Interview by Carol Wright | Photos Courtesy of Beth Keeping
We got to chat with singer/songwriter Beth Keeping about her single “I’m not looking for a friend” and her initiative ‘Write Like A Girl.’
Has singing and songwriting been a passion of yours from a young age?
Writing certainly has – when I was a kid I wanted to be an author, so I grew up writing stories and plays in any spare time I had. As a teenager, I discovered female singer-songwriters like Delta Goodrem, Katie Melua, and Nerina Pallot, and they inspired me to try writing songs. I always loved singing, but I was painfully shy so I didn’t sing properly in public until my final year of university. That’s when I realised that music was what I wanted to do so I moved to London… and it all went from there!
The UK has a rich music history. Living there are you often inspired and motivated by all of the artists who have come out of the UK?
Definitely! My dad introduced me to the Beatles from a very young age and UK folk artists like Martyn Joseph. My mum however raised me on the soap opera Neighbours which is filmed in Australia, so ironically most of the artists and writers who inspired me in my early years were Australian!
Your song “I’m not looking for a friend” is an empowering track about not accepting less than what you deserve. Did you pull from personal experiences to write the lyrics?
Absolutely… I think the best songs come out of personal experience because the emotions are raw and real and you can really dive deep into the nuances of what you’re feeling. For me though, it took me a while to accept that I deserved more than the situation I was in. When we started writing the song I was still hoping that things would turn out positively if I kept hanging in there – it was only when we finished recording it that I realised I needed to walk away.
“I’m not looking for a friend” is upbeat and fun. What was your process for deciding on how the song would sound?
We had some reference tracks for the whole EP that feature a lot of warm synths and atmospheric vocals, so we started off with that vibe, but we realised the song needed more attitude and strength to it. At the time I had Little Mix’s “Heartbreak Anthem” on repeat (I was a little bit heartbroken…) and we loved the vibe of the drop in the second half of the chorus, so we channelled that energy and had the funnest day experimenting in the studio. I love the journey the production takes you on because it mirrors how so many situationships feel – you’re often swinging between feeling positive that it will become something more, and then doubting that the other person feels the same way that you do.
Tell our readers about your initiative ‘Write Like A Girl.’ What is the goal of this initiative?
I got the idea for Write Like A Girl after I’d realised I was one of the only women at the networking nights and gigs I was going to. In 2018 I was planning a UK tour with my two artist friends Emily Faye and Vic Allen – so we decided to make “Write Like A Girl” the theme for the tour and invited a different female artist to join us in each city. In 2019 we started running regular showcase nights in London, Bristol, and Newcastle, and they were so popular that we kept having to move venues because we couldn’t fit everyone in. The heart of the movement is to champion female songwriters and artists by giving them a platform to share their songs and hopefully inspire other women in their own creativity. Watch this space for more shows in 2022, we will be back!