 Courtesy of the Artist Folk-rock band GypsyFingers - founded by songwriter Victoria Coghlan and producer Luke Oldfield - are prepping the release of their new album, Stranger Things, on October 26th. Victoria's classical training and love of dance music fuses with Luke's folk, rock and pop background to create a fresh sound of their own lauded by RnR Magazine as ‘trip-hop and folk-influenced ethereal pop that delightfully doesn't fit into any existing musical pigeonhole’. Here, Victoria answers her Essential 8 where she talks songwriting and shares the story behind the album's title as well as thoughtful fan gifts, and more. Is there a story behind your album’s title? Yes, the album is named after our title track 'Stranger Things' taken from the chorus "stranger things have had me down, but the memories, those incredible things, are still around. The song is a reflection of growing up and gaining life experience, sometimes the hard way, but overall appreciating that these experiences are all part your unique 'tapestry of life'. The songs on the album all have a strange element to them and we were fairly experimental in the studio this time round. People find it difficult to pigeonhole our music so the album title reflects the nature of Gypsyfingers music and also the members of the band. The album cover artwork shows Victoria and Luke wearing animal masks of Hare and Hound, which have become our alter egos. Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? So many places. We write about our experiences and feelings, but hugely draw inspiration from the world around us. I've written songs inspired by magazine articles and news reports such as 'Circus Elephant' and 'Half World'. One song I wrote called 'You' was actually a letter. Rather than send the letter, I just read it over a guitar riff. I write about my friends too, Hey Maria is an obvious one, but with the other songs, I don't tell my friends if they are about them. What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out? Really just do your own thing, practice really really hard and get really good at it. I've been really confused sometimes between creating what I want and what I think everyone else wants... but its music! its not fashion… so you’ve got to do your thing.  What do you love most about being on the road?
Arriving in new destinations and exploring as much of them as we can ... which usually involves finding a good restaurant (we have become experts at this). Meeting new people is great too, and I love taking photos. There is often lots of good banter in the van too. What has been your biggest struggle so far? Being an artist is tough. There is so much to do apart from writing songs and not all of it is fun. I think any self employed person can relate to this… sometimes the world just feels so big and its easy to get overwhelmed. With the highs come the lows and there are tough days but you’ve got to stay strong. What has been your biggest success? Last summer we played at London’s Hyde Park BST supporting Van Morrison & Michael Bublé and also at Isle of Wight festival for its 50th anniversary which were both a step up for us! But this year we have started organising our own headline tours in the UK and Poland and to have people showing up and supporting us is just amazing and feels like a big success in a different way. Which song of yours gets the best crowd response? It totally depends on the venue actually and the type of gig we are playing. Certain songs of ours which are more on the rock side of what we do like 'Half World' always get a good "whoop" from the crowd and acoustic songs that we play as a duo like 'Blue Sky' always go down very well for a listening audience. When we've played 'Steel Bones' many people have written to us and said that it made them cry so it depends what kind of response you are going for. Do you have a favorite gift from a fan? We've received some lovely gifts, some very generous gifts too, but the best ones are the very thoughtful ones. We've been given personalised Caps and T Shirts and once some hand made dolls and homemade jam and vodka once when we were in Poland although our tour manager forbade us from drinking it as he said it would make us go blind! Website/IG Gypsyfingers perform live as a multi-instrumental quartet with Victoria on piano, French horn, guitars and vocals, Luke on guitars and vocals - their live shows have been described as ‘fully immersive and entertaining; seductive and beautiful in equal measure’ (Mumble Music, Edinburgh Queens Hall, 1st Oct 2017).
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