ON THE RISE
AUSTIN, Texas — The artist known as SomeoneCalledSomeone spent part of his early adulthood living a dream to be a musician and promote his songs, but he also paid a steep price, battling addiction, problems with the law and failed relationships.
Now he’s determined to recapture the joy of making and sharing music without exposing himself and his new family to the temptations of the music scene.
SomeoneCalledSomeone just released the second EP in his “Moods” series called “Frequencies: The Moods Vol. 2” out on streaming service as of March 10, 2023.
SomeoneCalledSomone said the first EP, “Pensive: The Moods Vol. 1,” released last November, was the slower, more introspective album.
“Volume 2 is supposed to be, ok, we got to think about some deep stuff, now it’s time to have some fun,” he said. “Let’s roll the windows down, let’s turn it up and let’s just vibe out. So that’s kind of the whole concept and motivation behind Volume 2, this one is the feel-good EP.
“I'm pushing a decade from when I was last relevant in music. It’s like what do I sound like in today's market because if I go start creating music like I was doing when I stopped, it’s going to be outdated. I was asking who am I in this new landscape of music. I’ve been playing in different genres, different sounds and I noticed a pattern so I created the ‘Moods” EP series specifically around that.”
SomeoneCalledSomeone said he lived the music scene and lived the problems it caused for a number of years.
“I was a touring and professional musician for years,” SomeoneCalledSomeone said. “I was also a drug addict. I had two options. One was continue with music and probably relapse because that had been my pattern, get clean, relapse, get clean, relapse. Or walk away from music entirely and stay sober and have some kind of a livable life. So that was the decision I made and I walked away from music entirely for eight years.”
While SomeoneCalledSomeone thought he was done with music, his wife knew better.
“Two years ago my wife would still see me writing,” he said. “I loved to write whether it was journaling or poetry, wrinting what may or may not ever be a song. So my wife had bought me a little studio-in-a-box, the little PreSonas kits, with a mike, a pre-amp, monitors. When she bought it I was like I don’t know why you waste our money on that, I'll never use it. I have no interest in doing music anymore, that part of my life is over.
“Then about June or July I was bored, I was at home, and I decided, just out of curiosity I want to see if I can do it. So I made a song called ‘Days, Nights and Weeks,’ and it was about addiction. I posted it online under the name SomeoneCalledSomeone just to be anonymous and it got really great responses and it kind of made me think, you know what, this is cool.”
It was cool enough that SomeoneCalledSomeone decided to see if he could make and release music without dealing with the music scene. And he figured out the technology had changed enough that he might be able to release music and promote it without giving up his anonymity,
“I made the decision that I can, from the comfort of my own home and the privacy and anonymity of this online persona, create music and still scratch that itch, but maintain the life I've built, the family I've created and the sobriety that I now have that is closing in on nine years,” he said. “When I quit making music MySpace.com just started. Facebook was still for college kids. There wasn’t digital. Every single weekend, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, I had a backpack on my back, I was standing on a corner on Sixth Street in downtown Austin with a CD players and headphones in my hand and approach every human that walked down the street sell them a CD for $5 or be out there promoting or pushing a show I had coming up.
“Now I never have to leave my house and all the promotion I do is online. It seems so easy like it’s a cheat code, but it’s not necessarily easy because everyone else is doing the same thing. It’s really interesting, I don’t know how to say which one is better, it’s just interesting.”
A new journey is now beginning. A new artist is molding and combining genre sounds and influences with the same deep and impactful lyrics which were once so highly regarded amongst fans. SomeoneCalledSomeone is the artist for anyone who has ever felt as though unfinished business beckoned for their undying attention.
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Pop and soul singer Sharon Watkins is preparing to share her very first album in 2023. Working alongside producer Sam Miller (known for his work with The Hoosiers and One Direction), she is following up with her newest release, The One That Got Away, which arrives on 18 November 2022. The track is a tender acoustic ballad that tells the story of leaving behind a harmful relationship, finding strength, and welcoming a fresh start. With gentle piano arrangements and Sharon’s unmistakable soulful voice, the song captures an intensely emotional journey.
Her earlier singles, Proud and Stranded, have already connected with listeners in a big way, reaching more than 250,000 views on YouTube and 150,000 streams on Spotify. With this momentum building, Music News sat down with Sharon to talk about her music and what comes next.
