Interview: CLARA BOND, C2C Country 2 Country 2018, London

I was lucky enough to catch up with Clara Bond during C2C Country 2 Country 2018. Read on to find out her thoughts on touring with Lindsay Ell and Wildwood Kin, honest songwriting, and upcoming releases...

Ciara’s Country (CC): I’m joined today by one of the loveliest artists in UK country music, Clara Bond. It’s been pretty much a year to the day since our last interview (which you can read here) so I’m thrilled that we managed to catch up again this year at C2C. Thank you so much for joining me!

Clara Bond (CB): Thank you for having me!

CC: So as I mentioned it’s been a year since we last caught up, and we all know that a lot can happen in a year. What have you been up to since we last spoke?

CB: Oh gosh, I’m trying to comp up one year into a conversation! We went on tour with Wildwood Kin, we played Country Music Week supporting Lindsay Ell. We’ve been writing as well for the next release and figuring out what we want to do with that, and how we want to release it and whether it’s going to be an album or an EP. We’re narrowing it down now, and that to me feels like it’s a big step because it feels like I’ve actually managed to wrap my head around how I’m going to treat my career over the next year. I’ve almost kind of used the last year to plan the next one!

CC: And how do you decide if it’s going to be an album or an EP?

CB: Honestly it’s whether or not you’re ready. Personally, I don’t feel ready to release an album, but I’m still loving the whole process of being able to release music, the whole process of going into a weird room with my weird band and just making weird sounds and seeing what comes out of our brains! I feel like the way that our minds are working at the moment, I want to be releasing things really, really regularly so that I can just keep feeding my fans my music. I hate that I’ve made people wait so long to hear the new music, and I don’t want people to wait any longer, so we’re going to start releasing singles very regularly. Every two months I think, just so that there is constantly music because that’s the way we want to work, the kind of music we love listening to, by the kind of artists who just need to make music and get it out there. That’s the beautiful thing about Spotify now, because you can treat it like it’s SoundCloud and go ‘I’ve made this great song, I believe in it, and I want you to have it!’

CC: There must be so much pressure with every single release you put out – will people like it, will it set the tone for your future releases.

CB: Exactly, because Out of Towners was taken really well, and obviously every artist develops in their own way, and their last release won’t be the same as their next release. It’s hoping that you bring something new to the table so that your dedicated fans still like it and are still with you and get what you’re trying to do, but the change is strong enough to get new fans who didn’t like your sound before. You’re finding your own new thing and that’s what the whole process is about, but you’re right, it’s so hard!

CC: You mentioned that you’d spent part of the year touring and getting your music out there. What was it like doing that, and especially touring with artists like Lindsay Ell?

CB: Yeah, she’s an absolute sweetheart and a really lovely person to share a stage with. Those experiences are the most important by far – the touring experiences where you’re living out of a bag, everything that could possibly go wrong goes wrong – those are the things that really forge you. I can’t imagine going through life when everything goes perfectly! The Wildwood Kin tour was great, seeing parts of England that I hadn’t before, and playing to different crowds. It’s such a special experience. A Manchester crowd is so different to a London crowd, and we got to see all of that. Amazing experiences and I’m so happy music has given me those experiences.

CC: You’ve opened for some great artists – is there anyone particular you’d like to open for?

CB: I’d really like to open for Jillian Jacqueline. I love her songwriting, I think it’s really, really smart. And Maren Morris for the same reason. She’s just so damn sassy and her writing is so refreshing because she’s not afraid to say anything, she’s not afraid to talk about certain topics – she swears, she talks about sex, she writes whatever she thinks about and that’s what music is supposed to be. It’s really hard because as a woman you feel like you can’t talk about certain things and she really turned that around.

CC: I feel like Maren is due to release an album soon so there might be a tour after that…

CB: Yeah, I’ll just send her a quick Tweet!

CC: I feel pretty caught up on last year, but what about this year – you said some music is in the works?

CB: Yeah, we’ve been making music. It’s really important that fans know that we’ve come up with like 100 ideas of songs but they’re not right. I didn’t want to release something just for the sake of releasing music because I knew fans wanted more than that. It took me such a long time to figure it out. Ollie, my guitarist, kept saying ‘you have so much to say’ but I was really having trouble tapping into what it was, and the stuff we’re coming out with now has a bit more guts. Last year, whilst being amazing, it taught me so much – so many things went wrong that should have been right, and I can write about those things and the things I’ve learnt. I think it’s going to be a very special year for my songwriting and I hope that shows. I really hope the fans love the music as much as I loved writing the words. It sounds corny but you know what I mean!

CC: You said you were trying to find the right things to talk about – did you find them?

CB: Yeah, I really did. It’s really tough when you feel something so passionately, it’s really hard to talk about it unabashedly, just to talk about it with no consequences, because you’re really worried about how you’ll come across. It’s really hard to talk about things that you feel that you’ve been wronged without sounds holier than thou. I’ve really tapped into that now, and the band are all with me. I love the music that’s coming out of the speakers right now, and the kind of music I love – the reason I love Maren Morris’ album – is that you listen to those tracks and they’re all people playing those instruments. It’s not made on a box or on a laptop with synths, it’s all about the musicians and that’s what we’re going to be including a lot of.

