Kelly Pepper
Kelly Pepper returns this week with her brand new single Believe In Me; the latest track to be released of her new EP Intent To Conquer.
We caught up with the singer/ songwriter to chat about the new single, the upcoming EP and what lies ahead.
- You are about to release your new single Believe In Me so what can fans expect from this new track?
It is the perfect follow on from the first single Live The Day. It is slightly different sounding to that single as it is a little mellower, a little cooler and with a slightly slower tempo.
This is a very personal song to me, and so I hope that people will get more of an insight to me as a person and some of the things that I have gone through.
- The track has been produced by Drifta, so how did that collaboration come about?
I had heard about Drifta through friends of friends, and people had told me that he was brilliant, and that I should work with him. We got in touch through a mutual friend.
It turns out as he lived about two rows around from my house, and he has a studio. So we have been doing loads of stuff together, literally because we live so close to one another, and we have become quite good friends as well.
So it started off as a recommendation from someone else, and we have found that we work really well together.
- Well, that leads into my next question. What kind of producer is he? And how have you found working with him?
He is absolutely brilliant. He will give me an instrumental or a beat that he has already produced; it will usually be drum and bass or dub-step as that is his thing.
He will throw it to me, and I will think ’wow; this is great’ and then it is up to me to make sure that I can come up with something that is just as good as what he has given me.
Then we will go and record it properly together. He does all the production, and I do all the writing; we work really well like that.
- How have you found the response to the track so far?
We have had a brilliant response to it, actually. The video has had loads of compliments, and that has just been great.
I found out yesterday that... We have only had a radio plugger for one of two weeks now, and we have already been play listed on a couple of regional radio stations; people on the radio are liking it as well, and that is fantastic.
- Can you talk a bit about the video and how much input you had into the concept? How hands are you with that side of things?
I like to be really really hands-on with everything. I actually did all the styling myself. The song is about me going mad, a bit, and so I said that I wanted to be in a room expressing my feelings.
The director just totally got what I thought and what it was that I wanted so we rolled with that together; it really was the director and my ideas put together.
- You are currently working on your new EP Intent To Conquer so how does this track introduce us to the rest of that record?
This song will feature on that new EP, and so it is a nice teaser of what is to come with the rest of that record.
I think that it just sums it up perfectly in that it is a very similar style to what is on the rest of the EP; so it is a good little insight into the record musically.
- That leads me into my next question really. Live The Day and Believe In Me are the two tracks that you have released so far, so is the EP going to follow this sound? Or are you going to mix things up a bit?
It is mostly the same sound. But what is quite interesting with the EP is that I have some stripped back versions of some of my songs. I have got another version of Live The Day on the EP, and it is almost like a ballad in the way that I sing it.
So, the EP is quite in keeping with my style, but we have thrown in some interesting bits and pieces as well.
- How much do you enjoy that stripped back style, as it really is laying everything bare?
I don’t mind doing it, actually. I am definitely not an Adele type of artist. But when it is your own lyrics and your own feelings, it is nice to sing it in that way and get the meaning of the song over to the fans and to audiences.
- Is Drifta going to be producing all of the new EP?
No, he is not. We are working with a lot of different producers at the moment. He is definitely going to be featuring on a few more singles of mine; I think.
- How involved are you in the producing side of things? Is it something that you do like to be involved with?
I generally do leave it to the producers because they know what they are doing. I do have my input a little bit, but mostly I think that is what they do, and I am happy to leave it with them.
Singing and writing are my thing, and I really do like to concentrate on that. I think if I was trying to do too many things, then perhaps the writing would suffer.
- You write all of your music so what inspires you to put pen to paper; this track is very personal? And how does the writing process work for you?
Yeah, it is. I really do write about things that I have gone through. If I am not going through anything at the moment that I am writing I will look at my friends; I will try to tap into their minds and what they must be feeling at the time.
I also like commenting on things in life; analysing life and death and everything in between. I like to be quite quirky. If I haven’t got anything that I am going through personally, then I like to get quite deep and think about life in general. So, there is always something to write about; I never run out of ideas, so far.
I really wait until the right song comes in, and I feel that I have something that I can work with. I will then come up with the melody and start singing a lot of ‘la la’s’ and gradually I start putting words to it.
I can spend four, five, six, seven, eight hours just sitting and writing lyrics; I feel that the lyrics are so important, and I really have to get them right. It is quite a length process, but it is all worth it in the end.
- Where did your love of music start? And what tracks were you listening to as you were growing up?
I taught myself to sing listen to some of the great such as Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. But I started developing a love of old truck music; I found a load of CD’s that my dad had in his car at one point, and I use to listen to all of those when I was younger.
I loved the synths and that strong and powerful anthem style of writing. Then it has just developed into current day; I have taken that anthem style writing and put it on my songs.
- You have already supported a long list of stars such as Pixie Lott and Labrinth, so are there other live dates on the horizon this summer?
Not through the rest of the summer, but from September, I am going to be doing a school's tour. That is going to lead into doing some nightclubs as well. And into 2014, I will be doing more festivals as well as some stuff abroad as well.
It is going to get very exciting on the live stuff. So, I have missed the summer this year but from September, it is going to get pretty mad.
- You have mentioned that you are looking to take you music oversees so where are the initial targets as you take your stuff outside of the UK?
I have been speaking to some writers in New York, and I think that a writing trip over there is definitely going to happen. A couple of festival organisers have also approached me as well; I know that that is something to look at for next year. That is the main one at the minute.
- Finally, what is coming up for you between now and the end of the year as you finish of the EP and get ready to release that?
Well, we have got the release of Believe In Me. Then Intent To Conquer will follow shortly after in early September. I am going to be releasing another single after that, but I can’t really reveal too much at the minute.
I am also doing a feature with quite a well-known artist on the drum and bass scene; again, I can’t reveal too much about that (laughs).
That is very exciting; that release is going to be a pretty big thing for me. As I said I am going to be doing some touring from September, and it is going to be none-stop until the end of last year.
Kelly Pepper - Believe In Me is out now.