Imogen Clark
When City Hub last spoke to Imogen Clark a little over two years ago she was a young artist still searching for her place in the world following the release of her second album, Collide. In 2020 after spending the time between then and now touring extensively around the globe and furiously writing music Clark feels much more settled.
Looking back on the past two years Clark described the time as “chaotic” with much of it spent either touring the world or locked away writing and recording. Whilst the time period was chaotic it has also proven to be incredibly fruitful, with an overabundance of songs to choose from for her new EP, The Making Of Me.
“I spent so much of that time writing new songs, so I was spoiled for choice when it came to putting this EP together,” explained Clarke. “We were just waiting for the right moment and the real kicker of a song to come along.”
That moment and song came about this year when the message of her latest single, Found Me, happened to sync up beautifully with current pandemic situation.
“All of the songs on this EP are about going through a difficult year and coming out of the other side of it knowing that you’re better off for having been through that challenge.”
For Clark the tough challenge she speaks of harks back to her searching for a place to belong in music. Up until this EP, and the creative process surrounding it, Clark was unsure if she was a country artists, an indie-folk artists or a rock star. With such uncertainty she found it difficult to let her creativity run free during the creative process. With Making Of Me Clark says she was finally able to let loose though, “For the first time in the studio I was letting the songs speak for themselves and letting the production come out whichever way it wanted to without wondering what genre it should be.”
This change in mindset was fostered by her decision to finally work collaboratively with other artists on this record. In particular Clark cites her time working with Clare Bowen and Brandon Robert Young on Found Me as a big stepping stone.
“Working with the wonderful Clare Bowen and Brandon Robert Young was a really great way to get outside of my comfort zone… I’ll always have love for writing by myself and locking myself away in my bedroom but I have also grown to love the cowriting process, which absolutely terrified me at first.”
This weekend Clark will begin a ‘virtual tour’ where she is set to play a series of concerts from her own back yard over the course of a month to showcase both her development as an artist and her upcoming EP.
“The idea of bringing people music from my home to their home is really nice for me to find a silver lining in an otherwise very terrible and stressful time,” said Clark “It’s all very intimate and easy to tune in. It feels like a close, intimate setting that you wouldn’t be able to achieve at a local venue.”
For fans interested in tuning in to her performances Clark says they can expect to see a “professionally produced” show that is different each fortnight.
“We’ve got an acoustic show, an electric guitar show, a piano show and an all requests show, so each show will have its own flavour. It is possible if people want to tune into more than one show they can, or they can pick the one which appeals to them the most.”
Perhaps the hardest part of these shows for Clark will be getting accustomed to the unusual routine prior to each performance.
“You have your routine pre-show but now everything is changed, so a person like me who has a fair bit of anxiety that change can be difficult to deal with. So might need to employ some of my pre-gig routines to get myself in the zone.”
May 16-Jun 27. Buy tickets & watch the show here: www.imogenclark.com.au
