Eleri Angharad is an amazing new discovery of mine, creating a set of fantastic new pop-rock songs with a country influence. Her track, Snake Like You, is a great example of how great her music is – I loved it when I reviewed it! To find out more about Eleri, read the interview below!
By Jane Howkins
You recently released a single titled Snake Like You. What can you tell us about the track?
Snake Like You is about the slimy salesmen you encounter in every walk of life, the chancers who try and charm you with a bottle of snake oil. I get constantly bombarded with messages from fake companies promising success. Whether it be millions of streams, followers, publishing contracts or gig offers that when you delve deeper are either bot generated or just rip you off. It can be an absolute minefield trying to decipher who’s genuine and who’s not and it’s very frustrating.
How has the reception to Snake Like You been so far, and where can the song be purchased?
It’s been great so far; I’ve had some really lovely feedback and I think people can really relate to it because these snakey people exist everywhere. I also told the story on my Instagram of how I got my money back from a scam company, so I’m really hoping that can empower people to do the same, the song can be streamed everywhere and purchased on iTunes. It’s also available on CD at my Bandcamp page – just search Eleri Angharad and it’s on my Story So Far CD, which is a collection of my singles,
You’ve also just released a new song called Big For Your Boots. What can you tell us about that song?
I have! It’s a really fun take on a cover of grime artist Stormzy. It was a really fun process rearranging such a different sound – we broke down the lyrics and restructured it so it had more of a traditional chorus section and switched up some of the slang for some fun American country-isms. I don’t think anyone should take this too seriously, but it’s sure been fun sending it out to my friends and seeing if they can guess what song it is…
Do you plan to release any more singles in the near future?
I think the rest of this year I’ll be winding down for Christmas, but 2023 is gonna be full of new singles and exciting collaborations!
Do you plan to release an EP or an album anytime soon?
I do! I’ve spent the last 2 years writing and recording an album, so I’ve got about 14 songs in the bag. I’m hoping to start releasing singles from that in the new year. It’s been a bit of an evolution of sound and songwriting for me, so I’m really excited for people to hear it!
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
In terms of playing live and touring it absolutely did, but it also gave me a chance to really build my online audience and write with people from all across the world via Zoom. I did a lot of learning and growing during that time and my audience grew a LOT! I think people really leaned into music and thankfully lots of people found my music.
Your music contains elements of country, Americana, folk and pop-rock. What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
I’ve always loved Taylor Swift, and she completely spans all of those genres too. Country artists I really love at the moment are Kacey Musgraves, Priscilla Block, Miranda Lambert and The Shires. I also love a lot of alt pop like Lorde and folk pop like Maisie Peters – definitely into female singer songwriters and I think a good song can span any genre. I got started songwriting from listening to old country and folk music like James Taylor and Emmylou Harris because the storytelling is so vivid, and I always want to maintain that in my music.
You’re based in Swansea. What is the music scene like in your part of the world?
It’s pretty varied, with lots of rock and folk bands, hip-hop artists and rappers, as well as a good few Americana/country artists. I run a promotions company and country blog called Rodeo Town, so we always love to find new artists in the same genre.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
I have my last show of the year at Elysium Bar, Swansea on 16th December 2022, which is a Rodeo Town writer’s round up along with 5 other talented artists – Mari Mathias, Josh Beddis and more…
Next year I’m in talks for putting together an album tour, so watch this space!
Any last words for the fans?
I’m so excited to bring you into the new year with me and show you all my new music!