FOCUS: Emily Sanders

Emily Sanders, a Nottingham-local, is acclaimed for her vulnerability and distinct voice. She is an artist with an ability to converge grunge, R&B, and pop. With two incredible singles out now, and more certain to come, Emily Sanders is a local artist to focus on. The Mic’s Daniela Roux reports. 

Emily and I chatted initially, exchanging niceties and introducing ourselves. As I knew we were both music lovers, I asked her what I would ask a friend...

Q: What music have you been listening to lately? 

A: I've been listening to a lot of R&B and neo-soul recently. Someone recently who's come up a lot is Sasha Keeble. Yeah. I think she's brilliant. Then also kind of tiptoeing into Afrobeats. A bit of Tems, Wizkid, and Tyla.

[it became clear to me that Emily was a genreless artist, not bound by confinements. We chatted more about how imperative it is to be a good listener in order to be an even better creator]

Q: I saw on your Spotify, you encapsulate pop, grunge and R&B. I'd say Horizon fits that description. However, would you want to venture into neo-soul?

A: I do think so. I've drummed for seven or eight years now. So I was kind of a drummer before I did anything else. I've always enjoyed the kind of like the snappy snare. I just, I love what it represents and the culture behind it.

Q: What was your influence for finding yourself in those spaces and who opened the gate for you?

A: Well, it was actually my girlfriend because she's from Barbados. I got a lot of influence from her and her family. Also from a lot of my friends and since coming to Uni because everyone is from everywhere. It means that you are not just kind of stuck in this one lane.

Q: How has your upbringing has influenced your music taste?

A: My family is very musical. My dad played guitar for like 10 odd years when he was younger and then he moved on to drums, so I moved on to drums. I grew up on a lot of like Nirvana and a lot of drum and bass. I've always just had a massive appreciation for individual music as well, like instruments on its own. Being in a band and stuff, you kind of learn to appreciate it more. 

Q: I think you can definitely hear that with the new single, because it has R&B elements vocally, but the instruments are very stark in Horizon.

Having a look at Spotify, some of the themes you explore are self-esteem, sexuality and relationships. How important is that to express in your music?

A: It's so important because I've also got ADHD, so sometimes I find it hard to word things. When I've tried to talk to people and things like that, I just can't get it out and I can't express myself properly. Even when you're younger, even if you're not neurodivergent, it's hard to word big feelings. So it's kind of another creative outlet.

Q: What part of creating a song do you find more cathartic?

A: All of it, but I really love production because I work with a brilliant producer in Nottingham. We're on the same wavelength.

Q: What is your personal writing process?

A: I play the guitar and I find some pretty chords and I sing. I've got a bazillion voice notes that I'll just probably never use. 

Q: Did you do that with Two Minds? Was that your process?

A: Definitely. I played a lot of open mics with as well. I just had all these thoughts and I didn't know what to do with them. So I just kind of sat down and wrote out what I felt. Picked up the guitar and found some chords. Merged the two together.

Q: I noted one lyric that stood out: "what I love becomes what I envy". What was going through your mind at that moment when you wrote that lyric?

A: Sometimes I get a lot of bouts of depression. Like: why can't I do anything? Everything that I used to like doing, now I hate it.

Q: Have you started to feel that with music?

A: That's the thing I'm worried about. I don't want it to become a chore and it hasn't been. I haven't found that with music yet. I realised I just need to slow down. I just need to appreciate now and not be immediately off stage and thinking: what's next?

Q: How do you manage that when the arts can be so commercial-focused?

A: To be honest I'm still learning. Another artist told me that some songs are just meant for yourself. Some songs aren't meant for other people. You don't have to get every single song you write out because sometimes it's just not meant for the world. It's kind of less of a chore and you still feel like you've accomplished writing what you want to write.

[Emily and I chatted about prospective acoustic versions. We agreed that there is somewhat of a divine timing with releasing music. I then wanted to get her opinion on how she is being perceived in the music industry]

Q: Dean Jackson described your work as "vulnerable lyrics with attitude" and I want to know what you think that attitude is?

A: My bass lines are quite punchy. I don't think, in the moment, I really do it with much attitude. Then I see what my producer comes back and I'm like "oh this sounds great." It kind of comes out in the way that I say things.

