Q&A - Cortnë

Cortnë is an authentic young alt-pop singer-songwriter from Glasgow’s Southside, currently living between Glasgow and Edinburgh, drawing inspiration from past relationships, feminism and religious imagery. With tracks featuring dreamy harmonies, crisp airy guitars and driving drums, it’s easy to see why she’s been championed by BBC Introducing Scotland, BBC Radio Nan Gàidheal, Amazing Radio, Scotland on Sunday and The Skinny.

The young artist has established herself through an array of performances across Scotland with gigs in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Dundee and Dumfries. Cortnë has appeared at Belladrum and the first-ever Dundee Pride, as well as supporting the likes of english duo Medowlark, Lauren Hibberd and ROE at SWG3’s Poetry Club and The Sisterhood at the iconic King Tut’s since starting out.

Cortnë - Eve cover art

Read our Q&A with Cortnë below:

What was the first instrument you started learning? When did you get into music?

I started learning guitar at a music summer club when I was in primary school. We learned Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi and I practiced every night and asked for a Bon Jovi CD for Christmas that year haha! After that, I was on and off getting guitar lessons and teaching myself. As for when I got into music, well that's kind of been around for my whole life. When I was around 4 years old we used to have this big cassette player in the living room and my mum would play the ABBA Gold album on it and I remember hearing it and thinking "I want to do this". I also used to collect the free CDs my gran would get in the papers and learn all of the songs on them off by heart which has led to me knowing the words to some very random songs.

Your recent release 'Eve' is out now. Can you tell us more about this project and the team behind it?

So 'Eve' is part of my debut EP 'Florescence' (out 13/10/23) which I had the pleasure of working with a group of very talented musicians that I am lucky enough to call my friends (Aidan Spiers, Ryan Hughes, Adam Frew, Sabrina Mandulu, Moilidh NicGriogair, Rosi Tudhope, Drew Young, Jamie Reid and Jack Dorrian) it was so lovely to have them all on board. The songs were produced by Jamie Holmes who honestly made them come alive, it was really nice to work with someone collaboratively who just wanted to make the tracks sound as good as they could. Lewis J Smith snapped the single artwork and the EP artwork which I can't wait to reveal. For 'Eve' in particular, Rhianonne Stone has produced the music video which is all about celebrating women! The video is out in September and I'm so excited for it. And for all of the musician admin like PR, gig bookings, radio plugging etc. I do all of that on my own which is a bit crazy with a full-time job but definitely an interesting and important part of the industry to learn about.

If you could change one thing in the music industry, what would it be?

Fairness. It would be really nice to see musicians being paid more and being given more transparency in general. Some people doing great work on this are Pop Girls Scotland, Jo (Josephine Sillars) and Rachel (Kohla) do amazing work to make sure women in Scotland are given a platform and have created such a wholesome community for women in music. There are other artists such as Be Charlotte (who runs female-only songwriting camps), Brownbear (who speaks up on inclusivity in the Scottish music scene), and Sanjeev Mann (who recently started an accessible venue petition) who are all doing amazing things in an attempt to make the music scene a better place to be.

What advice would you give to others like you starting out in their career?

Take every opportunity you can and do what makes you happy. I should probably mention that I work for two youth music projects Music Plus and Hit The Road so definitely check them out too. I myself was a participant on Music Plus when I was younger and honestly without that experience I genuinely don't think I'd be doing what I am now.

If you could trade places with any musician in the world, who would it be?

This is a really hard question haha! I'd like to have the best of both worlds and be someone successful but also someone who could still go to Tesco without anyone actually knowing who they are. I think maybe someone like Lucy Dacus would enable me to live my Hannah Montana dream lifestyle.

When can we catch you playing live next?

My EP launch is on Friday the 13th of October at The Glad Cafe in Glasgow. It's going to be a really special night, there are some very talented support artists yet to be announced and I'll be playing with a full band so it's all very exciting. Tickets are £8 and you can get one here: https://offaxisgigs.com/product/cortne/

Follow Cortnë here

Q&A - Finn Brodie

Glasgow based indie-folk musician Finn Brodie will release his enchanting EP ‘Home Run’ on 25th August, with the impressive debut featuring five emotive, heartfelt tracks that mark Brodie as an emerging talent to watch out for.

