Clara (rhymes with Sarah) Barker is a singer/songwriter/guitarist hailing from The Isle Of Man, a small island in the Irish sea between England and Ireland. She was born on 28th June 1977 and her earliest memories of music are bouncing in her high-chair whilst her dad played Elvis Presley and The Kinks records.
Despite this early introduction to music, Clara didn't actually pick up a guitar and learn to play until she was 24! Like all songwriters, she had ideas in her head and decided that playing an instrument was the best was to get them out. Her first song, Space Cadet, came just seven weeks after learning to play!
Her favourite artists and musical influences are far too many to cite, but include Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel, Mumford & Sons and The Wonderstuff.
Clara's first album, Indigo, was recorded over a two and a half year period at Oatsey's Peg Too Studio in Douglas, Isle Of Man. It was produced by "Captain" Phil Reynolds and Clara. Very strange things happened in that studio as several of the songs also include unedited studio conversations and a lot of giggling! Fun was obviously had. Some may called this "unprofessional", I just think it adds to the album and shows that artists and producers are not always as serious as you would think!
Indigo was officially released on 1st March 2010, however, due to supply issues with the CDs and problems communicating with iTunes, the albums actually arrived about three weeks late!
Sadly, as with most first albums, there were a few songs that either didn't fit or would have made the album too long. One of these was called The Bees Song and it just didn't fit what had finally been decided on the sound for Indigo.
Although she is obviously as fan of them all, when asked to pick a favourite off Indigo, Clara responded "I don’t have favourites per se, but the one that never fails to make us smile is Care of Princess. We recorded it as a spare in case we didn't have enough songs to make an album and Cap’n Reynolds threw a couple of drum beats and a phat bassline at her and she took the lot. I vamped out some harmonies, some improvs and a whisper track and we had ourselves a trance mix in no time at all. Just like magic ;)"
Clara's relationship with Phil Reynolds started long before she picked up a guitar. She was 15 and he was the manager of the music shop where here then boyfriend worked. She used to hangout in the back room and drink coffee, she wasn't allowed to touch the guitars back then! Although the relationship with the boyfriend faded long ago, her friendship with Phil Reynolds has lasted the test of time.
You'll notice earlier I referred to Phil Reynolds was "The Captain", this is not a military title, Clara calls him this because they are both big fans for the Joss Whedon sci-fi show Firefly and he just happens to have the same last name as the lead character!
Clara's latest album, Fine Art & The Breslins, is due for release on Star Wars Day 2014 (or May 4th for those who don't know!). This album also took about two and a half years to record and produce. There is nothing left over this time, everything is on the album with no spare tracks. What come next its a mystery, especially to Clara!
The unusual title comes from three of Clara's good friends. Artist Juan "Fine Art" Moore and brother and sister Seven and Sue Breslin. And being the creative type allows you to "borrow" things from wherever you want! ;-)
When asked to pick a favourite song from the new album Clara said "Right now it’s different every day. I’ve just finished the hardcore listenings on different speakers that comes right before sign off. Right now the track that is making me smile the most is Love (Fill My Heart). It’s all bouncy and just so happy in my ears!"
Of course, Clara's fans were not left entirely hanging for two and a half years, she toured in that time, promoting Indigo, and released a live EP entitled "Hard Work And Whisky".
