Interview with Ed Sheeran

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Rob

ed sheeran

With his thick crop of ginger hair Ed Sheeran looks more like he’s stepped straight out of early 90s Grange Hill, than the super-talented singer he is; only the guitar strapped to his back gives the secret away.

Truth is, Ed has been writing music since he was fourteen years old.  He moved to London two years ago and in that time he has done a couple of gigs (312 in 2009 alone), met a few people and won the East Anglia Next Big Thing competition.  After recently releasing his 5th solo project, the Loose Change EP (an eclectic fusion of R&B and Folk), I caught up with him to talk about song-writing, moving to The City and being a bit of a musical misfit…

Soulside Funk: The Loose Change EP was recently released, what were you trying to go for or say with it?

Ed Sheeran: Song-writing wise I was trying to write something different, without being love songs.  There’s two love songs on there but I think they’re quite a different theme of love, not ‘I love you’ but ‘you buy me chips and cheese.’  I tried to go for different themes, like The A Team, which is about a woman from a homeless shelter and Homeless which is about a time when I was outside Buckingham Palace just sleeping because I had no where to stay so I thought fuck it I’ll write some songs.

I also wanted to do something completely different production wise to the last EP.  The last EP (You Need Me) was full band and not a lot of people were keen on that, they were sort of like “oh I don’t know what you were trying to go for there because you should be a loop pedal person.”  So with this EP I was just sort of saying I’m going to do something different as well this time, I’m not going to do what they want me to do so I did something with a Hip-Hop producer and made a different sound.  It’s worked and people like it.

SSF: So is that something you are always trying to do, to go against the grain and do things people don’t really expect you to?

ES: Not really, I’m not trying to go against the grain, I just want to do what I want to do and I want achieve certain things and do certain sounds just to make sure that I’ve done them.  The next EP is going to be a folk one and the one after that is going to be a collaboration with a lot of MCs so I just want to make different sounds but that’s not for me trying to be different it’s just what I want to do.

SSF: Thinking about you and your song writting, your only 19 where do you draw your experiences from?

ES: I moved out of home two and a bit years ago and I’ve done quite a lot in that short space of time.  Living on my own, gigging every night, meeting so many different people… in two years you can, well two years in London that is, have quite a good outlook on life.

But also I have been song-writing from sort of day one and its all evolved with time and how to gain experience and inspiration from random things.  I mean I could go home and write song about us eating pasta and it might work.

SSF: What is it that drew you to song-writing in the 1st instance?

ES: I could say something clichéd like it was the only way to express my feelings but it wasn’t.  I really really really like music and I love listening to good music and I just wanted to create some to share with other people.  At first it didn’t really work and most of my songs were pretty awful and then it sort of evolved and it’s a nice way to live and make a living.  It’s fun.  It’s good

SSF: Do you still feel your getting better with each record you’re putting out now?

ES: Not really I mean I wouldn’t say I’ve written my best song yet and every time I think I’ve written a good song afterwards I’ll probably write three shit ones and another good one. It’s gradually getting there; I mean the songs are improving but it’s not like it goes from shit song to good song easily there’s a lot of things that are chucked out in between.

SSF: Do you think you could have achieved what you achieved now from Ipswich or do you think you had to be in London?

ES: I think I had to be in London which is why I dropped out of school.  If I had stayed for the two years of A Level I would have been coming out at age 18 thinking, “now I’m going to move to London.” Because I moved out earlier and started it earlier it gave me more of a head start.  The scene is here and this is where everyone makes it and everyone is.  It is important they see you and I think it’s good

SSF: Talking about the school thing, in a few of your songs you mention that you did not go to Uni and you still managed to achieve what you wanted.  Is that something you feel personal to you?

ES: It’s definitely personal to me and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else because there is quite a struggle involved.  You do have to be quite hard working and be focused on what you want to do.  I think university is good for some people but a lot of people go to Uni not knowing what they want to do when they come out of University and I think if you know what you want to do before you go to Uni then why go to University, you can just make it…

If I was a photographer I wouldn’t go to photography school.  I would become someone’s helper at age 16 and work my way up.  If I wanted to be involved in film I’d drop out of school 16 go and work on a film set and work my way up as a runner.  There’s a guy I know in a record label who was a tea guy then worked up to junior A&R, then to Senior A&R and now he’s become the MD of the whole label.  He didn’t need Uni to get where he wanted to go, it’s just experience

SSF: When you moved to London and all the experiences you had when you got here, what were the key turnings points for you?

ES: I think doing so many shows.  It might have hindered me in some ways, because I did so many of them, [but] I’ve honed in the show and now I’m comfortable playing in front of any sort of audience.  I think the main thing about being here is just the people you meet, the main steps in my career have been down to just random people that I either gig with or played for.  Like the Just Jack tour wouldn’t have come about if I didn’t move above a pub where the guy that ran the night was friends with Just Jack ya know it was it all fitted together.

