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| Mary Morgan at Open Mic UK |
Hello and
welcome to my blog! Stereo Spotlight is a site dedicated to the exploration of
unique, interesting, breakthrough and legendary music. Aimed at the music
lover, this blog will not simply comment on artists or songs but will look
deeper at the stories and inspirations behind the melodies.
One semi-regular
feature that can be found on this blog is the Artist Spotlight section. In
these articles I will take an in-depth look at those who put their art into the
public domain. Often this will involve an interview with up and coming artists who
sit at the very roots of music. Too often talented artists are forced to give
up on their dreams due to a poor level of exposure. This blog will offer musicians
a platform to reach new listeners and hopefully recruit more fans.
I am kicking
my blog off with an incredibly talented artist. Mary Morgan, known to some as
Mary Williams is the front woman of De La Rue; a band that her and a few
friends formed whilst at university. Mary is in her final year at The
University of Reading, studying art. The half American, half Welsh singer who
was brought up in Brussels and France finally landed in the U.K. at the age of
17 where she found friend and guitarist Ryan.
“I couldn’t have done anywhere near as much
as I have done musically without Ryan, we’re very much a team. Ryan and I
started playing music together back in 2011, my first year at uni. We started
off with the odd open mic night around Reading, then we were noticed by a
promoter who now organises gigs for us locally. Since then our music has just
seriously escalated. I applied for Open Mic UK, a UK wide singing competition,
sadly we didn’t win but we did get to the grand final. It was crazy! It really
boosted our confidence and gave us great exposure.”
Since the
Open Mic UK competition Mary and Ryan have been gigging around the Reading area
and now have a second promoter. Mary has also applied to audition for The Voice
UK 2016. She is a very humble character but her passion for music is clear for
all to see.
“If I'm honest, I have never really thought
I'd have any sort of a career in music. I always knew I loved making music and
singing, but I only really ever saw it as a hobby, that's still how I see it! I
think that's the reason why me and Ryan are doing so well. We're making music,
doing gigs and entering competitions because it's fun and what we love doing. We're
just having fun and taking every opportunity that comes our way. If we started
taking ourselves too seriously and stressing out too much about our music I
reckon our whole vibe would change. If people can tell you're enjoying what
you're doing, they'll enjoy it too.”
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| Ryan Arch |
The one
thing that I really wanted to know more about is what made Mary into the artist
she is today. Every musician that I have ever spoken to has told me that being
an artist goes deeper than simply having an interest, it goes back to their
childhood.
“The first memory I have of singing was when
I lived in France, I must have been about six or seven. I started singing ‘Somewhere
Over the Rainbow’ and my dad told me I could actually sing. This was the first time
my potential was noticed. I've been brought up surrounded by music, my dad is
pretty much a musical wizard and can play any instrument (even ones he hasn't
played before - no lies). My mum can sing too, she used to be in musicals.
“I grew up with some classic music: The
Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Mammas and the Pappas, Sting. It's
definitely influenced my own music. Ryan is also a huge fan of old school rock
and blues too so we make a pretty good team, we're like-minded people.
“When I was a young teenager I didn't really
appreciate this type of music. As I grew up and started writing music with De
La Rue, it's as if something clicked and then I understood why the classics
were so great. I learned to appreciate the composition of the music, the lyrics
and the skill shown by the musicians. Though I have to say, my taste in music
is very broad, there's very little I don't like.
“One of my favourite songs has to be ‘Green,
Green Grass of Home’ by Tom Jones, my mum used to sing it to me because she
said it was sang about me – ‘Down the road I look, and there runs Mary, hair of
gold and lips like cherries’.”
I wanted to
get to know more about Mary as a person, what her day to day life is like and
what she does when she isn’t gigging.
“At the moment my days are pretty mundane
because I'm in my final year of uni. I split the week into three days of uni
work and two days of my job as a barista. I spend the weekend with my friends
and boyfriend, I think it's very important to have some leisure time. Me and
Ryan tend to play music together an average of twice a week depending on the
number of gigs we have, how much time we have till our next gig and if we are
writing a song. We always make an evening out of our practices and get some
wine in; we like to keep it fun!”
I have
listened to a number of songs of Mary’s as well as having seen her live but
wanted to know what her favourite track is. What it is that she really loves to
perform.
“Rip Curl for sure! Ryan and I originally
wrote Rip Curl for the full band. We had a full band with our drummer Jake and
our bassist Silky but people have since graduated and moved away from Reading.
Me and Ryan have now reverted back to our roots, though we were definitely
influenced by the band. It would be great to have a comeback gig with everyone,
we had a crazy amount of fun together. Back to Rip Curl… Like I said we originally
wrote it for the band, so it was a bit rocky and was fully electric. Me and
Ryan have recently rewritten it acoustically for a gig and we are so proud with
how it turned out! I'd also recommend our take on ‘Make it Wit Chu’ by Queens
of the Stoneage, me and Ryan love playing that one.”
So what does
the future hold for Mary?
“I don't think anyone can really say what
the future holds for themselves, I just hope I'm happy really. In a few years
I would hope to have moved to San Francisco; that's the dream. I would love to
be a guidance counsellor for children and young teenagers but I need to have
music in my life. If the opportunity came along for me to lead a comfortable
life because of my music, I'd jump at it. As it's such a difficult industry to
become successful in realistically I see myself working with and helping kids
who need it.
“My greatest dream is to just be happy,
comfortable and emotionally fulfilled. As long as I'm helping people and I'm
independent, I'll be happy. I've often said that one of my goals is to have a
house with a cupboard full of different types of tea and a proper Barista
coffee machine, it's the little things that matter!”
Want to hear
more from Mary? Of course you do! Follow her on Twitter and Facebook:
Twitter:
@MarMorgan3
Facebook:
Mary Williams
Also check out her very talented guitarist Ryan Arch:
Facebook:
Ryan Arch
