INTERVIEW WITH New ActS
Carrie MacDonald
End of Term has just helped unsigned singer/songwriter sensation (well, we think so!) Carrie MacDonald to record her debut album, Believe!
October 2008: 21 year old Carrie MacDonald, armed with just her songs and a guitar, performs at the Scotcampus Freshers’ Festival in George Square, Glasgow. There, she’s spotted by End Of Term talent scouts Abbie and Ros. We interview her for our Winter 2008 issue and the rest, as they say, is history!
OK – so we might be jumping the gun a little.
Yet the following month, Carrie wins Radio Forth’s “One to Watch” competition. And then she supports Sandi Thom at Carnegie Hall – admittedly, the one in Dunfermline, not New York! Still, people are beginning to recognise her talent...
In this day and age, though, there’s only so far any singer/songwriter can get without recording their material. So End of Term decides to put its money where its mouth is; we hire Carlton Music Studio in Glasgow for the day and let Carrie loose under the guidance of experienced sound engineer Danny Mitchell.
Sitting in on proceedings, we discover just how time-consuming the recording process can be – with Danny making sure they get every note perfect. After a few hours later, with all the main recordings done, Danny and Carrie then listen to and discuss the tracks and how they can be improved. After some further recordings, everyone’s happy and – with the first copy of her CD in hand – Carrie and End of Term celebrates her first album with a little bottle of champagne!
Listen to a selection of tracks from the new album below:
CARRIE ON...
WHEN DID YOU REALISE YOU WANTED TO BE A MUSICIAN?
I started when I was about five, playing the violin. I also played the ocarina (a flute-like wind instrument) and the piano. I always wanted to sing, but I never ever thought that would be a possibility because I didn’t know how to go about it. So I continued with the violin all through High School, but just didn’t enjoy it.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY?
I decided to go to college after school to study music. There, I hadn’t written a song, couldn’t play the guitar and was singing other people’s songs; I really didn’t know what I was doing. I just gradually got into bands and that’s when I realised, when I first performed, singing-wise, that this is what I want to do.
YOU ONLY LEARNED TO PLAY GUITAR AT COLLEGE?
Yeah, in my second year. It wasn’t easy; at first it was dreadful, but I thought that was the best way to go about writing songs because then I can accompany myself.
YOU SOUND AS IF YOU’VE BEEN PLAYING FOR YEARS!
I think that’s because of [learning to play] the violin. That helps a lot because that’s such a difficult instrument – it sounds like you are strangling a cat for the first four years.
WHEN DID YOU START WRITING YOUR OWN SONGS?
The first song I wrote was when I was 18: it’s Better Off This Way, which is going to be on the album. It’s not easy because you are writing about personal stuff – so you don’t want anyone to hear it. I remember thinking: “Oh, I don’t want anyone to listen to this!” But people did and really liked it, and that gave me confidence.
HOW DO YOU WRITE?
Basically, I just strum away on my guitar, get a melody – then, if I’m upset or annoyed at someone then I will just write a song about it.
YOUR SONGS ARE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Yeah. None of them know. Sometimes, people are like: “Oh, that’s quite a nasty song!” And I’m like: “Yeah!” I think it’s better that they don’t know!
HOW DID YOU START OUT PERFORMING?
When I first started out I wasn’t great, so I just had to play really rotten venues! Through that you just get more and more contacts and more confident – really it’s only since I won awards that my confidence has grown, and now I can choose my gigs. I get good gigs and I am bearing it out a lot more because it’s better to be a little more exclusive rather than just play everywhere.
HOW IMPORTANT ARE FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO YOU?
If you said I’d got signed but had no friends to share it with – it would be like...oh well! It’s my goal but I’ve got a lot of other more important things in my life like my friends and my family. I want to live life as well.
WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO, MUSICALLY?
I love Christina Aguilera; she’s my idol. I love Arcade Fire, Jewel, Kings of Leon, just a massive range of stuff. Tracey Chapman is amazing; I like her style of music and how she writes – she’s a big influence!
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ANY WANNBE SINGER/SONGWRITERS?
It’s not an easy path. It’s full of highs and lows; one minute you can be winning something, and the next minute it’s back down to the bottom. Just don’t give up! If I get knocked back by somebody, I just say that’s their loss. If I was offended by everything that everyone said to me, I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. Learn from it; take what you can, but just don’t take it to heart.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Other than being an international superstar? I’m going to get the acoustic album out for sure. Have a little album launch, get it up for iTunes sales and some CDs so people can buy them. Then I am going to get a band together and then just go for it!
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