Sunday 31 May 2015

Sound Scout: Meet SOAK, the Confessional Singer-Songwriter We Can't Stop Listening To

Sound Scout: Meet SOAK, the Confessional Singer-Songwriter We Can't Stop Listening To

In music, the phrase "one to watch" gets tossed around a lot. But these days, with so many new ways to consume songs and so many new songs to consume, what make an artist actually worth listening to? In this weekly column, Teen Vogue's resident A&R scouts introduce you to up-and-comers who've got something to say both on and off their record. We're not concerned with labels or throwing out descriptive niceties just to convince you that these artists are "the next big thing." It's in their music and in their own words, and all you need to do is lend a curious ear.

Each featured singer or band is matched with an amazing photographer who has generously donated their time to capture these eclectic acts, because they too believe in their potential. The ground rules for our subjects? Come as you are, no professional styling or makeup, and be ready for a raw black and white guerrilla-style shoot. The portrait is paired with an amateur snapshot shared from the depths of the musician's phone. From pop to folk and R&B to rock, these artists (much like their photographs) are unfiltered, uncensored, and unfazed.


Photographed by Ash Kingston in London.

NAME: Bridie Monds-Watson
AGE: 19
BORN: Derry, Ireland
BEFORE THE PHOTO: Writing was always an outlet for Bridie Monds-Watson, who records and performs under the moniker SOAK. From coping with the narrow minded attitudes of her peers growing up in a small town, to the process of finding yourself in adolescence, and the pain of dealing with her parents divorce. She picked up a guitar at the age of the 13 and has been making music ever since. She self-released her sophomore EP, Sea Creatures, at the age of 16, garnering attention from the industry, and was named "One to Watch" by The Guardian. It earned her a record deal with Rough Trade, and now with her debut album Before We Forgot How to Dream set for release on June 2nd, she's poised to take the music world by storm.

"My dad has played guitar for years and years, and my mom always listened to really good music—a lot of Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd," she tells me of her musical upbringing. She cites those bands, as well as newer acts like Bon Iver, Foals, and Grimes, as major influences. "I've always been drawn to people who write great lyrics," she adds. "Like Leonard Cohen—he is such a poet." Bridie is quite a poet herself, with a lyrical ability that belies her youth. Her sound is otherworldly, ethereal but not soft—there is a subtle strength in the way that she sings. Backed by guitar, piano, and drums, her music has a very real quality you don't hear as often in a musical era when synths and drum pads dominate. SOAK's songs stay with you long after the first listen, they dig deep into your soul, as she bares her own.

ON THE HORIZON: "I'm really excited for the album to come out and for people to hear it. It has songs from the last five years, I've just been writing the whole time but it wasn't for an album necessarily. Then it all just came together. I hope that people can empathize with it and see part of themselves in it or relate to a situation that they've been through—I hope they get a lot out of it personally. We're gong to be touring nonstop for the next four or five months. The last three years it's just been me playing by myself, but now I'm going to be touring with a full band, which is exciting. Musically it just makes it possible to do so many more things."

WHO IS SOAK: "I started playing guitar when I was 13. My brother had a guitar in the house that he never played, so I took it and got my dad to teach me. And once I started writing, I never really stopped. Whenever something big happens or something makes me feel strongly in an emotional way, I just feel like I have to write about it. It helps me understand it better and deal with it. I'm really never not writing. I started gigging around where I live, and then after I put out Sea Creatures, people kind of took notice and I started playing all the time. After school or on the weekends, pretty much whenever I could."

WHAT MAKES YOU WORTH LISTENING TO: "My sound has a lot of different influences, some of it is quite poppy but other songs are darker. When I'm writing I don't ever try to keep it one genre or one specific sound. I've already got a lot of songs for the second album that go in a bit of a different direction. Especially as I get better instrument-wise and am learning more. Lyrically though, it's just quite honest—it's me confessing in a lot of ways. I think it's quite different from a lot of stuff that's out there at the moment."

Get lost in SOAK's mesmerizing sound on "Blud."

Source : http://www.teenvogue.com/entertainment/music/2015-05/sound-scout-soak-interview
If you want to unsubscribe Click Here

No comments:

Post a Comment