Emily Barker
Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo are back this summer with their brand new album Dear River, their first album release since signing with label Linn.
We caught up with Emily to chat about the new record, working with Linn and producer Calum Malcolm and what lies ahead.
- You are about to release your new album Dear River so what can fans expect from this new collection of tracks?
We are about to release Dear Rive on the 8th July. It is a slight departure from our previous records in terms of sound as I wrote the songs with more of a rock feel in mind; we have done that more atmospheric, classical and folk style previously.
So it has more of a classic rock feel to it, I guess. But it does still have the strings and the classical influences as well as the folky and more country aspect.
- As you say the sound of this album does differ to the records that you have made before so how did you find yourself going down this path?
Purely for the sake of not wanting to repeat myself as it become tedious; probably for listeners but definitely for songwriters themselves if they just repeat the same thing over and over again. So with each album I just try to do something different to the once before.
Also with music that I was listening to at the time and other inspirations it just meant that it came out sounding more in a rock feel.
- There are still a few weeks until the album is released but how have you found the early response to it here in the UK?
Really good, people seem to be loving it (laughs).
- Calum Malcolm is serving as producer so how did you end up working with him?
It was through the record company that I have just signed with. Previously my albums were just released on my first album and for the first time I have signed a deal with this incredible label called Linn.
They are a company of two sides; they do very high end stereo systems and the other is the record label. There whole ethos and philosophy is all about the quality of sound and so they gave us the budget to go to a really nice studio.
They often use Calum Malcolm for the various recording that they do and so they teamed us up. We had a little trial period, we made an EP back in January 2012, and it went really well.
He is just a fantastic producer; he did the Blue Nile records back in the 1980’s and has since done a lot of contemporary stuff as well as classical and more folky things.
He knows technically how to get the best sound out of the instruments that we play but also take in a slightly different direction.
- How did you find working with him and what do you think his input has brought to this record?
It was the first time that we had a producer work with us… no that is not entirely true as on the first album Photos. Fires. Fables. we have a young producer and the two of us produced that record really.
It is the first time that we had worked with someone of his calibre, expertise and experience; he has been making records for years and years and years and is such a pro.
I sent him the raw bones of each song and he thought about the arrangements for them - incorporating the instruments that The Red Clay Halo play already - but also thinking about other session musicians that we could get in.
He just really defined the sound of the album, definitely the quality of the recording as he designed the studio that we recorded in.
And with his experience as an audio technician and all of the beautiful microphones and microphone placement it was just fantastic.
With the production side of things he has such a clear vision - to the point where we had different ideas on it. But on this record I did take more of a backseat as I realised that it would be great to have a fresh set of ears on our sound; I am really glad that I did that actually.
- How easy was it letting go as you have had a very hands on role in the past?
It was tricky, it definitely was tricky. But I have no regrets about it at all because I think that we did get a better sounding record.
- This is also the first album that you have not had to self finance so how have you found working with and having the support of a label?
It has been incredible as there is no way that we would have been able to afford the studio that we went into - it was a real dream studio - or to hire Calum Malcolm. So that has been great.
Also I am really enjoying the partnership with Linn as they are a really unique company. It is new thing for them as well as us because they release mostly classical and jazz and so they are juts starting to branch out into more mainstream, or however you want to define it, music.
We are both really excited about it and given the state that the music industry is in it is good to be creating different business plans and ways of working together.
- Linn is the label that you have signed with so what did you see in them that you thought would be the best fit for your music?
They are really innovative. They are incredibly thorough with everything that they as they ultimately want the best sound out of whatever they are doing; that applies to both the label and the hi-fi side of the business.
So that is what I saw in them and I am really excited about that element of it as it is quite a unique thing in the industry.
- There is quite a personal sound to this album so how do you feel that you have developed as a singer and a songwriter from the release of your debut album to this?
In so many ways. The songs in themselves I think are stronger, lyrically in particular, and also it is like any craft the longer that you do it the better you hopefully get.
I also really enjoyed the experience of writing this album because I wrote towards a theme; which was great for me because so often when you write and album there are no boundaries and you can take in whatever direction you want and write about what you want.
It was really cool to set some parameters and work within that. There are so many songs to still be written about this as it was the subject of home and what, who and where home is.
I was really studious about it as read a lot of different books - academic and fiction - exploring that theme. So it is my own personal story of home which starts with moving from the south west of Western Australia and heading out into the world. I did a lot of backpacking and so it talks about movement and emigration and then setting in a home away from home in the UK.
But them along the way I wanted to reach out and cover other people’s stories as well and that brought up lots of different sub-texts of exile and colonialism and ancestry. So it is an album that does quite a lot but I really could have kept going and going.
- Where did your love of music start? And which artists were you listening to as you were growing up?
I was listening to my mum and dad’s music collection and so that was a lot of sixties and seventies singer/songwriters - Neil Young was one of my faves but also Joni Mitchell and Carole King.
And then when I was a teenage I fell in love with soul music and the likes of Aretha Franklin and jazz artist such as Billie Holiday. There were also a lot of African/American female singers as I really loved their voices - so I was quite influenced by that as well.
- How has the music that you listened to as you were growing up influenced the music that you are making now?
Definitely vocally Aretha taught me a lot; when I was a teenage I would lock myself in my room and just try and sing and mimic the way that she would use her voice. So I learnt projection from her, so I have to thank Aretha for that (laughs).
Song wise Neil Young’s more country album such as Harvest, Comes A Time and After The Gold Rush really stood out. They all have that country element without them being really overtly country and I really like that and was very influenced by that.
- Away from the album you have also done some writing for TV so how does that compare?
Actually the two themes that I have had used in BBC television they were songs that I had already written. But I have recently started working on a feature film called The Keeping Room, which I think is due out next year.
I was asked specifically to write some songs and so I was given the script and had to get into the idea of the characters because they are going to sing the song that I have written.
I am also writing a couple of other bits for television now. I do like the idea of working to a theme as it is great to have parameters and a story and then working out how best to convey that.
- Are there any live shows in the pipeline?
We are doing a really big autumn UK and European tour that will start at the beginning of October. We are also doing a bunch of festivals and other shows as well.
In July I will be doing one independent record shop or two in stores every single day to tie with the release of the album.
And then it is on to our tour in October that includes the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on the 16th October; that is our biggest headline gig to date.
- You have an ever growing fan-base so for any of your fans reading this interview so you have a message for them?
Just to say thank you for their support and I hope to see them on the road.
- Finally what is next for you?
It sort of feels like the year is just beginning for us (laughs). The album is out on July 8th and then we just have a whole load of promo shows, radio, in stores throughout July, festivals over the summer and then our autumn tour.
Between all of that I will be writing for the couple of TV things but working towards the next album as well.
Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo - Dear River is released 8th July.