Imogen Clark Talks New Album, Songwriting And More

Jul 19, 2024 | Interviews

Words by Glenn Sargeant

Photo Credit: Michelle Grace Hunder

AIR award-nominated singer-songwriter Imogen Clark has released her new album ‘The Art Of Getting Through’ and we were fortunate enough to chat to her all about it:

When did you begin songwriting?
I started songwriting when I was 13 years old, about a year after I’d started playing cover gigs in pubs, clubs and cafes. My Dad loved writing songs and it rubbed off on me as I grew up. I always felt that writing songs must be a very normal thing that parents do, as normal as growing up with a Dad who was an accountant. After I’d been playing cover gigs for a while, I started dabbling with my own songs and sneakily throwing a couple of mine into the set lists at cover gigs.

What is your earliest musical memory?
As well as playing around the Sydney pub rock scene in the 70s and 80s, my Dad was a high school Drama and English teacher. Every year, he’d write and direct plays for the high school students at Windsor High, where he taught for many years in Western Sydney. I remember going to watch the plays as a kid and just adoring the whole night; from getting snacks at the kiosk to watching Dad run around organising everyone backstage to getting to hear these songs I’d heard Dad writing at home being performed in front of the whole school.

Your new album ‘The Art of Getting Through’ is out now. How did you want to approach making the album?
Before The Art of Getting Through, I’d made my previous EP Bastards in lockdown, meaning it was all done remotely over Zoom. The fact we were able to do that was amazing, but it was obviously less than ideal. So this time, now that the world was open again, I wanted to make a record by going to the iconic recording studios around the world which had been the birthplace of some of the records which made me want to make music in the first place. I had written over 100 songs for this record, wanting it to be the absolute best of what I could do. We picked 13 songs from this giant pile and one of the first days we spent recording was at Abbey Road in London, the most iconic recording studio in the world, in Studio Three where The Beatles made Revolver and Pink Floyd made Dark Side of the Moon. It was a special and surreal feeling being in that studio, playing the Mrs Mills piano that Paul McCartney played on Lady Madonna, and realising I was getting to be a part of this historic lineage of important music creation.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?
The album was recorded all over the globe – from Sydney and Melbourne to London, Nashville and LA. The main producer on the bulk of the record was the incredible LA-based producer, mix engineer, songwriter and guitarist Mike Bloom, who also produced my previous two EPs, The Making of Me and Bastards. Another predominant figure in the production of the record was Michael Carpenter, a Sydney-based producer, mix and master engineer and multi-instrumentalist, who has been a true believer in my music for years. My beautiful manager Jeremy Dylan co-executive produced the record alongside me and the whole record was really an incredible feat of global teamwork, and such a creatively fulfilling process for me. I feel like it’s the best art I’ve ever made and I couldn’t be prouder or more grateful to the team who helped me achieve it

Who were the musicians who were on the album with you?
I was honoured to have some of the world’s most sought-after musicians on this record and I’ll never stop being thankful to them for contributing some of their magic to my songs. Having Jim Keltner, one of the most respected rock and roll drummers of all time, come in and play on some songs at East West in LA was the most “pinch me” moment in the studio for me. Jim is Bob Dylan’s live drummer and he’s played on more iconic songs than you can count; everything from Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door to John Lennon’s Jealous Guy. We also had Griffin Goldsmith of my favourite contemporary band Dawes come in and play drums on some tracks, Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes arranging all the strings, and Harper Simon playing some electric guitar on the single All Hard Feelings. It was truly the cast of my dreams!

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?
When I walk off stage, I want to feel like I’ve made people feel the way I do after watching my favourite artists perform. I want them to feel inspired, understood and empowered. When people come up to me at the merch desk and say that one of my songs got them through something really difficult, or that they feel like I’ve put into words a feeling they’ve had trouble articulating, I feel like I’ve done my job. I also just want people to have fun! It’s possible to laugh and cry at the same concert (I’ve done it many times), so as well as being emotionally effected, I want people to feel carefree, enjoy themselves and have a dance.

One of the tracks is ‘If Your Heart Never Breaks’. What is the story/inspiration behind the track?
If Your Heart Never Breaks is the closing track off the record and it was written in Nashville with the legendary Jim Lauderdale, one of the songwriters I look up to most. On the day we wrote it, Jim and I were talking about the way that you can’t understand joy and happiness and fulfilment until you’ve felt the opposite of those things, until your heart has been broken. It’s a song about the old adage that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, but it’s also about asking yourself whether the pain of those lessons is always worth it in the end. I like to see this song as the closing lullaby that takes stock of the messages and the stories from all the previous songs on the album.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?
I’ve recently started playing a red Fender Mustang and I am low key obsessed with it! I never thought about playing a guitar with a shorter scale neck but being a small-ish person, it just looks and feels so much better for my size and my hands. For microphones, I have a Shure KSM8 which travels with me everywhere and I adore it!