SSF: Talking of the Just Jack tour, you did over gigs 300 last year, which was your favourite?

ES: Shepherds Bush Empire… easily [on the Just Jack tour]

SSF: Which is the second favourite?

ES: I did a headline slot at Norwich Arts Centre which was pretty much sold capacity, about 260 people who all knew my music so that was really really nice. Cool gig actually, really really cool

SSF: Is there anything you still want to do with your live show, develop it any further?

ES: I’ve just put a band together.  I’ve got a seven piece band that are going to be playing for me and we’re going to be practicing very soon.  So that’s the next step but I want to get the loop-pedal in with the band so you can play with both.  The next step is obviously gigging with a band and I’d like to see how people react because there might be some strong disagreeing…

SSF: What disagreeing reaction do you think you may get?

ES: ‘Oh you don’t need a live band…’  ‘You need to carry on doing it yourself…’ ‘Why are you doing this?…’ blah blah blah.  I mean it’s happened to some of my friends who’ve got bands and everyone’s complained but in the end evolving with your music is the main thing and I can’t stay on the loop pedal forever.  I think it’s the best thing to do

SSF:  I’ve noticed you have been getting a lot of attention from urban scene even though you’re coming from more of a folk background, does that feel weird for you?

ES: I didn’t expect it at all but I think the reason I am getting so much attention is because I am from the folk-ish background.  The urban scene haven’t really been in that [the folk scene] I haven’t really been in the urban scene so it’s a definitive fish out of water but it’s really fitting well and people seem to get what I do a bit more than the folk scene so it’s nice

SSF: So what is it within the folk scene that they don’t seem to get about you?

ES: I think they’ve seen it all before.  I think what I do is original and it is different but if I was put in front of 400 folk fans and 400 Hip-Hop fans I’d be interested to see what the reaction would be.

SSF: Me too actually…  so to finish up, what’s next on the agenda for Ed Sheeran?

ES: I’ve got another EP coming out with a singer/song writer called Leddra Chapman. It’s just a folk EP.  Then I’m going to LA to do some song-writing with some people.  Then I’m off to Toronto.  Then I’m back and I’ve got a single coming out May 17th on Island.  It’s all good.

Soulside Funk

For

The Loose Change EP is available now on iTunes

Ed Sheeran - Loose Change

Filed under: Interview | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Interview: Mamas Gun

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Rob

Interview - Mamas Gun

It’s been no secret on this blog that I have been very impressed by Mamas Gun throughout 2009; their brand of Funk/Soul is refreshing and their live shows (Hoxton Bar & Grill in particular) have been among the best this year.  At the start of October they released their debut album, Routes to Riches, which represents them cementing their arrival as a band, although it has been a long journey to get even here.

Now, as the band prepare to embark on UK wide tour supporting Beverley, I caught up with lead singer Andy and drummer Jack (with a cameo from guitarist Terry) to talk about the tour, the album, X-Factor and going full circle from indie, to major, to indie label again

To start off a bit of an assumption I’ve made… what on earth was it about Erykah Badu’s album that made you decide to name your band after it? Or is it not actually named after that?

Andy: It is name after that.  When it came out, I thought, f***ing great band name, and when I get a band together I am gonna call it Mamas Gun.

Jack: I mean the reality is if a band becomes established to some extent their name becomes the meaning,  if you think of Led Zepplin, that’s a German Airship, and you don’t think that when you think Led Zep.

So how does it feel to have the album finally out?

Andy: It’s been a long time coming it feels like the biggest release.  We got together with an indie and made the album for peanuts.  Then we got picked up by a major about this time last year.  The major got credit crunched and fell apart, but they spent a lot of money on the record and we walked away scott free.

And then yeah, we managed to pick up investment from an independent investment firm that have been funding independent films for years and has just started turning the model to bands and their music, so people like us and Beverley Knight are making albums off the back of that

Thinking back to when you got signed by a major did it change you guys and your music?

Jack: Not to my knowledge at all.  Andy produced it so there is no producer that came and did his masterstroke or made it sound different… it’s just a reflection of what were into and good song-writing.  I think that’s one of the things that stands us in good stead for the future ya know, that we can do all this and make it sound as good as it does on our own.  In terms of it changing, all they did was just spent some money and we put some strings on stuff.

Andy: There was difference in dynamic in terms of how the team overall worked.  It’s a different world and to be honest I prefer it as we have it now.  We’ve got this cool team of people who really identify with each other and are looking to get stuff done in an innovative way.

Jack: There are problems as in any working situation but everyone seems to be really good at just working through it ya know. I’ve seen everyone making adjustments to accommodate everyone, there’s a lot of generosity and spirit in everything.  It’s not just with the band, in the management and with the people around us so it’s great.

