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Read our words on the latest single from dandeacon here.

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Big news everyone! Inyrarea is back. We're looking for writers. This includes everyone, from everywhere. Doesn't matter which country yr from, if you're passionate about music, be it live, recorded, pulled from yr imagination etc, then write for us! In fact, the more different people from different places, the better.

Drop us a line:

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Our snazzy new website overhaul is live now! 

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Presenting: Cecilia Montgomery

Cecilia Montgomery is a young singer-songwriter from Ft. Worth, Texas. She recently released her debut EP, entitled 'King Koopa Pipedreamz'. A dramatic inauguration, the release details love, loss and the hope that comes along with it. The titular 'Pipedream' in this instance refers to "a fantastic notion or vain hope", and the delivery easily inhabits this definition. Emotionally wrought and imbued with Cecilia's fantastic, vibrato-laden, blues/R'n'b influenced vocals, it's as impressive as it is expressive, with the chamber-pop of 'The Reaping', excellently produced and arranged by Brian K. Shepard, prognosticating great things from a precocious talent that appears able to consistently improve and expand. Just following the release, we interviewed Cecilia to talk about her impressive debut endeavour. 

"You’ve certainly got a very expressive and passionate voice. It seems strangely reminiscent of contemporary singers like Amy Winehouse and Adele, as well as more traditional blues musicians. Who would you say influenced your particular vocal styling?"

"I remember the first time I heard Adele I was walking home from school in tenth grade listening to her “Chasing Pavements” free download. At that moment I had hope, that maybe I could have a voice with my style and still have a shot. To me, the styles of Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James hadn’t been mastered like that in my generation, so Adele gave me hope. 

"But Ella Fitzgerald has definitely influenced my vocal style the most. I’ve always been enamoured by what she was capable of with such a young voice and what it matured into. She has such lush-low tones and I feel like it always resonates with whoever listens to it and paired along with her impeccable high notes, the brilliance of her voice is universally understood. I love her songs “Imagination” and “Soon” but my all time favourite song by her is “Basin Street Blues.” If I could be a quarter of what she was, I will be ecstatic."

"A lot of the meanings behind the songs seem to delineate the warmth of being in love (“I will clear the clouds of gray, ‘Cause I adore you, yes I adore you”), as well as heartbreak and detachment. (“You can’t play it cool go on and act a fool, I can’t wait to laugh when you fall.“)

You stated as a rule on your bandcamp that you should “never write someone who won’t write you back, just write about them instead.” If you could elaborate on this, do you feel this comes into your music? Is it stemming from past love-struck experiences?"

"I’m a very sentimental person, so to me almost everything has a meaning to it. Every song tells a story about the experiences I had with a single person who I was in a situation with for about 4 ½ years. Things can get pretty bad when somebody tells you they aren’t with anybody else, but then they get Chlamydia and you don’t (“The Reaping”). So in August 2011 I moved to Hong Kong (with my opera singing father whom I hadn’t lived with since I was 4) as a sort of 'hail mary', mostly because I wanted to come back after a year and be “a happier person” thinking he would love me then. Now, when I say it aloud or write it down I cringe, because in my 19 year-old naivety I actually thought that would be the case. I wrote him letters while I was gone, and sent him bracelets/postcards from the countries I traveled to. Letter-wise he never wrote me back. Besides me drunk dialling him and occasionally talking on the phone for about three hours, I didn’t hear much from him throughout those 18 months. 

  "There is one letter I never sent. I wrote about how when I was with him I stopped hearing music in my head, for the first time in my life. He made everything quiet. I thought that was a good thing up until a couple months ago. I had stopped writing songs like I had before, because he was enough for me, and I spent my time and energy trying to be enough for him. But I was the most unhappy I’ve ever been in my life. It wasn’t until this past October that I finally heard music in my head again. I didn’t want to face it, but I know that’s when I started to move on. When I start to write about someone, I’m healing, and my subconscious is telling me it’s time. So I’ve just been writing about everything that happened, trying to piece it all together, because it is one jigsaw of a lesson.

And for my number one rule, if somebody really cares, they will take the time to communicate with you, and hopefully not forget your birthday either."

  "What made you start composing and singing in the first place?"

