Carla Jennifer Easton (born 1985) is a Scottish singer-songwriter from Carluke, Scotland. Easton has been a member of the bands

Futuristic Retro Champions Futuristic Retro Champions were a Scottish indie band from Edinburgh and Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as ...

and TeenCanteen and currently is the keyboard player for

The Vaselines The Vaselines are a Scottish alternative rock band. Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986, the band was originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, but later added James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly on b ...

while also pursuing a solo career, first under the name Ette and now under the name Carla J. Easton. Her 2018 album ''Impossible Stuff'' was shortlisted for the

Scottish Album of the Year Award The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is an award given annually for an outstanding album produced by a Scottish artist. The award was launched in 2012 by thScottish Music Industry Association(SMIA) in partnership with Creative Scotland Cre ...

in 2019.

Biography

Easton grew up in Carluke and her musical tastes were influenced by her older brother, who was 10 years older than her and interested in a wide variety of genres. In 2007 Easton graduated from the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

with a BA (Hons) Sculpture. In 2011 she graduated with a Masters of Fine Art from

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, an ...

Futuristic Retro Champions

In 2006 Easton formed the band

with friends from the Edinburgh School of Art, with a sound combining 'wistful pop' with 'processed-beats'. The band split up in 2010, having released two EPs.

TeenCanteen

Easton formed TeenCanteen in 2012, on vocals and playing keyboard, with Sita Pieraccini on bass, Chloe Philip on guitar and Debs Smith on drums. In 2016 their debut album ''Say It All with a Kiss'', which made the Longlist for the

in 2017, was released by Last Night From Glasgow. In 2017 they released an EP ''Sirens,'' then announced that TeenCanteen were taking a break.

Solo career

In 2016 Easton released her solo album ''Homemade Lemonade'' through Olive Grove Records under the name Ette. The album was listed as number 4 on the

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

best albums of 2016, where it was described as a 'big, loud, glorious confection'. In 2017 Easton was invited to the first singer-songwriter residency at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

for Arts and Creativity. At the residency she met

Howard Bilerman Howard Bilerman (born September 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer based in Montreal, Quebec.

who later invited her to record an album in his Montreal studio. This was released as ''Impossible Stuff'' in 2018 under the name Carla J. Easton. ''Impossible Stuff'' was shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2019. Her next solo album ''Weirdo'' was released on Olive Grove Records on 28 August 2020, with the title track featuring Stina Tweeddale of Honeyblood. The album title was chosen after Easton was told she was weird and she decided that being a weirdo should not be seen negatively. Most of the songs were written while Easton was homeless, and dealing with issues relating to low self-esteem and anxiety. Many of the tracks were co-wrtitten with Scott Paterson of Sons and Daughters. The album was well received, with it being named by

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

as one of the 'Great Records You May Have Missed' of Summer 2020, saying that the album had 'the scrappy glamour of a homemade theatrical production'. Other reviews said that it was 'more robust' than previous records, with praise directed to the quality of the production work and the overall sound.

Poster Paints

In 2021 Easton formed Poster Paints with Simon Liddell, the former guitarist of

Frightened Rabbit Frightened Rabbit were a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. Initially a solo project for vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison, the final lineup of the band consisted of Hutchison, his brother Grant (drums), Billy Kennedy ...

. The band was created after Easton and Liddell started sharing music ideas by email during Scotland's Covid-19 lockdown.

Other Works

Easton co-wrote and sang the lead vocals on “Best Friend,” a track on Belle & Sebastian's ''

How to Solve Our Human Problems ''How to Solve Our Human Problems'' is the collective title of three EPs by the band Belle and Sebastian, released through Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk r ...

'' EP (Part 3), released in 2018. In 2019 Easton composed and performed the music for the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Them! in the Tramway, Glasgow. In the same year she joined

as their synth player for Belle and Sebastian's Boaty Weekender.

Discography

Futuristic Retro Champions

*''FRC EP'' (2010) *''LaChunky EP'' (2010) *''May The Forth/Settle Down'' (2010)

TeenCanteen

*''Honey'' (2013) – Neu!Reekie! records *''You're Still Mine/ Vagabond'' (2014) – Neu!Reekie! records *''Say It All with a Kiss'' (2016) – Last Night From Glasgow *''Sirens'' (2017) – Last Night From Glasgow

Solo

*''Homemade Lemonade'' (2016) – Olive Grove Records *''Impossible Stuff'' (2018) – Olive Grove Records *''Weirdo'' (2020) – Olive Grove Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Easton, Carla J. 1985 births Living people People from Carluke Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art 21st-century Scottish women singers Scottish indie rock groups British indie pop groups