Project Description

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Have you always wanted to be a musician? When did you get the song writing bug?
I always enjoyed singing at home as a kid – my mum had a nylon-string acoustic guitar and taught us 4 kids old folk songs and how to harmonise. When I was a teenager, I discovered Aretha Franklin and from then on you couldn’t shut me up. I’d practise those high notes in my bedroom after school for hours. The boy I had a crush on dared me to audition for the school band as singer and I got the part – you should have seen how much my hand shook holding the mic at graduation ceremony singing ‘Respect’! After a while I got tired of being the singer who didn’t know what the heck the band were talking about (keys, chords, etc.), so I took up piano, then guitar, and immediately started writing songs. I was about 17 then and haven’t stopped.

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think fans resonate with your music?
My sound has evolved over time. I’m curious and restless in nature and feel it’s important to stretch myself – to explore and push my own boundaries. So, this new song, ‘Wild to be Sharing This Moment’ is sonically pretty different to anything I’ve done before. It’s more cinematic in scope, droney (lots of synths), and the drum sound is big!
*I think* some people who listen to my music appreciate the themes I write about, plus the vulnerability and emotional honesty in the messaging.

Composing and performing the theme for Wallander must have been a big deal. How has that been a positive, and is it still?
It was actually a song that existed before it was used in Wallander. I was playing a house concert at a friend’s and the composer; Martin Phipps was there. He was working on the score for Wallander and when he heard my song, Nostalgia, felt it would be a good fit as the theme tune for the show. We re-produced it to fit the sonic palette of the series and the directors loved it. I was entirely D.I.Y at the time the show was broadcast but, due to the popularity of the series and it shining a light on my song and me, I was then able to put a team around me (management, booking agent, etc.) Suddenly I was selling out shows, selling out of ‘Despite the Snow’ CDs (album with Nostalgia on it) from my Bandcamp page, on the front of MySpace (remember that? Hi Tom), being booked for festivals, etc. It was an incredible opportunity and continues to be through bringing people to my music and creating more work in writing music for TV and film. 

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today? 
So many! Big Thief are my new favourite band (only discovered them a couple of years ago). I adore Phoebe Bridgers. PJ Harvey. Aretha Franklin. Flyte. Arlo Parks. Nils Frahm. Abdullah Ibrahim. Angel Olsen. Kevin Morby. Carole King. Ryuichi Sakamoto. The Band. Joni Mitchell. Tré Burt. Elizabeth King. LOW. I could go on…

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Your new single ‘Wild To Be Sharing This Moment’ has just been released! Describe its origin and evolution. 
I wrote most of the lyrics for this song whilst waiting for a train at Kings Cross station in London. I was people-watching and suddenly overwhelmed by how vulnerable and complex we all are: how we’re informed by the place and circumstances we’re born into, our inherited stories from parents and ancestors, our culture, race, religion, relationships, experiences within and beyond our control, and then influenced in the moment by whether we’ve had our first coffee, if we slept well, a message we read on social media from a stranger, the weather, the news…The war in Ukraine had just started and it was all feeling very intense, much like it is right now in Gaza, and I felt this surge of emotion, compassion towards my fellow human beings, towards all those suffering in big and small ways. I’m an advocate for keeping conversation alive across divides, for trying to approach each encounter as an opportunity for connection. We must find our common humanity to make the world a safer, better place for us all to live in during this “thimble of time” we share. That’s where this song comes from.

Is there an EP or Album on the drawing board?
Watch this space.

You are in the middle of a tour atm? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
I’m opening shows for my good friend, Frank Turner. We’ve known each other for almost two decades and been touring together just as long. I’ll be playing the new single ‘Wild to be Sharing This Moment’ along with another new one I’ve been test-driving. But otherwise, ya know, all the hits (LOL)

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why? 
I’d be a voice in the choir that backs up Aretha Franklin!

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What are your long-term aspirations as a music artist and how are you progressing towards them?
I just want to keep challenging and keeping things interesting for myself, honouring the creative process, learning about the world and about people through doing that.

With that in mind, what piece of advice would you give to an artist starting out? 
Honour the creative process. Make that the most important part of it all.

Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – I’ve never loved a man (the way I love you)… by Aretha Franklin
Artist – Phoebe Bridgers or Patti Smith
Movie – Rabbit Proof Fence   
Place to visit – hometown: Bridgetown, Western Australia
Venue to play – Union Chapel, London
Food – dark chocolate
Drink – Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
Person in History –  Rosa Parks

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Tour Dates

17 Nov – WELLINGTON Hunter Lounge
18 Nov – AUCKLAND Studio
21 Nov – CANBERRA The Basement
22 Nov – SYDNEY Enmore Theatre
24 Nov – BRISBANE The Tivoli
26 Nov – MELBOURNE The Forum
28 Nov – PERTH Astor Theatre
29 Nov – ADELAIDE Hindley Street Music Hall

Emily & Frank will also appears at Queenscliff Music Festival on 25 and 26 November.

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Follow EMILY BARKER
Tik Tok – Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

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Press Release 20th November 2023 (below) HERE

EMILY BARKER
releases poignant new single
‘WILD TO BE SHARING
THIS MOMENT’

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AMNPLIFY – DB