Payin' Dues: Clare Free

She might be best known as

Will people see a different side to you with this new album?

Yes and no. My songs have always been about real life, but the songs on my previous album were much more rock orientated and covered the more ‘ballsy’ end of life. The songs on this new album are more about the nitty gritty and closer to home. I’ve had people say to me that these songs make them really emotional. In a way, I’ve recorded this as a gift to my family. There are things I can’t say verbally, but I can turn into a song. I think it’s a beautiful album and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Does this mean you have turned your back on rocking out?

No I haven’t! People will still find me rocking out in my corset and electric guitar. I just wanted to explore another area of my musicality. I’m not just a hard rock guitarist.

Who has inspired you?

For electric guitar playing, my strongest influence is Albert Collins. I spent a long time studying him.

What do you think of the blues scene these days?

I think it’s a thriving scene, although it’s still very much underground. There are lots of bands who are not ‘blues’ playing under this huge, all encompassing heading. It gives young bands a solid platform to make their name and get experience. The bad thing is if they are not actually a blues act, that’s not always a positive label.

You recently launched the Union Of Independent Music Artists. What does that aim to do?

It’s about supporting independent artists in the business field. Independent artists often lack the power the big record labels have. There’s not a great deal of independent music on the mainstream airwaves in the daytime. We are not seeing enough of independent artists in the main media and that is having a knock-on effect on the live scene, because people are not going to gigs. What we are doing is raising the profile of independent artists and helping to bring them to the front.

Butterflies is available via www.clarefree.co.uk.

Latest in
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Latest in Features
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
The Mars Volta
“My totalitarian rule might not be cool, but at least we’ve made interesting records. At least we polarise people”: It took The Mars Volta three years and several arguments to make Noctourniquet
Ginger Wildheart headshot
"What happens next, you give everyone a hard-on and then go around the room with a bat like Al Capone?!” Ginger Wildheart's wild tales of Lemmy, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Cheap Trick and more
Crispian Mills and Bob Ezrin
“We spent seven months on David Gilmour’s boat and almost bankrupted ourselves. But Bob encouraged us to dream big”: How Bob Ezrin brought out the prog in Kula Shaker
Buckethead and Axl Rose onstage
Psychic tests! Pet wolves! Chicken coops! Guns N' Roses and the wild ride towards Chinese Democracy
Ne Obliviscaris
"Exul ended up being recorded at 10 different studios over two and a half years." Ne Obliviscaris and the heroic story of their fourth album