Since being given a rough date for the reopening of our Spanish City store, we’ve been thinking of as many ways to make the shopping experience as thrilling and enjoyable as possible for our customers. Some of you may have noticed our new window display which has been designed by the wonderful Hilary and features a giant display of faux daffodils beneath the words 'Spring Has Sprung'. In preparation for our reopening in April, we’ve teamed up with music icon Beccy Owen to craft a springtime playlist that will enhance your experience in our shop.
The playlist Beccy has created is an amalgamation of all of our favourite uplifting tracks, it manages to replicate the ambience of springtime while also capturing our brand at For the Love of the North. The playlist is brimming with songs that epitomise the transformative sensation that so perfectly describes springtime. It has classics by The Cure, For the Love of the North favourites including The Jam and Kate Bush as well as some more contemporary tones from 2019 sensation Billy Eilish. We’re so excited to open our doors to the wonderful people of For the Love of the North, chat about our Lockdown experiences and boogie along to Beccy’s wonderful playlist.
We’ve been lucky enough to complement the magical playlist with a Q&A with the legend that is Beccy Owen, so, if you want to find out a bit more about music, careers and creation have a scroll down below.
Hi Beccy, thanks so much for joining us, we’re so happy to have a moment of your time. For those who may not know you, could you tell us a bit about yourself and a fun fact.
Hi guys! I'm Beccy and I'm a 43-year-old Welsh-born, Yorkshire-bred musician living in Whitley Bay.
A fun fact about me is that I've always dreamed of having a long, prehensile tail sticking out of my coccyx. It'd be like the Cowardly Lion's, except it would have a multi-tool on the end so I could open tins in the zombie apocalypse and stuff.
What was your pathway into the music industry, was it always something you wanted to do?
I've been a full-time musician for the last 20 years. I became a singer-songwriter by accident when I started writing and performing songs to try to deal with my first major depressive episode. The North East was already my home by then and it was the encouragement of people in this region that led me down a creative path.
Your music is always so innovative and creative, where do you find your inspiration?
Lived experience - both my own and other people's. I tend to write when I find myself hungry to hear new songs that reflect certain complicated and nuanced human experiences, so I tend to make them myself when I can't find one! I also spend a lot of time listening to other people's music - I've got a totally open music policy and I'm a big fan of so many different artists, old and new.
This may be a difficult question, but what has been your favourite project to work on?
Oopht! I'm way too old and have been involved in way too many things to answer that one categorically! I do so many different things, working with my band, an all-female collective known as The Refuge, has been one of the best experiences of my life so far. They are just the loveliest women who are all mega-talented and inspiring. I also make theatre and direct music- that's always a memorable experience. I work on my own a lot, so I always love it when I get to collaborate with others. Despite being from an acting background it's rare that I get to do that these days, so that's always fun when it comes up. I'm currently working with Company of Others who are doing their first outdoor work this summer, a piece called 'Grief Floats', which is set in the North Sea so that's pretty special. It's an honour and witnessing of all that we have to grieve, living in this moment together.
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