Anna Cordell

Anna Cordell is a Melbourne singer songwriter who is doing good things, get loads of great feedback from the media and fans a like.

With her EP being released, I wanted to find out more and find out for myself what has everyone talking about.

https://www.facebook.com/anna.cordell.music/

1. What inspired the EP?

People have told me the EP has a very nostalgic feel and I suppose that is because I have set myself back in the past in the process of writing them.

Each song has been a way of processing large events from my past.. it has been a way of dealing with those events.. The death of my Grandfather who brought me up, the early tumultuous years in my relationship, things I didn’t understand then that I thought I would understand by now, but still do not. (The spiritual wondering of ‘Michael’ for example)

I have always wanted to record. For the first time I had this amazing band Behind me (Sarina Walter- violin, James Ryan- Bass, Jesse Martin- Cello) We were creating the sound I wanted so I was desperate to capture it!

2. How did the recording process come about?

I did some crowd funding and researched like mad trying to find the right producer. It turned out to be Dave Manton who did all the engineering for one of my favourites, LULUC. He also does the sound for all the live acts at JJJ so he is the master of capturing stringed instruments and voices and getting the most out of them. Since I had decided I wanted to keep it pretty raw, he was the man for the job! And he was BRILLIANT!

3. What inspires you when writing music?

I just start playing a melody on my guitar.. I’ll find some chords that inspire me, tinker around kind of just letting words flow out.. and eventually I’ll find them falling into some kind of pattern, going in some direction… that’s when I’ll get serious and start working on them. I usually get a couple of lines subconsciously and then think… hmm that’s interesting, what’s that about? I’ll dig a bit deeper and start working on something.

I usually write from a first person perspective, but the songs aren’t always about me. I have to imagine myself in someone elses skin – then I write as if they are telling the story.

4. Do you have moments where you can’t write and need to take a break?

YES! NOW! haha! All my energy is going into trying to get what I’ve already written out there, it’s the worst part of being a self- managed musician. Having to do it all- booking, promoting, emailing etc etc.. eats up the time you’d usually be writing.

5. Are you happy with the media response to the EP?

Really happy! I received some great reviews, it’s really been taken up by community radio and Double J which is wonderful!

6. What do you hope will happen to the EP?

World domination of course! But in the real world, I hope it does whatever it needs to do for me to be able to keep making music. I’d love to keep recording, I just hope it’s something that will be viable in the future.

7. What do you like about performing live?

The immediacy. It’s one time I feel I can really focus and concentrate… I just get so involved in the songs an trying to communicate them that everything else falls away. Also, that amazing space where you really feel you and the band are working together to create a FEELING… it doesn’t always happen, sometimes it’ll depend on our moods or the sound or something might get in the way a bit… but when it happens it’s just magic!

8. What does the rest of 2015 have in store for you?

I have the Launch at Little and Olver this month, Saturday 29th, then a residency at the Wesley Anne- Fridays in September from 6-8.

I’m supporting Ben Whiting at Some Velvet morning on the 13th of September.

After that there’s BEYOND FEST in Canberra 2-5 October , another launch at The Vanguard in Sydney on Thusrday 15th of October, and I’ll be playing at The Wesley Anne again on the 9th with Harry Brown and supporting LANKS at Melbourne Music festival on the 15th of October!

There are a few more gigs in the pipeline too. From there I’ll be focusing on some festivals.

9. Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Oooh! I’d actually love to try going down the electronic path a little… I’m a huge fan of Machine Translations.. I’d love to do something that has a bit of a radiohead feel.

LANKS would be another.