Q: As you are becoming more well-known how do you manage protecting your privacy?

I can't really say I've thought about it much to be honest. In terms of like social media, I kind of just try and keep it just as the stuff I enjoy. You know not everyone needs to know about everything. Finding that that balance can be quite overwhelming.

It would be and it also takes away the purpose of being a musician because you want people to think about themselves when they're listening to your songs not what you're doing.

A: Yeah absolutely. I want people to say "oh I relate to this." At the end of the day, it's in your ears and you can't see my face.

Q: Moving on to live performance, do you have a favorite gig you've played so far? 

A: I enjoyed Rough Trade. That was just me and a guitarist, which isn't very usual, but I did really enjoy that because it was very stripped back. It's quite a closed venue. And everyone's very close to it.

Q: What about performing live takes a song in a totally different direction? 

A: I think it's the people in the audience. If you see their head bobbing, I'm like, yes, I've done it. This is what I like doing. I think it's just the most personal thing you can do as an artist is to talk to people and see people enjoying your music.

Q: I would love to talk about Horizon. It was one of those songs, as we were saying a bit earlier, that you can listen to as a young person and just feel validated in your feelings. So what inspired that track for you?

A: It was at the time I was just trying to write and write and write. I started to realize that I'm not really enjoying this. I told myself: let's take a step back, let's not put too much pressure on it. Then I just started to write what I was feeling. In my head, the song is like you're kind of driving and there's no one around you. And you're kind of just going wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do. There's nothing tomorrow. That's kind of how I see it. 

Q: How was it managing that vision you had and managing the collaboration?

A: I loved it because it is the collaboration I did with my producer's wife. And it's all trial and error. I think it's just important to collaborate with the right people who understand that. Who don't expect you to be perfect the first time.

Horizon - Emily Sanders

Q: What's the most innovative decision that you've made so far with your music? 

A: Wow. I think so far with the stuff that's out, the bridge to Two Minds. My producers were like, what? I wanted it to sound grungy. I wanted a big guitar. I wanted tons of reverb. It works so well. 

The bridge almost parallels All American Bitch by Olivia Rodrigo. As a young woman, I do feel like the part where everything starts to erupt was very cathartic.

A: Thank you.

Q: Speaking of other artists, what have you learned from your inspirations?

A: Well, sometimes you come along artists who are like I don't sound like anyone else. That's just not true. Take pride in who you take inspiration from because they got there for a reason. Big female artists, especially women of color from different backgrounds and different sexualities, are very important to me. Jorja Smith, for example. I love how her accent comes out sometimes. Even with Raye and Olivia Dean recently, some of their vocals are quiet with a lot of background to them.

Q: Who do you think, lyrically, you took a lot of inspiration from? 

A: Billie Eilish. She was before her time. Also, Fleetwood Mac have storytelling abilities. So I think those two are quite big ones. 

Q: What about Billie Eilish's lyrics do you think were before her time? 

A: She just uses a lot of language that can seem on the surface, but if you actually look deeper into it, it is really clever. Her albums are so cohesive.

[We fangirled over BLUE for a while and then closed up the long-form part of the interview]

Q:  You're becoming a well-known artist in the city. How do you think that exposure has impacted your music?

A: I'm still in my head. Like nobody knows my music, no one's listening. But they are. I don't really think that it will hugely affect the music I'm putting out because that's the last thing I would want to happen. Honestly, I think it's just a really positive thing. Let's create a community here. A lot of the people who follow me are other small artists. We can all just help each other.

Rapid-fire Q&A:

Q:  What would your dream collaboration be?

A: I love Paramore. Hayley is amazing.

Q: What about locally?

A: A lot of R&B artists around here, like Saffron Gray. Yeah. I think she's brilliant.

Q: What is one of your lyrics that means the most to you to date?

A: That's such a good question. Something from Two Minds.  

Q: One word you think that describes your artistry right now?

A: Empowering and confusing. Confusing. 

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Emily Sanders is an amiable person, and an outstanding artist. She has a very grounded outlook on artistry and a clear purpose in her art. With all the wonder of a newcomer, and all of the wisdom from a mature listening taste, Emily Sanders is an artist to look out for.

Daniela Roux

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Edited by Daniela Roux

Photos courtesy of Emily Sanders, YouTube video courtesy of Emily Sanders