Living The Dream

Sharon Corr is even more beautiful in real life than she is in photos or on screen. She springs into Mark Nixon’s photography studio on the sea-front in Clontarf, Dublin, wearing vertiginous heels with the effortless grace that only petite women can truly carry off, shimmers of the clear blue sky on the calm full-tide trail in her wake.

Hot-pink top, tight black trousers, twinkling eyes highlighted by iridescent eye-liner, a lively presence and a big warm smile: these are my first impressions of the eldest Corr sister – violinist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter with one of Ireland’s most famous musical exports, The Corrs. And this being Ireland, we are already connected. My friend Alan, who grew up alongside the Corr family in Dundalk, kissed Sharon when they were teenagers. Or so he tells me!
“Did he?” Sharon laughs when I remind her. “Oh yes, of course! At a disco. It lasted one night. Alan was kissing loads of girls in Dundalk at the time. A lovely guy. Tell him I said hello.”
There’s an aura of metamorphosis around Sharon Corr, as though she’s recently emerged, transformed, from a cocoon. And it isn’t just her infectious good humour. As the mother of a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl (who started Montessori the day we met), Sharon has recently undergone a particularly intensive journey from maiden to mother, with two pregancies, births and babyhoods in quick succession. She’s spent most of the last four years at home, stirring the domestic crucible. Now that her kids are moving past the baby stage, Sharon is experiencing a liberating re-unification with her creative self. Exuberant energy crackles around her like electricity.
It’s not surprising to hear that the butterfly – a recurrent synchronicity in Sharon’s awareness over the last few years – has found its way, as a highly relevant symbol, onto Dream Of You, her just-released debut solo album. The record is a superb one, ensuring that it has been given high priority throughout Europe and further afield by Warner Music, who see it is a record with real hit potential. Thus it is that, alongside motherhood, embarking on her own musical adventure after a decade and a half in a tight family band has been the other profound transformation in Sharon Corr’s life.

“The Corrs came off the road in 2005 because we’d been on it non-stop for fifteen years,” recalls Sharon. “We were wrecked! A lot of the years, we would’ve been on the road 300 days a year. And there was more than that, way more than that, and that’s kind of insane.
“Plus, we weren’t just a band, but a family. And in that sort of dynamic you need to get time apart to explore your own identity, without being part of the sum of the group. That was important for us all at that stage. It was time to get our individual lives going. You put your life on hold on the road. You can’t do anything normal, like having babies. It felt like the natural time to do it; I don’t even remember a big discussion. I just remember us going, OK, this feels right now.
“Also, I know with bands that I’ve loved over the years, that you do get a bit bored with them after a while. I’ve heard enough of you now, I need to hear somebody new! And we’ve been so lucky and achieved so much together, as people, because it’s quite a mountain to climb, personality-wise and getting-on-wise, to be together so intensively. We came out the other end of it with great respect for each other and a great love still for each other, which I think is one of our greatest achievements.”
Do you see The Corrs getting back together again?
“Oh, for sure,” says Sharon. “We get on really well. What we did together was very special, and I really appreciate that. Being in The Corrs gave me everything I know in order to do my own album. The beautiful thing about being in the band, and what made it easier, was that we all were writers, so we could all give so much. But when we stopped, the one thing I didn’t want to do was unlearn everything I’d learned in the last fifteen years. I wanted to keep writing.”
Within months of The Corrs taking a break, Sharon became pregnant with her first child. She wrote ‘Dream Of You’, the title track of her album, during the pregnancy. It’s about her link to the mystery of her unborn child, who turned out to be a boy called Cal. Sharon wrote and recorded the album over the last few years. Has motherhood coincided with – or perhaps produced – a flowering of her own individual creativity?
“Very much so,” asserts Sharon. “I’ve never been as much in touch with my emotions as during pregnancy and post-pregnancy. You are so raw, so jacked to the earth, it’s just incredible. You feel everything. And it’s a very tough time emotionally. But my outlet in life has always been music, so that’s where the experience went. I found the pregnancies and post-pregnancies truly inspirational for the whole album.”
It’s always refreshing to hear a woman’s honesty about the challenges in the transition to motherhood. I ask Sharon in what way she found it ‘emotionally tough’.
“All of a sudden you have this huge responsibility that you’ve never experienced in your life, and that can be quite daunting,” she says. “And you’ve got the hormones to deal with in post-pregnancy, which are an absolute killer. But the process is a beautiful thing. It peels off the onion layers. You see how vulnerable we all are in the world. I’d experienced a lot in my life up to that point, but just then, when you’re totally responsible for another human being, you see how big and bad the world really is. You also see how beautiful it is, because a miracle has just happened in your life that is totally beautiful. It’s a massive learning curve. It really is.”
Sharon’s son Cal was at the just-on-his-feet-but-falling-all-over-the-place stage when his sister, Flori, was born. “It was baptism by fire,” recalls Sharon. “But I work really well with chaos. I reject discipline – I have done my whole life. So I did everything at the same time. It was insane – there would be screaming nappies everywhere [love the coalesced image, Sharon!] and I would be in the middle of writing a song and I’d be able to leave it, go change the nappy and come back. I used a garage band to record something really fast, in case I forgot it.”
How do you manage the classic mother conflict of endless giving to your kids, whilst carving out more time to express your creative self?
“At the moment,” says Sharon, “I’m re-thinking it all, because basically I’ve spent the last few years at home ‘enslaved to little people’ as my husband, Gavin, calls it. That’s our joke, because we’re like slaves to them. But I have a husband who’s as full-on as I am with the children, and who’s very, very supportive. And he also knows that music is what makes me tick. I don’t feel right – I feel there’s something grossly missing and very wrong with my life – if I’m not doing music. If I’m not doing this, I’m not in good form. And he knows that.
“So for me, it’s about negotiating between the madness of the guilt that’s relevant, and the guilt that’s not relevant. I left the kids twice last week to go to London, so the second time they came over and met me with my husband. We work it so that they’re not missing me terribly and I’m not missing them terribly. And I only do one or two days without them. And then Gavin will bring them over where I am, or I’ll go home.
“The other thing is that if I was working 9 to 5, I’d see my children much less than I do now. And so many women have no choice but to do that. I also think that a happy mum is a good mum. They’re happy when I’m happy, and I’m happy when they’re happy, and I’m with them loads. But it’s a fine balance.”
Reflected in Dream Of You, and in contrast to the youthful naivety, for example, of a Corrs classic such as ‘So Young’ (which Sharon wrote) are the artist’s maturing insights into the true nature of the world.
“When you’re very young,” she says, “you see the world as in it’s working. Then as you get older you realise that a lot of it’s not working. When I was young I thought that politicians actually knew what they were talking about, and that all doctors are actually good doctors and they will make you better – essentially that people who are in powerful positions actually know what they’re doing. I suppose the older I get, the more I see the precariousness of the world. That it really is just down to somebody bothering and somebody not bothering, somebody being lazy or somebody being dedicated, and that’s how the world works. It’s as delicate as that.
“So our health system, the negatives involved, all that sort of stuff – it’s all quite frightening. But life is about perseverance. You kind of have to bull your way through if you want anything in life. I made this album because I wanted to make this album. Nobody was going to do it for me. I financed and made it myself completely. At the time I was between deals. The Corrs were signed, and I was sort of linked into a deal there, and that didn’t quite work out, and there were endless negotiations to get me out of that scenario and able to record and do my own thing and to be free. I’m signed to Warner UK now.”

