“I think anyone who decides that they want to honour music as something that they’re going to pursue, it’s highly unrealistic,” she laughs. “It’s one of the hardest paths, really. I used to do music for a while, and then I’d go back to school and do sciences, look at completely different careers, and then decide to take another year to write. I didn’t really know that you could make a living doing [music], so it was never really thought of as a plan. Every time, I was doing it more out of wanting to, out of enjoyment. I think that’s good though, because I didn’t have any expectations. So I’d go back and forth, thinking about some professional career that was going to sustain me. So when the music did take off, it was a real surprise.”
After hearing some of Ford’s recordings – her cover of Bob Dylan’s One More Cup Of Coffee a recommended place to start – any resemblance of an alternative career path, or a divergent timeline absent of critical musical acclaim, is a distant memory. Between her former band and solo output, Ford has six albums now to get lost within
While Ford talks, the conversation becomes interrupted as her children return from school. The impact of her family seems to sit at the forefront of her art; the encouragement of her own mother and children regularly dots her observations.
“I think it’s funny for me, because no matter what I do, I’m going to have a certain amount of my mum in my voice. Her side of the family are really into country. I had a soul band, but when I started writing songs, they all came out sounding country no matter what I said. I think it’s malleable though. People are down on people for imitating, but that’s how we absorb a style and then make it new. I think in my years as a singer, there have been so many singers I’ve listened to and studied, and they will all influence your sound to a degree. I’ve definitely heard people who can sound like anybody without really having their own thing. I think you need to be able to absorb, and then mix it inside you and put it out as something new.”
Even though her introduction to music was somewhat circuitous, Ford’s passion for song has deep roots. She is proud of the lineage of artists who have influenced her own development, and adamant there are likely many more inspirations yet to come.
“I don’t know of any music that isn’t a link in the chain. We imitate each other so much. My mum comes from a strong lineage of music. I used to sing with her from a very early age, and she’s had a huge influence on my sound. But I also grew up listening to soul music, so I think whatever you’re paying attention to and thinking about, that stuff comes through you later on. You’re carrying forward that sound in a certain way. I think that happens back and forth, even across countries. Like how the British really responded to soul music, and reflected back their version of rock’n’roll. It’s part of a chain all across the world.”
BY ADAM NORRIS
