Introducing #161 - Emma Halpin
Let us introduce you to Emma Halpin, a folk artist from Manchester - who has just released her new track ‘Cupid’. The single is the third track off her debut album, she took a moment to talk to us about her music and her home city of Manchester.
Hey there Emma, how are you?
I'm doing great thank you ! I'm about to start my second year of music college at the British and Irish Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) in Manchester soon and I'm busy making more videos.
You have just released your track ‘Cupid’, can you tell us what the track is about?
The track 'Cupid' is simply about being afraid to fall in love with someone again. Throughout the song I describe what it would be like having a conversation with the Cupid, known as the Roman God of affection, and hearing what he would have to say about the doubts of love. The whole song ultimately tells a story, through a conversation with Cupid, about how love can sometimes be over-complicated and the fear of them leaving can be often overwhelming when in actual fact there is "so much more than just today" (as the last line of the song states).
Any behind the scene stories from the recording process?
In recording this song we really wanted to capture a really stripped back sound, unlike most of my other tracks. For this, my father played guitar and I sang on either side of a Black Ops Extinct Audio ribbon microphone and recorded the song in just one full take. Of course there were several takes before we had the final one and it probably took us a couple of hours but I am really glad we decided to record that way as I think we really managed to capture the raw and emotive aspects of the song by just having an acoustic, minimal track.
You are based in Manchester, what is your favorite thing about the city?
Manchester has honestly been such a great place to grow up and I've definitely immersed myself more into the city this past year with my music college being right in the centre of the city. Going into Piccadilly Station every morning has definitely made me appreciate the business of this city, the music scene is also great with iconic venues such as Band on the Wall. It's honestly such a vibrant place to be.
Your first single was written when you were eleven years old, you are now seventeen. Despite being still quite a young age, do you feel a little bit like an industry oldie?
Yes, so I released my first original single when I was just 11 in my first year of highschool (year 7 in England) and it was called 'Smile' and my dad produced it for me all from home. Ever since then really I have found myself getting more and more into the craft of songwriting and I have been writing and releasing ever since. I released my first EP (the Homebase EP) back in 2018 and have just released my debut album 'Cool Cupid' all produced and written from home which is crazy to me. I turned 17 not too long ago on the 31st of August and yes I often find myself comparing to larger artists who have accomplished a lot greater things who are around my age. I definitely would not consider myself an industry oldie just yet though haha. There's still so many songs to be written.
As an artist, you classify yourself as a self proclaimed Bedroom Bop Producer - can you tell us what that means?
By 'Bedroom Bop Producer' I mean all of my songs I have ever released have been made up and mastered completely from home ! My dad, being a musician himself (Dominic Halpin), has been able to help me out a lot with learning how to play and produce myself using Logic Pro X and I find it awesome that we have been able to create all the music ourselves this far.
Who are your key musical influences?
At the moment my key music influences are quite varied but if I had to pick a top three I would definitely say The Carpenters, Don McLean, Rex Orange County and Alec Benjamin as I really like their songwriting styles and I find myself listening to them way more than I probably should be haha.
Now this single is out there, what next for you?
Well, the song 'Cupid' is part of my latest debut album 'Cool Cupid' which just released on all platforms ! At the moment I am definitely writing a lot of songs and I have actually been planning a Christmas song for the end of this year. My album definitely gave me something to work on during lockdown but now it's released I am putting more focus towards singles so you can for sure expect a lot of singles to come.