NE HOT SEAT: FAYE FANTARROW

This week we’re continuing our brand new feature on Tipping Point – ‘NE Hot Seat’ – where we sit down with some of the region’s brightest talent on a monthly basis, shine a spotlight on their latest work and find out what they have planned next.

Next up we have Sunderland singer-songwriter Faye Fantarrow, whose recently released her latest single, indie-pop offering ‘Noughties’. With a ton of acclaim across the region and beyond greeting her early releases, the 2021 recipient of the esteemed Alan Hull songwriting award is readying herself to make big moves in 2022 so we sat down to chat about what she’s got planned. Delve in below!

 

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Tell us a little about yourself and your career in music so far?

Hiya, I’m Faye Fantarrow and I’m a 19 year old singer songwriter from Sunderland. For me my “music career” started when I was 17 with my first single release ‘Lines’. I was very lucky to have a really supportive network around me from the likes of Laura Brewis at Young Musicians (a local music project) to Nick Roberts and Lee Hawthorn at BBC Introducing Newcastle. From that release I’ve been fortunate enough to play some incredible gigs and be the 2021 recipient of the Alan Hull songwriting award. Obviously COVID has had a huge impact on the music scene affecting everyone in different ways but hopefully things are on the mend and I’m looking forward to 2022!

What can you tell us about your latest release? ‘Noughties’ was very much a love child of my want to create what I feel is a soundscape of the modern day but also to add fuel to the fire of the Millennial vs Gen Z feud just for my own entertainment! I recorded the track at Blast Studio in Ouseburn with my producer John Ashton. I feel like I had a clear idea of how I wanted ‘Noughties’ to sound, so much so to the point I was making mood-boards to try and get across what I had in my head to John and in fairness to him he took the assignment and ran with it to make the song everything I wanted it to be and more. Aside from it being quite an upbeat track, I still wanted there to be purpose underpinning the track and that purpose for me was to create a parody of the 21st century and the state of the climate we live under where accountability is never laid at the doors of those at fault but rather scapegoated with us Gen Z’s.

What inspires you most when it comes to creating music?

The everyday is the biggest influence for me! All you have to do is switch on the 10pm news and a song can just come naturally from everything you see. I always tend to write from the perspective of the personal but the subject matter of my songs will always be observational. It doesn’t matter how removed from a situation I am, I’ll try to write a song about it. I’ve always felt like if you’ve been given a platform, regardless of how big or small- you should use that to promote the voice that you’d want to be listening to and with that raise points be it social or political that you’re passionate about.

How did you find the recording process and how did it shape your sound?

The recording process always excites me, it’s the part in which you can either craft that final image you had in your head for the song or completely let go and watch the song transform into something more than you though it could be. The biggest way I feel its influenced my sound is by giving me an open mindedness with my music; it can go one way or another but either way if you as an artist are happy with it then you’re doing something right!

What else can we expect from you this year?

For the rest of this year I’ll be placing heavy emphasis on writing and recording, just to take the time to see what other chapters are opening within my music. Hopefully this can lead up to a busy 2022 for us all with PLENTY of gigs.

Where can we find you on socials and keep up to date on latest developments?

I’m on all social medias: Insta: Faye Fantarrow / Twitter: FFantarrow / Facebook: Faye Fantarrow / Spotify: Faye Fantarrow