2014
INTERVIEW
THEGAYUK FEB/MARCH
A PIECE OF SEVEN
INTERVIEW
This is the first time I’ve had to interview someone I feel
like I grew up with, that I shared some of my most
intimate moments with, that made me laugh and cry,
made me shake my tushie round the living room - and
still wanted to meet up and have a pint with.
I should point out that when I say sharing the most
intimate moments with, we weren't actually in the same
room, town or probably country... but you get my drift, I
do mean as a soundtrack.
The lovely Lisa Stansfield is back. After a brief recording
sojourn, she's here with one hell of
an album and is working that whole
media circus in her inimitable way.
“Seven” (this is her 7th album) is
chock full of tracks you feel you
know but don’t - her style is here in
full force, those vocals, that initial
breath before she launches into a
track that’ll tear your soul out and
stomp all over it, and then make
you dance like no-ones watching
with the next track.
I got the chance to chat with Lisa (I
still can’t believe it!) and ask the
Rochdale chanteuse what she's
been up to and what makes her tick.
First up, I asked about the
influences on this album...
LS: Same as they always have been
really, they are the reasons I got
into music, Motown, R&B,
Northern Soul.
So, on this album, any favourite
tracks?
LS: When you make an album, it’s all very personal
emotionally. An example is the track Conversation
which makes no sense and everyone asks me what it’s
about and I can’t tell them - but it makes them cry with
its raw emotion.
It’s been a long time since the last studio album, why the
gap and what’s been happening?
LS: I don’t see it as a gap. I’ve continued working, biding
my time. Why bother making music if you have to
compromise? These days it feels like if you’re not in the
spotlight 24/7 then people forget you. I prefer to make
work that’s timeless, doesn't date, rather than something
that’s trendy.
So how does it feel to be more Radio 2 than Radio 1
these days?
17