With a band named
after a Bond villain, you know Honey Ryder are going to have some interested
stories to tell so I had to catch up with them… Find out lead singer Lindsay’s thoughts
on using shop names for inspiration, struggling artists, and astrology below!
Ciara’s Country (CC):
Hi there! I’m joined by Lindsay from Honey Ryder after their set at the
Nashville Meets London festival in Canary Wharf. So to start off, Lindsay,
thank you for joining me!
Lindsay O’Mahony
(LO): Pleasure!
CC: So to start
off, how’s your year been going so far?
LO: It’s been
brilliant – we had quite a few gigs in January and February, and then there was
obviously C2C in March which was brilliant, amazing experience, and it just
seems like this genre is just getting bigger and bigger at the moment and
there’s lots of support, a lot of love for it, so we’re having a great time! At
the moment we’re trying to write too, trying to fit in as many writing sessions
as we can, but we’ve all got small kids, so it’s quite difficult. And also
Jason and Matt live in Stoke-On-Trent, and I live down near London so we’ve got
quite a gap between us so we try to sort of hook up halfway and do rehearsing
and stuff. But we make it work because we love it, we keep going. But yeah,
it’s great! I mean, it’s always happy, the Honey Ryder journey, because we just
love what we do, we love make music and hope people enjoy it too.
CC: So in terms
of writing songs, is it just the case of fitting it in whenever you three have
the time?
LO: Yeah well I
mean for the last couple of albums we’ve done a lot of co-writes, so we try and
hook up with people. We wrote a song with Jess & the Bandits recently, and
we’ll hopefully go back to Nashville and do some more co-writes there, but
yeah, we try to get together whenever we can. But often we do work on our own,
like Jase comes up with our riffs and different melodies and I come up with
different bits for songs, and then we get together and blast out for a day of
writing music. So yeah, it’s just kind of fitting it in whenever we can, but
it’s really important for us to take the time and get good material for the
next album, so we’re not going to rush, we’re just going to do it organically
and see when it happens. We might try to get like an EP out for next Spring – that’s
our goal.
CC: I think all
of your fans will be looking forward to that then!
LO: I hope so!
CC: And one of
the things I think country music fans love about the genre is that the songs do
tell stories and a lot of country music draws on the backgrounds of the singers
and the writers. How did you all use your background to influence your music?
LO: Everything
that’s happened to us, really! I mean, all of the songs to do with love are
about past relationships, I’ve written a song called Little Feet about my children, songs about you know, dreams and
aspirations. I’d say Rising Up and Marley’s Chains were very much about me,
like Choices, a song from the first
album, is really my heart on my sleeve. But I’d say Born in a Bottle is a little bit more observing other peoples
stories. Sometimes when you get to a happy place in your life you do need to
draw on other peoples experiences because they do say when you write with
heartache it’s almost easier than when you’re happy, so sometimes I draw on
other peoples experiences. I’d say everything that happens in life, every time
I’m going anywhere I observe people, things written on walls, shop names, to
try and get ideas for songs. Just let everyday life inspire you.
CC: One of the
things I really enjoyed when sitting out there was watching a lot of the crowd
singing along to your songs.
LO: I know, it’s
such a lovely feeling!
CC: Do you have a
favourite that you like to play live?
LO: I love all
the ones that people can sing back, and if we did a gig that’s a Honey Ryder
gig on its own, then I love getting the audience involved, like they come up
and play percussion with me or whatever. And I love just literally having the
bass drum, getting people clapping. I love doing Marley’s Chains, and Beautiful
Horizon I enjoy playing as well. I mean I haven’t really got a favourite, I
like all of them. It depends on my mood!
CC: That’s to be
expected! And in terms of the genre as a whole, obviously today is a really
good example of where we can watch artists that we already really like and
learn more about new ones – is there somebody in this genre who you think is a
bit underrated and deserves more recognition?
LO: There’s loads
of really good people. I think Laura Oakes is really good, I love her voice. I
love watching her sing and play the guitar – I think she’s great. I think
Deanne from Dexeter has got a really lovely voice. There’s actually loads of
people. Paris Georgia, she’s great. There’s lots of great voices coming out and
I think it’s just important to keep supporting them, going to the gigs so that
they can keep writing, make a living. A lot of bands are struggling with other
jobs and not making that much money, so it’s about if you like an artist, you
hear them on the radio or wherever, get to the gigs. Yeah, I think there’s a
lot of good talent coming up in Britain.
CC: Well I
suppose with the growth of the genre in the UK we can only expect that more of
these artists will get the recognition they deserve.
LO: I think so. I
mean Radio 2 is a big support of country music. But you’ve just got to get
songs with relatable lyrics, and then you get everyone on board really! I think
in general, even if someone doesn’t think they’re into country music, you point
out that like Whitney Houston had one of the biggest hits ever in the world
with a country song by Dolly Parton, then people realise. It’s just a case of
people learning about it, that the heart of country music is just about honest
lyrics and melody, and it’s not trendy, it’s not current, it’s classic. That’s
what country music is about, it’s honest, it doesn’t follow trends, it’s all
about the guitar and the mandolin and lovely instruments that sing out. I think
it’ll just keep going up and up.
CC: We sure hope
so! And finally, what’s the one question you wish you were asked in interviews
but never are?
LO: Oh no, you’ve
put me on the spot, I’ll have to think of something witty!
CC: I like to
throw people off with this question!
LO: I know! Oh
no, I can’t think of anything! I guess…what’s my star sign?
CC: What is your
star sign?
LO: I’m Leo the
lion.
CC: That tells me
a lot about yourself!
LO: It probably
does: stubborn show-off!
CC: Well thank
you so much for taking the time to talk to me.
LO: Next time I
see you I’ll have a cracking answer for that question.
CC: I look
forward to it! Thank you so much.
Thank you to Lindsay
for chatting with me and looking forward to what the rest of the year has to
offer – you can interact with myself and Honey Ryder on Twitter at
@CiarasCountry and @honeyryderband
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