Sharon Watkins releases heartfelt pop ballad ‘Proud’ on Friday 28th of January 2022 ahead of full-length album. The Nottingham-based singer songwriter shows that it's never too late to follow your dreams and define your passion after developing her indie-pop tracks over eight years and winning the UK Northern Songwriters Competition. We caught up with Sharon to find out more...
Hi Sharon, how have you been? Absolutely amazing honestly and very busy
This whole experience has Just been so great! We’re so pleased with the way the album’s turned out and we had no idea what kind of reaction we’d get to it. Proud is our first single and we were selected by AWAL to distribute it (which I know so many musicians strive for). Proud has been featured on international radio stations, playlists and news outlets and the video premier was picked up by Wonderland, the international trend setter magazine, which is just incredible !! . We’ve also been approached for quite a lot of interviews.
Can you tell us more about your latest single "Proud"? Proud, is a rollercoaster pop-ballad! The modern-day journey from discovering betrayal on a phone (with heart-breaking piano/vocal intro.) to triumphant recovery (developing into a huge, inspiring ending) guaranteed to uplift anyone going through a hard time! There is a real journey from dark to light in this song and we wanted that to come across in the music, photography and even the videography.
“Proud” is an inspiring and heartfelt Pop-oriented ballad. How would you describe your sound? Eclectic pop. Our songs range from the lighter side of pop and indie pop, right through to the harder side of pop rock. I write all my songs at the piano, so expect a lot of keys, my brother is a professional drummer and percussionist, so expect great rhythm. We also had some incredible collaborators, so the whole album is steeped in guitars, strings and even brass and sax. Proud is an out-and-out pop but one of the track songs the album even verges on a Floydesque guitar solo
You have been writing music with your brother for many years. Can you tell us more about the writing and recording process? Yes, my brother and I started writing/jamming around the family piano in the early 90’s. Actually the piano was a tone and a half out of tune which gave us a really good understanding of transposition when other instruments played along (Sammy sat next to me with his first snare drum a Tamborine on a stand and an array of pots and pans to complete his make shift kit! The process hasn’t changed that much really; I have a lot song/lyrical ideas on the fly/ in the shower which I record on my phone and then take them to the piano and score. Then when I have ideas that looks like it could be a song Sammy joins me and we brain storm that idea over a number of sessions till we have the song. Some song complete quick some song are long drawn out affair. But as you can imagine we have 100’s of song, projects and ideas that were constantly working on. The recording process was a blast!! We started with a lot of honing of the songs, lyrics and arrangements. When it’s solid stage we got with the band for rehearsal and pre production so that everybody’s on the same page which consequently makes the recording process a lot more fluent. Superfly is just such a great studio, so much retro gear, it feels like you’re recording in your living room...... well a much cooler version Living your living room We made full use of all the gear available. As well as the old 60s piano, There’s also Hammond, fender Rhodes even , wurly on the album ....... I literally had myself a keys party
“Proud” is the lead single from your upcoming album ‘Secrets and Lies’ that promises very interesting collaborations. What can we expect from the record? Variety!! An eclectic mix of songs ranging across the pop spectrum, from pop rock anthems to piano ballads to heavier 70’s inspired Floydian guitar solos As well in including a few more huge emotional story telling ballads like”proud, The album on the whole is quite eclectic and covers a number of genres; including. An upbeat Motown track that features ‘BB”, a couple of R-B Americana (which I wrote whilst living the states), A 6/8 “Billy Joel esk” pop banger (with feature BRASS) and the last track on the album is ‘floyd’ based prog rock track with Jake Buckley playing two “face melting” guitar solos
The single is accompanied by a beautiful video. Where was it shot and how did the shooting process go? It was a blast !! It was shot on location at Southwell minster which is a Norman Romanesque cathedral built nearly a 1000 years ago on the outskirts of Nottinghamshir. I was actually freaking out the morning of the shoot as we’d planned to do outdoor shooting and it was “sheeting it down” the videographer Ian Marshal had artistic ideas of sticking with the plan and shooting me walking through the rain with make up down my face ...... i was praying for sunshine . I don’t know whether it was being parked outside the cathedral but literally as the videographer pulled up behind me in his car, the rain cleared and the sun came out. Southwell minster we’re kind enough to let us shoot all morning around there cathedral for a small contribution to their collection box. For the last part of the video we relocated to the music hall of the local school that had a grand piano and it was just such a laugh trying to get bursts of smoke to coincide with takes and Ian trying capture shots of my bare feet playing the pedals we also had a documentary photographer who got some amazing footage which we are releasing gradually on our socials ;)
You grew up in Manchester surrounded by the rich music scene of the city. Who are your main influences? Our Dad was a massive music fan so subliminally whilst growing up he would be playing CSN and Y, Leon Russel though to Frank Zappa and Scott Walker and obviously the Beatles were on repeat. So this Eclectic mix from an early years played a massive part in sculpting our musical Foundations. As you say, growing up Manchester at The height of it musical boom played a massive part in influencing us both musically with band such as New Order and smiths in through to the charlatans and of course Oasis! Also a massive influence are solo female artists like carol king, Joni Mitchel and from these shores Kate bush an Beverly Craven. These strong female artist who were unashamed at document real life stories through song really gave me the confidence and fire to write and record Proud and the rest the song of my album secrets and lies. I also lived in the US for 8 years and played in a few bands and orchestras there. It was like I had a new smorgisboard of music there and I explored the spectrum of American music from Americana rock to country ...... you’ll hear this in my next single “when we were together”
The track tells a story of heartbreak and recovery, is it a personal story? this song was actually written as an observation of a very close friend who went through the heart breaking experience of finding evidence of betrayal on her husband’s phone. Ive seen multiple people go through this. There’s so much hate in breakup songs and betrayal songs, encouraging people to seek revenge. I wanted to write one that actually dealt with that pain in a graceful way. It’s so easy when we’re in pain to let it change who we are. Proud, and is a message to the “other woman” it very much comes from the angle of trying to explain the pain and upset that betrayal in a relationship causes whilst accepting that they are human and wishing them well. I’ve definitely had my own difficult times, and have always been intent on coming through them staying true to me.
Are you going to release more singles before the album premiere? Yes, we’re definitely releasing another 3 singles before we drop the album. The next is called ‘when We Were Together’ and will go out in April.
Any plans for live performances this year? We have plans in place for some show later in the year but until then will be releasing a live video session of Proud featuring some of the the amazing member of my Band.
