Sheena Coote
After releasing her album Mixed Blessings back in June, composer Sheena Coote has a busy year ahead.
In this in-depth Q&A, she tells us about her career and ambitious, plus how she balances her music and family.
-How has the reaction been for Mixed Blessings since it was released digitally?
I have had a good reaction since Mixed Blessings was released, not only in sales but also in reviews, particularly from stressed parents and people who cannot relax when driving as it is very calming.
-Are you excited for the physical release?
I am very excited because I hadn’t been sure about where to send my CD and Red Admiral Records liked it straight away and so I didn’t have to suffer any disappointment or try anywhere else. It can be a bit soul destroying when you get lots of rejections before being heard by the right person.
-Has releasing it online taken the excitement out of a full release?
As the CD is available to buy as a hard copy from Red Admiral Records it dosen’t worry me that it is mainly available online as most people have ipods these days anyway.
If it became very popular then I expect it will be distributed by the shops but this would depend on the demand for physical CDs from the record Company. Have to wait and see!
-I read that you were writing your second musical. How's that going?
I am half way through writing my second musical. It is expensive to complete as I am working with a top orchestrator to make sure the finished article is up to scratch so it has to develop bit by bit at the moment.
I am in the process of opening my first shop with my husband called The Enchanted Party Shop. We will soon be opening in the High Street in Newport, Shropshire in September so it is a lot of work and we also have an online version of the shop at theenchantedpartyshop.co.uk.
All in all I am a bit busy over the next few months to devote much time to the musical. I am not one to start a project and not complete something, so it will get there eventually!
-Have you caught much of Edinburgh this year?
We have not been able to go to Edinburgh this year sadly as we have been too busy. I do miss it, I used to see all the Comedy shows and lots of music concerts when I lived in Edinburgh.
The Festival is so much fun and the streets are full of entertainers so it’s really buzzing at this time of year. We hope to go another year. We have family living in Edinburgh so we miss it very much.
-How does writing and composing the kind of music on Mixed Blessings compare to writing a musical?
It is much easier to write short pieces of classical music than write a musical. My first musical took four years to write as I did everything, bar the orchestration and three songs which my co-writer wrote. I did all the script and all the music and lyrics.
Doing a classical piano album was very relaxing in comparison. Another good thing was, as I am not a singer, when I write Musical Theatre Songs I am always desperate to hear them sung, so I have to hunt for a good singer to record them, whereas this time I did not need a singer for instrumental music.
I like doing both but perhaps writing Mixed Blessings was a bit calmer.
-What first got you interested in composing?
I have always played piano since I was just a toddler. My brother had piano lessons and he struggled a bit and apparantly when I was two I was helping him, despite having had no lessons.
My parents gave me lessons when I was three because of this and then I started putting music to my favourite poems when I was five. I always enjoyed it and I had a pop group at school which I wrote all the songs for.
I have always composed music, I think it might just be in my makeup. I always make up daft songs at home to amuse my four year old daughter!
I also love Schubert, Mozart, Bach and Haydn, their tunes are amazing and have been somewhat influenced by them. Their compositions are very tuneful which is why I enjoy them.
Many of the reviews I have received have commented on the musicality of my own compositions which has been most flattering of them.
-Is it tough ballancing your music career with being a mother?
It was hard to compose when my little girl was a baby as I kept thinking I would wake her up. When I start composing it takes a while for a piece to sound like a piece and I worried the repetitiveness would wake her, but she seemed to like going to sleep to me playing, except when the piano went out of tune!
The music is quite restful, most likely due to my fear of waking her up. Nowadays she asks me to play to her so it is much easier and I can now compose more dramatic pieces as she goes to pre-school and there is no one to wake up!
I usually only work when she is at pre-school or asleep at night because when she is home it is go go go, as she is a very busy little girl and rushes around outside so I go with her.
She also has ballet, modern dance and swimming so there is quite a bit of ferrying to do already! Also there are the house chores to fit in.
I like being busy though and it will be like this until she goes to school. My husband will work full time at the shop and I will work part-time there so I can keep writing my second album which is nearly there and pick up my daughter from school at 3.30 and be a Mum again, cooking tea and doing homework etc...
-I was reading that you've written many musical theatre and pop songs. Have you written for any big names?
I used to write pop songs for my own Pop group in Edinburgh. We used to do mainly Charity Gigs. I have not tried to write a song for any big names, however, I did write a song for The Olympic Games if anyone is interested in hearing it!
If anyone wanted me to write a song for them I would be very happy, but my ambition is to write Disney songs, I don’t know if I will ever get the chance?
