April 29, 2024 • 40 mins
It’s surprising to find 23-year-old British songwriter GRIFF’s feet firmly on the ground, given her extraordinary experiences the past three years.
It’s been a steep rocket ride: from bedroom songwriter to a powerful breakthrough performance at the BRITs, and onto the stages of stadiums with Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran. Coldplay’s Chris Martin is such a fan the duo collaborated on the song ‘Astronaut’.
And so here we are in 2024, and GRIFF is preparing to release her debut album vertigo in July. Not before she tells Greg Cochrane about growing up in sleepy Hertfordshire feeling like an outsider, being a foster sibling and eating chips with her all time icon Taylor Swift.
You can watch clips of the podcast online now, just give us a follow on Instagram @midnightchatspod.
Links to stuff mentioned in the episode:
Watch GRIFF’s live performance of Black Hole at the 2021 BRIT Awards
Listen to the single ‘Miss Me Too’
The making of ‘Astronaut’ with Coldplay’s Chris Martin
GRIFF welcomes special guests to try and ‘Beat The Clock’
Credits:
Interview by Greg Cochrane
Editing by Stuart Stubbs
Mixing and mastering by Flo Lines
Artwork by Kate Prior
Video by Robbie Hamilton
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I guess I never thought I would be like someone
who really was attached to the mainstream that much, which
is funny, which is why I think I found the
Brits quite an amazing but like an accelerated experience, because
I never thought I wrote pop songs for the charts.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Go hit it. Evening, folks, welcome to another new episode
of Midnight Chats, our music interview podcast for late night listening.
My name's Greg. I'm here with Stu. Stu, what is
the big news in your world? Well, I've been moving house,
so I've just mainly been a ball of stress. But
(00:36):
I think I've turned a corner now now that I've moved,
I'm feeling a lot better.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
We've had a very busy time here on the podcast
as well. Thank you to everyone who listened to our
Brian Eno episode last week. I did very well, including
getting some shares on David Bowie's Instagram account, which was
nice to see.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
This week, I've recorded.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Two new episodes, one of which is going to be
next week's episode. We're going to turn that one around
quickly and we're going to hold onto the other one
for a bit later down the line. But let's talk
about tonight's episode, Greg, because you spoke to Griff, and
I'll be honest, before I listened to this, I didn't
know that much about Griff myself. I didn't know much
(01:16):
about her background or what she's been up to. And
in case there is anyone tuning in who is in
a similar boat to that, tell us a bit about
Griff herself, and also why you wanted to talk to her,
because you've wanted to speak.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
To her for a while. Well, I've wanted to speak
to Griff. I've been excited to meet Griff ever since
I saw her performance on the brit Awards, which was
back in twenty twenty one. She played her song black Hole,
which is a pop banger, and I was just flawed
because I don't remember a new artist ever delivering such
(01:51):
like an accomplished, impactful performance at the Brits. Basically, she
looked like she'd been doing this for like twenty years,
and I just from that was like, wow, like this
is somebody really really special. If you haven't seen that
BRIT's performance, it is on YouTube. Griff says that she
can't bear to watch it, but I've put a link
in the show notes. If you haven't seen it and
you can go and have a look at it, along
(02:12):
with some of the other things that we mentioned in
this conversation.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I do remember that performance and how amazing it was,
and for someone who is still so young as she
is now, when she was talking to you, it really
sounded like she's someone who just knows exactly what she
wants to do.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Oh definitely. I think she's twenty three now and she's
super grounded. They didn't seem to be sort of you know,
it wasn't anything kind of mechanical about her, if you
know what I meant. So she was just really really
open and just really really lovely to chat to. But
the big news is that she's just announced her debut
album and it's going to be coming out on the
nineteenth of July, and it's called Vertigo. And she's announced
(02:49):
a big tour later in the year, playing some massive venues.
So that's exciting because like her show is immense as well,
so it's basically it's going to be a big year
for Griff. Here.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It is then Greg talking with Griff on tonight's episode
of Midnight Chats. If you're new to us here, welcome.