Moving onto the album, do you feel like you a get a lot of freedom when you’re song-writing; is it do you find you get a good release and do you get a lot of personal things into it?

Andy: Yeah.  The moment I love, which just makes it for me, is the moment you know what the whole song is gonna be like and it all just paints itself.  You know what it’s gonna sound like, that’s just f***ing gold man. Angel breath.  Brilliant.

Jack: Angel Breath?

Andy: Yeah – I don’t know where that comes from…  It’s a different thing man, song-writing’s a weird process.

Do you guys get involved in the song-writing as well or is it just Andy gives?

Jack: Well the first album everything was written, there was one tune we deconstructed and put back together again different as a group, but I think the plan is to create a bit more.  I mean I just think if a song is good and its a Mamas Gun song I don’t really care how it comes about.

Andy: Everyone has the capacity to do great work song-writing wise and I think the second album will be very very telling in terms of how the melting pot goes.  Jack is actually, he’s playing himself down here, he’s a ridiculous writer himself, check out a band called Freq Electric that will showcase his writing chops, I don’t need to say anything.

On the album you’ve got the playful songs like Finger On It and more mellow, melancholy songs, like Chasing Down Shadows, was it hard to find a sound to accommodate all of that?

Andy: As a musician and songwriter variety is what interests me.  I can’t write the same song twice, I’d die of boredom man.  [So] there wasn’t a conscious decision to think right we’ve gotta make this all work, it kind of came together in the studio.

Jack: There’s a degree to which if you have the same guys recording in pretty much the same place, in the same period of time there’s going to be a relationship between them.

Andy: It’s a record of time.  That’s what it is, that’s what’s gonna bleed through and hopefully it’s gonna bring it together in the end.

So you guys are about to go on a big tour with Beverley Knight, are you excited?

Andy: Yeah.  It’s great to be playing shows every single night for a month.  Getting in the last couple of weeks of the tour the shows should really be on fire.

Jack: When you’re on the road and the band just hit a point when you’ve been gigging for however long and its kinda like anything could happen, there could be an earthquake, whatever, and you still wouldn’t drop a beat.  That kind of strength you get as a group from just doing it every night is such a great feeling because you just feel like, “right tonight I’m just gonna go out and f***ing kick the s*** out of it.”

Talking of killing it, I’ve been reading Rick James’ book recently and when he was touring with Teena Marie they would go back and forth trying to out do each other’s performances.  Now I’ve seen Beverley play and she’s really good.  So.  Will you be laying the Smackdown on Beverley?

Andy: Well… naaaaah…

Terry: Her band is baaaad man… and I mean good bad.  Not to mention Beverley herself is very talented.

Jack: Hopefully it’s just gonna be a great night of music

Actually, if my memory serves me right, you toured with Craig David last year, how was that?

Terry: We laid the smackdown on him!

Jack: No, it was great man.  It was great the experience playing for thousands of people every night and again sharpening up the show.  It’s always good watching another guy, seeing how the audience and how his band do it because there is always something you can take from it, something to be learned and the catering was really good.

Andy: Catering is important

Are you going to get the same catering as Beverley?

Jack: Hopefully.  I think we’ve requested… are we on the same catering?  If it is good it just makes the whole thing work well really.  No hunting around for a kebab in between sound checks… you don’t wanna be doing that.

Cool, well I gotta ask it now the final 12 have been chosen, going back in the days before Mamas Gun, did you ever contemplate going the X-Factor route?

Andy: Ab-so-luelty not!  Never never really…  It’s a long discussion this I think, the whole X Factor thing but personally I’m a fan of the mystique of music, and rock and roll, and artists.  When we’re talking about a TV show that’s all about short term gains and radio audiences it’s a different thing really and it’s not something I subscribe to.

Jack: I think the reality is you wouldn’t be able to chose what songs you sing, who produces your record, where it’s recorded, what musicians you probably have in your band on tour…

Terry: The emphasis is so much on let’s create a new star, let’s just launch somebody into fame and it doesn’t seem to have any kind of… well whoever wins is very unlikely to have any artistic control and it doesn’t seem to be any kind of like artistic integrity.

I speak to a lot of people and they still haven’t heard of Mamas Gun.  Do you not think the X Factor ‘over-exposure’ would help you get out there more?

Terry: I think that X Factor gives you that overnight fame if you win or even come anywhere near the finalists but it’s for all the wrong reasons as far as I’m concerned.  Just having the kind of fame and recognition just for sake of it doesn’t hold any appeal for me at all.

Jack: If I can live like a normal person, comfortably, so that I am not in dire straits all the time if I can live like that and make music I wanna make and go and do gigs I’m happy.