In the lead up to the release of ‘Home Run’, Brodie shared the exquisitely rendered single ‘Ready, Set’, a moving and musically captivating meditation on old loves, lingering memories, and new beginnings.

Finn Brodie has been writing songs and playing gigs since he was 15. Now in his 20s, he has relocated to Glasgow and having come out as trans, his songs are awash with emotion and his unique sound is emerging gracefully and fully-formed.

What was your approach to writing and creating this? Can you tell us more about the creative process?

My approach to writing songs has changed a lot over the last few years. I used to write songs about stories I’d heard or my friends' lives and since coming out as trans that has changed completely - now my songs are a lot more personal. I’ve started to use my writing as a way of sorting through the things I’m thinking and feeling.

I wrote these five songs over the last four years, so the EP has been a long time in the making. ‘Thief’, the second single, was the first one I wrote, and ‘Home Run’, the title track, was the most recent. Even though my life has changed a lot over the last four years, I think that there is a really clear theme running through all these songs (even though this wasn’t deliberate!). 

Apart from ‘Sacred’, which I wrote with my amazing friend and musician Sol Edwards, I wrote all of these songs on my own (in my bedroom). I tend to start with chord patterns, then sing melodies over the top and do lyrics last. I think this gives me a fair bit of freedom when I’m writing - I usually have no idea of what I want a song to sound like, and I think when I sing words off the top of my head they’re usually more personal and honest than if I’d written them down first.

I recorded ‘Birthright’ and ‘Thief’ almost a year before I recorded ‘Ready, Set’, ‘Sacred’ and ‘Home Run’. I went into the studio with the incredible Andy Monaghan (of Frightened Rabbit), who has recorded and produced my music for the whole of my career, not really thinking that I’d make a whole EP, but just wanting to get two singles down. Andy is an amazing musician and producer and tends to have a really clear idea of where he wants to take a song, which is one of the reasons I love working with him. 

We recorded the title track from the EP, ‘Home Run’, most recently. It’s a song about going easy on yourself and knowing that at some point you’ll get where you need to be and it’s okay to take a breath and enjoy the journey. I hope this is the lasting feeling people get from the EP. 

What makes you unique to other indie-folk musicians? 

Honestly, I’m not sure my music is especially unique! I love so many indie-folk musicians, it’s definitely what I listen to most, so I think that shows in my music. I’m not a trained musician by any means, I didn’t study music and I have no drive to create something that’s especially technically impressive. I just love making music and I hope that is clear in my songs and that people connect with them.

I do (these days) always write about my own experiences, and sometimes I worry that people won’t connect with the songs if they can’t relate to exactly what I was going through at the time. For example, not everyone is a trans person who has experienced not being able to come out! But I do think everyone has probably felt out of place at some point in their life and everyone has felt the pressure of other people or society's expectations of them. So hopefully people can relate to the feelings the songs are conveying if not the literal content. 

Is there any advice or words you'd like to share to someone else coming out as trans?

I wrote a tiny (secret) (not so secret anymore) message to trans people on the back of my EP vinyl and CD. I think it says ‘you’ve got this’. That’s my advice really - you can do it. It’s probably going to be hard, but it’s definitely going to be worth it. But I think my other piece of advice would be that it isn’t ever too late to come out. It’s never too late, so there’s no rush. Take it at your own pace, find safe places to be and safe people to talk to. Look after yourself along the way.

Finally, what can we expect from your upcoming Hug & Pint show on the 9th Sept?

I am so excited for this gig! It is my first headline show since coming out and I can’t wait. I’ve got the unbelievable Lewis Ross and Melanie Baker supporting me, and a full band, so you can expect lots of harmonies and laughs and sad songs (and maybe a tiny bit of dad dancing). Hopefully see you there!

Finn Brodie plays the Tiny Changes stage at Connect Festival in Edinburgh on 25th August 2023 and headlines The Hug and Pint in Glasgow for his EP launch on 9th September 2023 with tickets available here.

Follow Finn’s Instagram here