With so much in depth insight into her meaningful world, Shropshire native Meg Chandler opens the door and lets us deep within her busy world, which has recently caught on fire music wise. Full of life and showing her leader-like qualities, we find an enthusiastic creative who is ready for anything.
We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today, Meg Chandler. First, how did you start in this wild music game?
Meg: I started taking piano lessons when I was 5 and had been brought up surrounded by music always, with my parents playing their favourite tunes non-stop – so it was quite a natural path for me. However, it wasn’t until covid that I actually had the time to sit down and give writing a proper go. Since then, I’ve spent the last few years devoting every spare second to music and creating a career for myself! My brother is also a musician, so it’s really a whole family of people that wholeheartedly love music!
Please explain to us your connection with Manchester recording/writing duo SOAP?
Meg: I met the SOAP guys about a year ago and since then have spent a lot of time working together on finding my sound and experimenting with different ideas! My songwriting process can be a bit messy because there’s always so much that I want to fit into a song, whether that be emotionally and/or specific wording, I often get quite overwhelmed by it all. So it helps me sooo much working with Josh and Karl because they refine everything I want to sing about and make it a much nicer, less chaotic experience than it would be when I’m working on my own! We’ve ended up with 6 songs that I’m absolutely in love with, 2 of which are out now!
Shropshire. Please tell us what your hometown means to you and do you still live here?
Meg: My hometown in Shropshire means the absolute world to me. I still live there with my family and work full time as a cafe manager, coming up to Manchester on my days off every week to fit in music work! It’s a really nice contrast from the busy city life and even though I’m hoping to move to Manchester next year (where I’m based for music) I know I’ll always have my sleepy little countryside home to escape back to.
Goats and donkeys. Please lead us into your side job and how well-behaved are these animals, really?
Meg: Haha, so as every independent musician knows – music is an extremely expensive career. Alongside my full-time job, I’m always looking to pick up extra hours where I can, one of those is looking after donkeys and goats. I always joke that it’ll be super funny if I get really famous and have the donkeys to thank for the extra pennies which ultimately made it possible (laughs).
What’s it like being a 21-year-old singer-songwriter right now?
Meg: It’s crazy how many young musicians are out there at the moment doing amazingly! It’s such a good thing to have that but at the same time means there is SUCH a fight to get yourself noticed and be different to everyone else. The main great thing is that I’ve made so many lovely friends through music, it really is a community, especially in Manchester. Just means you’ve gotta work that little bit harder – always good to have some friendly competition:) but equally knowing you’ll always have that group of people supporting each other is sooo lovely!
Do you have any tips for young musicians starting out in this seemingly fickle business?
Meg: Basically, just don’t give up. I’ve been extremely lucky falling in with a group of people that I work really well with and that are passionate about my music. Also, with the opportunities that have come my way. At the end of the day, not only is it about working insanely hard and being good at what you do, but equally luck is SUCH a huge thing. Being in the right place at the right time. Just make sure you’re taking every opportunity that comes your way, get out to every gig possible and make friends in the industry and just put your whole heart into it 🙂
Last, where can fans find you live next or do you have any tours on the horizon?
Meg: At the moment I’m focusing on releasing and have a few shows dotted about, but next year will be filled with gigs. I’ll always post about it on my Instagram, so keep an eye out! @megemilychandler
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Soak your soul inside this angelic figure on Spotify. Follow her path on IG.
Interview by Llewelyn Screen