As the conversation turns to the music industry, Sharon reveals extraordinary determination. It may be a stereotype, but my own friends bear it out that small women are often the strongest. No wonder the Corr family became so successful – if Sharon is anything to go by, the four of them combined must have been truly formidable.
“The music industry is impossible at the moment,” she says emphatically. “It’s also very interesting. Where they were signing ten artists in the hope that one would make it ten or fifteen years ago, nowadays they’re signing three artists in the hope that one will make it. So you can see the amount of people who are not getting signed per A&R man. They’re only allowed to sign three at the most. That means the chances of getting signed in this industry are next to nothing. It’s a revelation to me that I’m signed! I think you can have a really great album and not be signed. But my manager, he’s fantastic. You need great management, you need belief, and more than anything, you need 100 per cent belief in yourself. And that’s extremely difficult.
“So the industry is very tough nowadays. I’ve really embraced the whole technology side of it – I use Twitter and my website an incredible amount. It’s a really good website, and it’s all done through me. You need to keep people motivated and updated to stay interested. But again, all that’s been a massive learning curve, because I hit the industry as a solo artist when it had really hit rock bottom, when illegal file-sharing really took over the whole industry, and the money’s not being made.
“And that,” Sharon adds sternly, “makes me really angry. Because I write something, I create something, I spend money in a studio, I pay the producer, I pay the engineer, I pay the guy making sandwiches down the road, I pay for all the instruments to be used, for session musicians to come in, and then my own time, and I write all the stuff, and then somebody goes and they just share it on the internet for free. And yet I’ve no problem going to the supermarket buying bread, I’ve no problem buying a book, I’ve no problem buying milk. Somebody produces it, and somebody else gets fed because the dairy is running.
“The thing about an album is that it’s helping a little industry that provides jobs for people, but a lot of people don’t get that. They actually don’t understand that when you’re in a studio you’re paying other people to work, and they’re relying on that to take money home to their wives and children. It’s very simple; it’s the same as any other industry. But somehow because it’s music and it’s beautiful, some people seem to think it should be just like free love. It’s kind of like the ’60s gone wrong.
“I find that frustrating. I have made money in the music industry, but I want to control my product. If I make something, I want to be able to sell it. If I choose to give it away free, that’s my choice, and I may do that and I may not do that, but I certainly don’t want other people making that decision for me.
“And the other thing that I’ve noticed is, because the likes of The Corrs and U2 aren’t selling as many albums any more because people are file-sharing them, then the money’s not going back into the music industry. That means the record companies aren’t making any money, so then they can’t sign new acts. The knock-on effects are massive!”
Sharon’s husband Gavin Bonnar – a barrister working both in Belfast and Dublin – has been the inspiration for his wife in her battle with illegal downloading.
“It’s sort of like the Wild West,” she says. “The problem seems so big. But I think that you have to start somewhere, and you can’t be defeatist about it. You have to decide to do something. Even if it’s something as simple as sending the sites take-down notices. Contact a barrister or a solicitor, and get an official notice on behalf of you as an artist, demanding that any files be taken down.”
Does that work?
“Yes, I do it, and they do take them down. I believe that if you keep doing that, slowly but surely, the problem can be tackled. People file-share because it’s easy. If it’s not easy, they won’t be able to do it. And then they won’t really mind paying the euro for a single. Because at the end of the day, for a piece of music that you have for the rest of your life, it’s not expensive. When I think of having a Neil Young song forever, what that does for my life, it’s incredible. And it costs about 99 cent.”
But there’s a fatalism out there, I suggest, as though it’s an overwhelming problem….
“Well, so was lawlessness in the Wild Wild West, but they got there eventually,” says Sharon. “You just take it bit by bit. Also, you can attack the service-providers to these companies that provide the file-sharing facility. There are many different ways of approaching it. It needs to be done for the integrity of the industry, and for the principle of the matter – that people who make things should be able to sell them. That’s how the world works in terms of trading. Everything has a worth. Music has a worth.
“It’s so difficult for musicians starting. If I hadn’t already made money in the industry, I just couldn’t have made the album that I just made. There’s no way you could do it.
“The last people to be paid and to make money out of the music industry are are the songwriters and the musicians,” Sharon adds. “I remember growing up you’d go to play a gig, and the venue owner might chance his arm and say, ‘Ah, sure you’ll have a pint?’ And you’d be like, ‘Hang on now a second. I’ve bought this gear, I’ve driven, I’ve put petrol in the van, I’ve drawn people here, they’ve bought drinks all night… NOW GIVE ME MONEY FOR THE GIG!’ It’s an insane approach. They can charge for beer, but you can’t charge for music? Which is more valuable, beer or music?”

