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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned North Wales singer AraCarA to find out more…

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I’m originally from a small town in North Wales called Criccieth. I started ballet at the age of 2 and performing went from there with me being involved in local amateur dramatics and competitions. I started songwriting from the age of 16 under my original name Cara Braia. The first song I wrote was ‘doorstep’ and it was about my reincounter with bullies that I thought I had escaped when I moved schools.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
My first major influence was Anastasia, her power, unique voice and image blew me away. I wanted to be a strong female artist just like her. Since then my music taste developed into a mixture. I enjoyed a variety of music growing up from British grime (The Mitchell Brothers) to some rock (Evanescence, soad). I have really taken to a Brazillian artist “Anitta” after watching a documentary on her on Netflix. She has so much sass, she knows what she wants and her fans absolutely love her.

How would you describe your sound?
I find it difficult to listen to myself and say “I’m this genre, I sound like this” so I would say I like to mix pop/jass and neo soul. I’ve been told that I sound similar to Jorja Smith especially when I sing live.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
“Mi Amor” is a song about a passionate love so I wanted something with a latin feel, especially having recently been influenced by Anitta. If you think of ‘Addams Family’ it’s very dark, but romantic and passionate and so I wanted exactly that. I also found it lent itself very well to Halloween so it gave me freedom to create something completely different to my other singles with the music video.

What’s your local music scene like?
I still live in North Wales and it isn’t really a place for a “music scene” or opportunity. This is why social media is so incredible because I have been able to work with artists globally and share my music with the world, without having to even leave my house on some days. I also translate some of my music into Welsh, the Welsh stations are very supportive. I always give my exclusive plays to Alistair James on Capital FM Cymru (previously Heart FM).

What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Any albums or festivals?
On re-branding I took a back seat from performing because I wanted to make sure I had a solid set of originals first. I have started releasing a new single and music video every 3 months and I plan to continue doing this. Next year I will start performing again and soon will be reaching out to festivals.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Yes Jhené Aiko. Her music is like nothing I have ever heard before. She has also been a huge influence of mine, especially with how honest her lyrics are.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Not necesarily funny but I’ve had a few times where I’ve been “thrown on the spot”. One time I was performing in Shoreditch for a major event with a very well known DJ (I won’t say what the event was or with whom). On arriving at the venue I was told the band had no idea what I was playing as no one had given them my playlist. I then found out there were no rehearsals so I had to tell them some chords, give them any reference songs that they may have heard of with a similar structure and just get up and just perform with my fingers crossed. This ended up being my fave gig yet, because we all jammed so well together. The band were incredible and had worked with Jessie J, JLS and major artists so they knew what they were doing, we had to just follow each other.

Earlier on in my “gigging” days I was supposed to be performing at a festival. I turned up with my CD or audio cable ready to plug it in or play the backing track. The band before me left the stage and told me there was no PA, no way to play the music and the event co-ordinator was M.I.A. Luckily my sister could play the guitar, and one of the guys kindly lent us his guitar. We still performed so I got some chords up for my sister to play and just changed the set, it ended up in the paper so that was a plus.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
I also own a salon. I’m a nail technician and I have a fab team of girls in with me. I’ve recently started a beauty, business and lifestyle blog on YouTube and online under the name Cara Braia.

UPDATE: AraCarA is now releasing music under the name Cara Lorenzini and you can find out more on her website or via SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.