Chantel McGregor on the road with new album

SussexWorld

Yorkshire-born guitarist, singer and songwriter Chantel McGregor is on the road on the back of her first album of original material for ten years. Her third studio album The Healing comes out on May 23 ahead of dates at Hastings Carlisle on Sunday, June 1, Portsmouth, Guildhall on Tuesday, June 3 and Worthing’s Factory Live on Wednesday, June 11.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Land Sussex Newspapers. Always

00:06really lovely to speak to Chantal McGregor. Now you are heading our way. You've got dates

00:10in Hastings and Portsmouth and Southampton with a new album. And remarkably, this is

00:16your first album of new material for, you hesitate to say, 10 years.

00:23I know.

00:24Does that heap up the pressure? Does that heap up the pressure?

00:27I know. It's fantastic. Yeah, absolutely. I hope people like it.

00:32And tell me about it. It's got a really striking title. It's The Healing. And there's a personal

00:38element in this too, isn't there? You've been through some things.

00:42Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I think in life generally, we all go through some really sad

00:47things and happy things and tragic things. And this album for me was quite cathartic because

00:52it was about a lot of personal things that had happened to me over the last few years.

00:56And the whole ethos of the album is kind of, you go through collectively as a human race,

01:01we go through these things that are horrible and then try and find sort of some peace and

01:05solace with it and come out the other side and go, actually, I can get through this.

01:09And there is a sense of healing and there is a sense of, you know, sort of, we can get

01:14through this. Everybody can get through something. It's hard, but we will get through it.

01:18And there is a positive aspect to it too.

01:20So what is that healing? Is it just a question of hanging on and not doubting?

01:26I think so. Yeah. I think it's keeping going and self-belief that you can get through

01:31really, really naff situations, you know, horrible things that happen to everybody. And you go, well,

01:38you know, people don't talk about the horrible things really because they're private and they're

01:43personal. But I think, you know, for people to be aware that, well, everybody goes through this

01:47stuff and, you know, you will get through it and you can get through it and see a positive side to

01:53it and a light at the end of the tunnel because there is one.

01:55And did you start to think of it in different ways for having expressed it in music or was

02:00the healing earlier? Or was the healing the music?

02:04I think, I think generally, this is a bit ambiguous, but in life, it's always a healing

02:10is life. You know, there's things that I've written about on this album that I'm not healed

02:13from. But, you know, you write about them in the hope that at some point you will be healed

02:19from them. And some things you never heal from, you never get over, but you learn to live

02:23with and you learn to cope with. And to me, that is a sense of healing. So, yeah.

02:28And it must be a lovely thought that this is an album which is bound to strike a chord

02:32with bands and audiences, isn't it? Everyone's going to find a reflection of their own experiences

02:37and exactly what you're saying, aren't they?

02:40Exactly. And to me, that's what music's about. It's, you know, it's connecting with people

02:44and making them sort of feel, I can really connect with this. I can really, you know, I've gone

02:50through that and I appreciate what's being said and I feel, you know, close to this album

02:55and I can, you know, I can empathise with it or, you know, if it gets them through a

02:59really tricky time as well, then that's why I do what I do.

03:02And it won't be another 10 years before the next album of original material, presumably.

03:07I hope not. I'll be ready to retire by one at this rate.

03:14Fantastic. Well, lovely to speak to you again. And what a wonderful advert for Bradford, sitting

03:19in your sunny garden.

03:22Lovely. Bradford's wonderful.

03:25Brilliant. We're really nice to speak to you. Take care and have happy gigs in, among other

03:30places, Hastings, Portsmouth and Southampton and Winchester, my favourite city. Thank you.

03:35Thank you for coming. Thank you.

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