Name: Berenice Scott
Nationality: British
Occupation: Vocalist, keyboarder, composer, songwriter
Current release: Berenice Scott's A Joni Kind of Mood is out via Addict London.
Recommendations: I’m currently really enjoying the book Dropping Ashes On The Buddha, It resides on my piano is just beautiful to read on your own in the quiet. If I had to have music playing as I read it would be Nils Frahm.

[Read our Nils Frahm interview]

If you enjoyed this Berenice Scott interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

When I first started writing music the impulse and inspiration always stemmed from the residue of my life experiences, and a way of sorting and sifting through emotions that either I couldn’t understand, couldn’t deal with or simply that intoxicating state of being overly happy or in love!

Over the years I’ve adapted to a writing and composing pattern which shifts between emotionally necessary as well as deadline necessary!!

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

Sometimes a concrete idea has been going through my mind and that can be a starting point, and I will visualise how I want it to manifest.

But with experience I am much more open to seeing where an idea can go and what others may bring to the table rather than being rigid with a precise structure. At the end of the day you can always return and make it exactly as you want on a solitary level.

I’ve definitely had this with a track off my new album ‘All I Want’. I started with an idea of how I wanted to interpret this Joni Mitchell song but it totally evolved.



Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

Most important preparation for me is voice note recordings! I find you really have to capture an idea quick when it hits you, wherever you are in life or the world. Sometimes I won’t come back round to that initial idea for a long time, but at least I got it down in some way.

I have a lot of horrible mumbly recordings of me trying to sing discretely into my phone on the tube, bus, hotel lobbies, anywhere when I’m out and about!

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

I just head for the piano stool or portable keyboard if I’m touring, avoiding distractions on the way and hopefully that’s it for a few hours …

Having moved about so much in my life I guess I’ve made it a priority to just settle in and focus as best I can.

What do you start with? And, to quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I think its a combination of the two; it’s so lovely when ideas come, but then you’ve got to finish it!

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

I love it when mistakes happen, I don’t ignore those! They can lead you down weird and wonderful alleyways if you let them.

When I was routining the song ‘Brooklyn Bridge’ it was around Christmas and I was messing around for fun with putting a bit of a Christmas feel at the front … that’s something that stayed.



Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Yeah I like to leave a new idea for a couple of hours, but not too long. Then come back to it with a little fresher ears, that can be an exciting or depressing re-listen, haha.

Maintaining objectivity is good practice I think.

When you're in the studio to record a piece, how important is the actual performance and the moment of performing the song still in an age where so much can be “done and fixed in post?“

I know it sounds cliche but I would find it very difficult to record a vocal if anyone was watching my face, when it comes to vocal recording performance I must look a bit scary, I forget who I am, what day it is … I try to give it everything.

‘IDWKY’ from my album is probably the song which was a very ‘physical theatre’ one to record!



Even recording a solo song is usually a collaborative process. Tell me about the importance of trust between the participants, personal relationships between musicians and engineers and the freedom to perform and try things – rather than gear, technique or “chops” - for creating a great song.

Mostly I record alone, the one person I have complete freedom recording with is my Afterhere TV/Film composing partner Glenn Gregory. For some reason I totally trust him and I totally trust he understands what I might be trying to do, even if I don’t!

We have a track from an Afterhere album, a cover of ‘All Along The Watchtower’ that has been used for various TV and Film. I loved recording the vocals for that with him at the helm as my creative partner.



After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I think one just has to enjoy then playing that material live, at the same time as moving onto new projects. I don’t think things should be put aside but I also think it’s important to keep moving forward creatively.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Making music and then also singing it is such a direct form of communicating your emotions. It’s like the only time you could maybe directly say without embarrassment how you truly feel isn’t it?

Having said that I do love cooking for others as a form of showing love too … You can show love and emotion in so many ways. Sports has its own form of expression, there’s always a way to be creative outside of the classic forms such as painting or music I think.