If you've been here, before welcome back. Thank you for
listening to Midnight Chats. We love making this podcast. If
there's one thing you can really do to help us
and to help the show is simply tell a friend
force them to listen. That's the way that this podcast
(03:20):
is going to grow and we're going to get more
people listening to it. So if you are enjoying the episodes,
please do tell your friends who like music all about
it and join us on social media. We've sort of
ditch TikTok to be honest, but we are on Instagram
Midnight Chats Pod. There's lots of clips there. We're put
some bits of Griff, there's some stuff from the Emo
episode last week. Before that we had MGMT. We're trying
(03:44):
to ramp that up a bit and have a bit
of fun with it. So join us over there Midnight
Chats Pod. For now, though, here is Griff on Tonight's
episode of Midnight Chats.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
This will obviously exist in the world in a future time.
But today is release date. Well no, I shouldn't probably
say that, actually, but anyway, it's been a hectic day,
but it's good feeling.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I think we can say it's release day. It's fine.
Because people will understand that we've done this in the past.
We're speaking to our future selves. Yeah exactly, miss me too.
You're going to be sharing it later on today.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The release days feel exciting? Do they feel stressful?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Do they feel I'm getting better at them?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
I don't love them. They're not fun.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
There's no part of me that wakes up and goes,
oh yeah release day because they're stressful, and there's usually
lots to do and you're usually just pretty nervous about
how it's going to be received, and it's the moment
where as song has been sitting on your laptop forages
and then is out in the world.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
So yeah, fantastic, all and all. Happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
What a start of the year that you've had though,
twenty twenty four, Well, we're not far into it. You've
packed it in.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
It's been busy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah. So you celebrated New Year pretty much on stage
in Australia, Is that right?
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Well researched.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, I went to Australia twice in January, which is
just suicidal.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Really my god, I know.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So what out there back again?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
How is your jet lag?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Brutal I mean I did so. I did a festival
out there for New Years, which was fine. It's my
first time ever in Australia. Came back, finished a bunch
of music, then went back out to like Asia and
Australia and then America and then here I am back.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
To release some music.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
On the upside, you must have seen pretty much every
film that, like the airline has to offer, now, do
you know?
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I try my best not too And I'm a sleeper.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I can sleep anywhere on anything at any time of day,
so I actually don't by the time I wake up,
I haven't gotten around to like seeing the entertainment.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I'm so jealous of that. So you can you could
get on a pretty much and fall asleep.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah yeah, Like if you gave me fifteen minutes right now,
I would probably be out so.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Many artist to be listened to this going, Like, I'm
so jealous because like the touring thing is had brutal
and so like if you can catch a nap when
you're in the airport, and.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
That's fine, yeah, it helps the jet.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Like like usually I can usually be anywhere if I
can just I can power up, if I can power
up forty five minutes.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I'm pretty good. Yeah, that's what my days look like.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah. So seeing in the New Year on stage, have
you ever done anything? What's what would you have normally
been doing?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I probably would have been chilling with some girlfriends. I've
never done New Year's abroad, let alone in a hot place.
That was kind of freaky, but it was really nice.
I was out there with Holly up Well, we happened
to both be on the same lineup, so I think
we just were like, let's buddy up.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
And be friends.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So yeah, we got wasted and pop champagne on the stage,
which was really fun. The footage is actually terrible though,
because you can tell we're not party girls and we're
absolutely amateurs. We were like, yeah, let's pop some champagne,
and then when you look back, we clearly forgot to
do the thumb over the thing, so we were essentially
just pouring the bottle on all these cables.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
But it was nice.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It's fun, but that's something you could get used to that,
I mean, learning how to pop champagne, Like, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Know, who would have thought I need to know that?