Andy: The ideal is to be able to have a career and to make an album.  To have an audience that buys it, and make another album, tour it.  It doesn’t need to be millions and millions of people.  A fan base that buys your record [will let you] pay your mortgage and have a few drinks, take your missus out for dinner, that’s what anyone wants isn’t it?

Jack: Ask us the same question two years time when we’ve gone triple platinum…

Andy: Couldn’t live without the Learjet…

To finish up is something I ask everyone… you guys have been signed, now doing the Indie thing, and you said you liked it [the indie thing].  Let’s say tomorrow a major came along, Sony or whoever and offered you a contract what would you say?

Andy: That’s a good question man.  We’d seriously have to contemplate how to best make it work for us within the framework in we’d been working.  Ya know just to carry on this gradient, this journey that were on in this setup and how to use that money essentially most effectively.  It definately wouldn’t be a case of “oh my God, life saved!”

Terry: In any case it would depend on what kind of deal was on the table, we certainly wouldn’t sign just for the sake of it being a huge name label.

Finally, what’s next for you guys?

Andy: We got the Beverley Knight thing…  Japan.

Terry: Japan!

Andy: Japan, they found out about us very early on, they may have heard some stuff on the web, so they’ve wanted to do something from day one basically.  We’ve been getting radio play [in Japan] so we’re doing a show over there.  And the albums out too.

Thanks guys

Mamas Gun play the Regents Theatre, Ipswich on November 3rd, then tour the UK throughout November

Soulside Funk


Filed under: Interview | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Interview: Chino Deville

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Rob

Interview - Chino Deville

There’s two kinds of MCs on the UK Urban scene, those that come and grab their five minutes in the spotlight and bounce or those that live to MC, developing their craft claiming underground support while having to continually adapt and learn new styles as the ‘urban’ scene evolves from Garage, to Grime, to Rap, to Funky and beyond.  Chino Deville sits firmly in the second camp having been on the scene for almost a decade, from the early days on Lush FM with Heavy Artillery, through Project Mayhem and now Funky.  We caught up with him to talk about what it takes to make it, the importance of getting exposure and Gal… Nuff Gal

Soulside Funk: The new single, Nuff Gal, tell us a little bit about it

Chino Deville: It’s a new funky house track I’m bringing out and one of my first releases in that genre.  It’s just me talking about girls.  Something for the man dem, an up-tempo catchy tune with a lot of energy.

SSF: On your MySpace page you say you’ve been off your A game for a while, is this a return to that?

CD: Yeah yeah because if I’m being honest a few years ago there were a couple projects put my all into it and I didn’t get the returns I was expecting or would have liked so I kinda fell off for a while.  Over the last few month or so the drive built back up and I was writing a lot.   I gotta song Hopscotch that’s on my MySpace that he [my producer] came to me with.  I remember I was in my room ironing my shirt [when I first heard it] and my head just started bouncing.  When I like a tune lyrics just start springing into my head and that was it really… I was back.

SSF: With Hopscotch, you say you heard the beat and the song just came to you, was it the same with Nuff Gal?

CD: I have a bit more of a personal attachment to Hopscotch because it bought my drive back.  With Nuff Gal the riddim was good but because I had my drive back it was more business as usual.  I just knocked it out.  When I heard Hopscotch and the funky beats it was something different fresh and it just felt like the right thing to do.

SSF: So if Hopscotch is the one that bought your drive back, what made you release Nuff Gal over Hopscotch?

CD: I put a lot more work into hopscotch and lyrically it’s a lot more technical.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist and there’s little things to me I’d to get that bit tighter [on it] so I wanted to hold back on that until I was 100% ready on Hopscotch.   I am now so that one is going to be coming out soon.  With Nuff Gal everything just fell together straight away.  Everything went the way I wanted it first time.

SSF: Some people may know you as a Hip Hop MC from your early days, what made you move to Funky?

CD: For the record and you gotta put this in capitals I HAVEN’T LEFT HIP-HOP (I get a lot of stick from my hip-hop fans).  I still write hip hop bars all the time.  However, we live in Europe and whether people want to admit it or not, Europe is a dance nation.  It’s easier for me to get my funky house tunes played and put out there than it is for my hip hop.  But obviously outside looking in it may look like I’ve put hip-hop aside but nah, most of my favourite lyrics [I’ve written] are hip-hop.

SSF: You have been on the scene for a long time, has it been a struggle to get noticed?

CD: Yes and no.  When we were a collective (Heavy Artillery) we spent a lot of money; on videos, on records, on this, on that but if I am being honest I cannot say 100% that the dedication needed was there.  Before we had all the talent and all the heart but we didn’t have the knowhow.  I can say I’ve learned from my mistakes, and you get your experiences from what you’ve learned.

