FEATURE original projects, so wanted to see if he’ d be up for getting involved and he was. After a few gigs, we wanted to have more of band so we asked Charlie if he’ d like to get on board with bass. So now we’ ve got Wayne Thompson on drums, AJ Kemp on guitar and Charlie Fisher on bass. They’ re amazing musicians, they really know their stuff, they’ re really good guys.
FEATURE original projects, so wanted to see if he’ d be up for getting involved and he was. After a few gigs, we wanted to have more of band so we asked Charlie if he’ d like to get on board with bass. So now we’ ve got Wayne Thompson on drums, AJ Kemp on guitar and Charlie Fisher on bass. They’ re amazing musicians, they really know their stuff, they’ re really good guys.
Acoustics versus production, where do you see the roots of your music? Has it evolved at all?
When I wrote my songs, I could always hear a big production behind them, but at the time I was working acoustically just me and Crazz, so it was always really stripped back. As time went on I started working with a producer at DA Music Group, Ian Post, who has pretty much produced and been involved with my more up to date music and my upcoming EP. He’ s made me sound a lot more of what I had in mind, bigger, a lot more going on a lot more produced. But that’ s how its evolved and it’ s definitely Ian that’ s brought that out of me.
" It is your music at the end of the day so it’ s got to be something you really believe in."
You’ ve been in the studio with Ian Post and Grammy Award winner Simon Gogley, whose credentials between them include U2, Paloma Faith and Alicia Keys to list but a few. How did you come together?
I met Ian through DA Music group, he’ s really helped me develop my sound. Simon, I knew predominantly through a friend of mine from a successful band F. O. X( formerly Angry Versus The Bear), they’ d recently got off doing a tour and he was producing, mixing and co-writing with them, really sort of championed them. In my first year of performing, 2012 I think it was, I ended up doing a gig at a place called High Barn, sadly no longer running, but it was a really prestigious place to be asked to play, the sound was next to none and it was a gorgeous converted barn. They’ d had some really big names play there in the past and the audience were sat down to really listen to you. Simon happened to be in the audience and recognised me and my name just from social media. He introduced himself and was very complimentary, we kept in touch. I have a song called‘ Garden of Kisses,’ which will be on my next EP and is also the name of it. I just had the top line of it and lyrics, with a really rough recording on my phone, like I normally do when I’ ve got an idea. I just contacted him on Facebook and said:‘ I’ ve got a song I’ d really like to work with you on,’ and asked if I could send him the rough recording. He said:‘ yeah, send it through but don’ t be offended if I don ' t wanna do it, as I’ m quite picky who I work with!’ Which I understood as it’ s his reputation on the line! Luckily, he really liked it, I was buzzing! I was really nervous sending it over in case he turned me down. It would have been fine if he did, you have to brace yourself for things like that. That’ s where my sales background has helped me! In the music industry, you get doors in your face, you get ignored, you get people who say‘ no.’ But he said he wanted to work with me, we got in the studio and that was that.
What did you learn from the recording sessions with Ian and Simon? Anything new you’ ll bring to your music as a result? I guess it can be quite intimidating working with really top people, you can almost feel your opinions are not worthy and you want to leave them to it. But they were really good at pushing me to be vocal about what I liked, what I didn’ t like. So that’ s one thing – to be assertive and give them direction no matter who they are. It is still your song even though they’ re co-writing with it, you’ re the one who came up with the original idea. It is your music at the end of the day so it’ s got to be something you really believe in. The last thing you want to do is have something you’ re not 100 % happy with.