Artist Interview

This is my artist interview. I wrote this, based around the research that I did from reading previous artist interviews. I had to make a few changes to the interview, where I'd made a couple of grammatical errors, and I had to change a few sentences to make it flow a little better, but this is the interview that I ended up writing:

CC Morgana is no stranger to music. Born and raised in South London, she grew up in a very musical household, learning to play the guitar since the age of eight. When she was thirteen, she got her first taste for performing in front of people at a gig in a local club, and at the age of sixteen, she and her family moved to Scotland, where she was signed to Andmoresound records, an Independent music label there. Now, she is ready to tackle the big guns, and here to talk with us in a swanky hotel room in London about her life, love and her upcoming tour.

“I’m not used to staying in places like this,” laughs CC, as we take our seats. She seems comfortable here though. She’s lively and bubbly, and incredibly eager to talk to us, especially when we ask her about how she first got into the music scene. “Both my parents were very musical when I was growing up. My dad used to play in a band, but had to stop when my older brother was born, but he never lost that passion. He taught us how to play; brought me my first guitar. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without him, or my mum. She was the one who pushed me to start performing, and too show people what I could do.” And so she did. Armed only with her vocals and guitar, CC attended a local gig night, where she performed in front of people for the first time.

“I was so nervous,” she remembers, “I honestly didn’t think anyone was going to like me. But I remember that the crowd responded really well to me, and afterwards loads of people came up to me and told me how much they’d enjoyed it. So I went back the following week, and the week after that and it just became a regular thing. I honestly think I wouldn’t be where I am right now had I not been encouraged by my family to go to those little club nights.”

A huge part of launching CC’s career was her move to Scotland. “It actually was never my intention to move to Scotland to get signed,” she admits, “My parents got a job transfer. It was never about me or possibly launching my career in music.” She began to perform in pub nights doing karaoke, she tells us, when one night everything changed. “There was a man there, who worked for a local recording studio,” she says, smiling fondly, “He’d just come for a drink with his mates, and he saw me perform my set. Afterwards, he came up to me and gave me a business card and told me to call.” Incidentally, this began her career with Andmoresound. “I phoned them up, and they told me to come in a record a demo. I went into the studio for about five weeks- I’d already written most of the songs,” she explains, “I recorded a seven track EP with them. I then set up a Youtube account, and posted all the songs onto there. I posted them on Facebook and Twitter, (I) started building up my very own fan base.” We ask her if she considers herself to be very hard working

“Without completely blowing my own trumpet, yes,” she says, “But I’m trying not to be big headed about it. I can’t help but feel that a lot of where I come from today has come from me working very hard too get it, but then again, I wouldn’t be anywhere without my family, or the recording studio, or my producer.  I try to do as much as I can to get my music noticed out there.” This leads us to ask: How does she feel about file sharing and illegally downloading. “I’m not totally against it,” she shrugs. “I mean, from the perspective of an artist, yeah, it can be annoying, if you’ve worked hard on something and people are technically stealing it from you, but for me at the moment, it helps get my work out there shared. If people like my work, maybe they’ll come to one of my gigs and in the long run, surely that’s better and I’d make more of a living than I think I would trying to sell records.”

Speaking of gigs, CC has had more than her fair share. In fact, now when we’re talking to her, she has recently just come off tour with City and Colour. She will also be guest appearing on Charlie Simpson’s next tour in a few months, as well as securing herself a spot on the bill of this summers Slam Dunk Festival. “I’m really excited,” she beams, “Charlie Simpson was someone that I loved growing up, and I sight him as a big inspiration for me. And Slam Dunk…” She pauses and smiles. “It’s going to be incredible,” she grins, “It’s likely to be my largest audience to date.” She’s optimistic when talking about her future it seems. “I know it sounds cheesy, but I really think I could go far with this,” she tells us, “I’m extremely hard working, and this is my life, as clichéd as it sounds. I’m taking this world by storm, and I don’t have any future plans to let it go.”