It was hard, in terms of how the scene is and what you’ve got to put in with music.  You say to someone you’re doing music [and all you get is], silence… then an “oh ok.”  In UK, if you’re not on Base, or you’re not big and not known you don’t get no credit.  Not saying I’m looking for credit but sometimes you need those pick me up to build morale.

I’ve had days where we’ve been in the studio all day then picked up the records we got pressed and then  gone and given them out, going to all different parts of London and I’m getting dissed by my mum.  On the flip side I’m getting a dead-end 9 to 5 job getting cussed by my manager and my favourite meal is cooked for me.  I am getting more respect for that than for chasing the dream.  It’s hard but you gotta do your thing and kind of keep at it and keep on doing it.  I would say it is hard, at the same time I do believe that not as much work went in to my earlier years as it should of

SSF: So what’s changed in terms of your work ethic?

CD: There were people see on channel U, and I would say I was better than them.  But this guy may be hitting all the clubs, this guy may be hitting all the radios, this guys may be doing this.  Saying you need ten things make you a good artist I had one thing over him and he had nine over me. Then after a while you gotta stop saying your better than this person and do it.  If you can do it then do it and I’m at the point where I am sick of talking about it.  And I hate working.  And this for me is not work, it’s something I love doing so I am giving it my all.

SSF: In your opinion, what is more important, exposure or talent and how are they related?

CD: I think exposure is more important unfortunately.  A lot people don’t even know what [music] they like.  If you put something in their face enough they will get used to it and they will like it.  There has been songs where I haven’t actually listened to and you’ll hear it in the next room on the radio, or you go to someone’s house and it’s on TV, you’ll be walking down the road and the car is playing it, , you go into a shop and they’re playing it…

Then I’d go to club, hear the song and I’d know the bloody words!  I’ve never actually listened to the song but I know the bloody words.  Everyone is in the club and singing along and the DJ rewinds the song.  It’s not because you like it because it’s been beat into your head.  So unfortunately expose is a lot more to do with it.  There is a lot of talented people out there but at the same time I think there’s more people out there who are successful due to the exposure they’ve got rather than the talent they have.  I think expose’s the key, so when you get people who get the exposure they deserve and they got the talent, they go all the way.

SSF: If it’s more about exposure, lets imagine say six months down the line you don’t get the exposure, what’s next on the agenda?

CD: I’d have to go back to the drawing board and see what I haven’t done, what I have done or what I haven’t done enough of.  Basically go at it again because I feel I am a good judge of what is good and what’s not good.  I think the tune [Nuff Gal] is good enough, so if it hasn’t got enough exposure to I need to research and find [new] angles.  Push it out into clubs burn up some CDs, hand it out, whatever it takes.

SSF: Is there going to be a point where you think “I cannot do the job anymore” or will it be a fight until the end?

CD: Nah, it wouldn’t be [a fight to the end] because now I’d probably say there’s a hunger, I want this I want to be tearing up clubs and have my album out but obviously if years go on, I start getting grey and have to pay bills you can’t keep chasing the dream.  I’m not saying you give up on a dream, but you have to still get on with life.

Music is something I always will do , I’m an MC, I’ll be walking down the road and I’ll just hear a word and my head just starts rolling.  That will always be something I do and I don’t see that ever going.  And if I ever do a tune that I think is good, why not?  I’ll try it and if they don’t like it I’m still happy doing my music, I have been writing lyrics for a while and when I write a good one I still get excited and hi-5 myself.  It’s something I like doing and I don’t think it will ever die out.

Finally, let’s imagine tomorrow you get a phone call from Sony, Universal… whatever major label you like, what would your response be?

CD: [Long silence while he thinks]…Rah…[another long silence – more thinking]  …I’d be happy as fuck but I wouldn’t let them see that.  I’d try and keep cool and I’d have to meet them up and talk business.  There’s a lot of people that say they were only offering me this or that on the contract, but if it’s clean more than what I’m making on the retail job then I’m gone.

Soulside Funk

Formatting

Listen to Nuff Gal here – and download the full version from his SoundCloud – http://soundcloud.com/chino-deville

Fomatting

Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/chinodeville / Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/chinodeville

Filed under: Interview | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Interview: Lucky Soul

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Rob

IMG_4370

If you don’t know about Lucky Soul you need to catch-up.  The Mowtown influenced band have been busy finishing off the highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut, The Great Unwanted.  Last week they took time out of the studio to perform the 1st of two shows with The Pipettes at the Lexington (a night called Technicolour).  We caught up with Andrew (song-writer) and Ali (lead singer) prior to the show to talk about the new album, transgender song writing and D-I-S-C-O!

So what can expect from the new album?

Andrew: Something definitely more powerful and forceful.

