Laura Redpath caught up with singer-songwriter Frank Hamilton after his recent Glasgow show…
Hi Frank. For Source readers who aren’t familiar with your work, tell us a bit about yourself…
I’m from a small town called St Ives near Cambridge, which is not be confused with the town of the same name in Cornwall! I’ve been writing songs for about eight years now and sang, albeit not professionally, from a young age. I used to sing along to Meat Loaf in front of my parents and that was my introduction to music.
Who and what influences your music?
Absolutely everything. Life and people – I’m a big people watcher and I think far too much. As for lyrical influences I’d say Frank Skinner, The Smiths and Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows who I think is an exceptional lyricist.
And how would you describe your musical style?
Ha, I hate this question. I’d use the words poppy, folky and indie.
Your songs appear to be primarily based on stories of love and break ups. Would you say this is an accurate assumption to make?
I’d say no but a lot of would say yes and I do get asked this a lot. The song Summer for instance – the first time it’s heard people are like ‘oh, it’s a song about the season’ but then some see summer as a metaphor for life. But I actually wrote it about a friend I went to secondary school with, whose name is Summer. I guess that’s what’s good about my songs. People can interpret them in different ways.
So what’s #OneSongAWeek all about? Did you really write a brand new song every week for a year?
Believe it or not, yes! I did take some old ideas and rework them but the project was created on fresh material. I came up with the idea on 2 January last year. It wasn’t intended as a New Year resolution or anything – it was just something I fancied doing. Everyone, including my manger, told me it was terrible idea but if I did, in the long run, pull it off it would be wicked. I’m still surprised that I managed it but songwriters can often write three songs a week, we just don’t necessarily know because they are writing for various artists.
With sites such as YouTube being the new platform to showcase talent, do you think it’s become easier for people to break into the music industry?
It is easier. Especially for young people as they can play the game based on their age; all they need is a few videos with a steady flow of followers. The music industry is a business and businesses like stats. And with YouTube generating stats, record labels can bring in investment. It’s not how I choose to do things as I generally try to be a little different and do things my own way. I think that’s what people liked about my #OneSongAWeek project, it was different. But each to their own.
And lastly, what advice would you give to any budding musicians out there?
Work hard, be nice and know yourself. Really know yourself.
Frank Hamilton’s EP, featuring the song Summer, is out now. Listen out over the coming weeks for his Teenage Dirtbag cover featuring Wheatus frontman Brendan Brown.
