We caught up with English musician, Lucy Spraggan, to talk all things music including her upcoming album, inspirations, and touring!
1.) Hi Lucy! How are things?
Things are fabulous, thank you! It’s nearly Christmas!
2.) How’s life been since the X-Factor back in 2012?
It’s been a crazy few years, I have to say. I’ve really enjoyed the whole experience though, I’m feeling slightly more on this planet then I did a couple of years back, it’s been a stressful ride but I’m in a really great place now in my career and my personal life.
3.) What/who inspired you to become a musician? Where did your passion for music come from?
I used to love watching my local ‘club acoustic’ where a bunch of old blokes would sing Country/Americana songs, I loved the stories and where they could take you. I always loved to write and it was the only thing I could see myself doing really! I played my first show at age 12 so I suppose I was focused from then onwards.
4.) Your new album, ‘I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Writing’ is being released January 27th – would you say it differs from your previous work?
I wrote this album because I felt like writing it. I think with my other albums (the last one more so) I rushed some of the songs and wrote some that were chasing radio play. This one is just about my life at the moment, it’s more of a diary than anything else. This album made me love writing and recording again, which makes me incredibly happy.
5.) You released ‘Dear You’ earlier this year to bring attention to mental health and why it’s important to reach out– why did you decide to write a song like that?
I wanted to get people talking about mental health more; there are so many people out there suffering in silence because there is such a stigma surrounding it. I’ve been working with some amazing organisations to help spread the word and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved. I took parts of how I’ve felt in the past and put them into the song, I don’t know if I could have written it without going through those times so I suppose some light came out of that darkness.
6.) What personal attributes would you say are most important to being successful in the music industry?
Kindness, perseverance and patience. A lot of patience.
7.) What would you say is your biggest achievement so far?
Being able to do what I do. In this day and age it’s bloody rare to do music full-time, I’m very thankful for that I do.
8.) You have a lot of tour dates coming up in March next year! What do you love most about touring?
Meeting everyone, I love all the old faces and the new ones. I love being on a tour bus, I love playing live… I could go on! I always want to cry at the end of a tour. It’s incredible.
9.) What are your plans for the future?
We’re heading across Europe on this tour (so exciting), we have some plans for being in the USA and Australia next.
10.) What advice would you give to any aspiring musicians?
Keep going, be confident, take advice and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Check out the video for Lucy’s, ‘Dear You’ which was released earlier this year! Grab the tissues…
