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Hi Melissa, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hey! Been a long time since the last time we got to chat. Thanks for having me back!
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Can’t Go Home”?
“Can’t Go Home” is the first of some new music I’ve been working on that I’m really excited about. I wrote this song back in 2013 and I’d forgotten about it for awhile, so I’m really happy it’s finally seeing the light of day!
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
It was actually my parents’ divorce that inspired me to write this, even though it had happened a good few years before. There were still a lot of residual emotions I hadn’t dealt with yet, and this song is really about not wanting to deal with those emotions at all.
How was the recording and writing process?
We recorded most of the track over three days at Joe Cross’ studio in Manchester. I’d never been to Manchester before and I had never met Joe before. So it was straight into the deep end for us both! When I wrote the song years ago it was on the out-of-tune piano at my mom’s house in Canada and was more of a ballad. So in the studio we decided to up the tempo and make it feel like a song you could blare while driving down the highway.
What was it like to work with Joseph Cross and how did that relationship develop?
Joe was recommended to me when I was at a music industry event in London back in December. I did some research on him and his work, we exchanged a few emails and I sent him my demos of the songs I wanted to record. I had never worked with a producer without meeting them, but my gut said to go for it. So I drove the five hours to Manchester from where I live in West Sussex, and I was pretty nervous, I kept thinking “what if this goes horribly wrong?!”, but Joe and I were on the same page right away and the whole process was super fun and collaborative.
How much did he get to influence the song?
Joe played a huge role in finding the right direction for this song. It’s a bit of a genre-bender and could be pop, country, folk…so I was telling him about how I love classic music like The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and Patsy Cline, and referenced The Teskey Brother’s “new retro” sound. Then Joe said something that really resonated with me: “If we go for a classic, vintage sound, then that’s a genre of its own.” And I was like “That’s it!”.
What role does London play in your music?
London gets me excited, kind of intimidates me and inspires me because so much music I love has been made there. It’s where I do the majority of my writing sessions (back when we did writing sessions in person!), and I’ve played some sweet gigs there like at the top of the Shard, in Camden for the Soul Stripped Sessions and at the Natural History Museum. I also make a point of going in regularly for industry and networking events because as they say, it’s who you know.
As someone who tends to be very big on collaboration – what would you say has been the most important thing you’ve learned from these experiences?
It can be intimidating when you first start co-writing, especially when you’re working with writers who are way more experienced and successful than yourself. But I’ve learned that if you’re the artist in the room and you’re writing for you, at the end of the day you should have the final word on any creative decisions. Don’t be afraid to say if you don’t love a particular melody or aren’t comfortable with a lyric. Absorb what your co-writers have to say and learn from them, but don’t lose sight of your artistry and your message.
Do you tend to take a different approach when collaborating with someone else rather than working on your own?
To be honest I haven’t co-written many songs for myself lately – other than a banger I wrote recently with the ladies at Palm Bay Music – for some reason I’ve been mostly writing solo for myself. But when I’m collaborating on another project or working to brief, I like that I get to come at writing from a different perspective. It’s really fun and freeing to write songs outside of my own genre.
Does the new single mean we can expect new material – how’s that coming along?
Yes! Joe and I recorded two tracks while I was in Manchester and there’s another tune I started recording last year that’s pretty much ready to go. You should be hearing a lot more from me before the end of the year.
If you are working on new material is there any tentative release date or title in mind?
Look out for something coming out in a couple of months that I’m hoping will become your new end-of-summer anthem.
What else is happening next in Melissa Bel’s world?
Planning a wedding! My partner (who is the reason I moved to England – check out my songs “Real Tonight” and “In the Light” to hear the story) and I got engaged during lockdown! We’re also trying to move house. So juggling that and working on getting the next single out ! Also looking forward to being able to hop on a plane to Canada and see all of my friends and family there – and play for a live audience again! You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and visit www.melissa-bel.com for updates on new music.
You can listen to “Can’t Go Home” here. The single is streaming on Apple Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer and many more.
