Interview: Beth Goudie
Singer/songwriter Beth Goudie (formerly Beth Bullock) has released her debut EP 'The Boat' featuring four brand new tracks. But don't worry if you haven't heard of this exciting new talent - LTTM caught up with her to find out a little more!
Tell us a little bit about your new EP ‘The Boat’ and what the inspiration behind it was?
Well, it’s my first release under my new name and features 4 songs that I’ve written over the last year. All of the songs are really stories of transformation, love and hope. The Boat, which is the title track is based on a story my Dad used to tell me when I was a little girl, usually when I couldn’t sleep! Everything was always okay after I’d heard that story. That theme carries throughout the EP really, there’s another song about family on there, ‘Jeanie’ and then the other two are basically both about transformation from something difficult into easier times. I decided a while ago that I was only going to write songs that ended with hope from then on. Everyone is welcome to hold me to that! I think it’s important to always offer hope.
Which is your favorite track on the EP and why?
It’s funny how this answer changes throughout the recording process. My favourite track before the EP was ‘Home’, but since recording it, and relentlessly listening back to it during the mixing phase, it’s now ‘Jeanie’. The song is written for my Grandmother, who told me recently the story of how she met my Grandfather. It’s a really lovely story and one I didn’t know before. I love it because it’s come out really well on the the EP and simply because it’s just all about how wonderful my Grandmother is!
Do you prefer playing live or working in the studio?
I LOVE playing live. I always have. It’s definitely what I prefer. I always feel like I can get more emotion across in a live performance. I enjoy recording vocals, but not so much anything else! I much prefer it when my guitarist (and husband) is playing on tracks. Which he has done for ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Jeanie’.
You worked on the Andy Hunter track Spiral, what was that experience like?
It’s great working with Andy. He’s such a fantastic writer and producer. It was the first time I’d written and recorded in that genre, so it was a new challenge, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s always a good thing to expand out of your comfort zone and Spiral definitely gave me that chance. Last year I was fortunate enough to do another track with Andy, ‘Harmony’ which was also a great experience.
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?
One of my all time favourite songwriters is Billy Joel. His songs are some of the best songs ever written. So, Billy Joel, just based on how much I’d love to learn from him! Vienna is my favourite song of all time. I listen to that when I’m getting ahead of myself and trying to do too much at once!
What is your favorite album of all time? Why?
That’s a tough question. I’ll have to go for Damien Rice, ‘O’. That album was such an inspiration to me as a young songwriter, the honesty and rawness of it was like nothing I’d ever heard before. I took a lot of my songwriting style from listening to that album.
How would you define success in your career as an artist ?
There are three things that define success for me. The first is freedom; I’m privileged to be my own boss, which took a long time to achieve! Without the freedom to write, record and travel, it’s really hard to get anywhere with music, so freedom to do what I love is definitely a measure of success for me. The second is reaching people; I write songs to say something, whether that’s a simple message or something a bit deeper, I will feel successful for as long as my songs are helping people, making them think or making them happy! And the final thing is making a living doing what I love; It’s not an easy industry to make money in, so for as long as I get to make a living doing what I love, I will consider myself successful! Obviously there are some nice to have’s on the list too, a Grammy would be lovely..
What advice would you give to any aspiring young bands/artists out there?
If you want music to be your job, treat it like you would any other job. Manage your time effectively, set a schedule for writing, promoting, rehearsing and connecting and then stick to it! You will get far more done that way than if you wait for inspiration to drop. A work/life balance should exist even if you’re a musician, otherwise you’ll end up burning the candle at both ends and either work or life may suffer for it! Know what you stand for too, there will always be opportunities to compromise who you are, so before you get stuck in to the music industry, know who you are and what you stand for, and make your decisions based on that.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your mp3 player. What track is it?
Vienna - Billy Joel, I’d have to listen to my favourite song just before I got rescued. That’s assuming I was going to get rescued…
What does the next year hold for Beth Goudie?
The next few months will mostly consist of gigging and promoting the new EP. I play with a band most of the time now, which is my favourite thing. We’ll be focusing on building our live show up and getting ready to record an album, potentially towards the end of this year. Keep checking my website for news and live dates, they’ll be coming soon! www.bethgoudie.co.uk
