Viva Brighton Issue #77 July 2019

PRIDE
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Grace Carter
A breath of fresh air
Grace Carter grew up in Brighton with her
mum, listening to singers like Lauryn Hill and
Nina Simone. Now, at 23, having caused a stir
with her strikingly honest and emotive R&B,
she’s performing at Pride alongside the likes of
Jessie J, Grace Jones and Kylie.
Pride has always been a big part of my life.
Every summer me and my friends would go
along and have the best time ever. Now, after
being in that audience, going and performing is
super-exciting. It’s an amazing celebration, and
I’m very happy to be there.
I was introduced to songwriting by my
stepdad. I met him when I was 13, but I was
very unsure of him. I grew up with a single
mum and I had a lot of anger and questions
about why I was in that position. But my
stepdad was a musician and he saw that anger
in me, and the potential. He gave me a guitar
and encouraged me to write my first song about
what I was feeling at the time, which had a lot
to do with abandonment and unrequited love.
The first record is my proudest moment, I
overcame so much by going through that whole
process. I can’t wait for it to be released next
year. It’s about my childhood, relationships that
I had and ones I didn’t have, celebrating my
mum and finding out why my dad wasn’t in my
life. It’s emotional, but hopefully empowering.
I get messages everyday from young girls,
young boys, and I meet a lot of people at shows.
Older parents, as well, saying things like “my
daughter is in the same position as you and I’m
so happy that you’ve become this woman and
you’ve coped with it, I hope my daughter can
do the same”. I’m able to talk to people and
hear other people’s stories, so it’s very cool that
I’m in a place where there’s that platform.
I probably wouldn’t stop to listen to a
ballad, if I was at a festival and I was drinking,
and it was sunny and I was out with my friends.
But it’s fun to try and keep the set up. I don’t
necessarily write the most beat-heavy songs,
but the festivals that I have done have always
gone well. I guess people see it as a breath of
fresh air in a way. My songs are emotional at
points, but also epic, hopefully uplifting, and
there are some you can dance to.
You can write a song about a hard
experience, something you struggled through,
but the feeling of coming out of that is so
powerful, people do feel lifted by that. It’s the
feeling of the light at the end of the tunnel, like
it’s not always going to be this dark and there’s
a glimpse of hope.
Pride is a celebration of love, and strength.
It’s so important, we all struggle, we all go
through heartbreak, but it’s nice to know we’re
not the only ones. I hope I can uplift people
and make people feel connected. That’s the
whole point, unity.
As told to Ben Bailey
Grace Carter appears at LoveBN1Fest in
Preston Park on Sunday August 4.
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