Many recognise Claire Littley as the voice behind the performance of ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ featured on ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’; the hugely successful Japanese anime. Her version is an iconic rendering of a classic song which has been streamed hundreds of millions of times across the internet and often preferred to Frank Sinatra’s version. There was a long hiatus in Claire’s music career after her partner passed away following a tragic accident. This has had a deep and lasting impact which saw her withdraw from music. Since starting songwriting just over a 18 months ago she has created enough songs to populate more than several albums.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Claire Littley, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
I used to be a singer a long time ago - there was a long hiatus - but I started making music again at the end of 2020. I'd never written my own music before now, I didn't know I could. I guess there were a bunch of things that took me back to doing music again, but I'm very happy I did.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
There are a couple of people I have in mind. They really have a genuine love for music and work hard at their craft. They are the type of people who don't have massive egos, their main purpose is to make great music for other people to enjoy and give something back to the world.
Your latest song is 'Running Back'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
I've released 6 songs in the last 9 months, so I have been on a 'bit of a mission'...When I first decided to write 'Running Back' it was to challenge myself with something a little different to my first releases and simply have some fun with the music; I thought - “songwriting is so new for me, so why not??” I had a Sax sample I wanted to try that I thought would work well with the genre, this is the first time I've used a sample in my songs. The other thing I found is I'd learnt so much from the first songs, this one felt like the production came together much more easily.
What are you focussing on right now?
I'm happily working away on an album of songs that I plan to release around the end of the Summer /Autumn this year. The production is sounding much more 'live'. I'm trying to keep things minimal to be able to make the transition to performing the songs live. Think super chilled, Sade, soulful, jazzy, type vibes.
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
Ahhh... that's a cool question... depends on what day it is. If it's a music day (vs a work day) I normally wake up before my alarm thinking "Yay - it's a music day!" :)
What is the biggest challenge of being an artist?
I think it's the classic tension between wanting to make great music, balanced with the world we live in and the need to make a living.
How do you structure your day?
I've had to find a way to balance the demands of my day job and songwriting in order to keep the momentum I've had with so many releases over such a short space of time. I tend to work out most days - i realised that way I sleep better, have more energy and can continue the cycle. I'm good at making myself sit down and work on something until I can get it to the best state that my ability allows at that time. I'm pretty disciplined with my whole process - but that doesn't mean that it isn't fun and makes me very happy ;)
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
I'm a designer so I've always loved design and the arts. I'm also into keeping fit - I used to climb a lot, but I don't have the time to do that anymore, instead I go to a gym very close to where I live and work out there. I've really gotten into that in the past 6 months or so.
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
I've started to practice my singing recently and use an app in the morning as I'm getting ready - so it'd be scales that I'm singing in the shower!
What are your plans for the future?
So, the album I mentioned to you is the next thing. Starting to do some live gigs. Maybe looking at merchandise soon too. I've got a ton of ideas! I plan to make a living from making music at some point, so I'm working away on a master plan in the background ;)