Sharon Corr is exceptionally slim and fit-looking. She was 40 last March, and still glows with youthful vitality. She laughs humbly when I comment on this. Has she noticed that she’s aging?
“Yes, since I’ve had the children. Obviously I’ve noticed I’m looking older. Children age you quickly – overnight! It’s exhausting. The sleep deprivation killed me. And I noticed that you need to give yourself a boost. You need to help yourself. I run a couple of times a week, and that really helps me, because it keeps the blood circulation going and keeps you a bit fresher. I don’t have any sort of regime. I have to say, having music in my life on a constant basis keeps me young. But certainly, having the children -– yeah, the wrinkles came on fast and furious!
“But the thing about aging, there’s such a negative attitude to it in general. And women in particular are under way too much pressure. I was only thinking the other day, wouldn’t it be lovely if we could look at aging as an achievement? Because if you get to a certain age, you have the lines to show what you’ve gone through. I have the lines to show what I’ve gone through over the last ten years; they’re like battle scars!
“Nowadays, getting older is perceived as in some way failing. Yet you cannot fail to get older. That’s the paradox of it. And to avert that failure, you should go to the gym more, buy more expensive creams and never touch alcohol. Or whatever the idea is. But actually, you’re always going to age. It’s a natural progression, and it’s an achievement to be getting older.
“There’s a beauty about aging that’s often missed. Maybe I see it because it’s become so pertinent to me, because I am getting older. But I think we have it the wrong way around. Aging is not a failure. It’s an achievement.”
I begin the next question. “As a sex symbol, do you find that—”
Sharon bursts out laughing and looks surprised and disbelieving. “Sorry, I find that really funny. I certainly don’t consider myself a sex symbol in any way or form.”
Slightly embarrassed, I grope for words. Is it a challenge, I ask, to maintain your sex appeal having become a mother, considering you’re competing with women in music videos who are, for example, ripping their clothes off?
“I don’t perceive that as competition,” quips Sharon. “That’s a totally different world. I see the world of taking your clothes off as the world of taking off your clothes. And I don’t know what that’s about, except that it’s another thing, and it has a very valid place in our society – and always has, in fact. But Lady Gaga, for example, is a completely different thing again. I see her as the Elton John of our era. Because she’s a fabulous singer-songwriter, and she’s also incredibly theatrical. And it’s terrific that she can do all that. I couldn’t get into those outfits. I couldn’t walk in those shoes. Nor would I want to, because it wouldn’t be my personality. People can pull stuff off like that when it actually fits them, when you can say, yes, that works for her. That wouldn’t work for me at all.
“But I know what you mean,” Sharon adds. “The difficulty of jumping from the school run to the glamour…”
That’s not quite what I’m getting at. Women performers are often put under pressure: can you pout a bit more, can you wear something a little tighter? And then having children might throw all that awry, because a lot of mothers wouldn’t want their children to see them playing those roles. As a beautiful woman, has Sharon Corr ever succumbed to that sort of pressure?
“No,” she says thoughtfully. “When I’m doing a photoshoot, you’re seeing me. What you’re talking about there is the glamour industry. That’s a different thing. I’m in the music industry. You see pictures of me to go with talking about the album, but it’s all about the album, it’s all about the music. Nobody’s ever putting me in clothes I don’t want to be in; that’s never happened to me. That’s not my career, it’s not what I do.”
But with a lot of singers, it is, and increasingly so.
“Oh it is, yeah. But that’s more the manufactured industry. A lot of those people are really singing, but I see that as more about fame than musical success. I see that as the fame industry, and the pursuit of fame, rather than the pursuit of success in music. It’s a different concept. When I’m writing an album, I’m pursuing being a better writer. I’m not thinking about album covers, I’m not thinking about, ‘Do I need to pout a bit more in the picture?’ It’s not relevant. It’s a different thing.
“But a lot of what’s out there nowadays, the X Factor and stuff like that, in fairness, the kids are very talented, but their talent is being exploited. And also I think they’re getting really false ideas. They’re being told that if you get the outfit, if you get the right make-up and you lose a couple of pounds, and you also sing as beautifully as you do, then you can be successful. And it’s going to come in that order. Whereas actually, you should be singing and playing your whole life, you should be getting your stage legs from a very young age if that’s what you want to do.
“I don’t think you can make talent; I think talent is born. I think you can develop talent – like I had a great violin teacher – but in the pursuit of fame, they miss the true talent of some of these artists, because they’re trying to stick them into stereotypes of what’s gone before. Whereas we should be looking for what’s coming next. Like Bono hadn’t happened before Bono happened; Bono is Bono. Bono’s voice is Bono’s voice. Nobody else can have that voice, nobody can be like him or think like him.
“So you can’t manufacture talent; it is a uniqueness. It’s always about uniqueness – that’s why we’re into David Bowie, that’s why we’re into Bono, that’s why we’re into Mariah Carey’s voice. To me the X-Factor is like a packaging plant – you add couple of things into the equation, you shave off a couple of pounds, you add some nice clothes, and then you stick it in a nice box with a bow on top and there you are, you have a star. And you do – but a star for five minutes. And you may have lost a musical talent in the time it took you to make a star.
“I’m terrified for those kids,” Sharon warns. “They get squeezed out of a machine and abandoned. I do think there are very talented people on that show, but I also think the whole idea of it is wrong.”

