10 Questions with Stephanie Cheape. Having releases her newest single ‘Queen’ which is about Self love. Absolute acceptance. Confidence in every gender. We got the chance to have a chat with Stephanie about her journey, and struggles with lockdown.
1. Thanks for your time Stephanie, how is life treating you today?
Life is good. I’m healthy, on a good frequency & releasing new music and happy to be doing so!
2. For our readers who don’t know you, could you tell us a bit about your musical journey?
I started writing music from my bedroom (classic) and was obsessed by the realism in lyrics from artists like Lily Allen, hard Fi, the specials and that inspired me to try be a very relatable writer. I taught myself guitar online basically and it just grew from there, I wrote all these demos and submitted them to a radio station who were looking for unsigned acts. They shortlisted me and I went on to win Scotland’s best unsigned act which was bizarre to me… I opened the music awards to a room full of the artists and industry people. That night I met one of my managers, from then on I went to write with other artist, tour and create my sound. Now I’m here releasing my music.
3. You won your first Nordoff Robbins award 3 years ago, how did your life change after that?
That night was like stepping into the real music industry. Quite literally my whole life changed that night. The people I met in that room are now like my family and I owe so much to them for believing in me.
4. Looking forward, you’ve just released your brilliant new single “Queen”, can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the song? Is it personal?
The song was co written with Ross McNae and Sam McTrusty of twin Atlantic. We had written one other song together and loved it so we went in to write this track fresh. The guys really empowered me as an artist and encouraged me to push the boundaries and that’s what this track was about. It was about self confidence and I wanted to write and sing with the confidence of a front man and take it to a new level as a front a front woman. For me, the track is about the power of confidence regardless of how you identify.
5. You’ve talked about struggling throughout lockdown. What has been the most difficult part of it for you?
I struggled with the everything I was working on the last few years stop all of a sudden and the difficultly of being on your own for so long: I always enjoyed my own space and company but I found With no distractions that can be tough over time. I’m glad I got through it.
6. You’ve also mentioned it inspired your writing. Can you expand on that a bit?
I love to write and I found I discovered who I was as an Artist. I think I really wanted to home in on what I was feeling during lockdown and try and create something that made others feel good.
7. In terms of new music then, what can we expect from you in 2021?
In 2021 I will be releasing a lot of new music I’m hoping to tour as much as I can and meet LOTS OF NEW PEOPLE!
8. What have you learned about yourself as a person and a songwriter from your experiences during lockdown?
I learned the depths of my strength during lockdown and I was also able to focus on a more positive mindset and the power that that has in music can make you create something special.
9. Just for fun now, if you could be an animal for a day, what animal would you be and what would you do with your 24 hours?
I love animals so this is a great question if I could be any animal for a day I would definitely be a Cat. I’d be climbing trees, causing havocs. Yeh a cat, I love cats hahaha.
10. Thanks for your time and good luck for the year ahead. Just to finish, you said “I can’t wait to be in the atmosphere of live people enjoying life.”, what is the first thing you’re going to do when life returns back to normal?
I am going to travel, meet new people and attend every after show. Always .
You can find out more about Stephanie at www.iamstephaniecheape.com
