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 .