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Calton Kelly talks to Chasing Tunes about his new No 1 chart single ‘Chaos’

Calton Kelly is influenced by classic film scores and artists like Lana Del Rey, Muse, Radiohead, Tori Amos, Metric, Lady Gaga, Queen, Sia and Sarah Slean.

Calton Kelly has already received national U.K Radio support from BBC 6 Music, BBC introducing and has supported acts like Nathan Grisdale, The Vim Dicta and Exit Black.

The new single ‘Chaos’ features well respected singer Patti Lowe, who sings backing vocals and is also well known for her feature vocals on Grace’s “Not Over Yet’.

Calton Kelly will be playing live on the following dates:

1st May – Earlsdon Street Festival
10th May – The Nursery, Coventry
22nd May – The Shed, Leicester
28th May – Warwick Food Festival
10th June – Coventry Pride
11th June – Coventry Pride
25th June – Bromsgrove Food Festival
8th July – Godiva Festival
23rd July – Kenilworth Food Festival

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The new single ‘Chaos’ by Calton Kelly was produced by Stevie Paul at Phoenix studios ( Blue, Miss Dynamite and The Sugababes) and will be released on 19 June 2017 with distribution from Universal Music Operations.

The single has already hit NO 1 on the Kings of Spins DJ chart run by BBC Radio One essential Mix creator and Cafe Del Mar legend, Eddie Gordon.

CHASING TUNES INTERVIEW – CALTON KELLY

Chasing Tunes has the pleasure of meeting up with this incredible singer/songwriter and the results can be seen below.

How would you describe your sound and music ?

I would probably describe it as cinematic trip-pop. I definitely take a lot of inspiration from trip-hop and trap music in terms of rhythm and the atmosphere that it creates; I love anything spacious and hypnotic. But I tend to think of the songs as little movies and when we’re producing the tracks, we’ll talk about them as though they were soundtracks – where the strings need to create tension, where the resolution comes from etc. As for the melodies, I think they have a lot in common with classic pop music – I like to think they’re pretty robust and memorable.

What is your new single ‘Chaos’ about ?

Chaos is about putting yourself into a situation you know to be destructive but you still hope you can resolve. I was actually in the bath tapping a little beat on the side with my hands when the line “Cushion your fall on my lips” fell into my lap. I probably carried that around for a few months before it ever really grew into anything. There was always this sense though that the word Chaos would be attached to the melody in some way. Over time though, I started to understand that line as an innate plea for order that probably wasn’t achievable and then I reflected on some of my behaviour in past relationships. Once I understood that internal conflict of wanting something to work but knowing it likely wouldn’t, and going towards it anyway, the rest of the song started to come together.

Tell us about your creative process ?

I write all my songs on the piano originally. Sometimes I’ll demo them in Logic in advance of going in to a studio, in which case I’ll have other arrangement and production ideas already lined up and sometimes I’ll just go into a studio and play it out on the piano. But we always track the piano first. When it comes to production, it’s usually a collaborative process since I find that the songs can be quite stubborn and they’ll have already come to me with a lot of arrangement ideas that I can’t detach from like a string section or a synth line. I find that when it comes to adding other instruments, it’s best to talk to the player and really try and express your vision to them. For example, when we recorded Chaos, a wonderfully talented string player called Nicola Hutchison came in and we discussed Hitchcock’s films and the role of the string to create tension and release; she really tapped into that energy and drove a lot of the conflict and resolution in the arrangement of the song.

Do you have a particular song writing method ?

It really varies – some songs just fall on you like a house and it’s an immediate, kinetic process. It quite literally can take your breath away. Other times, it can be a very frustrating and time consuming process. Most of my ideas are a few words attached to a melody and I usually have to run to a piano and get it down. Sitting at the piano and manually, consciously trying to write a song never really leads anywhere for me. I’ve also found that sometimes the song ideas can have a precognitive ability where an idea forms in your head, fades from view for a little while and then something happens in your life that brings that idea straight back – it becomes relevant to what you’re going through and then the rest of the song unlocks.

Name of your producer / studio ?

“Chaos” was produced by Stevie Paul down in Harlow at Phoenix Studios.

Calton Kelly Online:
www.facebook.com/caltonkellymusic
www.instagram.com/caltonkellymusic
www.twitter.com/caltonkelly
Youtube channel ID : Calton Kelly