are country elements, folk as well as a bit of Americana so how would you describe the sound of the record? And did you find yourself going down this path?
We grew up on a lot of country music and a lot of the music that I do listen to is singer/songwriter stuff - I am a huge Ryan Adams fan.
The first singers that I started listening to is Patsy Cline and Hank Williams and stuff like that and so that has always been within my music and my song-writing.
I guess it came naturally really and once I recorded the vocals and guitar I wanted to add different things to it and I wanted to… yeah I wanted a country element to it really.
- This release sees you swap band life in The Magic Numbers to go it alone for a while so why was now the right time to make this record?
That was probably the hardest move for me I think because this has been a long time in my head and it has been a dream of mine for a while - I started writing songs from the age of about thirteen and a lot of the songs that are on the record are from quite a long time ago.
So it is something that I have always wanted to do but picking the right time was the hardest thing to do because the band has touring none stop for the last five years and so just getting any time to do it was hard to begin with.
Also picturing whether I would actually… the songs are personal and so I had to decide if I wanted to let people into them or whether I would keep them was another hurdle.
- And how did you find stepping into the studio as a solo artist for the first time?
It was fun. It has been great playing so many different musicians and trying out different sounds and playing different instruments; on the album I wanted to play double bass and try different things that I haven’t done before.
I also wanted to get really hands on with the recording as well. Then making it live as well just added to the record really.
Finishing the album was a really fun thing and that was actually the thing that spurred me on to releasing it - the outcome of the songs and how good they sounded once they were recorded and added instruments to it.
- How have you found the response to the record so far?
It has been really good so far. It has been really nice and everyone has been really supportive, especially the guys in the band.
They were really open to me doing it as the last thing I wanted was for someone to go ‘why are you going solo?’ I think everyone is up for hearing the songs really.
- Conor O'Brien features on Invitation of the Blues so how did that duet come about?
I have known Conor for a long time and we have stayed friends and stayed in contact really and anytime we are in each others towns we always hook up.
Conor was in a band called The Immediate and they supported The Magic Numbers a while back and I just loved his voice - so I am a friend of his but also a huge fan.
We spent a night together a while back in his house he had his acoustic guitar and I had mine and we just kept playing songs.
We toyed with the idea of doing something together and on that track especially I saw it as a duet and so I just rang him up and said ‘would you like to sing on this song?’ And he was up for it. So he came down to the studio and laid down the track - it was really cool.
- You have mentioned already about having a greater hand in making this record and you have produced this album so how much is that a side of making an album that you enjoy?
I think getting someone else into the studio I would have had to have written the songs with them or have them there from the start.
I think because I have had these songs with me I knew exactly how I wanted this album to be as I had pictured it. I had an engineer in the studio as well and I did some tracks with Phil Brown as well.
So I knew how I wanted it to sound and I think that it is quite important to get that in your head before you actually make a record.
- You have mentioned Phil Brown already and helped on the producing and engineering side of the record so how did you find working with him?
He was great and such a calming influence in the studio. He really listened to every single take - and a lot of the takes were done in the first or second take. We went for the atmosphere and we knew when it was right and when it was working.
He is amazing at doing the acoustic and the vocal together and that was pretty much how we recorded all of the tracks.
It is really hard to get that right and so I was really happy to have him on the record and you can hear his touch on some of the songs.
- You are about to embark on your first solo tour this November so how excited are you about getting back out on the road? And what can we expect from the show?
I’m very excited about being on the road as it is going to be really good. It is going to be nice playing all of the songs with my new band and getting all of the stuff out there, being in loads of towns and seeing who comes to the shows.
In terms of what to expect it will be an intense night (laughs). It is going to be good.
- You have already been doing plenty of touring this year supporting the likes of Alabama Shakes and Duke Special so how have those shows prepared you for this solo tour?
How they have prepared me is being comfortable on stage on my own really - I did a lot of solo as well as I just built up the confidence to speak on the mic and things like that.
- Finally what's next for you?
The album is out and the tour is in November. I have been writing loads of new songs and so you can expect another record next year some time.
Also The Magic Numbers are working on some stuff as well so watch this space (laughs) there’s no getting rid of me so quickly.
Michele Stodart - Wide Eyed Crossing is out now
Click here to buy Michele Stodart - Wide Eyed Crossing
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw.