The Raft reporter gets to the bottom of new songwriting sensation Stephanie Kirkham...
J: How did you get signed?
S: I sent lots of my song ideas off to record companies and David Boyd liked what he heard, came up to Preston to meet me and then signed me.
J: That simple?
S: (laughs) Yeah
J: Have you been trying for a long time to get signed?
S: Erm, well I didn't know if I'd get signed or not but I did think that something could be done with the songs and I wasn't sure if I was going to be the one singing them. But I did think that they were quite good and I needed a professional opinion, so I thought something might happen but I didn't know what.
J: So do you think of yourself as a song writer foremost over a singer?
S: Yeah defintley.
J: So how does it feel to be actually fronting the songs?
S: Erm, it was strange. And you know, I'm a bit unsure about that. I know it sounds nice and I'm really happy with the album and I like how it sounds. I love the songs, but the peforming side of it I have to do that next and we'll see how that goes.
J: In terms of playing live do you mean?
S: Yeah I've not played in a band. I've sang at open mic nights, just like one or two songs at a time either on my own,without any music or with a guitar. So yeah, we'll see.
J: What are the plans then, are you going to be doing gigs or p.a?
S: Yeah, we're doing a radio tour. We did three days last week and two days coming up. So that's fine because you're just in a tiny room and its like singing live but its there's only three people in the room so it's intimate and you can forget that other people are listening so it's easier. So I don't know how it'll be when there's actually a room full of people. I did sing infront of the people at Virgin and there were about twenty there, that was nerve racking. We're going to do it, I'm just going to make myself do it.
J: What's going through your mind then when you walk out and see all those people standing there?
S: Just dread and fear and thinking your know, this wasn't my plan. And I get really light headed and sick and think this is not natural to do this. And then I just calm down and start singing, when I've started singing I'm alright and lost in my own little world. But it's not going to be very intersting if I close my eyes and sing so I'm going to try and sort that out (laughs). But I think that once we've sorted out a band and done it a few times it'll be alright.
J: How does that compare to the feeling when you've finished?
S: Erm, the relief (laughs). No the feeling I get is good, because most people I've sung infront of really like it which is really nice. |
About Petrol Records
Stephanie Kirkham comes back for ...
