Anna Barrowman
As she releases her latest single Circles, singer-songwriter Anna Barrowman talks to us about making the move from acting to music, recording her upcoming EP and how she’s built an audience as an independent artist.
When did you know that you wanted to be a musician?
I’m gonna give you the cliche answer, which is that ever since I was a kid I loved singing, performing, all of that - I sort of tried to get involved in anything and everything when I was younger. I did lose confidence in singing as I got older though. I studied Musical Theatre at Italia Conti, which involved singing, acting and dancing, but it wasn’t the same kind of music as I loved as a kid - I loved writing songs, listening to quite commercial music, R&B and soul, the kind of music my mum brought me up on. I started to realise I felt like something was missing, and I knew as much as I enjoyed the acting I wanted to be singing again, so I got back into songwriting and wrote a song for the short film I produced, then decided I wanted to get an EP out and properly make a go of it. So that’s sort of where I’m at now. I’d say this is really the first time in my life that I’m properly giving it a go - I think if I don’t do it now I never will.
Do you still act at all?
It’s been a bit of a battle between the acting and the singing, but you do start to focus on one and you want to see where it goes. I would say there was a moment where I was really going for the acting, and it is still there, but it’s not something I’m putting most of my energy into right now. I mean it’s always going to be something I love - the dream would be a role where I can do both, but not in a Musical Theatre sense, maybe in a biopic or something like that. I do think that, in the creative industries, a lot of people end up falling into a career they’ve sort of side-stepped into, not realising at the time it was what they wanted.
When did you decide to write and record an EP?
I’ve always been writing, as it’s something I find very cathartic and it helps me work out where I am, what I’m going through emotionally, but I think about a year ago I fully decided to write an EP and get it out. I had tried once before, but ended up never releasing it, so this time around after I’d finished writing it I held on to it for a little bit to try to figure out what was the best way to go about it, the best avenue to get it out there.
How did you get it recorded as an independent artist?
I wrote the songs over a couple of months or so, and I recorded it with my close friend Alex Rigueiro, who is actually a musician himself, under the name Avi Kytes - we met on a songwriting course at BIMM. He helped me to produce all my songs, and we did it at a studio he often works in in east London. I think we recorded each song in about half a day, so it was very quick! We recorded the whole thing in less than a week, although we did go back and add some ad-libs and harmonies a couple of months later. Then you’ve got the mixing process, and then the mastering was done in a day.
What about getting your music out into the world and building a fanbase?
It’s hard, as someone with a love-hate relationship with social media. I think the key with social media is consistency, and I do drop off from time to time! But there are so many helpful platforms out there now, such as SubmitHub, Playlist Push, Groover - all these platforms that can help you with playlisting, which I think is probably the best avenue to finding a larger audience, because it helps people who don’t know you or your music discover your songs. It’s certainly been helpful for the releases I’ve had so far. I like Instagram, but as a platform it’s kind of “done” in that if you don’t already have a following on there it can be difficult to build one now. But I am still doing as much as I can on there. And I still don’t understand TikTok - I really don’t know what I’m doing! It’s a shame though, as record labels can put a lot of importance on social media and how many followers you have - it’s almost as if it’s not really about the music anymore. It’s the same with acting jobs - they’ll take someone because they’re big on TikTok.
When is your album out? Are you going to be performing live much for the release?
It should be out by May. I’ve been taking kind of a “waterfall” approach, which is where you release it single by single, as Spotify’s algorithm favours regular releases - my latest single, Circles, came out this week. I’m going to be doing quite a few open mic nights and things like that, and I’m working with a booking agent to secure some shows. And that is actually something I have to be grateful for with social media, because it is thanks to my socials that I’ve had people like booking agents and new producers approach me.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I have such an eclectic taste. I love Motown and soul, Joss Stone, Alicia Keys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but a lot of more recent artists too - I love Little Dragon, I went to their concert at the Royal Albert Hall recently, which was amazing. Banks is an artist who inspires me a lot. With many of the artists I love, it’s not just about the music, it’s about the production, their personas that they put on - they do very unique things. I feel like country, guitar stuff is becoming more popular now as well - I’ve been listening to some of that recently.
Words: Scott Bates