In our next Artist Spotlight, we chat to Alice Clayton about music, and inspirations.
S] How do you define success?
I have to correct myself on this, I think it’s easy to get caught up in thinking that success means getting big or getting heard nationally but actually I think success is getting to a point where you’ve worked on something as much as you can and you’re happy with the point that it’s at. It’s easy to compare yourself to other artists on social media and think you’re not as successful, but it depends on what it is you’re wanting to achieve.
S] What does ‘Now Is Not Your Time To Speak’ mean to you?
It’s a really important body of work for me because it’s something that I’ve been wanting to release for years and have gradually been working on for so long. All the songs are representative of my views as well so it’s great to finally have them heard.
S] What about ‘Magpie’ itself?
Magpie is especially important because unfortunately it still keeps being relevant. I wrote it back in 2016 after the Brexit result and the lies that lead to it. Now things are just as turbulent and the same people are still getting away with their lies so unfortunately it’s still quite a pertinent song. Although I think people often mistake it as being about some terrible relationship rather than about the people in power!
S] What are the biggest challenges that you face as an artist now?
I think it’ll be a challenge to make sure I don’t just stop and get complacent with what I’ve already done. I often have so many creative ideas and intentions that never quite come to fruition due to my bad timing and organisation. I need to make sure to keep time aside for writing and playing and get working on a little tour.
S] What motivates you outside of music, think specific people and places?
Family is a massive motivation. I’m super lucky to have a big supportive family so they spur me on to try and achieve more.
S] What advice would you give to other emerging artists who want to make a dent as you have been able to?
Don’t feel pressured to have things completed by a certain point. When I was at uni and I didn’t have as much time to work on my music as I would’ve liked; I used to feel that if I didn’t release something by a certain point then that’d be it, too late- everyone’s over music. But that’s never going to be the case and I think it helps a lot to take off any sort of time pressure.
S] Would you say that you’re a happy person?
Yes! I’d say that generally I am pretty happy. There’s definitely been times when I’ve been less happy with things, or I’d feel like I had to act like this happy person. But I’ve always been able to get support and help for those things and I’m grateful to have people to talk things over with and support me.
S] Thanks for your time!
Thank you very much!!
