Musicians garner inspiration from many places. For Irish artist Sandra Coffey her musical interests were sparked as a youngster during long summer days on the family farm in Galway in the west of Ireland. Her and her siblings would listen to the charts and learn the latest dance moves as the farm work went on around them.
Sandra believes that this early submergence in music has stood her well. And as she has just released her first single she can't help but think back to the innocent days of waiting for the Top 10 to count down and placing bets with siblings as to who would be number one.
Mascara Girl is the first single taken from Sandra's forthcoming album. Sandra is fasincated by the story behind the single. The song written by Trevor Conway gets inside a woman’s thoughts as she gets ready for a date on a summer’s evening. She is trying to make decisions on her appearance and attitude. It’s the thoughts a woman has before she steps out the door that’s what Sandra finds interesting and complex.
Sandra’s interest in recording was inspired by a visit to Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin where she got to record there as part of an RTE Irish television Show Seoige.
Sandra’s mentor at Windmill Lane Paul Harrington a former Eurovision winner described her as having “a powerful and soulful voice which effortlessly reaches high notes”.
The experience in Windmill Lane was hugely inspiring. Sandra always knew she wanted to go back and record in a studio some day.
Sandra was keen to record it in Galway her home city and the Forge Studios was the perfect place. It’s not far from a bustling live music scene and it has the canal nearby where many an idea was hatched. It also has a photo of Snow Patrol hanging in the hallway. They recorded their some time ago.
It took Sandra over two years to be in a position to release her music. She is excited to have finally made it. She is keenly aware of how lucky she was to work with talented musicians along the way.
She will follow up her first single with an album in the New Year.
Sandra is looking forward to singing live and bring her music to audiences across Ireland and further afield.