Talking To...Beverley Craven
Beverley Craven is best known as the dark haired pop siren who took Promise Me to the top of the charts in 1991. After 3 albums, she decided to take time out to focus on being a mum to her three daughters. Now they are in their teens and after a shock encounter with breast cancer, Beverley is back with a new album, Close To Home, and ready to take England by storm with a series of live shows between now and the autumn. Fatea took the opportunity to chat with Beverley about her career past and present, her family and her thoughts on music.
BC=Beverley Craven #HM=Helen Mitchell
HM: Hi Beverley, thanks for speaking with me. How are you?
BC: Hi, I'm great. I've spent all day sorting out things for the first video from the new CD.
HM: Oh, how exciting. Which song was chosen and why?
BC: Rainbows - it was deemed the most radio friendly. We are going to have children carrying coloured canvases with the lyrics - if they can carry them.
HM: Oh, where are you getting the children from?
BC: They are all children we know; my sister's children, my tour manager's children, the guy shooting the video has two children, etc.
HM: In keeping with the Cd's title, Close to Home?
BC: Yeah. (Laughs) That's what the whole CD is, really. It's about me, or people close to me. One song is about one of my girlfriends but she doesn't know it's about her.
HM: Will you tell her?
BC: No!
HM: So, tell me, how does it feel to be back after all this time?
BC: It's been ten years, it doesn't feel like it. Time goes faster as you get older - don't you find that?
HM: Absolutely. After 25...
BC: (Laughs) I threw myself into being a mum, to three girls, but now they are all older, they all want their own lives. You have no time with babies. Do you have children?
HM: No, not yet. My friends tell me they miss baths the most!
BC: For babies I found baths were very calming, like the witching hour before bedtime.
HM: Is that your top tip for people with babies, then?
BC: It's funny, I say that like an expert now, but I struggled at the time!
HM: So, back to music, how did the new CD come about after a ten year hiatus?
BC: Well, I just started getting itchy. I did a cluster of shows which was great although not much good financially! I started writing, until I had enough to put an album together. The guy who is booking my shows books Elkie Brooks, so he has a good idea of which venues are right for me. I am selling the CD in the foyer after shows and on the website - keeping it small - and have already sold over 300 online, which I'm really pleased about.
HM: Did you have lots of people asking you when you were going to come back, play live, record a new album, etc, during those ten years?
BC: Yes, I got a lot of feedback, especially from my Mum! When I said I was done ten years ago, I really meant it. Then...I don't know if you read my bio...I was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago.
HM: Yes, I read that. How are you now?
BC: I'm great - I got the all clear 2 years ago, I get checked but I'm great. It made me realise we're not here forever. Once I got over the shock and the treatment and the psychological stuff that comes with that I had a really positive outlook which made me realise we should go out there and do what makes us happy. I have no record deal now, no manager; my husband is managing me and doing an amazing job. We had the CD pressed up in Germany and he's just taken it all in his stride. He's a good organiser which I'm not!
HM: I think you've answered my next question - you obviously still enjoy writing.
BC: Yes. Two of the songs on the new CD are about my brush with breast cancer. I came back with a new enthusiasm which I know won't last forever. Without Me is a dark song; I wrote it for the kids if I wasn't around. As I was writing it I kept crying and thinking 'Wait, is this PMT?' Then I played it for my husband. In fifteen years of marriage I haven't seen him cry and he welled up. I guess music does that; it's like when you're watching a movie and you get to the sad bit, it's not always what you're seeing....
HM: It's the music that goes with it.
BC: Exactly.
HM: I had that the other day watching August Rush - the scene where he's singing in the bar. It's not the scene - it's that song. Every time.
BC: I don't know that one.
HM: it's a great film, all about how music is all around us, if we are open to hearing it. So, what do your children think of you making a new CD?
