UK and Canada-based musician and home recordist Claire Bradshaw started her music career as a small 7-year-old with a large cello, and played in several UK youth orchestras. Swapping her cello for a guitar aged 15, she started her first band - their debut gig was playing Squeeze covers at the school assembly. She went on to play synths, guitar and bass for various bands in Nottingham UK, and Toronto, Canada. Ephemera builds on the eclectic styles and witty lyrics of her debut album 'Stories That Never Happened', this time with a guitar-driven edge. The 15-track album also includes two tracks co-written with, and featuring DIY recording legend R. Stevie Moore.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Claire Bradshaw, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
I started playing music at age seven – we were offered music lessons at school. Most of the kids chose to learn the violin, but I had to be awkward, and put my hand up for cello lessons. I had no idea what a cello was! I played for eight years, and got into a few youth orchestras. I didn’t enjoy it much to be honest, I never practised. By the time I was 13 I decided I wanted to be a rock star, and begged my parents for a guitar. I certainly practised that a lot more. A few years later I started my own band, and gave up the cello.
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
I’m not sure! I work for the comedy show Trailer Park Boys, which is a lot of fun but hard work. I work on my music in the evenings and go to bed around midnight!
Your latest release is 'Ephemera'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
Ephemera is a collection of songs I’d been noodling for a few years but never got around to recording, plus a few tracks written and recorded last summer. The most wonderful thing happened during the middle of recording it – I was invited to Nashville by home recording legend R. Stevie Moore to work a few tracks. We had no idea where we were heading, but we ended up with a 30-track collaborative album, Five Stars. It’s currently available at R. Stevie’s Bandcamp, with plans to do more with it in the future. Two of the tracks from that, Cracking Up and Moontrash Dreamgirl are also on Ephemera. Cracking Up is doing the rounds on college and indie radio at the moment, which is great.
I also changed continent last year – I moved back to Canada from the UK, and my instruments and home studio were stuck in a shipping container for a few months. I was very pleased to see them arrive in one piece.
Where did you get the inspiration for this album?
A lot of inspiration comes from random thoughts and one-liners that float into my head. They provide a jumping-off point for a lyric, and I never know where it might go. For example, I was in a local bookstore when I saw a book in the self-help section about polyamory, and I thought ‘Oh how modern, it’s all the rage!’. Then I went home and wrote Let’s Be Modern.
How long did you work on the 'Ephemera'? Was it an easy process for you?
Some of the songs are 3 or 4 years old, others like Let’s Fall Out Of Love Again were recorded a few months ago. So collecting songs took a while, but recording was less than a year. It would have been a lot sooner without my transatlantic relocation.
How do you know when a work is finished?
Tracks are never really finished, you just get fed up with them or run out of time!
Can you write what was your best performance in your career? How do you remember it?
I played a gig in Bedford, England where the audience were not really interested in listening. There was a lot of noise and rain was hammering down on the roof, so I started getting louder and more animated to compete with it. By the end of the set I was really enjoying myself, and so was the audience! It was a great lesson in confidence.
How do you find yourself in the music business? When you started out in music, did you know it would be like this?
When I was a teenager I thought it would be easy – write good music, work hard and have a good attitude in the studio. A record deal awaits, right? I didn’t reckon on the music industry being so messed up. It’s even worse now. Record labels aren’t interested unless you’ve got a crazy number of TikTok or Spotify followers – isn’t promotion their job? It’s easy to get disheartened, and think no-one’s listening. But you never know what’s going to happen next. Crazy random stuff keeps happening to me.
Who is your favourite musician?
I know it’s a kinda obvious choice but Paul McCartney is god. Not just for his songwriting talent and bass playing, but the incredible story of his life. I can’t get enough of The Beatles. Also because he reminds me of my dad – he was a fellow Liverpool lad, and hung out at the Cavern Club when The Beatles were leather-clad rockers. Macca’s like part of the family!
What are your plans for the future?
I’m heading back to Nashville next week to record more stuff with R. Stevie. Lots of work but great fun, he’s a musical genius! I’d like to play live again soon – COVID put paid to my gig plans – so it’s time to get the guitar out again. And then, on to that difficult third album...