ON THE RISE
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ESSEX, England — The 1960s music of Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and Woodstock left a deep impression on English singer and songwriter Kayleigh Walker, and those influences pushed her to produce her debut single and video, “Psychedelic.”
Released in August 2023, “Psychedelic” is steeped in the color and vibe of an era when music was changing and the world was changing from more black and white to a wild array of colors and emotions.
“I love the 60s, I love that whole psychedelic era and how everyone got pulled together and I wanted to write a song that represented how that music makes you feel without the influence of LSD and other substances,” Walker said. “I wanted it to be about how music makes people get up and makes you feel good. When I was writing it I was reflecting on how I was growing as a person in the music world and how I felt like a little bit of an outsider.”
Walker said she wasn’t alive in the 1960s, but documentaries and videos of that chaotic time inspired her soul and creativity.
“I watch a lot of documentaries on Woodstock and I liked the whole 60s vibe with the live instruments,” Walker said. “I wanted to do something that was kind of relevant to everyday music that we have now in this generation but I wanted to reflect on when music was at its highest where people were being themselves. When I was writing I also had that vision from day one that it needed to be that 60s psychedelic meditation of a higher self and that's what I wanted to create. I had a vision of while I was writing the song of what I wanted the video to be like.”
Walker lives in Essex, a county northeast of London, and started her music career in a cover band before branching out on her own. She has talent, style and showmanship she puts it all on display with a 1960s kaleidoscopic video to go with “Psychedelic.”
“When I was younger I always wanted to be in front of the camera or I wanted to be a singer,” Walker said. “Growing up I was doing a lot of musical theatre performances, local ones. I knew that singing other people’s songs never felt quite right for me. I always wanted to go off and improvise and do my own style on it. It wasn't until I was in my late 20s that I realized I kind of wanted to write my own songs but I wasn’t sure how to because I don’t play any instruments.
“In between that I was doing a little bit of modeling, thinking I might go down that route, but everything led me back to the music. It was definitely during the pandemic that I realized I could not put the pen down, I was just writing and writing and writing, getting melodies in my head and then taking them to the producer.”
Walker said the song is getting great traction and people are starting to notice her more and more. She’s working on more songs and an album to come out later this year and she’s looking forward to performing on stage.
“I’m a bit of a storyteller, so my songs are more story-based rather than love stories,” she said. “When I’m writing it’s like very poetic and I like to really live in a fantasy when I'm writing as well as reality. I’d really like for people to know I don’t follow music trends, I do what shows my heart’s purpose and my life’s purpose. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea but I enjoy what I do and that's what makes me me. I want more people to be like that, to think outside the box and don’t follow trends and be more unique.”
Please follow Kayleigh Walker on these social media and streaming platforms:
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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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