Indie folk duo The Frampton Sisters make their debut with the delicately weaved single, Birds Of A Feather, out now via Dharma Records.
From the offset, sisters Freddie and Charlie Frampton’s effortlessly stunning harmonies take centre stage. Both singers’ rich, celestial vocals soar as they compliment each other, feeling instantly reminiscent of the likes of Lily & Madeleine and First Aid Kit’s undeniable chemistry. Talking about the single, Freddie elaborates “Birds Of A Feather is based on equality and how, in the grand scheme of things, we are ALL the same. So let’s enjoy it.”
In this interview spotlight, I chat with The Frampton Sisters about the new release, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
Growing up on the Orkney Isles the music is folky and tells stories. This was one of the major influences to our music, along with the music our parents would listen to. We then grew older and started to listen to more pop music and other different genres and put all of them together to create our unique sound.
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
Our father has been a musician all his life, and encouraged us to play, sing and pursue music as a career. We feel that was our main influence as we were surrounded by music all the time. When we were 5 and 7 we performed at our first wedding, and went down a treat. This ignited a passion for performing live and having people listen to our music. We like to feel as though people get something out of our music, whatever that may be. That drives us to push it out there.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
We take inspiration from people, and their stories. And then we tell them through our songs. Almost all our songs come from personal experiences or somebody else life. So we are really influenced by life, and everything that comes with it! Growing up we learnt to appreciate all styles of music – and I wouldn’t say our tastes have changed. We just appreciate the way the song has been written, the way it tells a story and the lyrics. Which as children, we never really payed attention to!
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
We have always wanted our music to sound real. And for the tracks we record to sound much like how we do when we perform live – which is why whilst recording the tracks at Abbey Road, we performed them just as we would on stage, to our audience. As that is how we want to sound. Our creative harmonies are the trademark of our act so they play a huge role to the sound of our tracks as well.
What was the last song you listened to?
The last song we listened to together was ‘Bright Side of The Road’ by the great Van Morrison. It is a family favourite of ours and brings back lovely happy memories of our childhood.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
We would probably say we prefer CD’s as that is how we listened to music up until it was online. Our generation was more CD’s than Vinyl and we still remember the first CD’s we bought – Charlie’s was Fearless, by Taylor Swift, when she was 8! And Freddie’s was ‘The Best of Aly and Phil’ by Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, Folk Musicians, when she was 6.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
We tend to use Spotify more than any other platform as we find it the easiest to use and has almost every song! We also like the playlists and how anybody can listen – It’s also a great platform for new artists.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
We are very sociable and friendly – which helps people to engage with us. We also try to make sure that we are always in the audience after we play which helps with getting to know people and allows them to ask us questions. We do sometimes struggle to balance personal lives and music. This year our music has slowed down as Freddie had a baby in May and Charlie finished School and started a University course at Bird College in September. As Freddie’s son gets older and Charlie settles in we hope to engage with our fans a bit more and show our appreciation for the support a bit more!
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
The best places are probably facebook and instagram. We focus on these more than anything else and tend to share most upcoming gigs and new music on those platforms.
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
That’s all from us!
