Artist Spotlight: Aimée Steven

Aimée Steven’s haunting Francophile style vocals portray sad stories of modern life soundtracked by edgy guitars, to create her own brand “red beret pop”.

“I could say that this has always been my dream, but I’d be lying. I never connected the dots, until recently. I was in love with music from an early age, but it was never something I thought I could create. I never saw myself as a possible singer or performer, just the avid listener. Music was always around, jukeboxes, live acts and DJs at family parties. I grew up listening to everything from the Bee Gees to Roy Orbison or Barbara Streisand. However, I didn’t see an instrument until I was about 15, merely listening to music had been enough for me.

To me, music and fashion have always been linked. Since the day I first saw David Bowie I could not deny it. Aesthetic is very important to me. At around 18 the fashion of the 1960s and 70s became a fascination. I found these decades so attractive and started taking my style inspiration from Jane Birkin, Brigette Bardot etc. I’ve always dressed pretty creatively, and I’ve been through a lot of phases, some of which I would rather forget.

At 18 I went to university and hated every minute. I was incredibly lonely and hardly attended my lectures. I drank a lot and stayed out late so that I could forget how rubbish everything seemed. As part of my course, I had to live abroad for one year, so I went to Barcelona. While there I made friends with local psychedelic music enthusiasts. This was the start of my musical creativity and I bought myself a guitar. However, as time went on I realised that my mental health was suffering in Spain, so I ended up booking a flight home and dropped out of university.

Music remained the one constant comfort in my life, so I decided – after much deliberation – that I wanted to start blogging and interviewing musicians at home in the UK. I ran a blog for about six months and really enjoyed it until I finally realized I didn’t want to write about music. I wanted to write the music.

I started writing songs, began attending more gigs, made more friends on the music scene and got involved with some local music companies. I was in my element but still wanted more. I wanted to be that person on stage. And now luckily I have been given the opportunity to record and release my songs – I can feel my confidence and my musical confidence growing – It’s Time to write my next chapter”

Her third single ‘’B.I.E.K’ will be released on 9^th August and has already featured on BBC Radio Merseyside.

Aimee has recently performed with her band at Liverpool Sound City festival, Deeper Cuts festival, LIMF and also Kendall Calling.

Aimee has also featured on LFC TV (she’s a real fan) and performed stripped back acoustic versions of ‘My Name’ along with second single ‘All the Way’ for an exclusive session on BBC Radio Merseyside Introducing and BBC Radio London.

http://www.facebook.com/aimeestevenmusic

http://atlargerecords.com/