Hanging out with the Soulful Cara Hammond

Soulful solo artist Cara Hammond recently caught our attention with the single 'NO'. Spending almost half her life writing and performing, we caught up with the young Welsh singer to chat about sharing the stage with the likes of Gregory Porter, growing up in a house full of music and how the lyrics that come to you while sitting on a train are sometimes the best. Harry Upton writes.

Thanks for your time Cara, can you tell us about how you got into music? 

My mum and dad always used to play music around the house on the weekend which started my love of listening and dancing to music but I got into creating my own music when I went to my first guitar lesson when I was 11. I loved that I could create a song and play it instantly to family and friends.

Your latest single 'NO' has a powerful message, was it difficult to write?

‘No’ was written after I travelled to Prague with my friends for a little holiday and we went to the 5 story club for a night out. Whilst we were there some boys were dancing with us and must have got the wrong message and asked us back to theirs. We said ‘no’ and they didn’t like it and one got quite nasty. So I came home and wrote this song quite quickly because I wanted to stand up for myself and other women.

The video is great, was it fun to make?

Thank you! It was so so much fun! I got to travel to Paris and saw some of the sights, it was amazing! I loved the team we were working with as well, they were so hardworking and talented. It really was a great experience

As an accomplished writer, do you have a method or is it more spontaneous?

It depends. Sometimes I just sit at a piano or guitar and just create a melody first and then the lyrics but this can be quite difficult. My favourite songs are when I’ve just thought of a lovely lyric whilst sitting on a train or having a conversation with a loved one

You recently performed at Love Supreme, tell us about that?

It was such a dream! I still can’t believe I performed there, especially since artists such as Nao, Gregory Porter and Laura Mvula also performed there! I had such a great time and luckily was able to enjoy the rest of the festival too which was really cool.

So what is coming up next from you?

Busy promoting the new single and just continuing with writing more material. I’m due to go to a few songwriting camps too, both in the UK and abroad. I’m performing at the North Leeds Food Festival on 22nd July and I’m supporting the Undercover Hippy at the Hifi Club, Leeds on October 22nd too.

What can we expect from your live shows?

A mixture of pop, soul and folk and a mixture of full band and acoustic performances. I’m also a very honest performer and I like to talk a load of rubbish between songs so I guess if you like that then I’m for you!

Sounds good to us! Finally, what stimulates your soul?

Hanging out with friends and family, travelling with my boyfriend and writing my own music

You can find out more about Cara Hammond and stream her music here