{"id":995,"date":"2019-10-01T17:07:27","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T16:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/?p=995"},"modified":"2019-10-01T19:40:19","modified_gmt":"2019-10-01T18:40:19","slug":"interview-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/interview-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: HORSE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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She\u2019s been writing and performing for over 30 years. Q Magazine described her as having \u201cone of the finest voices of modern times…\u201d Horse<\/strong> has nine albums under her belt and many classic songs in the back catalogue, including the iconic song Careful<\/em>, (covered by Will Young). INSIGHT Magazine was thrilled to catch up with Horse ahead of her upcoming gig at The Beacon Arts Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did you choose the name Horse? Do you use in everyday life? Or is it only your stage name?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been Horse for over 40 years \u2013 banking, passport, birth certificate. My mum and dad called me Horse \u2013 \u201cMy name is Horse, soft and strong!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are your biggest influences?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always say that my biggest influences have been the least obvious ones \u2013 possibly the things I have soaked up like a sponge in my formative years. My dad listening to opera and various classical composers, from my mum Frank Ifield, Andy Williams, Dusty and Shirley and the ones I recognise \u2013 Joan Armatrading, Sparks, Kate Bush Marc  Bolan, David Bowie…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your song \u2018I Am\u2019 from your album HOME really moved me. The image of a girl \u2018knee-high to a grasshopper\u2019 having her wee heart broken really struck a chord. I loved how the song turns from this tragic image eventually to a really empowering anthem. Can you tell me a little about where those lyrics came from? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s from my own personal experience as a child growing up never pleasing my parents in particular, my dad. In effect it\u2019s about that one universal desire that we all have to be loved for who we are. Out of love for the child we enforce what we believe to be best for them, at times we crush their spirit\u2026 but they will still love us regardless. We keep fighting for our voices to be heard and for love\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the ancestry front, I have discovered my mum and dad lived in Gourock in the 50s… My most recent discover is that I have many more rellies in Greenock…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You were recently involved with the Radio Scotland Singer Songwriter Award as a judge. Can you tell me a bit about it?<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was proud and honoured to be on the judging panel for the inaugural BBC Radio Scotland Singer Songwriter award with a stellar group of people from across the Scottish Music industry – Promoter Geoff Ellis DF Concerts, Fran Healy of Travis, Karine Polwart singer songwriter (in charts recently with her brilliant album \u2018Scottish Songbook ) and Dee Bahl  manager (ex Biffy Clyro). Scotland has such a rich songwriting tradition and the idea was to encourage and give \u2018would be\u2019 writers something to aim for. It had all the \u2018right\u2019 elements in it. It was about finding a song and a writer to give them the opportunity to move up into a different level. I was blown away by the experience. The first wave of entries were whittled down to 19 and given to us judges \u2026  each person had performed an original song and a cover. It was very, very difficult to choose. We were pretty universal on our top ten. Out of those, the public then voted for the top four. We then had the even more difficult task of choosing the winner at the live final, broadcast from at St Luke’s in Glasgow. Davie Scott (Pearlfishers ) mentored the writers in the final weeks. It was fascinating and exciting to see the development in them all. Our winner was Mike McKenzie from Edinburgh. His song \u2018Love like this\u2019 is classic and a bit of an earworm\u2026 he will be recording at the BBC, and has a slot at TRNSMT next year. I have just invited him to open for me at my first big 30th<\/sup> Anniversary shows at Queens Hall in Edinburgh in November. For Mike this is really just the beginning of a what I am sure will be a successful career as singer songwriter – a very worthy winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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