#7 - Castle Hughes
#7 - Castle Hughes
I’ll know I've made it when strangers know all the words to my songs.
Welcome back everyone for this Friday edition of Small Ears! This week we are interviewing a young artist of Western Australia called “Castle Hughes”.
Why this name you might be asking ? You’ll have your answer (and more) in her interview right now!
As always, don’t forget to follow the artist socials (at the bottom of the article) to keep up on their new release.
Can you present yourself in a few words? Where is your artist name coming from?
Hey, I’m Castle, an 18 year old indie pop singer-songwriter from Perth, Western Australia.
The artist name Castle Hughes, I decided to use it as I wanted something other than my real first name and my parents and I were having a conversation about how there's a trend going around at the moment for pseudonyms coming from places you were born. Unfortunately no, I'm not a princess and wasn’t born in a castle, however my parents did get married in a beautiful castle in Ireland, hence the name.
When did you start your musical career? What motivated you to start it?
My music career started when I was very little, my parents enrolled me in baby ballet class and then I learned the violin. From there I hopped around choirs joining the Australian Girls Choir and singing in FRINGE festival with Peter Combe the children's artist. The West Australian Performance School I danced with and took singing lessons with for a couple of years in middle school then danced competitively with Vanguard Performing Arts. I was definitely more of a dancer growing up but I do remember always getting told of for singing the lyrics to all the songs, which as a dancer you are definitely not meant to do.
My mother was the one who originally told me that I should professionally record some of the stuff I had written over the years and that’s where this started.
What genre of music do you play?
Most of my songs are pop covers and my original music has been described as Indie Pop genre. I listen to and am inspired by a huge variety of music like ABBA, Billie Eilish, Nirvana, The Beatles and The Beach Boys!
Is there an event, an artist or a band that inspired you?
I am always so enthralled when an artist performs for a massive crowd. My first ever concert was Delta Goodrem in Perth in 2016 and she performed on her birthday for her Wings tour! The way the crowd knew all her songs was so inspiring. Her story and battle with cancer is an incredible one. I’ll know I've made it when strangers know all the words to my songs.
Is your music your principal work? If not, what else are you doing?
Currently I study full time at university for environmental sciences majoring in wildlife conservation, I also work as a laboratory assistant and a children's entertainer. Girls gotta make a living
Where do you perform most of the time? On which platform is your music available?
My music is available on all platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud just look up Castle Hughes.
I currently have no live performances lined up (at the moment) but looking to change this very soon.
Where is THE place or country you would like to perform ?
I would LOVE to perform in LA and the UK
What are the songs you want to share with people that don’t know your music?
My latest single release is called FairPlay, it’s a Kate Bush inspired “Stranger Things” vibe song about a blow up I had with my family.
What is the song you are the most proud of?
My very first single release Moving On, I am just still in shock I pushed myself to publicly release it and I am so glad I did from receiving such a warm response.
What are you using to record your performance ? Are you doing everything by yourself ?
Blondel Recording studios and Artisan Music Studios with the help of producers Chad and Simon I have been able to produce top teir quality music, that is Mastered by Chris Genenger at Stirling sound in the US.
Do you have any new songs in preparation? If so, can you give us a little hint about it?
I have several new songs currently in the making wheather to be released as singles or an EP/album is yet to be decided.
I recently went through a big break up though so you can expect some scream your lungs out car jams.
What are the places where people can follow you ?
I am on all social media platforms under @the_castle_hughes and my webpage is
https://www.castlehughes.com.au/
So get in contact with anything you want to ask or say to me.
That’s it for this week ! What do you think of her songs ? I have a preference for “Moving On” but what about you ? Feel free to comment or ask a question to the artist right here
Find us also on Twitter and Instagram - @thesmallears
Hi Kryze,
Always keen to discover new artists (so loving your newsletter), but you really got me on this one at Western Australia, as my favourite band of all time is The Triffids (with David McComb being one of the 'musical mavericks' featured in my book).
Of the two Castle Hughes tracks I prefer the latest single, it sounds like her sound and voice have both matured.
PS Given musical discovery is your thing, I think you'd love my music appreciation themed novel being serialised at https;//chalenge69.substack.com Give it a try (subscription's free).
Tim