Freya Beer is a fresh face on the alternative music scene, blending together poetic lyrics with punky guitar riffs to create an exciting new sound.
Poetry is important in Beer’s music; however, she tells me it was only recently that it had a large impact upon her. The musician is currently studying at university and in her first year was introduced to the bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke. Clarke is celebrated for writing poetry that is witty and down to earth and Beer explains how she was “blown away by his words and presence”. For her, Clarke sparked a “new interest in poetry that lead to exploring new areas including 19th century French poetry and just digging deep for inspiration”.
Beer’s musical style is alternative rock with heavy guitar riffs. She details that what is appealing about this musical style is the performative aspect. Beer modestly announces that she is “not the best singer in the world” but likes the combination of her voice and music as the sound produced is “unique”.
The artist has received continual support and praise from BBC Music introducing (Solent), providing the first airplay of the excellent single ‘Bike Boy’. The song was released on the poet Charles Bukowski’s birthday and the lyrics themselves reflect Beer’s interest in poetry. The line ‘you’re just another bike boy/ a cycle tart with your toy’s’ is particularly striking. When asked what her writing process is like, Beer explains that “It’s different every time. Sometimes if I’m messing around on my guitar I come up with a riff and I build lyrics around that. Or sometimes it’s during the day when I overhear words or read something and later note it down to put into my writing”.
‘Six Months’ is Beer’s latest offering, released on Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday:
“This has been a continuous theme of mine for releasing my singles on influential people’s birthdays- who have influenced me and my music. The new single was inspired by the painting ‘Proserpine’ by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Rossetti and the Greek mythology behind it.”
Beer modestly announces that she is “not the best singer in the world” but likes the combination of her voice and music as the sound produced is “unique”.
She continues: “I also created my own artwork for both ‘Bike Boy’ and ‘Six Months’, through painting both pieces on canvas. I am inspired by artists such as Dali and Basquiat and chose to create the artwork for both singles because of how I wanted to design something that had a unique stylistic approach. This is something I hope to continue and explore further with future releases, and due to this I had used the artwork for ‘Bike Boy’ on my latest range of merch – T-shirts & Stickers.”
Beer released a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowing in the Wind’ on SoundCloud. The track begins with an ethereal rendering of the chorus before a guitar riff leads into a punky rendition of Dylan’s classic. She explains how her main musical influence is Patti Smith as Smith introduced her to “using poetry and spoken word in music”. It is this “idea of combining the two” that appeals to Beer’s own musical style.
Other notable influences include Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds as Beer explains how she loves his vocal delivery and admires that “his words are not always sung but often spoken”.
She continues: “I have always had an interest in French Pop, such as Françoise Hardy which has ultimately led me to explore similar French artists of the same genre including Serge Gainsbourg who has influenced the way I present my image with his creative output towards being a trailblazer at that time”.
As a young and upcoming artist, it is exciting to hear what else Beer has in store. Over the next few months we can expect the release of an EP and a new music video.
Be sure to listen to Freya Beer on SoundCloud and follow her on Twitter @freyabeer, Instagram @freya_beer and Facebook @@freyabeerband. She has also released merchandise including t shirts and stickers which are available via this link: https://freyabeer.bigcartel.com.
Phoebe Berman
Header Image Credit: Freya beer on Facebook