Around ten years ago, Emily Ireland was a rising artist on the Sheffield music scene (check out our Exposed In Session interview from back in t’day). After some memorable local shows, including some belting Tramlines performances, and stints supporting bands like The 1975 and Catfish and the Bottlemen, everything seemed set for See Emily Play to achieve further great things in the music industry. However, owing largely to firsthand experiences of sexism and misogyny in the industry, Emily decided to take a break from music.
Now, Emily feels enough time has passed, along with some encouragement from fellow musician and friend, Drew Friel, to prompt her return to music. Exposed’s Amy Britton sat down with Emily to talk about her latest release, ‘Gentle Persuasion’, and upcoming charity gig at Hallamshire Hotel for S6 Foodbank.
Like many musicians, Emily’s interest in music started thanks to her parents. “Music was always a big part of my home life growing up,” she stated. “My parents would play vinyl records and I was allowed to stay up late on Friday nights to watch Top of the Pops.” This led to Emily picking up her dad’s guitar at 12 years old and writing her first song.
But it was only until watching a life-changing Live Aid performance that Emily decided it could be a career. “I saw The Who perform on TV at Live Aid,” she said, “and I remember being absolutely mesmerised by it. I thought this was the best thing ever and I think that was the thing that really made me want to perform music.”
Being a 22-year-old woman in a scene dominated by men was not easy for Emily in the early 2010s, and while sexism is still rife, there have been steps towards making the music industry a more diverse place. Following an encounter with producer Rob Whiteley, See Emily Play returned to the studio to record some new music, in addition to new single ‘Gentle Persuasion’, which was recorded and produced by her brother, Tom.
When asked what inspired the track, Emily said: “I recorded the track with my brother in our parents’ basement in 2019. I was 27 at the time and I had just read a book called ‘Persuasion’ by Jane Austen, which is also about a woman who is 27 years old.
“It has this tone, which is very apt for the 19th-century, that she has been left on the shelf and it’s the end of her life and she has to figure out what she’s going to do next. There’s also a love story about a past love returning but they don’t get to have their second beginning. The song is a little bit about ‘Persuasion’ but mixed in with my own life and traces the parallels between the two.”
As she has spent her ten-year break working as a legal historian, it is unsurprising that a lot of her music is inspired by history and classic literature. “I’m an expert in angry wives who sue their husbands in the 18th century basically,” Emily joked. “More recently, I’ve started writing songs inspired by the people I study and research. I’ve been trying to write songs that aren’t just based on my own perspective of my own boring life!”
The only question that Emily trips up on is the album that changed her life. We sat in silence for a minute, as she mentally went through the discography that shaped her career. She eventually landed on Ben Folds Five’s sophomore album, Whatever and Ever Amen, a CD she was gifted by her uncle.
She said: “That was the first time I had heard what was essentially rock music but with a piano. It was the first time I felt like playing piano could actually be cool! It made me feel like I could play piano and still be a rockstar.”
“I’ve committed to it.” Credit: Bettina Bautista
In terms of her upcoming Hallamshire Hotel gig, it will certainly be a special one, as it is See Emily Play’s first show in about ten years and in aid of a great cause. The gig will span Emily’s whole career with a mix of tracks from her first musical endeavours to her more recent creations.
However, the show has a unique twist with concertgoers being asked to donate food rather than pay for a ticket. “It’s all in aid of S6 Foodbank. The idea is that instead of tickets, punters are asked to bring a donation of food or toiletries for the food bank,” she said, “It can be a tin of tomatoes if you feel the gig is worth 50p. It can be some olive oil if you think the gig is worth £6.”
There is also a new EP in the works for Emily, meaning that this is not the last we will be seeing of the singer for this year.
“I’ve committed to it,” she beamed. “I’ve recorded an EP with Rob Whiteley. It’s called Still Playing and the first single is called ‘Yoko Ono was 7 years older than John’, which will be released in July. And hopefully, I will be doing more gigs in Sheffield in the future!”
See Emily Play will be performing at Hallamshire Hotel on Wednesday 19 June. You can keep up to date with Emily via her social media: Instagram / Facebook.
Find out more about the vital work done by S6 Foodbank here.
