Getting to Know… Madeline Castrey

Reading Time: 6 min read

**For the 153^rd interview in our Getting to Know… series, we gain tremendous insight into the craft of intriguing jazz singer, Madeline Castrey.**

“Ihave combined jazzy melodies, velvety vocals and modern beats infused with classical elements to create a new style of smooth/nu-jazz and soft pop that I hope will bring a whole new wave of listeners to the genre!” Now that is just awesome! That’s the response jazz singer 🎙 Madeline Castrey provided us, when asked about what makes her unique, as well as rock the audience’s socks off. It’s pretty sweet that Castrey serves as interviewee on the 153^rd edition of our Getting to Know… series. Jazz musicians rarely appear on the site, so, we’re extremely honored to hear what Castrey had to say about her craft. So, no further delays! Here’s Getting to Know… Madeline Castrey: Interview #153!

Starting things off, for those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes you distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

🎤 Well one of my biggest ambitions is to make the jazz genre more accessible for listeners. Coming from a classical and jazz background, I have seen quite a lot of exclusivity in these genres in the past, so that is something I am trying to counteract! In order to do this, I have combined jazzy melodies, velvety vocals and modern beats infused with classical elements to create a new style of smooth/nu-jazz and soft pop that I hope will bring a whole new wave of listeners to the genre! (Though sometimes I do have to rein myself in a bit and remember that I’m writing a song and not a symphony!)

Let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your career begin and what were some of the goals or the visions you had early on?

🎤 I was born in Surrey and I’ve always been a lover of music from a very young age. If you’ve heard my songs, you might not believe it, but my background is actually in classical singing. I have a strong background in West End Theatre and television, but then I fell in love with opera and began to train as an opera singer.

I was seriously ill as a teenager, and the silver lining of this was being able to spend lots of time on music and finding the style I really loved. I was thrilled to become the first ever 16-year-old admitted onto an undergraduate degree course at The London College of Music, and I then went on to gain a distinction in my master’s degree specializing in opera.

Over the past few years, I’ve been using music as a means to fundraise for the charities that helped me as a teen, and I was thrilled to receive a Princess Diana Award for my work.

Obviously, lockdown has been a very challenging time for creatives, but the silver lining has been having more time and space to create – in fact, I would say that having this time has really changed and shaped my musical direction and in many ways, it’s so lovely to say something good came out of such a difficult year!

Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 Oh, massively so! Initially I was a musical theatre singer and West End performer! Then as my voice changed and my classical training ramped up a bit, I then went into studying opera full time – I still love singing opera and perform it professionally even now!

Jazz music and songwriting was really the last thing I arrived at, but it’s really where my heart is. I’m on a mission to make the genre more accessible to modern listeners and keep creating in my unique style that infuses so many different musical elements. I’m looking forward to continuing to release music and growing my audience – and of course finish my PhD in music which I am completing alongside all of my songwriting! (Though I’m not sure what a doctor of music does really?!)

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 Well I suppose my influences have three elements; artist-wise it has to be Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald. Vocals wise, the one and only Karen Carpenter – and I fancy myself a bit of a Jools Holland in terms of arranging music and improvising. I’d love to collaborate with him one day!

Ah, the fun stuff. What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance? Feel free to be creative.

🎤 Well some of my favourite live performances have been as part of West End productions, and I’d say that all of my best (and perhaps more hairy moments) have happened whilst performing in The Lion King in London. As you can imagine with a Disney production, the magic that is created and achieved is wonderful to be a part of, but with so many complex costumes, props and bits of scenery, there is so much that can go wrong! I’ve fallen over a fair few times in that show, props have malfunctioned and once I got my “tail” wrapped round my foot, so I spent the rest of the scene hopping!

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

🎤 Well as much as I love performing my own new original material, people love to hear the classic jazz standards and it’s just magical to see people’s faces light up when you start performing a song that reminds them of a time in their life. I love performing Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and even Vera Lynn! (🎵 “I’ll Be Seeing You”) is just magical to perform live! I’ve done a lot of work with charities, attempting to use music as a means to improve mobility and memory, and it’s amazing to see people who have suffered debilitating neurological conditions suddenly light up when they recall a song or even a small fragment of a melody. Music has such a power to be able to move people in this way, and this is what I really thrive off when performing live.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

🎤 Hmmm…I’m not sure how interesting it is, but I’m a bit of an academic! I actually took my GCSE music at 10 and got an A*, and then took another GCSE and 2 A Levels at 11, 12 and 13 – safe to say I was very bored as a child! That’s how I got my place on a degree course at 16 and now at 23, I’m in the final year of my doctorate! I was also really proud to become one of the youngest university lecturers in the country at the age of 22. I’m really against age discrimination and really live by the motto “she believed she could – so she did.”

I also realized recently that I could curl my tongue into the letter W, I have a super bendy thumb and I spent six months in the company of Basil Brush…you’ll have to google that one!

Awesome! Closing things out, what are you currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

Well I’m currently in the process of recording a new single and I’m in the middle of writing my first EP, which I’d love to release next year alongside a few more singles. The sky’s the limit really, so watch this space!

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

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