BC: Actually, they're very excited. One of them said to me the other day, "I'm really proud of you." The tables turned. They're all older souls. They're great girls. One is doing her AS levels right now, one plays sax and piano and one's an actress. She was like that from the moment of conception, always doing cartwheels, had to be induced. The eldest was calm and didn't cry when she came out, just looked at me with these big blue eyes.
HM: Yeah, they say the way children are born is the way they are. So, if you had to choose a favourite song from first time around, which would it be and why?
BC: Oh, that's really hard. I guess it would have to be Promise Me as without that I wouldn't have had a career. I don't know why but it just took off. Some people think it's because the Gulf war was beginning at the time.
HM: I never noticed that - that the dates coincided.
BC: Thank you, I'm glad - neither had I.
HM: I guess it makes sense that it would resonate with people, then.
BC: No one knows what makes a song take off. I thought the record company were mad for choosing Promise Me as the first single; there was nothing else like it in the charts.
HM: Maybe that's why people loved it. Which would you have chosen?
BC: Maybe. I'd have released Two of a Kind as it seemed more radio friendly.
HM: Do you still enjoy singing live, after all this time?
BC: Yeah, I love performing live. My band are geniuses and I am honoured to have them with me on stage. They bring something extra to each song at each show. I am privileged to have them all.
HM: Were any of them with you first time around?
BC: Frank on sax. I've worked with him from the beginning. He played on my demos and thought I was a middle class country girl who was going nowhere.
HM: He must have thought you had something to still be there!
BC: He just finds that funny now, I tease him all the time.
HM: Something I noticed in your bio, Beverley, was that you were born in Sri Lanka. Can you tell me about that?
BC: Yeah I was. My Dad worked for Kodak - you know I never really knew what he did - he won't tell me - but we left when I was 14 months old and came back to England. I wish we'd been there long enough for me to remember it.
HM: I was wondering, Beverley, what music you are listening to at the moment?
BC: Wow, well, I can see how the nostalgic thing has happened. I love the songs like Chicago's If You Leave Me Now - I doubt you'll remember it - and Foreigner - Waiting For a Girl Like You.
HM: I love the Chicago song - my favourite Foreigner is I Wanna Know What Love is.
BC: Ah yes. I find a song reminds me of where I was and what I was doing. I love that they remind me of that time.
HM: Yes, I know what you mean - a song reminds me how I felt, too.
BC: Yeah, smells do that too, don't they. I also love Kate Bush's Never Forever album which I stumbled across as a friend had it. I wore it out!
HM: I was playing Kate Bush yesterday.
BC: Really? She's great. I don't find modern music has the same appeal, do you?
HM: Not chart music, no, a lot of it feels like noise, rather than music to me - the lyrics don't really mean anything.
BC: Exactly. I do watch videos on Sky though, to look for ideas, especially how to make singing whilst playing a piano look interesting on a video, like the song by Ordinary People. You know, I don't think we're supposed to like what kids listen to now, our parents probably didn't like what we listened to either. I'm 45 now and I think I sing about stuff relevant to people of my age.
HM: Though you have younger fans as well?
BC: Yeah, lots were young - like you! - when I was first in the charts and remember me. I have young children who know me from hearing their parents' CDs. That's cool but makes me feel old! I like the age I am now though; there was always an anticipation of big birthdays, but I feel like I know where I am now.
HM: It's a state of mind, right?
BC: Right.
HM: I'm looking at the list of tour dates and there are a lot of venues between now and the Autumn. Did you play any of these the first time around?
BC: No, they're all new to me - I'm looking forward to seeing them.
HM: Well, the Sage is fabulous - I'll see you there. Well, I'll let you get back to the girls. Thankyou so much for your time, Beverley, it's been lovely chatting with you.
BC: No problem, thank you and I will look forward to seeing you at The Sage!
Fatea will be reviewing Beverley Craven's appearance at the Sage(0191 443 4661) on June 8th. Full Tour details at:www.myspace.com/beverleycravenmusic
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