      "I’ve always sung. It’s something my grandma always encouraged me to do. I was about 3 or 4 years old when she started to sit me down at the table and use a cassette player to record me singing “Hakuna Matata” and “Silent Night”. I first started writing songs when I was about 10 years old as a way to kill time while I was waiting for the school bus in the forty-degree (Fahrenheit) Oklahoma morning weather. I always sang in my classes at school, and in talent shows, and choir showcases. Singing is something that has always been a gigantic part of me. 

  "My father is an opera singer, and my mom met him while she was singing as well. My mom got remarried to an amazing man who is my dad. He was the principle percussionist at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic when I was younger, a school of music professor, and a composer as well. Growing up with music in my life at all times, and being around parents with professions and skill sets as such has ultimately made me capable doing what I am capable of today."

    "If you can pick, which is your personal favourite of your compositions?"

I love “Best Of Me”. I wrote it last October. It was the second song I had written in years. I wrote it while I still lived in Hong Kong, having already made plans of moving back to Los Angeles in February. Initially, I thought I was going to move back and be able to be with this person, thinking I would be able to walk hand in hand with him for the first time. 

"When I wrote this song it was more about having to accept what my reality was going to be. I would live in the same city that this person also lived in, drive down the same streets we had once driven down, see the same people we both knew, but I would do these things without him. I moved back and sure enough, he was absently around."

"You recorded these songs in a spare bedroom, but despite this, tracks such as ‘The Reaping’ are dramatic and ornate. What were your experiences of the location and how did the recording/composition process go?"

"My dad is pretty amazing. He teaches music composition, orchestration, theory, and a slew of technological classes regarding music. Initially, I would write the songs and the lyrics and take the songs to him with a chord progression, play him a couple songs I liked with the style I wanted it to be in, and he would arrange the music to them. The process was a bit different with “City Boy” and “The Reaping”. He really pushed me to start writing more of the music and take ownership of what I was creating. It was the first time I sat down and truly focused on conveying the emotions in the songs through an instrument other than my voice. 

"We solely use software samples that are compatible with Digital Performer. My dad runs a wire through the hall and sets up a microphone in our spare bedroom, and we record from there. In more ways than one, I’ve been spoiled with how easy and accessible it is for me to say “hey, I have a song, let’s make it.” Working at home has really given me the tools to work on my craft and create my sound. I couldn’t be more grateful for having my dad.

  "We’re always keen to spur on and encourage new musical acts, both for our own interest and our readers. Could you recommend a contemporary artist or even an inspiration for our readers to check out?"

"Ever since summer 2012 I’ve been really moved by Ed Tullet. I have a lot of help from my dad, but I think it’s so amazing how Ed can write, record, and produce his sound in his bedroom all on his own, especially at his age. It’s crazy. The thing I love most about his music are the lyrics, he takes lyrics to a whole new level. Every time I listen it’s almost like a growing experience and I feel like I’ve become a completely different person after listening. So yeah, I highly recommend others to listen and enjoy because his vision is brilliant. My top songs recently have been: Amadou & Miriam “Sabali”, Ed Tullet “Rewards/Forfeits”, Azealia Banks “Esta Noche”, Modest Mouse “Blame it on the Tetons”, Childish Gambino “AOTL”, Endangered Speeches "Smile", Erik Sumo Band "I'm a Semmi", Santigold “I’m a Lady”, Tunng “Bullets”, Mates of State "These Days", The National “Conversation 16”, Sneaky Sound System “It’s Not My Problem”, Coldplay "The Scientist", The Heavy "Coleen".

"Do you have any plans to play these songs live, and if so where will you be playing, for the inyrarea readers?" 

"That’s definitely one of my top priorities, but I’m a one-man show at the moment. I hope that someday soon I can start collaborating with other musicians and work towards performing in every place I possibly can to put my music out there for people to hopefully enjoy. I’m always writing songs and music, so at the moment I just plan on getting some more material and recording in some local studios here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where I now live. I know I have a very long road ahead and I’m excited for it all."

You can find Cecilia's music at her "bandcamp":http://cecei.bandcamp.com/ or her soundcloud.

(All photography by Celeste Elmore)