Abi Clements is that artist who has caught my attention the second I heard her voice resonate through the streets of Brighton on a rainy day of The Great Escape Festival last May.
On November 17, she released her newest single “Get Go” and has taken the time to share her journey, musical evolution, and insights into her creative process in an exclusive interview. With an upcoming EP in January, Abi Clements is set to prove herself as an artist unafraid to embrace the authentic and the real in every note whether through groovy vibes or through her Adele-esque ballads.
Miriam Boulos: So, Abi, first off, you are a Brighton-based artist. Brighton is a place I absolutely fancy. How do you like it? Is it an inspiring place to be in as a musician, artist and songwriter?
Abi Clements: I am from Winchester. I lived in Winchester forever until I went to uni and I started uni in Brighton. So now I've lived here for two and a half years. Compared to Winchester, Winchester is a lovely place, but it's musically not very active. Being in Brighton is so much fun but obviously, really competitive as well because Brighton is literally a music hub. So, there's a lot of competitiveness, you have to work hard but the connections you make in Brighton are so good.
MB: And when did you start songwriting? What sparked it really?
AC: I started songwriting, probably when I was like, 13, they were pretty bad, but like, probably, because I went to stage school. I did acting and singing, like all types of dancing and singing. I was attached to singing more so I went into that more. Then yeah, I just started writing really rubbish songs and just showing them to my mom. *Chuckles* But when I was 16, I think I went into a singing competition and then from that singing competition, someone was there and they contacted me and said that they wanted me to be like a young artist, songwriter for a sort of campaign. I did that for like, three months at River studios in Southampton. That’s when my songwriting was actually getting better because I was working with other people and producers. And I released my first song at either 15 or 16 but it's all deleted now. But yeah, it's nice to see how far I've come though because that was years ago now.
MB: Moving deeper into the now and your songwriting today, your newest single “Get Go” is out now! Are you excited about this one and what can you tell me about it?
AC: I'm really excited for “Get Go”. It’s taken off my EP, and it's probably the most different one compared to the other ones. The others are more ballads and a bit more slow, whereas “Get Go” is kind of the anomaly of them. I'm really excited to see the response to that compared to “See Straight” especially.
MB: “Get Go”is a completely different vibe than your first single “See Straight”? Is there a reason for the shift and how did this change come together? Can you share more about your interest in exploring different musical genres, and how you navigate these shifts in your creative process?
AC: Yeah, well it's because I love artists like Olivia Dean, who has like really groovy bass lines and I thought that that is something that I want to get into more anyway. I thought, “Let's dabble in that sort of area, see the response and see how it does.” I kind of want to do all sorts of music really like Adele style and Olivia Dean. I kind of want to merge the two of them.
MB: I can tell that this one has a groovier sound and as you said it builds off of Olivia Dean’s style. Were there any other specific musical influences that played a role in shaping the sound of “Get Go”?
AC: I’d say primarily Olivia Dean for the bassline and stuff but Adele always gets carried into my music anyway, because I've listened to her since I was so young. My songwriting style, I'd say it's quite Adele-esque because it tells a story and it's all very raw and completely true stories. I think that probably gets carried through “Get Go” as well. But maybe Jorja Smith and Lola Young with the cooler, more chilled R&B, groovier songs.
MB: What does “Get Go” symbolize, or what’s the message you’d like to convey through this one? I know you wrote your previous single “See Straight” when you were going through a rough patch. What does this one translate?
AC: It's not a rough patch, “Get Go”. It's kind of like, I'm dealing with things but it's okay. It's about a “friends with benefits” situation, he didn’t want anything. But then, he acts as if I'm his girlfriend and he thinks that he has control over me. This one’s kind of like a boss bitch song that's like, “don't ask me what I'm doing”, like “piss off”. Yeah, so it's kind of a more “boss bitch song” rather than “I'm really sad.”
MB: We love to see that, super refreshing! Now with “Get Go” moving more into the boss bitch direction, how do you envision your artistic direction evolving from there for future releases? Are there specific themes, genres and sounds you're eager to explore or you're going to stick to?
AC: Yeah, well so on Spotify, my description is “exclusively writing songs about shitty boys to make myself feel better,” and that is literally in a nutshell this EP that's coming out in January. It’s all about boys, relationships, and the bad side of the relationships, not gonna lie, apart from “Get Go”. “Get Go” is the nice one.
The other two that are coming out are really Adele ballad piano, ballad songs. I want to be seen as an artist that is really authentic and just speaks the absolute truth. Like, I'm not afraid to out people in my songs, you know, I want people to be able to relate to them and cry to them and, you know, have that song to rely on to put them in those feels when they are feeling the way that I was feeling. So, they're all very raw songs and that's what I want to carry on through whether it’s more groovy songs or more ballad songs, just keeping that raw storytelling-like lyrics behind them all is my most important thing.
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MB: I know your EP is coming out in January, will you be playing any festivals or concerts next Spring or Summer then?
AC: Let's hope so. I'll definitely be having a release party for my EP, which will be a nice intimate gig with some other musicians as well, which we're working out at the moment. So that'll be at the end of January. But for festivals and stuff, I'm definitely going to be applying for the most. So, let's hope I play some festivals next year.
MB: Looking ahead to the rest of the year, what can we anticipate from you next?
AC: The most exciting thing is my EP and just continuing to write songs and hopefully more singles. I think after the EP, I'll be writing and collaborating with other musicians and still working out what sort of genre to do. So, lots of new songs, hopefully lots of gigs, festivals, and just see how it all goes. It's really exciting. So, yeah, looking at all options…
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