Interview with Emma Halpin

Hailing from Manchester, England, bedroom-pop artist Emma Halpin has just released her new single “Orbit”. A bright, breezy pop tune with a late 80s feel, this is Emma’s 22nd release – her debut single “Smile” was released in 2015 when she was only 11 years old!

We caught up with Emma to discuss the new single and get her thoughts on the music she enjoys.

Hi Emma! How’s everything going right now?
Everything’s doing great for me at the moment, I am super excited to get out and do things again this summer and finishing my songwriting diploma at BIMM Manchester !

What classic album cover is your current mood?
I would say that Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album artwork is probably sums up my current mood – chilling on a cloud haha. 

You released your first single at the age of 11 – who were your influences at the time and have they changed since then?
When I released my first single at 11, I would say that most of my influence came from Disney Channel original movies such as ‘Teen Beach Movie’ or ‘Lemonade Mouth’ at the time. Since then however, my main influences have changed a lot when i was around 13-14 I loved listening to spoken word as well as artists such as Samsa and Blackbear. Now I often find myself listening to many different styles ranging from Don Mclean to Dayglow. The Disney channel originals will always have a place in my heart though for sure.

If you could only listen to one record, what would it be?
If I had to choose just one song it would definitely be Sangria by Easy Life. I feel like that songs just works for so many occasions and I do find it quite hard to skip.

Tell us about your new single “Orbit”
Orbit has been a song I wanted to create for a while after coming up with the line ‘stuck in your orbit’ last summer I knew that one day I would have a finished song out of it one day. I finished writing it in November and then the production started. I know I wanted to create an upbeat, cheesy, summer pop song and when starting the recording and production process I definitely kept that in mind. I also managed to get Kim Nishikawara (who recorded for Michael Buble’s first album) to play a saxophone solo on the track in the bridge of the song which definitely plays as a feature in this track. All in all, the goal for Orbit was to make a song that people could dance around in their gardens to on a hot summer’s day with their friends.

How has studying at the British and Irish Institute for Modern Music in Manchester affected the way you approach writing and recording?
BIMM has certainly made an impact on me not just as a writer but as an artist as well. Being in a class full of 25 songwriters was definitely a little intimidating at the start but I have met some amazing people their who have inspired me to explore different ways to write. Collaboration was never something I was interested in before BIMM, but now it’s all I want to do !

What would go on your signature pizza and what would it be called?
My signature pizza would be vegan (sorry to disappoint) but would have the best vegan margarita cheese and the thickest crust ! No messing about with thin crust ! And it would be called the Emmerita.

What’s up next?
This year I just want to continue to make fun, upbeat songs that can make people smile ! I think everyone deserves happy music after this past year and I can wait to get back out there as much as the next person. There is more music to come for sure!

 You can follow Emma at emmahalpin.com and follow her on Instagram