Hi Sharon How are you?
Doing really well thanks! So excited about all the momentum we’ve had with our first 3 singles, honestly, it has been insane to have had BBC radio interviews, rotations, global press coverage and to have won an international song contest in such a short space of time!!
Tell us about your latest release ‘The One That Got Away’?
Well, it starts out as a real wintery piano ballad, portraying that moment when you suddenly realise that someone you're with is messing you around. Then, with the help of big strings and orchestral percussion, it develops into a powerful "I'm over you" song…. It is really a defiant two-fingers up at the ex that never appreciated you until it was too late. It moves from the turmoil of still having feelings for that person, cutting lose and moving on to triumphant recovery, knowing that you made the right decision.
The music video is visually stunning and the dance is beautiful, talk to us about the filming of this video and the creative decision to use dance to express the meaning of the track.
Thank you, that means a lot! We’re really pleased with the way the video came out. Me and my brother, Sammy J Stopford, who has been my partner in crime on this whole album project, knew very early on that we wanted a contemporary dance that portrayed the turmoil in this song. I also knew I wanted the video to express the mental turmoil you go through after finishing a relationship and the underwater medium just seamed such an ideal metaphor for that. We put out a request for dancers and choreographers on Instragram not thinking we would get much interest. One of our lessons on this project is that you can’t pore the right energy into a project if you don’t love the music and so this was the main pre-requisite for dancers…. “please only contact us if the song inspires you!”…. we couldn’t believe the response!! We ended up watching so many amazing dance videos from such talented people. Our album is about adult life lessons and so we knew we wanted a believable couple, that had a great connection and were old enough to have gone through an adult relationship and breakup. We chose Florivaldo Mossi (Michael Jackson in West End Show “Thriller”) & Ashley Cavell (Star of many shows, including ABBA Fever) as they are both incredible dancers but also fit the storyline so well. I couldn’t believe it when Choreographer, Stewart Arnold (choreographer & dancer to Kate Bush) agreed to work on the project!!
The writing in the song is very personal. Was it emotional pouring these emotions into lyrics?
Honestly, it is like an exorcism. Songwriting is how I process and deal with life’s ups-and-downs and so I would be lost without that outlet. It forces me to really dig deep on my emotions towards things. You can’t write songs about superficial stuff, otherwise it just sounds cliché.
What do you hope people take away from ‘The One That Got Away’?
I feel like it’s the song you need a friend to play you when you have broken up from someone and are feeling injured and unsure. You need someone to tell you that you missed a bullet and one day that ex will look around and realise that they lost something very special. I have had people reach out already and tell me how relatable the message is and that it has helped them… this is the biggest compliment of all!!
Talk to us about your influences as an artist.
I grew up in Manchester surrounded by an incredible 90’s music scene, in a house where my dad played everything from The Beatles to Zappa. I then spent 8 years living in the states, picking up some great American influences like Carole King. I have now made Nottingham my home, which is where I recorded the album and I have honestly really been enjoying the return in popularity of singer-songwriters like Lewis Capaldi and Tom Odell …. So all-in-all a pretty varied range of influcences… making for an eclectic pop album that I hope you all like.
Going back briefly on the video, you collaborated with some great people on the video such as Stewart Arnold who worked closely with Kate Bush and Florivaldo Mossi, noted for being Michael Jackson in Thriller Live. Tell us about your experience working with them.
It's been the stuff of dreams really. I am a massive Kate Bush fan and to work with Stewart was like a dream come true. He and I had some long conversations about our vision for this video and the turmoil I wanted to portray. His ability to translate that into dance is something amazing to watch. I had the honour of watching him choregraph the dancers on the morning of the shoot and it was like watching a master at work, the artistic ideas that he brought to this project were incredible. Flori Mossi and Ashley Cavell are both experienced dancers but seeing the way they clicked together, and their interaction and interpretation of the song just blew me away.
What can we expect from you next?
Well, we have 3 more singles coming ahead of the album launch in 2023, so make sure you follow me on Spotify to keep up with those (Sharon Watkins) and we’re also going to be doing a series of “Live Lounge” performances of our tracks ahead of the album release so follow me on socials @sharonwatkinsofficial to keep an eye out for those.
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