Interview: Celine – online launch party of new single, Hide Away, August 7, 2020
✳Hide Away- online launch party- details✳
✅ Date: Friday, August 7, 2020 at 7pm
✅ Duration: About one hour
✅ Platform: On Celine’s public Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/celinemusicsa/
✅ Tickets: No charge but donations appreciated via https://busqr.co.za/streamer/celine/
* To buy or stream the single and where to find Celine on social media, scroll down
Dynamic South African singer/songwriter Celine is releasing her new single, Hide Away live on her Facebook page on Friday, 7 August from 7pm. Hide Away was placed in the Top 10 of the Barleycorn Song Writing Competition 2018 and here it is in 2020, for us to enjoy. Tune in and join this Cape Town based artist as she sings Hide Away, followed by a Q&A with her fans. There is no charge, but donations will be appreciated via Busqr. To get into the vibe, check out her album, Blue, which was released in 2018. When asked how she would describe her music, she says: “It is a blend of pop and rock with some elements of blues and adult contemporary. I enjoy a variety of genres and different elements from different styles, so that influences my writing to a great degree. A lot of my newer stuff is leaning more towards pop, and I am moving towards a more modern pop sound, but there are still hints of my influences in my writing.” Read on to gain insight into the work of this young singer. Click into the launch party.
Lockdown interview: SA singer Celine, talks about her new single, Hide Away
TheCapeRobyn: On Friday, you are releasing Hide Away – a single. Can you talk about the song? Is it you solo, playing and singing?
Celine: It is a fully produced track, with an acoustic pop type of sound. I do the vocals and I played some of the guitar parts as well as the bass guitar in the recording. The rest of the instrumentation was done by session musicians. Funnily enough, I have actually never met them. They are session musicians that my producer works with and hired.
TheCapeRobyn: At the launch, you will play the song and then take questions?
Celine: It will be a live stream performance where I will be do a short set of about 30 minutes. I will play my original songs and maybe a cover or two, and end off by performing Hide Away. Viewers can ask questions throughout the live stream if they’d like, and I will answer throughout. I will also be telling some stories about the song and the writing and production process, etc and any other fun topics that come up.
People will be able to comment on the live stream feed which will be streamed from my Facebook artist page. I will be live streaming from my home setup. I quite enjoy the “comment” aspect of live streams as it’s a cool way to directly engage with the audience and answer questions etc.
TheCapeRobyn: You started performing very young. Where was your first public gig?
Celine: It’s tricky to say haha. I started vocal training at age 11 and did some shows as part of the singing school’s end of term concerts. So the first time I ever sang on stage was at age 11, I remember it was at a restaurant. I can’t remember the name, unfortunately. Through the years, I did some small shows with the singing school and local competitions to gain performing experience and grow as an artist/performer. I started doing professional gigs in the music industry from about 2017.
I can’t remember where exactly. I had been performing at various shows and events throughout the years, so it didn’t really feel like a “debut”, if that makes sense? The transition from smaller shows to real industry shows went quite smoothly.
I played a few really cool festivals in 2017 which is where I started to officially break into the professional live scene. I remember that I played a gig at The Vic Bar on Kloof Street in 2017 as part of the Unknown Legend event hosted by Sit the Folk Down, and that was a turning point for me as it was one of my first official gigs in “the scene”.
TheCapeRobyn: After school, did you study at a university or college?
Celine: I studied performing arts after high school. It was a three-year course at The Stage Performing Arts Studio. The course covered vocals, acting, dance and musical theatre, as well as other aspects such as writing and directing. It was quite intense, but it was what I love to do and I learned many valuable skills during that time which helped to prepare me for the industry. During that time, I also continued with guitar, bass and drum lessons so that I could complete my Grade 8 Rockschool qualifications for all three of those instruments.
TheCapeRobyn: How would you describe your music in terms of genre – or is it genre crossing?
Celine: It is a blend of pop and rock with some elements of blues and adult contemporary. I enjoy a variety of genres and different elements from different styles, so that influences my writing to a great degree. A lot of my newer stuff is leaning more towards pop, and I am moving towards a more modern pop sound, but there are still hints of my influences in my writing.
