THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Helen Corry

You may have seen – but maybe didn't if you follow her on Facebook – Helen Corry's arresting video for her song La Femme. Earlier this year the clip which she said showed feminine empowerment in the #metoo age saw her Facebook page suspended.

Although ironically it was still on You Tube and was played on The Edge TV. And you can see it below.

Although it may have looked somewhat risque it was beautifully shot, there was no actual nudity and the message was clear, it was about women being strong. And sexual harassment which it was calling time on.

Writer and singer Corry's 2017 debut single Strike went top five on George FM and was featured on Spotify's New Music Friday, and La Femme released in February hit the same important Spotify playlist.

She has played Rhythm and Vines, Homegrown and other festivals and has just released her EP Later For The Real Show (which includes Strike and La Femme).

Time to flick her a Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire . . .

The first piece of music which really affected you was . . .

I remember being stopped in my tracks when I heard Vivaldi ‘Four Seasons’ for the first time.

My Mum used to play music really loudly when she did the housework and one day I came home to a house full of ‘Summer’ and some dramatic vacuuming. It’s still a very vivid memory

Your first (possibly embarrassing) role models in music were . . .

Oh god ... It is embarrassing, I’m going to have to say B*Witched ...the Irish girl ‘band’ that I obsessed over when I was about 8. They were all tom boys and they were my heroes.

Lennon or Jagger, Ramones or Nirvana, Madonna or Gaga, Jacko or Jay-Z?

Lennon, Nirvana, MaGaga, Jacko

If music was denied you, your other career choice would be . . .

Why is this so hard to answer? I’m gonna say a Sheep and Beef farmer that dables in Acting because that’s what I wanted to be until I was 13.

The three songs (yours, or by others) you would love everyone to hear are . . .

B*Witched ‘Cest la vie’( it’s still a jam )

‘La Femme’ - it’s mine, but it has a message that needs to be heard

The acapella of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie singing ‘Under Pressure’

Any interesting, valuable or just plain strange musical memorabilia at home... 

I try to get a poster from every gig I go to (although lots of people have stopped making poster merch) … about half of them are framed and my walls are lined with all of these amazing musical memories. There are 5 sitting under my bed because I’ve run out of wall space but I rotate them around to keep it fresh. My current favourite is a Nick Cave tea towel drawn by Duke Riley.

I should have put ‘Into my arms’ as one of those 3 songs back there. .

The best book on music or musicians you have read is . . .

I have been reading bits of David Byrne ‘How Music Works’ I equal parts love it and think that it’s not helpful. Sometimes there is magic in not understanding how something works.

If you could get on stage with anyone it would be?

Freddie Mercury … I’d be the one passing him his half stand microphone and then I’d just copy everything he does. The way he moves on stage is just so perfectly outrageous. It would incredibly weird for everyone in the audience but I honestly don’t care.

The three films you'd insist anybody watch because they might understand you better are . . .

Inside out

Dead Poets Society

Fargo

The last CD or vinyl album you bought was  . . . (And your most recent downloads include...)

I picked up Kiwi boys ‘Leisure’ on vinyl a few months ago and it’s delightful to cook dinner to. And It looks like Jed Parsons ‘Midnight Feast’ was my last download. Seems I like my homegrown stuff!

One song, royalties for life, never have to work again. The song by anyone, yourself included, which wouldn't embarrass you in that case would be . . .

Yes please! OK I think you’re asking me to pick any song that is making a bunch of royalties already. In which case something ridiculous like ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ or anything by Ed Sheeran, because  you know what isn’t embarrassing? Never having to work again.

The poster, album cover or piece of art could you live with on your bedroom wall forever would be . . .

I’ve got one of those framed records with a plaque thing from when a single goes gold/platinum etc. Aesthetically it’s actually a bit of an eyesore especially at the moment because it’s leaning against the wall on the ground because I have too many bloody gig posters hanging up. But...it’s one of those things I only ever dreamed of having. One of those and an Oscar on the mantle of my Sheep and Beef farm house.

You are allowed just one tattoo, and it is of . . .

This is a question I ask myself often and I still don’t know the answer. I’m not sure ink is for me.

David Bowie sang, “Five years, that's all we've got . . .” You would spend them where and doing what?

I’m assuming I’m healthy and able and living off my ‘All I want for Christmas’ royalties... So I’m going everywhere with everyone I love, to eat and drink everything but also to throw wads of cash out the window to all the struggling musicians. What a way to go.

And finally, in the nature of press conferences in Japan, “Can you tell me please why this is your best album ever?”

Because it’s my only one?