CC: Great! So in preparation for this interview I checked out your website bio and it said that towards the end of last year you went phone and internet free and were just writing. How was that?

CB: It was really good. We did it again a couple of weeks ago but the weather was so disgusting!

CC: Does the weather influence your songwriting?

CB: It was really nice actually because there’s such a moment of clarity when you’re looking down at yourself and you’re just covered in mud and you’re like ‘I really want to wear a cute outfit so in the photos people will think you just checked it on’ but in reality I’m drenched in mud, there’s a muddy dog on me and you just say ‘screw it, let’s write a song.’ It’s really good. We went to this place and it’s completely off the grid. That’s what I need. I’ve worked out that I really needed to go somewhere without distractions where I’m just with people who love me and love my music, and we can just make music together.

CC: Maybe that photo of you covered in mud with the muddy dog can be the cover art of your next EP?

CB: I think that would be a new direction for me! But I’ll be releasing the photos to show how the songs came about. We got this boathouse and we set the whole living room up like a recording studio. We were sleeping around it – you’d be asleep on the sofa and there’d be a boom mic hanging over you. I love that. I’m not one for a pristine studio where everything looks Instagrammable. I want a place where the wallpapers peeling off the walls, somewhere a bit weird.

CC: You’ve been writing since you were about 16, is that right?

CB: Yeah, that’s when I starting thinking that I wasn’t terrible.

CC: And how has your musical style changed over the years?

CB: Oh my God, so much. I wouldn’t want anyone to hear that now!

CC: Was it full of teen angst?

CB: It wasn’t really teen angst, it was more teen naivety. Just these sweet pop songs about God knows what… About a love that never really existed. And my voice back then! I heard a recording – it’s the most disgusting thing! I didn’t know what being in tune was back then…

CC: That better be one of the tracks you release on your upcoming releases!

CB: No chance!

CC: So we’re talking at C2C – you’re back for your second year. How’s it going for you?

CB: It’s going really good! They’ve changed the structure so I’m still kind of finding my way around and I get lost very easily so it’s a challenge for me. I’m really loving it though, just walking into the Backstage area and there’s like three of my musical friends – you know, I’d run up and give Liv Austen a hug. I just love being surrounded by all this, being surrounded by music and everyone just sitting around and being a part of it. I’ve really looked forward to it.

CC: We all have! And last year I loved your cover of John Mayer’s Love On The Weekend – do you have anymore unusual tracks on your repertoire this year?

CB: This year we’re doing a cover of Tom Petty’s American Girl which is one of my favourite songs ever. Tom Petty is one of my favourite writers and performers and we were on our way to another gig and it came on my Spotify playlist and I just thought ‘why haven’t we done this song? We’re doing this song’ and we immediately started rehearsing.

CC: Who would you put on your wishlist to see at C2C?

CB: I would love to see Jillian Jacqueline.

CC: To tell her you want to tour together?

CB: To tell her we ARE touring together! She’s great. Kelsea Ballerini I would love to see, same with Little Big Town. Liv Austen too as I’ve not seen her band stuff before. I’m sure there’s a million more.

CC: I’ll give you a hard question – is there any underrated country artist you think we should know about?

CB: There’s a girl called Lisa Wright who is an absolutely outstanding singer and songwriter and is a real sweetheart. She’s not playing this weekend which I think is gutting for the audience – she is an absolute gem. I’ve gigged with her a couple of times and am always amazed by what she comes up with. Everyone should check her out. Everyone knows she’s amazing though!

CC: We’ve spoken a lot about music, but to let people get to know you a bit better what do you do outside of music, or is music your entire life?

CB: Music is my entire life! That can be stressful and hard to compartmentalise music for work, like how you make your money and feed your dog, and like original music where you’re kind of trying to pour your heart and soul out. Trying to juggle your love of music with it being your actual job has been a hard transition. I do music from the minute I wake up to when I go to bed. It’s all that occupies my brain!

CC: I wonder whether doing something so much like you do has the potential to bring the enjoyment out of it?

CB: Say you do like a covers gig or something, then when you do an original gig it just really solidifies that this is what I should be doing, this is where my love is, this is what I look forward to above anything else.

CC: Fair enough! One final question for you: is there one question you’d love to be asked in an interview but never have been?

CB: Oh my God! Does anyone ever answer this question quickly?

CC: Not usually!

CB: I think I’d like people to ask more about the band and be more aware of how important they are, not just to me but to the music. My music wouldn’t sound the way it does without the band. I have Ollie Harris as my guitarist and anyone who’s been at a gig would have seen him – I’ve never done one without him. He’s the reason I’m here and making this kind of music. He’s so amazing it’s a bit terrifying! If there’s anyone who could make you feel insecure about how good you are at something, it’s Ollie and his guitar!

CC: Can you introduce me to your band?

CB: Ollie Harris is my guitarist; Chris Tilk is my bassist and produced the Out of Towners EP. Ozzie Parker is my keyboard player and currently rocking a Bieber haircut right now, and Josh Williams is my drummer.

CC: Thank you for introducing me to your band and for taking the time to speak to me today!

CB: Thank you!

I hope you enjoyed today's interview! There are plenty more to come so make sure to stay tuned on the blog and on Twitter @CiarasCountry. I'd love to know your thoughts on my content and if there are any other artists you'd love for me to interview - let me know in the comments below!