Hi and how are you today?
I'm good, thank you, well rested. I allowed myself a rare duvet day today so I’ve not really seen any sunlight, but feel good for it.
How did you come to the decision to make music your career and, with what ambitions?
I started singing when I was a kid and writing when I was in my teens. I’ve always been mad about music so it was a natural thing that I would go that way. Unfortunately even now Music still isn't my full time career, and I have to do other things alongside it to make ends meet. I guess that’s my main ambition to be able to be a full time touring and recording artist
I'm not bothered about having loads of fame or money, just enough to keep going on and a steady flow of people coming to the show, buying the records and appreciating what I do. Of course if fame and riches came knocking I wouldn't shut the door, but that’s not what I'm in it for
You graduated from the Brighton Institute of Modern Music in 2007. Do you feel that the course was important to your musical career and why?
It was important in the sense that that was the time that I really started taking making music more seriously and I learnt a lot while I was there. It was during those two years in Brighton that I wrote and recorded my first album and formed a band of players who I toured the first album with. It was a really creative time and I have a lot of really fond memories of those years and I met and worked with some awesome people. I was young and clueless and made plenty of mistakes both on and off the record but it was all a huge learning experience. You don't need to go to a music college to make it in the music industry (whatever "making it" means) but for me it definitely helped focus me. Brighton has a really great music scene as well,
Your new album, Balladeer, is out on 4th March. How would to describe your sound for people yet to hear your songs?
Theatrical Folk. I'd love to be a glam rock god but I can't play guitar and I don't have a band and have a tendency to write piano ballads, so piano folk with a bit of glam posturing is where I'm at right now. I promise its not as ridiculous as it sounds! In truth, this album is quite stripped back. A man, a piano, some strings and some stories, some happy, some less so.
What’s next on the horizon, now the album is done and dusted?
Well I'll be touring the UK in March to support it followed by my first ever US tour in May with some more dates to follow in the UK and Europe over the Summer. I spent all of last year on the road on and off while I was making the album so right now I'm working on songs for the next album. My plan is to have written it by the end of the year so that next year I can lock myself away and start making the record. I have a feeling it will be more 'plugged', more electric, which is something I’ve not really done before, but we shall see...
What is your song writing process and where do you tend to write. Any particular places you draw inspiration from?
A lot of this new album was inspired by my surroundings at the time of writing, There’s a lot of songs that reference the sea in some way on the new record and I think that I living by the sea for a couple of years brought that out. Also though London comes through in the songs a lot. both Autumn and Talia reference parts of London. I’ve lived here for 10 years on and off so of course its going to inspire me in some way. I tend to draw inspiration from emotions and events in my own life. Some would say like a confessional.
I don't really have a process. songs come to me when they come. I'm not someone who churns them out all the time. Sometimes I'll go for months without writing anything and then suddenly three will come back to back. Sometimes fully formed, sometimes in tiny bits, a fraise or a line at a time. I'm setting myself a task of writing one great song a month in order for me to get songs together for then next album and its hard being disciplined around being creative but I want to see if I can push myself. I have 4 songs so far...
Are there any particular stories you would like to share behind the songs on the record?
Talia is an ode to my best friend of the same name. We met at on the first day of University and have been thick as thieves ever since The lyric written in panic on her birthday one year when I was on the dole and too skint to buy her a birthday present. It was only ever meant to be a silly gift for her and I never intended to release it originally but when I played the demo to my old band members they convinced me to start playing it live when we were touring with my first album. It’s funny because its one of the songs that people seem to respond to the most, and now I think its one of my best songs. I like to imagine that she is out there in the crowd each night when I play it at the end of the show cheering me on, even on the nights when I know that she’s not there. If there was ever anyone worthy of being immortalised in song it’s her.
How do you approach getting your music heard and making an income? How important is it to find a label?
In truth I struggle a lot with both elements. I do make some money from music but tours and records cost money to do , hence why I cannot live off music alone at the moment and I am in desperate need of a decent manager, as there is only so much one man can do by himself. I think its great that artists can make and release their own music now without a label. If I had tried to do what I am doing now 15 years ago I would have been laughed out of town, so I think the whole DIY ethic gives people real freedom and I think that’s great.
On the other hand, you really need some kind of backing in order to promote and distribute a release effectively, so in that sense I could really use a label right now. Its great that I can get my albums on itunes but who's gonna buy it f no one knows who I am or that its even there at all? I have been trying like a lot of acts to get signed for a long time and for whatever reason it hasn't happened yet. It will though, and in the meantime I will keep doing what I do.
What was the music you listened to back in School/College days that blew you away?
At school I was mad on Britpop. I remember hanging out of my bedroom window in my school uniform, smoking fags and listening to Suede and thinking they were amazing. Also when I first heard Tori Amos-" From the Choirgirl Hotel' album, something sparked in me and my 16 or 17 year old self picked up a pen and began writing songs (although they were pretty dreadful back then!). When I think of University I think of guitar bands and dance music. Radiohead or Chemical Brothers spring to mind, yeah, doing chemicals and listening to Radiohead. Happy days.
You have toured with a number of artists already, anyone you particularly learned anything from, that stuck with you?
I remember opening for David Ford a few years ago. He is a criminally underrated artist in my eyes, and a lot of people won't have heard of him but I was completely awestruck as I was just starting out at the time and had all his records. His sense of showmanship is amazing and the way he works a loop pedal is beyond impressive. I asked him to sign a CD after the show so I think he may have though that he was being supported by a stalker! These days most of the tours I have done are with other acts that I tour with a lot and have become good friends with (if your having to share a hotel room its good if you get along with people) My good friend and touring buddy Paul Diello is always an inspiration.
Your songs have been featured in a couple of UK Drama series on TV. How did that come about and has that been a good thing?
In truth I cant remember exactly how that came about, and while I know my songs got used in the Pilot so I'm not sure how much exposure it got as yet. Anyone wanting to use my music can only be a good thing so long as the project is tasteful. I'm not in a position to be sniffy about that right now, although obviously if the conservative party wanted to use it for a campaign Id have to tell them t politely fuck off, although somehow I don't think that’s going to happen any time soon.
UK TOUR DATES 2013
· MARCH 7th WEST ST LIVE – SHEFFIELD
· MARCH 12th THE SHED – LEICESTER
· MARCH 18th MR WOLFS BRISTOL
· MARCH 21st THE BRUNSWICK HOVE
· MARCH 27th THE UNDERBELLY HOXTON LONDON 8.30PM
Brand new album, Balladeer, out March 4th, 2013