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Spotlight – Flyctory.com meets Emily Lockett (16th September 2020)

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Emily Lockett is am impressive young British artist, just at the end of her teen-ages. After I saw her live on stage at the British Country Music Festival in Blackpool in 2019, I was absolutely amazed by her songs and the way she connects to the people on stage. This Friday, on 18th September 2020, Emily will release a beautiful new song, Front Porch. Just in between a couple of PR dates for that track, we had some time to chat about her music and her recent releases.

 

Flyctory.com meets Emily Lockett

FLYC: Hi Emily, glad to be able to chat with you. 2020 has been such a turbulent year, especially in Britain – hope you and your family survived the Covid-19 times well?

Emily: Yes thank you, we’ve all kept well.

FLYC: How was the time like for you? Did you have sufficient chances to promote your music in the new world, e.g. in online concerts?

Emily: It has been difficult being so isolated at times but I have used the time well – I’ve written a number of songs and as lockdown eased I was fortunate enough to get into the studio and record them so I have now almost completed my new EP, which hopefully will be ready to be released by end of 2020.

FLYC: You are now 19 years old. When did you start doing music? What have been your first steps?

Emily: I started playing guitar at aged 5 years!, wrote my first full song aged 12 and made my first solo guitar performance at 9/10 years (I played Wonderwall at a charity gig)

FLYC: You are writing your own songs as well. How did you recognize that you want to follow that aspect of music as well?

Emily: My mum says as soon as I could get a tune out of the guitar I would ‘ramble along’ fitting words to the music. However, as I said I was around 12 when I wrote my first song and performed it at the end of school performance at Middle School. (Very nerve wracking!)

FLYC: We met for the first time at the British Country Music Festival 2019. You just caught me with the Break up Song. When you write a song like that one, when do you feel it is a good one?

Emily: Glad you enjoyed Break up Song! It is not always easy to tell what is ‘a good song’ but I often judge by how much I enjoy playing it at home, then hopefully if I enjoy it others will too!

FLYC: In 2018, you released the EP My Imagination, which is in fact a nine track 40 minute album. Regarding streams, the most popular track it is Nice Eyes, though. What is that song about?

Emily: Yes this has proved one of my most popular songs – even popular in Poland where it charted in the iTunes download chart! Broadly speaking it’s about falling for your best friend and not being able to tell them how you feel.

FLYC: Apart from those two tracks, what are your favorite songs of My Imagination and why?

Emily: I think Strangers Again is one of my favorite tracks on My Imagination – possibly because I had a good time recording it in the studio.

FLYC: On stage, you have a very strong presence and a good connection to the audience, who listen to your songs (even if they still don’t know them). Is it something you train or are aiming for or rather just happening?

Emily: Not really trained for it, I think I’m naturally a chatty, friendly sort of a person but it does take confidence to bring that out on stage which I’m constantly working on and it isn’t always easy!

FLYC: During the British Country Festival in Blackpool, I also met you “fangirling” a lot and watching a lot of shows by other artists. Is there anything special you try to learn from them when you see their shows?

Emily: “Fangirling” haha – I am a genuine fan of lots of country acts so although I do obviously check out what they are doing to help my performance, but mostly I’m just enjoying seeing them!

FLYC: Not only in Blackpool, but in general, is there any artist, who inspires you?

Emily: I always say my main inspiration was early Taylor Swift and more recently Ward Thomas and The Shires. But when it comes to recording tracks I get a lot of inspiration from Cassadee Pope and Kelsea Ballerini’s recorded tracks, to see if I can learn anything from the production on their tracks.

FLYC: Talented US acts of the folk/country/Americana genre more and more feel to have to move to Nashville in quite early ages. You are now studying at the BIMM in Manchester, which is not too far away from your hometown Stoke-on-Trent. Why did you choose them?

Emily: I left school at 16 and went to music college (Access to Music) in Manchester which was quite a big step for me as I come from a small village and wasn’t used to city life. After completing my course at college it seemed a natural step to go onto Uni in Manchester as I’d grown to think of it as my second home and I had built up a small fan base around the Manchester music scene; I chose BIMM as it had a good reputation and the course seemed to suit my needs.

In 2019, you released That Girl, your last single so far. What is the song about?

Emily: That Girl is really about standing out from the crowd and wanting to be recognized for what you do.

FLYC: You tried to create a big social media campaign around it – have you finally been happy with the success of That Girl?

Emily: Yeah I’m reasonably happy with That Girl’s achievement, it’s my highest streamed track to date – of course you always want to improve with your next release!

FLYC: I am a bit jealous to UK country radio listeners – as they could already listen to your new single Front Porch, which is released on 18th September 2020. Tell us about that song, please?

Emily: This track focuses on a breakup and how both parties should have tried harder to save the failing relationship. Think I’ve worked harder on the production side of this song than any other of my tracks and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, can’t wait for people to hear it.

FLYC: What was it like to listen to it on the radio for the first time for you?

Emily: It’s always a thrill to hear your music on the airwaves, and this is no exception, its also really interesting to hear what the DJ thinks of your music too!

FLYC: Finally, let’s look forward. Anything you want to achieve in the next months? More new songs, touring maybe?

Emily:  Obviously times are really hard for any musicians at the moment, however I do have a couple of small gigs planned, which hopefully will still go ahead and hopefully 2021 will bring more along.

On a more positive note, following on from Front Porch I have another track from the new EP that I plan on releasing as a single and then I will be ready to release the EP towards the end of the year.

I’m excited about this EP as I have worked really had on it over the last few months and am very pleased with how it’s coming along. Recently I had the artwork back (done by my talented brother, Ben!) and I love it! Like I say, hopefully, it will be ready by the end of the year, so watch this space!!!

 

Concert pictures by Flyctory.com – all other pictures: artist material

 

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