Home > Interviews > Emma Hewitt

Were your family musical?

Pretty much! I was always surrounded by all kinds of music from a young age. My parents were big music fans so I grew up listening to a lot of their records – bands like Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac. That stuff really inspired me and still does today. My Dad also played guitar and sang a lot, not professionally, but just for the enjoyment of it. My brother is a great guitarist and we have always been in bands together and write all our music as a team.

When did you start singing?

I have been kind of singing in some form for as long as I can remember. I started singing in very basic cover bands around the age of 16. I always knew music was all I wanted to do and I’ve never really interested in much else.

How did you become involved in your first success – Carry Me Away with Chris Lake?

I met Chris through a publisher I was signed to at the time in London. Chris was looking for someone to sing on his track Changes. He flew me up to Scotland to put down some vocals but once there we realised the track really wasn’t going to work with my style of singing. We decided to write a new song from scratch and came up with Carry Me Away in a matter of hours. We managed to write and record the entire track before I had to rush off and catch my flight back to London. It was really quite a serendipitous trip!

What was it like working with Cosmic Gate on their hit Not Enough Time?

It was great. I have always been a fan of their music so it was awesome to get to work with them. I fell in love with the instrumental as soon as I heard it. The guys have always been really lovely to deal with too which has made the experience even more enjoyable.

There is also a successful side project, the rock band Missing Hours. Is it difficult working across genres?

Funnily enough it hasn’t been. To be honest I don’t care too much for genres. The songs all have the same spirit whether they have a rock beat, a dance beat, or an acoustic guitar underneath them. The audiences are very different but crossing genres just allows me to experiment more with music and work on the stuff I love without being confined to specific sounds or markets.

You recently worked on a track called Crucify Yourself with producer Amurai. It’s a hugely emotional track. Is there a story behind the lyrics?

Yeah, this song was actually originally a rock song with my band Missing Hours. The Amurai track is a remix of the band version. I love Amurai’s sounds and am so happy with what he has come up with! The song is about the breakdown of a relationship, the realisation that if someone won’t help themselves there is nothing more you can do other than walk away.

How is your new track with Dash Berlin going?

I had a great time working with the guys and am a big fan of their production work. The track is just starting to filter out now and it’s great to see people are responding so well to it very early on. We just finished filming the video in Rotterdam and I am really looking forward to seeing the finished edit. I am really excited to see how this track goes.

Are you also working with Tiesto?

I have been working on a track for his side project Allure. The track isn’t finished yet but it is one of my favourite songs so far so I can’t wait to hear where his production takes it.

You have just been to Ibiza. Was it business or pleasure?

It was originally business but the gig I went there for was unfortunately cancelled the day before so it turned into pleasure! But certainly no complaints there, it was an awesome time!

And what’s next?

I am heading home to Australia in the next week or so. I have just had 6 weeks in Europe which has been amazing. I will be moving back to the UK in 2010 to concentrate on an artist album. There is a track about to come out with Ronski Speed called Lasting Light which I am really excited about. Later in the year there will be a track with Gareth Emery – he is such a wonderfully musical producer – so I am stoked about that one too. Then there will be a more rock style trance track with the amazing Nic Chagall. This year has been a lot of fun so I am hoping things continue on this path.