We are joined by British indie pop singer songwriter, Carley Varley, in the light of her latest single release, ‘Shore’.
Carley began her musical journey of songwriting and playing guitar and piano at the age of 14. At 16 years of age, she was discovered busking in the small south UK seaside town of Lymington, which led her to begin playing the stages of London.
Inspired by the likes of Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne and Hayley Williams, Carley Varley fuses elements of pop and indie music to express her catchy and authentic sound.
The latest single by Carley Varley, and final single from her EP, ‘Seasons’, ‘Shore’, was inspired by an experience of watching two friends on the verge of breaking up in their relationship.
“There are many break up songs, I wanted to write about a couple working hard in their relationship and trying to make things work” Carley Varley
The track is a pop inspired song, built on the sound of Ukelele and featuring the stunning and emotive vocals of Carley with harmonies that send the song soaring.
You can listen to ‘Shore’ below:
Would you like to start by telling us a little about yourself?
Carley Varley is my real name, this is always the first thing I tell people.
I’m a pop artist based in South Coast England and I love writing songs about relationships in life.
When I’m not recording or writing music, I love spending time with my family, friends and two dogs Chester and Obi.
I also love baking, watching anime and swimming!
What was it that first inspired you to begin a career in music?
I always loved music, the first album I ever bought was Avril Lavignes Let Go album!
I always wrote songs from that point on.
I also loved Taylor Swift and I would always write songs from the age of about 12, I started learning guitar at 13 and piano at 14.
I kept to myself though, I never performed in front of anyone until my last year of school.
I was so shy and I didn’t think I could do music because I wasn’t confident enough.
I went to University to study History and whilst I was there I started busking on the street, it helped me with my confidence and eventually after people inviting me inside to perform, I’m now a full-time musician gigging every weekend.
I always adored music but what truly inspired me were the people around me, my husband Matt, my Dad, my Mum and my siblings.
They were always so encouraging and thanks to them pushing me, I ended up pursuing music and believing in myself more.
How would you describe the feel of your music?
I would say my music is thought provoking and very emotionally driven. I like to leave the songs interpretation up to the listener, I often use very vague statements or the song could have two different meanings.
With ‘Shore’ someone may listen to it and hear a happy song but others may hear the tones of the relationship not working but then they get through one storm in the end.
I also love to write catchy melodies, if the listener is singing my song all day, that’s the goal!
You have recently released your single, ‘Shore’.. what was the inspiration behind the creation of this track?
My friends were on the verge of breaking up, it made me really upset to see them both in so much pain.
I thought ‘this is make or break’ and as I was sat thinking about their situation, I picked up my ukulele and decided to sing.
I wrote Shore in 10 minutes, the words and melody came to me SO quickly. I knew I wanted the song to be about trying to make a relationship work and sure enough, when I played the song to my friends, they loved it and said they liked how honest the song was.
They ended up working things out in their relationship in the end and so I ended the song happily, with them making it to shore and their love for each other being a driving factor in the songs lyrics.
What does ‘Shore’ mean to you?
I’m so proud of Shore, it is one of the few happier songs I’ve written and so I adore it.
I want to write more songs like it, more story telling, more fun and more honest. It was the quickest song I’ve ever written too, so it holds a special place in my heart.
What did the creative process look like for ‘Shore’?
It just happened, it was so spontaneous, not planned at all and I liked that about Shore.
In terms of recording, I knew I wanted the song to be upbeat, have lots of harmonies and just be an all round positive song and I feel the producer I worked with did this well and encouraged my ideas a lot.
Where do you find your inspiration for your music?
I find inspiration in people I would say. I find people so interesting and I often hear stories and love writing about different perspectives.
Artists like Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams inspire me a lot too, I think they are both very talented vocalists and songwriters.
How has the pandemic affected your release?
Covid sadly delayed my Seasons EP by over a year as I had no gigs and I couldn’t afford to record.
The good news is this is the best time to release Shore, during the Spring, where everyone can listen and sing along as summer comes.
What would you like to see happen for you in your music from here?
I would love to get 1,000 monthly listeners, it’s a small goal of mine for now.
I’d love for my music to go viral on Tiktok, people are so creative and create amazing trends and I’d love to be a part of that.
In the future I’d love to be working with a label and releasing more music, writing more songs and hopefully one day I’ll be playing more of my own shows.
It’s a dream of mine to perform and sell out huge music venues in major cities in the UK.
I hope this will happen one day.
What is one message you would like to share with your fans?
I hope that you guys love Shore and that it cheers you up on a gloomy day.
I also want to say thank you so much for supporting me and cheering me on, even when I’ve felt down or unmotivated, you guys have kept me going so THANK YOU!
Where can people find your music?
you can find my music on Spotify, Youtube, Tiktok, Itunes!
Absolutely everywhere, my songs can be found on most streaming platforms.
Karen Harding is a Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, founder of Sounds On The Couch, and founder and operator of boutique music PR service for emerging and independent artists, Rise Indie.