I co host a radio show every fortnight and was lucky enough to have first play Clara's Hustle's single "Step Away". The song went down amazingly with listeners and especially my co host, who all fell in love with the song and so it's clear the band will have a promising future, but who are they? Well for all of you who haven't heard of the talented trio here is a Q&A so you can be in the know.
Who makes up Clara's Hustle?Clara's Hustle consist of lead vocalist Amber Clara and myself Kiks Samavat and Josh Alford. Although my main instrument is guitar I take care of the production side of things, programming the drums and synths. Josh is our drummer but also plays other instruments. Also on Step Away there are brilliant backing vocals from Laura Grant, and we were lucky to work with Chris I from the US who mixed the track for us and offered his own input. The three of us have been in bands and outfits in the past but have decided to go at it as a threesome and take things a little more seriously, although I think once we start gigging properly we'll have to use some other musicians to fill up the live set up.
How would you describe your style of music?
I honestly can't come up with a single type of genre to describe our music as, which I suppose is a good thing. It's always a problem when a band lets a style or trend influence their music too much. Step Away is a very poppy song in terms of its arrangement and instrumentation, also threw in a cheeky bit of dubstep style 'wobble-bass' to mix things up a bit. We've got quite a few tracks written and ready to be recorded, the styles are quite a step away if you will from Step Away. Some of the songs have got elements of RnB, soul, eighties pop and even a bit of bhangra in one of the tracks.
I honestly can't come up with a single type of genre to describe our music as, which I suppose is a good thing. It's always a problem when a band lets a style or trend influence their music too much. Step Away is a very poppy song in terms of its arrangement and instrumentation, also threw in a cheeky bit of dubstep style 'wobble-bass' to mix things up a bit. We've got quite a few tracks written and ready to be recorded, the styles are quite a step away if you will from Step Away. Some of the songs have got elements of RnB, soul, eighties pop and even a bit of bhangra in one of the tracks.
What are your influences?
All three of us have quite an eclectic taste in music that spans many genres. I've been writing songs for quite a few years now and I guess my biggest influences in terms of writing have been The Rolling Stones, Bright Eyes and Ryan Adams. Obviously our style is a bit different but I think in terms of the message given across by their lyrics, I'm most inspired by them. We' all appreciate the music in the charts at the moment. I think if a track has managed to make it into the Top 40 it must be doing something right. When it came to producing Step Away, I listened to quite a lot of RnB and Hip Hop- Kelis, Pharrell, Kanye- to get some cool ideas that could be used in our sound.
All three of us have quite an eclectic taste in music that spans many genres. I've been writing songs for quite a few years now and I guess my biggest influences in terms of writing have been The Rolling Stones, Bright Eyes and Ryan Adams. Obviously our style is a bit different but I think in terms of the message given across by their lyrics, I'm most inspired by them. We' all appreciate the music in the charts at the moment. I think if a track has managed to make it into the Top 40 it must be doing something right. When it came to producing Step Away, I listened to quite a lot of RnB and Hip Hop- Kelis, Pharrell, Kanye- to get some cool ideas that could be used in our sound.
What's behind the lyrics of Step Away?
Step Away was one of the first songs I've ever written that has been true to myself and my experiences. I've found coming to university has opened me up a tiny bit and I'm writing songs that are a bit more personal. Step Away was written after a relationship I'd had recently. It's about losing someone you care about because you didn't tell them how you truly felt about them and you kept your heart and your true feelings on the inside. It's a sad song and I can't listen to it too many times, and it doesn't help that Amber put a lot of emotion into the vocal performance. As a song it means a lot to me and I'm delighted with how it turned out and the opinions I've received from people.
Step Away was one of the first songs I've ever written that has been true to myself and my experiences. I've found coming to university has opened me up a tiny bit and I'm writing songs that are a bit more personal. Step Away was written after a relationship I'd had recently. It's about losing someone you care about because you didn't tell them how you truly felt about them and you kept your heart and your true feelings on the inside. It's a sad song and I can't listen to it too many times, and it doesn't help that Amber put a lot of emotion into the vocal performance. As a song it means a lot to me and I'm delighted with how it turned out and the opinions I've received from people.
What is lined up in the future for Clara's Hustle?
In terms of the future, I think we're going to act a bit patiently and cautiously. I used to love recording loads of demos and gigging with rough sets, but I suppose I feel like a bit of perfectionist with Clara's Hustle. The writing process is taking a lot longer than usual because I struggle to write lyrics that I'm completely happy about. So I think over the summer we are going to try and record as many of our songs as possible. It's difficult because the three of us live in three different parts of the country at term time so we can't meet up all the time. Our plan is to record a decent number of songs to a high quality standard and come up with a tight perfected live set and then we will go from there. We plan to gig in as many cities around the UK next year. Things may be a bit touch and go due to our distance during term time but we are going to give it our best shot and try and meet, practice and record as much as possible. You can expect to see and hear a lot more from us over the next year.
In terms of the future, I think we're going to act a bit patiently and cautiously. I used to love recording loads of demos and gigging with rough sets, but I suppose I feel like a bit of perfectionist with Clara's Hustle. The writing process is taking a lot longer than usual because I struggle to write lyrics that I'm completely happy about. So I think over the summer we are going to try and record as many of our songs as possible. It's difficult because the three of us live in three different parts of the country at term time so we can't meet up all the time. Our plan is to record a decent number of songs to a high quality standard and come up with a tight perfected live set and then we will go from there. We plan to gig in as many cities around the UK next year. Things may be a bit touch and go due to our distance during term time but we are going to give it our best shot and try and meet, practice and record as much as possible. You can expect to see and hear a lot more from us over the next year.
Click here for a free download of "Step Away" and to stay updated with the latest gig dates and songs join http://www.facebook.com/clarashustle.
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