Ali: It’s also less obviously retro this time.  We’ve grown as a band together and we’ve got lots of different influences.  It’s still a lot of 60s Mowtown stuff but we got something more punchy in there.  Got a bit of disco, and all sorts really.

How did you go about approaching the second album, coming at if from a different angle, was it hard to get started?

Andrew: Not really because we had a feel for it and the songs just come along.  We didn’t set out to write a different kind of song really we just wanted them to be a lot better.

Ali: Yeah, it’s not a conscious decision, it evolved naturally.

Is it more about how the band has grown?

Andrew: Yeah.  The last album we did it a strange backwards way, I mean we were in the studio before we’d even gigged and I think that showed a bit.  This time there was definitely an effort to make the songs work as a live band first before all the millions of other stuff gets rammed in.

Do you think there is a lot more pressure on you this time after such a good debut album?

Ali: There is a bit. I think last time our press was amazing,  so it’s going to be interesting what the press say this time, because I don’t think it’s actually possible to top what we did, it was just mind-blowingly good.  Having said that, we didn’t get the radio play or the live gigs we could have so hopefully this time round it’ll be the whole shebang.

Do you think that is a struggle coming from an independent record label you set up yourselves [Ruffa Lane] to get the radio play and exposure?

Andrew: It’s difficult [because] there are only a few slots available on playlists and stuff, you’re always fighting against the major labels…

Ali: It’s a bit of a double edged sword though because yeah it’s really difficult and obviously money is a big issue, but on the other hand people seem to know and love us for the fact we’ve got our own label.  People seem to really appreciate that, that we are proper DIY and we have done it from the start.

Andrew: Yeah, and that’s a really nice feeling sometimes to know that it’s all your own hard work

Andrew you do the songwriting for the band.  When writing for Ali does it feel a bit strange writing as a girl?

[laughs] No, No, No it’s really liberating cos I can say stuff I’d be embarrassed to say and sing myself.

So Ali how do you feel about singing his songs, do you take them make them your own or have you both mused into one thing now?

Yeah we have, we do a lot of mindreading now. I mean when I first started working with Andrew a lot of his melodies were completely alien to me, stuff that I wouldn’t naturally sing.  Now I think we’ve all as a band grown up together. It is second nature now but that doesn’t me I don’t embellish and do my own things a little bit.  You have to put your own stamp on it I think… a bit at least.

When I’ve spoke to other songwriters, a lot of them see music and therapy do you get that when you’re writing as a member of the opposite sex?

Andrew: Depends when I’m wearing the dress or not…  That’s interesting, I don’t know.  [Songwrtiting] is something I have to do, and I feel really miserable when I’m not doing it.  The act of [songwriting] is therapy enough really.  I don’t feel that I have to resolve a load of issues or anything you know. Obviously stuff I feel strongly about and stuff that has happened to me comes out in the lyrics but its not that I had to get stuff out there.  Just doing it [is therapeutic] because if I don’t its terrible.

Ali, do you get anything out singing the songs, is it a nice release?

Ali: Just singing itself is the best.  It’s absolutely the best when you can get to a level when you go onstage and you’re not nervous anymore.  That energy is the best feeling in the world.

Do you guys still get nervous?

Ali: I do if it’s something weird.  I get more nervous on the radio than I do if it’s live, I suppose we’re less used to that, radio sessions and things.  Live I don’t really get nervous any more… unless we’re under-rehearsed…

Andrew: Which never happens…  I was thinking about our first gig the other day, I remember for about two hours before I had to just walk and walk and walk around the block, I just thought I was gonna throw up at any moment.  Now it’s kind of fine really.

Are there any venues that you guys would like to play and what have been your favourite venues to play in?

Andrew: I really wanna play in the Scala.  Soon I hope.

Ali: The 100 Club was amazing.

Andrew: That was a good night that.  It’d be nice to do some bigger places

Like the O2…?

Andrew: We’ve done the O2.  We did the warm up night before it opened; it was about 12,000 people… I was nervous before that.

Ali: It was mad, bizarre, bizarre…

Andrew, I hear you’re a disco star in Thailand? [Ali bursts out laughing]

Andrew [over Ali’s laughter]: Well were on the radio in Thailand…

Ali: It was our first big gig abroad and we went to Thailand [still giggling], we hadn’t even released a record yet and they asked us to go to Thailand to gig.  At that time 500 people was a hell of a lot of people because we’d only been playing to like 20 in the pub…

Andrew: It was still one of the most surreal nights of my life.  It was like 30 degree heat, and we’re playing on a roof top.  Thai audiences are cool, but they all sit there totally attentive in the songs just listening really carefully.  Afterwards they applaud like crazy then it just goes instantly silent, just stops dead.

