Michael Leon Carr - Hennessy

Michael Leon Carr formally known as MenaCe is a 20 year old musician from Manchester. Like many others he has gained motivation and influence from up and coming artists like himself he says ‘Manchester is a small place and the music seems to unite us all.’ Although he has been writing for the past 6 years and has featured on radio stations such as BBC 1xtra, Unity and WFM he feels he has only recently found his place in music during the release of his debut single ‘Hennessy’ taken from his forthcoming album entitled 'Sagittarius'

I thought I’d catch up with him to find out about his journey, influences and what we can expect in the future. 

Ree: So where would you say it all started?

MenaCe: I started my career in music when I was around 15 but it didn't really kick off until a few years ago,’ says Michael. Growing up made me take myself and my music a little bit more seriously. Grime and UKG however was my entrance to actually writing and making music I'd say, the buzz that came from London blew up in Manchester and everybody was doing it. I suppose it was just a trend. I got involved in live sets at youth clubs, entering talent competitions, recording at home and then eventually doing a weekly radio show on Unity Radio FM. My interest and excitement for writing music grew over the years, I mean, I'd always loved music, it’s always had a strong hold on my heart, but after actually getting involved I just thought to my self 'I'm actually good at this, I can do this, I used to look up to a lot of the older MC’s from Manchester in the grime scene, like Shifty, Hypes and O.G and now a lot of these people are my friends.  

Ree: What would you say makes you different from other musicians?

MenaCe: Personally I don't like to compare myself to other musicians. I like to be seen and heard for who I am and let my music and persona do the talking. I could say I was creative, motivated, born for this but so were a lot of the talented individuals today. I hope my music speaks for itself and shows off my originality. I can just sit in an environment or a room and if there is a vibe there I can just draw it in and express what i feel. I rely a lot on personal space and surroundings.

Ree: What are you trying to communicate through your debut single Hennessy?

MenaCe: My song 'Hennessy' is split into two sections,  The first half I am portraying the good sensation and feeling you receive from having a glass or two. I’m metaphorically speaking as if I’m talking to a lady and go on to explain how inspired and uplifted I feel, whilst alone with this so called ‘woman’. Without sounding like an alcoholic. We've all had that moment in our life where we've resorted to having a little drink, either to escape reality or to take our minds of things.

The song originally came about when I was experiencing a very difficult period in my life, so I started to write what I was going through with a little influence from a bit of Hennessy.  I switch up the vibe in the second half of the song, now explaining how 'Hennessy' or alcohol in general can make you loose control a little after large amounts.

I go into depth, talking about how I'm now reminiscing all the bad times in my life, hard times, emotional times, people I’ve lost and so on, all these feelings of anger, regret and sorrow, are all connected and unleashed in consequence creating the massive build up at the end of the song. I don't feel like I'm influencing anybody to turn to drink or act in anyway, I'm just simply sharing my experience and expressing what I was feeling at that difficult time.

Ree: In your opinion, what form of performance has the biggest impact, live shows, videos or radio?

MenaCe: Definitely, Live music. Watching artists tear up the stage and give it their all, being there, witnessing it, there’s no better feeling than the sound of a live band and a live voice, it just touches you. It intrigues me that everything runs so smoothly, the interludes, build ups, encores, improvisation, solos and more importantly the crowd interaction i'm definitely addicted to live shows!

Ree: Who and what would you say are your influences. 

MenaCe: Everybody knows me for being a HUGE fan of Alicia Keys, she just touches me like no other artist is able to. But I’m also influenced by most of the Motown era, Sade, Bob Marley, Damien Marley, Erykah Badu, Nas, Common, Novel, Nina Simone, John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae and Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi there really is too many for me to mention, you should see my itunes library! I definitely receive inspiration from everyday living, seeing people happy, seeing people sad, personal ups and downs, the weather, the scenery, friends and family. It's important to me.

Ree: Where would you ideally like to perform in the future and who with?

MenaCe: I’d definitely choose an intimate old fashioned place, maybe the Manchester O2 Apollo or The Royal Albert Hall ? If I could put a live show together and sell out a venue like that and really rock it, I think that right there would be my dream show. Intimacy is highly important in my eyes, the people always seem much more involved and the acoustics are usually better at such venues. If I had the chance to support any of my idolised musicians that would be crazy, obviously just getting the chance to meet them and sharing their vibe, grace and presence would just be amazing. Performing with a talented live band and backing singers is definitely one of my biggest aspirations.

Ree: What advice would you give to up and coming musicians?

MenaCe: Don't be afraid to take different approaches, if you've got money, spend it, if not earn it then spend it wisely! If music is what your serious about then you can't expect to get where you wanna be for free, definitely if your not signed, invest a bit of money and you'll see a big difference. Follow your heart, but don't forget to use you head, don't wait around for people, if there holding you back DIY. Remember everything is achievable. If you fall at the first hurdle, get up and prepare yourself to fall again. We learn from our mistakes, hard times are put ahead to test us it’s all a learning curve. Another bit of advice would be stick to those people who you know, who are helping you, never let them go, your blessed to have such people around you and you should respect and cherish them, after all you are where you are for a reason.

Ree: What can we expect from you in 2011?

MenaCe: I am very excited about this project and what lies ahead, my mind is always in overtime, flipping around ideas and planning, I can hardly sleep any more. I'm definitely planning more videos and a lot of promotion, without giving too much away, I will be releasing at least another 3 videos and you will more than likely be able to get my fourth coming album entitled Sagittarius by the end of this year. All I can say is watch this space, I make things happen, and I aim to please, so don't sleep on me! 

I would just like to say a special thanks to my producers on the album, Jasper Dent and Kyle Lawton, my engineer at Blueprint studios Dave Woodhead, my video director and editor Ben Duff and everybody who has featured on my album, I couldn't do this without you. Much love.

You can now watch Hennessy via Youtube as well as contact Michael personally via Twitter and Facebook