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
My hometown is called the Hawkesbury and it’s in Western Sydney, Australia, about 1.5 hours’ drive from the centre of Sydney out towards the Blue Mountains. If I had to describe it in five words, I’d say: rural, working-class, small, friendly, but tough.

How do you look after your voice?
I find I don’t have a big problem singing for long periods of time, likely because I came up playing 3-4 hour cover gigs in pubs as a teenager, but talking in loud environments is the ultimate way to mess up my voice. As a singer, your instrument is inside of your body, so looking after your instrument means looking after your body. I like to keep fit so I usually do strength workouts and go running several times a week, which also helps with my asthma and breathing techniques on stage (especially when I’m jumping around and singing during band shows!) After shows, if I’ve got more gigs the following nights, I won’t go out after the show or if I do, I will only stay out for a very short time so I can make sure I rest my voice and sleep enough for the next show. I always have my emotional support water bottle with me and I drink a tonne of water, plus sometimes electrolyte drinks, every day on the road. I find all the usual stuff like honey, lemon and ginger teas, throat coat tea, and vocal steamers work great too, but mostly for me, it’s about knowing when to go home and rest.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?
Wow, I love this question! Especially because I’ve always loved the idea of writing for a film. My favourite novel is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, which is a classic but has surprisingly never been made into a film. The book has always captured my imagination and I usually read it once every couple of years. The book, specifically its main character Holden Caulfield, reveals something about the human condition that I really strive to convey in my songwriting, so that would be the ultimate film score gig for me!

Who created/designed the album artwork?
Giulia McGauran is responsible for the stunning album art image you see on the front cover. Giulia is a Melbourne-based creative director and photographer who has been responsible for my past three studio album/EP cover images, but also many of the album covers and press images for iconic members of the Australian music community, including Crowded House and Tones and I. I wanted this album cover to be about being your own hero, supporting yourself through challenging times, and carrying your old self and what you’ve learned into a new era of yourself. I couldn’t be happier with what Giulia created in this album cover and I feel like she plucked it directly from my dreams!

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?
I have a range of musical influences that span from classic rock like Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin, to the modern pop of Taylor Swift, HAIM and Maggie Rogers. I find punk really fascinating and I grew up on Violent Femmes’ self-titled record, but I also listen to Martin Sexton and Dawes and MUNA and Maisie Peters. I think for me, taking inspiration from lots of different genres has made me as an artist, and particularly this new record, very genre-agnostic, which I’m proud of. I like to think there’s something in it for everyone.

If I could recommend an artist I’m loving at the moment, it would be Celisse. I saw her playing at Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic in Philadelphia a few weeks back and she completely blew my mind. Her guitar playing, her voice and her general vibe on stage are off the charts – you have to go see her!

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024?
I just came back from a heavenly tour of the UK, which were my first ever headline dates over there and my first time playing there in five years! I’m very excited that I do have some more dates in the UK booked in for later this year… but they haven’t been announced yet, so you’ll have to hang tight! 😉

Was it a difficult album to write?
I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into every song that was written for this album, which was over 100 in total. I really wanted this record to be the rawest, close-to-the-nerve version of myself ever committed to recording. I didn’t want to half-ass it. It was important to me that I go deeper and more vulnerable than I ever had before, so there are songs on the record about my experiences with an eating disorder and depression, songs that I wrote at my lowest points but also songs at my most hopeful, songs of clarity and songs of confusion. I feel like I worked so hard to make this record so I could look back on it now and know that I could not have possibly done more to represent myself at this stage of my life in song.

What makes Imogen Clark happy and what makes you unhappy?
What makes me happy:
– Dogs (especially our family’s rescue dog, Socks!)
– Running
– Reading
– Going out for dinner with friends
– Seeing gigs
– Iced oat lattes
– Writing songs, singing, playing instruments
– Gluten free menus
– Sushi
– Spending time with my Mum
– Champagne
– The group chat
– Nashville

What makes me unhappy:
– Anxiety attacks
– Changing guitar strings
– Spicy food
– Nasty social media comments
– Being homesick
– Hotel rooms without fridges
– Beer (yuck)
– Streaming royalty rates