We’d just finished our cover of Killing Moon and it just went silent again.  So I held my arm up in the air and shouted “Disco!”  Everyone was [still] silent apart from the rest of the band who were creasing up.  So yeah, I made a real fool of myself that night I think…

Ali: No you didn’t they loved it.  It wasn’t as bad as when you said, “London…”

Andrew: “London and Bangkok together! [punches the air]”  Yeah, let’s say I shut up for a fair bit after that.

Let’s imagine tomorrow, you get a phone call from Universal, Sony, whichever major label you like and they want to sign you, what would be your response?

Andrew: [Laughing] How much?

It’s a very difficult one.  I mean its great doing it on your own but I want our music to get out there.  I want to go all over the world.  So if the right thing came along I would seriously think about it.  It’s great to do it yourself but I’d rather loads of people got to hear us.

Ali: Ya know, it’s not so much the fairy tale people think it is being signed to a major.  Yeah there’s the money and yeah there’s the budgets but it comes with a hell of a lot of extra, different pressures.  For example, were on Sony in Japan and even dealing with them is very different to dealing with our own thing.

Andrew: Yeah they don’t give you much leeway

Ali: It’s not that magical fairy tale, “yay, we’ve been signed,” it comes with a hell of a lot of different issues I think

So what’s next for you guys?

Andrew: Were just mixing it [the album] at the moment with a guy called Vicktor Van Voot, which is the best name in show business.  Then there’s a single out in autumn and the album out at the start of next year.

The next Technicolour is on Wednesday 25th @ The Lexington

Links

Lucky Soul Myspace Page – http://www.myspace.com/luckysoulluckysoul

Technicolour Info – http://bit.ly/15ush0

Filed under: Interview | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Interview: Bright Light, Bright Light

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Rob

Bright Light Rod Thomas Banner

On a very rainy day in East London I learned something very important; if you are doing an interview make sure you have an up to date picture of the person you’re meeting if you’ve never met them before!  So although I had planned to meet Bright Light (x2) before the show, I couldn’t find him (however I later realised he was sat in front of my while I was trying to download a pic on my  phone!!! – I don’t have an iPhone or Blackberry…).  After a very short and very sweet set, I managed to grab the Welsh purveyor of disco-tinged pop for a quick chat about his new sound and some person called Michael Jackson.

Soulside Funk: Bright Light, Bright Light, where did the name come from?

Bright Light, Bright Light: It kinda came from the fact the music I have been doing recently is more textured and more synth based, and I wanted a name to reflect that. I also do a lot of remixing as well, so I wanted a name to suggest something more dance based.

When you go by your first name and surname a lot of people presume you are acoustic, and that’s not really what I do…  it’s also a quote from Gremlins which is my favourite film!

SSF: I know you from the Rod Thomas days.  You mentioned that the name change was because of you moving away from the acoustic sound…

BL: Yeah, I wanted to have something that suggests energy.   I haven’t really played acoustic stuff for a long time now, and it’s not just me and a guitar anymore; there’s beats and there’s programming… a mix of organic and electric sounds.  Rod Thomas is not a weird enough name [for that].  I wanted to build an image as an artist where the name and the music match each other.

SSF: Do you feel like it was starting a fresh with the new name and the new sound?

BL: Yeah… to an extent.  It’s difficult when you’ve released stuff under a certain name, [especially when] you’ve had radio play and people have got on board… and then you change the name!   It’s a bit like a fresh start which has been kinda liberating, and actually quite fun.  I can play around a lot more and the distance between yourself and your name is kinda nice.

SSF: How do you find it being a totally independent artist; do you like the freedom that gives you?

BL: I do but it’s hard… a bit of a struggle.  I do like the fact I can choose the team around me and I get to work with a lot of people.  I am really fortunate that I have met some amazing people along the way and we’ll just collaborate (like Gold Panda, Sam Isaac and James Yuill).  So even though I am independent I don’t feel very lonely (laughs).

SSF: With the recession kicking in, do you think it is enabling more independent and unknown artists to get listened to?

BL: To an extent, but it also means there is a lot less money going around so if you do get to a level, where in the past you would’ve had more support financially (from other avenues), you don’t get that any more.  Yes you do get more opportunities to be listened to but it takes a hell of a lot more time to progress.

SSF: So if a major label came knocking tomorrow, what would you say?

BL: I depends what they offer really… the whole thing has changed quite a lot recently and it depends on how much input they would want to have.  What’s important to me is the team, and if it’s great people at the label then that makes it the right label for me!  If it’s not great people I get on with then there’s no point.

SSF: So I have to ask it, where were you when you found out Michael Jackson had passed away?

BL: I was somewhere massively pretentious actually (laughs), I was at Shoreditch House on the roof (winces in pain). My friend is like the biggest Michael Jackson fan and he just text me ‘Jackson Dead.’  I called him and then soon after everyone descended into conversation about that.

SSF: So did MJ have an influence on you and your music?

