The Pits: In Conversation with Becca Sloan

By Katlyn Mortimer

Last year, through some mysterious TikTok algorithmic force, I discovered Glasgow-based jazz and soul singer-songwriter Becca Sloan, when she appeared on my feed advertising her upcoming gigs in Edinburgh. Performing regularly at The Jazz Bar, which is (in my opinion) one of Edinburgh’s best music venues, I made it my mission to catch a performance by Sloan, and on Saturday the 8th of February I was lucky enough to do not only that, but to also chat with her post-gig at Sneaky Pete’s. For this month’s edition of The Pits, I chatted with Sloan about new music, performing live, and her feelings towards TikTok.

On this particular February evening, Sloan was not performing at her regular Edinburgh haunt, but was instead a literal street below The Jazz Bar, filling a support slot for English indie-rock band Lazy Day. Her set consisted of unreleased originals and her most recent single ‘Stuck On You’, as well as a cover of Sade’s ‘Like a Tattoo’, which suited her vocal style perfectly. Admittedly, I was attending only with the intention of seeing Becca’s performance, and after chatting to some other solo gig-goers, I found I was not the only one. As the headliners wrapped up with an encore, the audience quickly dissipated, and I sat to talk with Sloan amongst the mild chaos as more bodies entered the room to dismantle microphone stands and pack up instruments. We both acknowledged how busy the environment had become, before getting into the interview… 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Hearing Aid (Katlyn Mortimer): You’ve been predominantly playing smaller intimate gigs lately, so how long have you been doing that for? And would you approach an opening slot like tonight differently to that of, say, at The Jazz Bar?

Becca Sloan: I wouldn’t approach it differently but there’s almost less to think about when it’s just me and a guitarist, or me and a keys player, because you’re not trying to organise a full band. But at the same time you’re more exposed, so it has to be cleaner. But I’ve been doing the same original music for a while, where I know it so well I don’t need to worry about it. In terms of The Jazz Bar and gigs where I have a full band, I’m thinking more about everyone coming in at the same time…

HA: It takes more coordination.

BS: Exactly! It’s weird because it’s the same music but there’s equal risk. Me and a guitarist, it’s so noticeable if someone fucks up basically. Then in a full band if someone messes up, it is noticeable but someone else can cover up the mistake.

HA: So when you play with the full band, what does that look like? Do you have a saxophone too?

BS: Yeah, I usually have drums, keys, bass, guitar, and sax – or some kind of horn, usually sax.

HA: I know that when you were performing earlier, you played a lot of original stuff that’s unreleased. You said you’ve been working on an EP, so how has that been going?

BS: This EP is the first body of work that I’ve done, other than that I’ve only done singles. In terms of this, it’s not a cohesive EP. I moved to Edinburgh for uni four years ago, so I wrote the songs over the course of time since then. They’re not necessarily related to each other but I really want to bring them out. I haven’t started recording them yet. There’s so many logistics – album art, music video, there’s so many elements to think about!

HA: I also wanted to talk about ‘Stuck On You’ – I love that song. What inspired you to write it, and how did you get into that style of music?

BS: I was totally a solo singer-songwriter until I was eighteen. Just before lockdown, I started listening to jazz, although I wasn’t brought up on it at all. I thought, “I like this and I don’t know what it is.” Over time, I got more into it and started listening to neo-soul like Isaac Waddington, which kind of opened a door for me into that side of music. Celeste was also such a massive influence for me, and Olivia Dean. They’re not jazz, but there are obvious jazz influence. Then when I went to uni and studied music, my singing teacher made me sing the standards like Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter because he wanted me to get the right technique and teach me jazz.

In terms of ‘Stuck On You’, I didn’t write that by myself. I went in with the producer Cathal Murphy and we thought we would write something that day rather than recording something I’d already written, and that just kinda happened. It was written so quickly.

HA: Almost like the song wrote itself?

BS: Yeah, I think I had lyrics written down but hadn’t looked at them for months. I was flicking through my diary and for some reason they just really fit with the music. But in terms of the style of the music, I think that just developed over time, going to uni and the jazz society and stuff like that.

HA: I was talking to another girl who was behind me at the show, and she said she discovered you on TikTok, which is where I found you too.

BS: [laughs] That’s what everyone says to me! That’s so funny!

HA: You also recently posted a vlog of your first gig in London. Would you say that filming vlogs and creating videos is something you’re interested in doing?

BS: Yeah man, I have always loved making videos, and my final project for uni was a soundscape and a film. I care so much for film. But the TikTok thing, I’m really into fashion and I use it for that. I remember I watched a Celeste interview a few years ago where she said she was really into fashion and music, and like “how can I combine these?” Because you can get your music people to get into your fashion, and your fashion people to get into your music, so I was thinking about that. TikTok was a really good way of being like, “if you like my style of clothes then maybe you’ll like my music as well!”

It wasn’t very deliberate but it happened to work out. In terms of the vlog, I’d love to make more videos. I don’t just care about the music. I care about every aspect and the visual stuff too, not just the sound.

HA: Lastly, I wanted to ask about one of the songs you performed tonight – ‘Canal’?

BS: Oh I hate the name of that

HA: I wanted to ask you about that one because it felt like a standout, it was a lot more upbeat. What inspired it and why is it called ‘Canal’… if it is called that?

BS: At the time, me and a couple other musicians were playing the Fringe. We got offered a slot on a canal boat in Edinburgh, and we played there multiple days for a couple weeks. It was around that time that we wrote that song, and it was me and my friend Ethan James who wrote it. He’s a drummer, but he played guitar and I think that comes across because of the rhythm of it. Before that, I was really focused on lyrics and everything was melancholy and sad, which is probably my overall style, but we were having a class time, so I just wanted to write something nice!

…

 After our chat, Becca and I walked through a drizzly Edinburgh evening to the train station together. She joked about her ‘stupid outfit’ (black and white gingham capris with red ballet pumps) being the reason she was so cold in the February weather. Perhaps in the same way that beauty is pain, music can be fashion. For Sloan, the combination is a perfect storm.

Becca Sloan will be playing at Belladrum festival and Kelburn Garden Party this summer, and you can find out when and where she will be playing until then via her Instagram (or TikTok, of course).