Frequently Asked Questions

Are you French?

No not at all. No french blood. I’m actually Irish. With family from all over the world. But I speak French, and I lived and went to boarding school for some time in Lyon in the south of France, when I was a teenager.

Why the name “Carly Sings”? is it your real name?

No.  It’s not. It was a combination of things. There was no myspace page available with my real name, so I invented this one. My first concert poster had “carly sings” on it, then it sort of stuck.  I was also listening to a lot of Chet Baker, and one of my favorite albums is called “Chet Baker Sings”. It’s that decisive moment when he started to sing as well as play trumpet. I never thought I could sing, I was trained in Classical piano, and I only started to sing solo when I was 20.

When were you born?

In the nineteen eighties. Best decade to be born in!

When I was little I listened to Extreme’s More than words about 80 times in a row one Sunday afternoon. And Duran Duran’s Ordinary World.

How many instruments do you play?

Guitar. Piano. Anything with keys on it.

How did you become a singer-songwriter?

A strange series of coincidences. Buying a guitar and not knowing how to play it.

People heard me onstage and invited me to record. I suppose myspace helped. And then the bigger the concerts the more people wanted to know about me and hear an album. The press started talking about me, and invited me on the radio and the telly.

Your first album?

It’s called The Glove Thief, it was released in 2008/2009. You can buy it on itunes in music stores etc. If you can’t find it in a shop near you, you can always order it directly from Bandcamp by post.

What about the new album?

I started writing it at the end end of 2008, and erm 3 years later, I have chosen the 16 songs I really want. Most of it is already recorded and it will be coming out very soon! You can check out some of the demos from it on Soundcloud. I released a single recently from it, called “O’Milanta”.

What have you been doing since 2008?

I went to New York for a bit, moved to Paris, toured the first album, decided I needed a break, started making films. Wrote and recorded a lot. Started a project with fellow singer-song writer Richard Walters called Le Parade or The Parade. Fell in love.

What about your obsession with The Beach Boys?

I would say I’m much more of a Beatles fan. Even the Doors. Or the kinks. Even when I was a kid I would listen to sixties bands I recorded off the TV, in documentaries. But somehow I never really liked the Beach Boys.

In the summer of 2010 while I was lying on the beach, a friend gave me his ipod to listen to and I put on the Beach Boys’ 1971 album “Surfs Up”. I guess I found something in the melodies and the poetry that really moved me. I started reading up on their entire history, evolution, read the biographies and started collecting all their records. I even wrote about it. That led to a curiosity in Garage music from the sixties and other more obscure bands.

Does that mean you don’t like music unless its from the sixties?

No not at all. Although no one can deny that it was one of the best decades in Pop music. I love many other bands and composers from many other moments including the present, the list is endless, it would cover many many pages. But I love talking about music. I wanted to be a music journalist when I was fifteen. I even wrote for music mags when I was a student. My claim to fame was getting  a fake letter published in a very big British music mag pretending to have had an affair with a member of Blur. I also got to interview lots of musical heroes as a writer.

 What makes you write songs?

 Lots of things. Mainly people, confusion, and being inspired by other people’s words or artistic work.

Do you do anything else apart from writing and recording songs?

Yes. I make films. Little ones. Big ones. Music videos. I write stories, scripts and have a half written novel waiting to be finished.

You can check some of the film stuff out @ 12hourproductions on Vimeo.

Did you ever act in anything?

Yes.

 How does some-one contact you if they want to interview you or book you or ask you for your voice to feature on a recording?

bandcamp or at  info@carlysings.com, and you will be redirected to the necessary people.

Your up and coming projects?

Check in with my website and my blog for news. Apart from the new LP, I’ve just written a French album, and I’m working on the sound track to my movie. I’m also singing with French group “Nouvelle Vague”.

 Who do I contact if I want to use one of your songs in an ad or a movie?

Big House publishing in New York take care of 10 of the songs from the first album. For any other questions about other recordings or for general enquiries please write to:

info@carlysings.com