Developing a solo career at a particularly tough time in the industry, whilst juggling the demands of a very young family, while also nurturing her marital relationship … Does Sharon Corr, like other mothers, ever feel she’s being pulled in too many directions?
“Yeah, sometimes I really do,” she says. “But it’s all for the right reasons. Because my children are me, and my music is me, and my husband is me, and it’s all what I wanted in life, and what I love in life, and what I sought after. I really wanted a family – absolutely. I really try to see how lucky I am all the time. And that’s what the song ‘It’s Not A Dream’ is about. Sometimes you spend your whole life aspiring towards a situation, and when you get it, you miss the fact that you’re in it.
“There’s always something to be dissatisfied about, let’s face it. You’re tired, the weather’s bad, or there’s stuff on your mind that’s taking you away from the stuff you want to feel happy about and involved in. But it’s just all life. I’m very philosophical about it. And life is the one thing I don’t want to miss. I think it was John Lennon who said, ‘Life is what’s happening while you’re busy making plans’. I don’t want to miss the special moments that are happening right here and now. I’m enjoying it all, and yes, I’m finding moments of extreme stress, where I’m trying to get on a flight and there’s just chaos going on in the house. Of course it’s sometimes difficult, but it’s what I’ve chosen. And I’m getting great kicks on the other end of it as well.
“My motto is: Do what you love and love what you do. Music and kids – that’s what I do, and what I love.”

Dream Of You by Sharon Corr is released on Rhino Records. Sharon Corr plays The Music Show, which takes place in the RDS, Dublin on October 2 and 3.