I did have much interest in the West End for my first musical and it pre-viewed on a London West End Stage. It did not get a run due to someone involved being too greedy but I don’t like to dwell on things which don’t or didn’t take place and concentrate on what can and is taking place!
-Would you ever move into film scores?
I would love to do film scores, I am not sure how easy it is to get involved but it would be great. I have a lot of film score music on CD which I play often and have been keen to do something like this but it is never easy to get noticed. Perhaps someone will notice me now I have released this album?
-What are your plans for the rest of the year?
The rest of the year will be very busy as I am chief buyer for the Enchanted Party Shop online and in the Store.
My little girl starts school in September so that will be a big day for all of us, especially her parents! I also intend to finish my second classical piano album and hope to do a concert locally.
I am currently looking for a singer to sing two of my songs at the concert to make it interesting. I am also looking for a good venue, it needs to be local as I don’t like to leave my daughter with babysitters she does not know as she gets upset. Kids come first!
I am hoping the online shop, the shop in the high street and sales of this first album will mean I have enough money to ask my brilliant orchestrator to carry on with my musical so I can try getting it previewed soon.
It won’t be a quiet year but I am looking forward to it and hoping to get lots of time at the piano. I had thought of putting a piano in the basement of the shop so I can practice but it may be too impractical!
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
After releasing her album Mixed Blessings back in June, composer Sheena Coote has a busy year ahead.
In this in-depth Q&A, she tells us about her career and ambitious, plus how she balances her music and family.
-How has the reaction been for Mixed Blessings since it was released digitally?
I have had a good reaction since Mixed Blessings was released, not only in sales but also in reviews, particularly from stressed parents and people who cannot relax when driving as it is very calming.
-Are you excited for the physical release?
I am very excited because I hadn’t been sure about where to send my CD and Red Admiral Records liked it straight away and so I didn’t have to suffer any disappointment or try anywhere else. It can be a bit soul destroying when you get lots of rejections before being heard by the right person.
-Has releasing it online taken the excitement out of a full release?
As the CD is available to buy as a hard copy from Red Admiral Records it dosen’t worry me that it is mainly available online as most people have ipods these days anyway.
If it became very popular then I expect it will be distributed by the shops but this would depend on the demand for physical CDs from the record Company. Have to wait and see!
-I read that you were writing your second musical. How's that going?
I am half way through writing my second musical. It is expensive to complete as I am working with a top orchestrator to make sure the finished article is up to scratch so it has to develop bit by bit at the moment.
I am in the process of opening my first shop with my husband called The Enchanted Party Shop. We will soon be opening in the High Street in Newport, Shropshire in September so it is a lot of work and we also have an online version of the shop at theenchantedpartyshop.co.uk.
All in all I am a bit busy over the next few months to devote much time to the musical. I am not one to start a project and not complete something, so it will get there eventually!
-Have you caught much of Edinburgh this year?
We have not been able to go to Edinburgh this year sadly as we have been too busy. I do miss it, I used to see all the Comedy shows and lots of music concerts when I lived in Edinburgh.
The Festival is so much fun and the streets are full of entertainers so it’s really buzzing at this time of year. We hope to go another year. We have family living in Edinburgh so we miss it very much.
-How does writing and composing the kind of music on Mixed Blessings compare to writing a musical?
It is much easier to write short pieces of classical music than write a musical. My first musical took four years to write as I did everything, bar the orchestration and three songs which my co-writer wrote. I did all the script and all the music and lyrics.
Doing a classical piano album was very relaxing in comparison. Another good thing was, as I am not a singer, when I write Musical Theatre Songs I am always desperate to hear them sung, so I have to hunt for a good singer to record them, whereas this time I did not need a singer for instrumental music.
I like doing both but perhaps writing Mixed Blessings was a bit calmer.
-What first got you interested in composing?
I have always played piano since I was just a toddler. My brother had piano lessons and he struggled a bit and apparantly when I was two I was helping him, despite having had no lessons.
My parents gave me lessons when I was three because of this and then I started putting music to my favourite poems when I was five. I always enjoyed it and I had a pop group at school which I wrote all the songs for.
I have always composed music, I think it might just be in my makeup. I always make up daft songs at home to amuse my four year old daughter!
I also love Schubert, Mozart, Bach and Haydn, their tunes are amazing and have been somewhat influenced by them. Their compositions are very tuneful which is why I enjoy them.
Many of the reviews I have received have commented on the musicality of my own compositions which has been most flattering of them.
-Is it tough ballancing your music career with being a mother?
It was hard to compose when my little girl was a baby as I kept thinking I would wake her up. When I start composing it takes a while for a piece to sound like a piece and I worried the repetitiveness would wake her, but she seemed to like going to sleep to me playing, except when the piano went out of tune!