TheCapeRobyn: Hide Away is the 2nd single that you planned for 2020 and there is also a 3rd?
Celine: Yes, Hide Away will be the second single release for 2020. We released the first single for the year, Call Me at the end of February, before everything changed, haha. We launched the Call Me music video on April 3, during lockdown. Luckily we had filmed it in February.
We do have a 3rd single recorded which I originally intended to release this year as well, but a lot of things have been delayed due to lockdown so we are still deciding when would be the best time to release the third single. We may look at a release date for the 3rd single in early 2020. I do have a couple of other things planned for this year still which will most likely go ahead and which I will announce soon.
I am really looking forward to releasing Hide Away. It is a bit different from my previous work in terms of production and sound, and I’m excited for everyone to hear it!
TheCapeRobyn: Great title – wow – Hide Away– for me that evokes a sense of us all been hidden away. We have been hiding. With all the despair and mayhem, I wouldn’t mind hiding away, right now. Insights into the song?
Celine: I wrote Hide Away about my experiences with anxiety and overthinking. I tend to overthink a lot, and sometimes it feels quite overwhelming and it’s difficult to open up about it. The song expresses the need and longing to feel heard and understood and to find solace from anxious thoughts. It also expresses the euphoria that one feels when one can finally open up about what is bothering them and feel heard. I believe it is so important to face your inner demons and talk about what is bothering you with someone you trust.
TheCapeRobyn: Was Hide Away written before lockdown and the pandemic or was it written during lockdown?
Celine: I actually wrote Hide Away two years ago and entered it into the Barleycorn Song Writing Competition where it placed in the Top 10. I planned on finally releasing it this year, but of course didn’t expect lockdown and all that to happen so it’s quite strange how the song turned out to be almost “fitting” for the times we currently find ourselves in.
My other releases for this year were also written before 2020. For now, we are still going to release a few singles, but I am working towards a new EP or album. I already have an idea for the direction I want it to go and what I want to call it, I just need to finish writing the songs.
TheCapeRobyn: Regarding lockdown, there were a number of live gigs on the slate – March 1 at The Waterfront; other gigs in Claremont, Boschendal and a big one on June 28 Quay Four, opening for Majozi. That must have been heart breaking – to have all of that cancelled?
Celine: Yeah, there were a lot of really cool shows lined up that got cancelled, which was extremely disappointing. It’s taken a while to grieve that loss and accept the situation. But I have faith that those opportunities will come by again.
I haven’t had any new gigs confirmed at this stage, I think it is too soon to call. I think it may still be a while before things are really up and running again, so we may just have to wait it out in terms of gigs. I will still be doing some live streams and regularly releasing content online. I’ve been using this time to really focus on my online content, which is an aspect I really enjoy doing as well.
TheCapeRobyn: Can you tell us about your lockdown? Have you been writing, composing?
Celine: I’ve been focusing a lot on content creation and sorting out various admin things. I have also been learning a lot of new things such as how to record at home. My producer and I had to do most of the production of my new tracks via Skype in early lockdown days, so I needed to learn fast.
I honestly haven’t been in the right headspace to do much proper writing, it’s such a strange time and my creative energy has been geared more towards content creation during this time. I’ve managed to come up with a lot of rough ideas for songs, and I think once things start to calm down and become more stable in the world again, I will be able to focus my energy better on developing the new song ideas.
TheCapeRobyn: What is next for Celine?
Celine: I’m excited to see how the Hide Away release goes. I still have a few things planned for the rest of the year, I may even drop another surprise release…
I’m hoping to get back to performing live soon, but we will have to see how the rest of the year pans out with the current situation. It’s so difficult to predict and plan things at this stage, but we continue to adapt as things shift and change.
I’m definitely going to keep releasing content, and I will continue working on my new song ideas and just keep pushing forward, growing and building the brand.
✅ Purchase or stream: Hide Away:
Streaming Site Links for Hide Away:
Or click on the Smart URL link – for all the streaming and buying options:
https://smarturl.it/streamhideawayhttps://smarturl.it/streamhideaway
✅ Celine on social media:
· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celinemusicsa/
· Instagram: @celinemusicsa
· Twitter @celinemusicsa
❇Image credit: Supplied.
