With new release ‘Dot To Dot’ out now and a bunch of exciting news for the future, we had a chat with Grace Savage to find out more
Grace Savage is an artist who has many talents, and a wide-ranging appeal that truly sets her apart from her contemporaries. Whether people are familiar with her for her beatboxing feats or her uniquely flavoured brand of alternative pop, Grace is a shapeshifter, an exciting and engaging talent that is capable of enthralling and inspiring in a multitude of ways.
Latest release ‘Dot to Dot’ continues to establish the earnest and candid charm that she is growing increasingly known for, and with some exciting things in the pipeline for the artist and a return to live shows, we had a chat with the artist to find out some more.
Grace Savage. It’s great to have a chat! We love your music as you well know. Tell us a bit more about your new single ‘Dot to Dot’?
Ahh Thanks guys. “Dot To Dot” is about finding your feet again afer a break up from a long term relationship. I wanted to create something empowering out of one of life’s hardest pills to swallow: being dumped. I wrote it with a Producer I met on twitter (Narcsus Prye) and it’s about the moment the carpet is swiped from under your feet, knocking you sideways & throwing your life off kilter. When you have been reliant on someone else for happiness for too long, you can easily forget who you are/who you were before they came along…so it’s about the vulnerability of feeling suddenly alone but more importantly about the realisation that follows; that there is power in this new found freedom & ultimately a recognition that the pain is necessary to grow.
What part of the musical process do you enjoy most, and why? is it performing live, creating your tracks, or..?
Oooooh that is a tough one. I do really love the creation process but if I HAD to choose….I would go for performing live. Especially having just performed 2 gigs last week after an 18-month hiatus – it reminded me how much I really do love it. I love the connection with audience, the adrenalin, the technical challenges that can arise under pressure. I feel like I am truly in my element when I’m on stage. I like how when I’m performing I’m going with my instincts, reacting to my surroundings, making people feel things….when I’m in the studio I love getting lost in stories and melodies and songwriting but I can get a little too in my head and overthink things.
The last 12 months and the pandemic have been crazy for musicians, how much has it had an affect on your music?
On the one hand it’s taken away my main source of income (performing live) and also a huge source of my happiness/chunk of my identity (which has sucked), on the other hand, it has forced me to slow down and not take on so much which has enabled me to actually focus on my music more than I ever could before. A lot of my work before involved beatboxing on other peoples projects, rehearsing in theatre shows or teaching workshops/working on educational projects all over the UK and so this is the first time I’ve had the chance to focus mainly on my own solo project for an extended period of time, which has felt like a luxury. I have fingers in many pies so have managed to stay afloat financially by doing voice over acting work & online zoom beatbox lessons as well as getting some arts council funding and the government grants. I really do feel like one of the lucky ones.
If you could create a ‘Grace Savage Festival’, which 3 artists would you have headlining? (Fri, Sat, Sun) ps. can we come?!
OH THESE ARE GOOD QUESTIONS. Well I gotta address the gender balance issue so I would have an all Womxn line up….Sylvan Esso, Janelle Monae & Chirstine and The Queens? I’ve seen them all live and can safely say they are all INCREDIBLE performers.
Your biggest headline show yet takes place in October at Colours, tell us, what should we expect?
Yes! I have a new full band set up which has never been tested live before (eek) and consists of me on Vocals, Loops and MPC, Ben Cartwright on guitar + synth and Calie Hough on drums. I’m looking forward to having a drummer on stage…I think it’s gonna be visually very pleasing and give it some oomph. Maybe a beatbox/drum off section?! I’m gonna have sick lighting and video people involved too and so many new songs that I’ve released in the pandemic and can’t wait to perform live. I have released 24 songs in 4 years so I’m at a stage now where I can just pick the best most banagalicious songs from my back catalogue and basically make the whole thing a massive party.
