Sarah Carton - Interview

Sarah Carton combines soft, delicate spoken word with whimsical and nostalgic chorus’s to create a sublimely blissful listening experience. Her debut single ‘Beaches on the Thames’ has amassed an impressive stream count across Spotify, and her latest single ‘Lemon’ is following steady in its tracks. The future looks bright for the young British musician. We caught up with Sarah to discuss her influences, writing habits, and the future of her musical career.

Hi Sarah, it’s great to get the chance to chat with you. Your latest single ‘Lemon’ recently dropped across all major music platforms. The lyrics revolve around losing the interest of a crush just as summer begins. What was the inspiration behind these lyrics?

Hey, it’s so great to chat with you too! So ‘Lemon’s about a time a few years ago when I found out a guy I’d been seeing was trying to get with another girl. I went away with some of my close mates from school and being surrounded by them completely healed me. I was full of their positive energy and they reminded me of my worth. The song’s a love song to female friendships and the empowerment those relationships can bring following a breakup.

The video for ‘Lemon’ is just as nostalgic as the bitter sweet lyrics. What was the thought process behind setting the scene on a netball course surrounded by your girl mates?

It kind of follows on from the lyric inspiration. I went to an all-girls state school and messing around with friends in PE is one of my favourite school memories. I wanted to channel that coming-of-age and carefree feeling in the video. I decided to choose an all-female cast and crew featuring my friends so we could just play and have fun. It felt like a real celebration of female friendship.

The video feels very 70s inspired. Do you find yourself gravitating to that era for any particular reason?

I definitely have a soft spot for 70’s fashion and music. It mainly came from when me and the video’s co-director, Sophie Abramovici, were mood boarding for the video. There was this amazing vintage photo of a girls netball class in the 70’s with them all leaning back on a wall with one leg crossed over the other. We used that as the main inspiration for our styling and one of the shots of us in the video.

Your writing is extremely poetic and personal and is laced with a ‘dear diary’ sense of secretiveness. Are you a writer who notes down ideas for lyrics as you go about your day to day business, or do you usually set aside specific times to sit down and write a full song?

It really depends on the song. Most of the time I get a melody in my head while I’m out or doing something around the flat and just record myself singing it with random words. From then, I get an idea of what I’d like the song to talk about and then start drafting the lyrics on my phone notes. I also do loads of free writing and spoken word writing on my notes as a kind of therapy when I’m struggling with something. These often become the basis of the spoken elements of songs or even whole tracks, so it is very personal as writing is how I work things out in my head.

Who have been your biggest musical influences growing up?

I loved Kate Nash when I was a teenager and her way of blending spoken and sung elements in her early albums was a huge inspiration to me. I had her ‘My Best Friend Is You’ album on CD and would listen to it before school every day for a while. I was also a huge fan of The Streets which got me into producing on Garageband when I was a teenager, I think that influenced the more bedroom beats style of my tracks. Some other singers I loved were Lykke Li, Tirzah and Banks, who I think have all influenced how I like to sing quite softly.

You also play guitar. How long have you been playing, and do you usually produce your own music?

Thank you for saying I play the guitar haha, I’m learning slowly. I self-taught myself a few chords when I was a teenager. I can play piano but didn’t do too well with lessons, so that’s mainly self-taught as well. I recently did a master’s degree in music production, so I produce my own tracks to demo standards. I then work with other producers to build on it and mix them, as I struggle to mix my own vocals. I love producing though and want to keep learning. I produce a lot of music for other people’s projects.

Your debut single ‘Beaches on the Thames’ was produced in your bedroom. What does the set up of your home studio currently look like and is that your preferred way to record?

For Beaches I was in lockdown away from my flat with no proper equipment. All I had was an old cheap USB mic, a laptop and logic. It was recorded under a drying rack with a couple of duvets draped over for sound proofing, so I can’t believe it’s done so well. I still don’t use much fancy equipment. I record at home in my wardrobe with a duvet for extra sound proofing and use a relatively cheap condenser mic and interface. I’ve recorded in a studio a couple of times but the vocal actually sounds nicer in my home setup. I like recording in my own space and in my own time, it makes it sound more intimate.

What have been your proudest musical achievements to date?

I think Beaches landing on a big Spotify editorial playlist in it’s first week was crazy. I had hardly any Spotify or social following and having recorded it the way I did, I had no expectations for it to get that many streams. And ‘Lemon’ being added to Spotify’s New Music Friday was also mad. Aside from that, Beaches was a runner up for Selfridges and Norfolk Sculpture Park’s ‘Tune Into Nature’ prize, which meant a lot to me as I really care about climate change and environmental issues, so was so happy they could hear that element in the song.

Has the pandemic had an impact on how you promote your music? If so, what creative ways have you managed to get around it?

As Beaches was my first proper release on streaming platforms, I only really have experience releasing music in a pandemic. It’s been hard not being able to gig with the music, but I’ve been able to do some live sessions which has been a pretty great way to get that feeling of performing live and connect with people. I can’t wait to perform them live properly.

Do you have any plans to tour in 2021/2022?

I’ve got a few gigs in the works now so I'm very excited to announce those soon. I’m just working on the set at the moment and writing a load of new music for a bigger project in the pipeline for 2022. Might be doing a couple festivals next year too. I have a feeling 2022 is going to be a really fun year for live music, I can’t wait to get in front of an audience again.

Follow Sarah Carton: instagram.com/sarahcarton_

Words: Jessica Holmes