IRAINA MANCINI TALKS RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

What is 'Running for your life' about?

'Running for your life' is about that inner "tug of war" you sometimes have with that little devil on your shoulder, when things get on top of you and you just want to cause mischief and escape everything!

It's been a while since your last release, leaving us on a sugar high. Have you been busier backstage?

It's actually been pretty chilled last year. I got my head down and wrote loads of songs, I wanted to make sure I had loads to choose from for album two. It's quite a solitary experience, working out what you want to say and diving into a new sort of era. So 2024 was peaceful. I then started recording with a new producer Dimitri Tikovoi. We recorded some new music and worked together really well. After nearly a year of writing it felt so great to record.

What does expressing yourself through music, and having it be heard, mean for you?

For me writing is such a release, it's almost like a diary for me. I often write about things that are happening in my life, or subjects I feel strongly about. A friend can tell me about a difficult situation, and that inspires a subject to talk about. It has always just been part of my life, from such a young age as my dad was a musician, that it's second nature to me.

How early on were the records already spinning for you?

My parents were creatives, so talking about art and making it was a huge part of my childhood. I remember watching my dad on 'Top of the Pops' and I would sit in his studio with him to listen to what he was working on. My mum would be in darkrooms growing up, processing film, and would use my sister and I as models sometimes to practise camera techniques with! It was a very bohemian upbringing. I guess it was natural I went into the arts. My dad has an incredible Northern Soul, Latin and sixties RnB vinyl collection from his youth as a mod in the sixties, as a child I would listen to all the music and that's where my love of that music came from.

Having a super-producer dad, who worked so closely with David Bowie, must have been inspiring, seeing such a big dream come true and all the hard work behind it, did it mean lots to witness that?

To me, David was just dads old friend, so I did not really realise the gravity of it, until I was much older. His experience touring with Bowie were some of the best years of his life and I love looking at all the old photos and hearing the old stories of such a magical time. To be a fly on the wall!

Who are the forever icons in your life. The artists that inspiration-wise will always exist within your own musical soul?

My favourite musical artists that have inspired me are old jazz artists. Julie London, Ella Fitzgerald through to French sixties artists like Serge Gainsbourg and Francoise Hardy. I also love psychedelic rock bands like Aphrodite's Child and Rotary Connection. I am a big film-soundtrack fan, especially Italian sixties and seventies composers like Silvio Cipriani and Ennio Morricone. I'm also in love with the Cocteau Twins, Elizabeth Fraser is an icon, for me.

You also had a birthday just before this release, did you get to celebrate extra, be it on one of the days or for the full week?

My birthday was so much fun, I celebrated with friends in an old Sohopub and then the following day flew to Athens for a few nights. What a city! There I ate and drank lots of beautiful food and wine. I've been really happy about the reaction to this single so it was a double celebration.