Teddy Clarke is a young musician who is already on the way to greatness with his own brand indie pop goodness, as displayed in release Stick & Poke. I’ve really enjoyed listening to his music and I hope our readers will do too!
By Jane Howkins
You released a song recently that we reviewed, titled Stick & Poke. What can you tell us about the track? Where can Stick & Poke be purchased and how has the reception been so far?
Stick & Poke can be purchased and streamed on all major platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc. So Stick & Poke is a song I wrote to try and highlight peoples dependence on social media and the issues that can come with that. The reception’s been really positive which is lovely, and so far it’s doing the best on streaming sites out of all of my releases.
The track was written with Ben Bogen. How did the collaboration come about and do you want to collaborate more in the future?
So I’ve known Ben since I was like 12 I think. He’s one half of Analog & Digital who are my sole collaborators. In 2018 I played them a song I’d written and recorded/produced a demo of and asked for their advice, they ended up producing the track and our collaboration kind of started from there. They way we work is I write and record a demo and then send it over to them and they add parts and suggest ideas – what I like about working with them is I never quite know what the finished product will be, sometimes its pretty similar to my demo, whereas at other times we end up with something totally unexpected.
Do you have any more singles planned for release?
Yes my next release is coming out towards the end of September, and then after that I want to try and get another 1 or 2 out before the end of the year.
Have you started writing for an EP/album?
I write a lot and have a lot of songs recorded but I don’t feel quite ready to release an album yet. Maybe I’ll release an EP next year, for now I’m quite happy releasing singles whilst I try to build my audience.
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
Like everyone in some ways it did, but from a writing point of a view, I had so much time and so much to write about. I was having Zoom sessions with Analog & Digital a few times a week, we spent the entirety of the lockdown just sending songs back and forth to each other.
I felt your music had a classic indie sound. What/who are you influenced by and what have you been listening to recently?
I’m a big fan of artists like David Bowie, Rex Orange County, Declan McKenna, Radiohead, Kate Bush, Wet Leg, amongst many others. I also find a lot of influence from watching films & theatre.
Where are you based? What is the local music scene like there at the moment?
I’m based between North London & Hertfordshire, the music seems good where I am. In London there’s music on every night and a lot places to meet other musicians, and in Hertfordshire there are some great independent venues near me such as The Horn.
What is the writing and recording like for you? I loved the main chord sequence on the chorus!
For me it really changes song by song but for Stick & Poke I started with an acoustic guitar, I found a chord sequence I liked and then I started the lyrics from there. The original recording we did for Stick & Poke was during a lockdown so I recorded everything at home and sent it to Analog & Digital, they then recorded their parts and we would send stuff back and forth. This year we came back to the song and I re-recorded all the vocals, but at the studio this time, Analog & Digital added some new parts in such as the synths in the chorus, which I love, and we made the chorus as a whole a bit more energetic.
Do you have any UK tour dates planned?
No I don’t have any live sessions planned for this year currently, but in 2023 I should definitely have some gigs to update you about.
Any last words for the fans?
Thanks for streaming Stick & Poke, keep listening and I’ll be announcing some new music very soon.