Helen Murray’s alluring vocals, authentic lyrics and upbeat rhythms create a strange dichotomy within her music. A clash between emotionally driven lyrics and uplifting beats. Evoking feelings of self-confidence and self-acceptance while also confronting the negative thinking that comes with personal growth. A perfect balance of confidence and insecurity.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Helen about the latest music, adapting during these challenging times, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I am from a small town in east Cork in Ireland. But I am currently based in Dublin and have been living here for a number of years. I moved up to Dublin when I started studying music in college. When I first started writing I didn’t really know how to describe my style because its an amalgamation of genres but I like to sum it up as Alternative R&B/Soul with hints of electronic music.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
I’ve always been involved in music in someway throughout my life. Although my parents aren’t musical, myself and my two sisters where always involved with local musical productions, choirs and piano. Through that early introduction I guess I just held on to it ever since then.
I started exploring singing and writing from the age of 10/11. The songs I wrote back then will never see the light of day, but experimenting with writing from that age has definitely helped me to continue to grow as a songwriter.
It wasn’t until I started music college that I began to explore music production and getting even more creative with my sound. I feel this definitely changed the genre of music I was playing around with. In my teens, I was writing a lot more folky/singer-songwriter ballads and then through using Ableton and probably down to the fact my music taste was also changing, I was creating more electronic R&B sounds.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
My latest release ‘Move Me’, is definitely different to my debut single ‘Thank You’. ‘Thank You’ is an upbeat, empowering R&B/Pop track, while ‘Move Me’ is more of an R&B Ballad. However, one similarity they both have is the draw from my past experiences of romantic relationships.
I actually wrote ‘Move Me’ a good few years ago, I think it was around 2015/2016. However, it never sat with me back then so I continued to work on it throughout the years and finally finished it in 2018. So I’ve been sitting on it for a while!
When writing I never really follow a plan. So to answer part of your question, I didn’t set out any specific themes/styles while writing. But usually it could be a lyric, melody or chord progression that gets me started. With ‘Move Me’, it was a chord progression that first got the creative energy flowing. Looking back, I was subconsciously writing about a recent situation where I found myself investing a lot of time and energy in someone, and then to find out they were putting their time, energy and love into someone else. Without realising at the time, I was writing from the perspective of the ‘other woman’, a side that is not often spoken about. It was a confusing place to be in because I knew I had to navigate my way out of that situation even though I still had feelings for the person.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
During the first lockdown, I found it really difficult to be creative musicially. I wasn’t feeling inspired and I guess at the time I had lost a lot of gigs and work so I was finding it quite difficult to sit down and write, especially because I wasn’t in the headspace. But I did turn to being creative in other aspects like cooking, painting, even gardening (although I think I’ll leave that to the experts).
However, halfway through the lockdown I soon started to realise that this was going to be going on for a lot longer than I thought. I started setting out little goals for myself to try and achieve by the end of the week, for example ‘add lyrics to an instrumental demo’, or ‘create backing vocals for demos’. I tried to do something, even if it was small every week.
What was the last song you listened to?
Last song I listened to was Kiss of Life by Kylie and Jessie Ware. I adore Jessie Ware, her most recent album ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ got me through lockdown!
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
Sadly, I don’t have a record player but whenever I’m in my sisters house I love to pop on a vinyl. The most recent one I listened too was by the artist Rodríguez. I got to know him from the documentary on Netflix ‘Searching For Sugar Man’.
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
You can find me on all social media platforms at @helenmurraymusic and @helenmurray__ for Twitter. I’m most active on Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok and love connecting with new fans.
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
I also have a live music video coming out really soon as part of my new release ‘Move Me’. You’ll be able to catch it on Youtube once its released, so you can subscribe to my channel to keep updated. Thanks for interview, I really enjoyed it!