BL: If I am perfectly honest not really.  I never grew up listening to him… my cousins did, so I don’t know how I bypassed him.  I obviously knew his music and listen to it on the radio, however I never bought any of his albums until like 1994, 1995, so, the crux of my musical upbringing wasn’t around him at all.  That said, I do really really love his stuff and his song-writing is amazing.

SSF: So finally, what’s next for you?

BL: There’s going to be a single, which is the double A of Good Times and I Knew What To Say coming out in October, we’re just talking to the little label that are going to put that out at the moment.  I’m gonna play in New York, and I’m doing lots of writing… so yeah I’m keeping myself busy.

Soulside Funk

Links

Bright Light, Bright Light Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/brightlightx2

Filed under: Interview | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Interview: Theoretical Girl

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Rob

Theo Girl Inter Photo

Theoretical Girl played an special acoustic set at Borderline earlier in the week, to celebrate her label Memphis Industries .  SoulSide Funk caught up with her after the show for a quick chat

Soulside Funk: Tell me a bit about the forthcoming album?

Theoretical Girl: I made it so long ago that it seems like another time. I made it six of seven months ago.  It took about two weeks to do the main things then I had to go back to work and do my day job in the daytime and go to the studio every night [and on] weekends.  It took about three months in total so it was a big chunk of my life but it was amazing.  My lifetime ambition fulfilled.  So even if no one likes it, no one buys it I have made my album…

SSF: You’ll have at least one sale

TG: Thank you

SSF: What kind of sound have you gone for; more acoustic or more indie/pop?

TG: Well I’m not very good at making up my mind.  I’m not a very good decision maker, so I’ve tried to incorporate all the different sounds that I like.  There are some acoustic tracks, there are some punky tracks, some electro tracks.  There are some really gentle 60s pop songs.  There are some tracks that are really sparse, just vocals and strings.  And some that have got every single instrument you could possibly think of.

SSF: So you’re appealing to a mass audience

TG: Well I’m the kind of person that likes so many things that I wanted to try and bring it all together in one album.

SSF: So how did you find recording the album and mixing it with the day job as well?

TG: It’s hard but I kind of liked having secret double life; like Peter Parker or Clark Kent.  I’m not saying that my music makes me a superhero in any way.  Just having the two separate lives is quite good.

SSF: I was actually going to ask is your music going to save the world…

TG: It’s not gonna save the world unfortunately.  I love music but I don’t think it’s powerful enough to change many things. It can change people’s attitudes, but I don’t write that kind of song.  I write songs about things that everybody feels… unrequited love, conflict and sadness, melancholy.  It’s not really gonna change the world because it doesn’t try to.  It tries to relate to the world.

SSF:  When I saw you playing with Lucky Soul you introduced all your songs as being dark and evil…

TG: *starts laughing*

SSF: …depressing songs, however we did not get that feeling from the music.  Is that a place you go to when you write music?

TG: Exactly. I think as a person I am very upbeat, silly and I mess about; I don’t really take life very seriously.  [Therefore] if you push all the rest aside then you need an outlet for it and that’s what happens with my songs.  They’re all about melancholy things because I’m not the kind of person that  likes to talk about that kind of thing because I don’t want to bring people down or be a moaner.  So I get it out in my music instead of talking about it.

SSF: This really comes across in the hypocrite single… wow

TG: Man, she’s angry! (*laughing*)

SSF: Yeah, I agree. You were a bit angry (*also laughing*)… You’re latest single rivals, where did the idea come from?  When I first saw it I nearly fell of my chair laughing…

TG: One of my pet hates is bands that take themselves too seriously.  And I hate bands that make videos where they are just standing there playing their instruments, pouting and trying to look cool.  Being in a band doesn’t make you any cooler or any better than anybody else it just means you have different job.  I wanted to do something silly, so I went to the video director and said “I want to do something silly.  I don’t care what it is I want to do something that is stupid, that’s geeky and that’s fun.”  He’d got this friend who had the Sinclair C5 cars.  The whole idea was his but I went to him and said I wanted to do something silly.

SSF:  Well we like it.

TG: Thanks

SSF: Finally, if tomorrow a big record label, be it Sony or Universal came knocking at your door what do think you’d do?

TG: I would say “Thank you very much, but no thank you.”  I’m on an indie label and they let me do whatever I want to do… within reason, and nothing beats that.  You’re in music because you want to express a part of yourself and if you’re singed to a major label more often than not you have the pressure of trying to sell a certain amount of records so you have to conform to a certain sound or sound that gonna be more mainstream and I do not want to do that. 

SSF: So what’s next for you?

TG: Glastonbury next weekend, we have two shows on the Saturday (2pm and 8pm) and then we are going to be touring the album in August

Filed under: Interview | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 652 other followers