I know.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
So after that, I mean, you, like you said you
were in the Far East, doing some shows, and then
you went to the States.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I did Grammys, popped in not I wasn't at the
actual Grammys. I went to an after party, which was
like fun those things again, never been to a Grammy
after party.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Lots of famous people, was there? Yeah, that's fun.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Any spots that you were like even outside of the
music world, anybody who were just like, oh, I'm in
the room with this person.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
That room was it was mainly music people, but it
was just like, who was it. I'm trying to think, Uh,
it was like really famous. I mean Ed Sheeran came down,
He's pretty famous. Yes, I think was there. Barry Kergan,
the actor, thought he was there. The guy in Selburn, Yeah,
that was that was cool.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Like Doo was there. Yeah. Lots of famous people. It's
quite weird.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, and some people that you actually know.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah, yeah that's true.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, yeah, nice like quickly say hi and then the
music's so luge you can't even really talk.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
But yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah. So this year has been Is this going to
be kind of typical of how this year pans out?
Because you've you're like heading overseas to play like some
big shows. You're no doubt kind of trying to continue
to write music, you're sharing music, all this stuff going on.
Is that the kind of you're switching modes a lot, right?
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
How?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah? It does.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
It's weird now, I think being an artist because I
don't know. To me when I went into this, I
always understood an artist's job in cycles. So you tour
and then you write, and then you promo, and those
those cycles last for good lengths of time, whereas now
it feels like you kind of have to do all
of it at the same time and there's no mercy.
(08:50):
So yeah, it's like one day you've got your tour
hair on, next day you've got your promo hair on
and your social's hat on, and then next day you're
trying to write. So yeah, it's all happening at the
same time. But I'm excited. It's been a while since
I've released music, so it's nice to be back in
the flow of it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Definitely. Yeah, And we're going to talk about some of
that music that you're you've shared recently. As we speak,
it's it's Brits Week in the UK. Are you going
this year? I am. I'm going to pop in, Yeah,
pop in. I love what you say, popping. It's like
as if we're going to sort of testa.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah, we're just going to Tesco, pop in and see
what the new kid, new kids on the block, you.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Know, pick up some bits.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah, just wave to a few friends, take a photo,
and then pop out.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah. Yeah, as I was kind of looking forward to
chating you to you today, I was had went back
and watched your BRIT's performance from twenty twenty World and
oh god, does it make you feel of it?
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Like, yeah, that feels me the same nerves that I
had at the time. I've never watched it since, have
you not? Yeah? I think I watched it back once
after my performance and then that was it.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Can I Well, I want to tell you a story
about what I was watching it that night because I
felt I must be honest, I don't always watch the Brits,
but I was watching that night.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
That seems like a choice since you're a music person,
Is it because you don't go around to it because
you like, I'm anti awards, I'm anti establishment?
Speaker 2 (10:04):
No, oh, I'm a bit anti establishment. I'd like to
think of as that was establishing. No, just like I
think sometimes sometimes I'm kind of like, yeah, I want
to catch it. In other times I'll want to churning
out of it. And I just remember, I mean, first off,
that was a weird year because it was like I
was really I think we were all feeling like super
(10:25):
hungry for music and missing it because it was twenty
twenty one, so we were like emerging from lockdowns and
like COVID pandemic. So it had its own sort of
surreal spin for those reasons. Yeah, but I just remember,
I remember your performance. I was sat, I was sat
on the sofa with my wife and you came on
and I was like, my god, like you are it
(10:47):
was so assured, and it was just so like it
was amazing, like composed, and I was just considering that, like,
you know, what a platform, what I like, surreal moment
that must have been to find yourself in and like
probably undoubtedly super nerve wracking. Yeah, it was as if
you'd played the Brits like twenty years in a row.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Oh that's really kind Yeah, so what.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
So but you suggested that probably what was actually good,
what was actually that.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Time is Oh, it was just so a lot because
it's again I think it, like you said, it felt
really extreme because of COVID. So I've sat in my
bedroom for two years and then suddenly everyone was like, right,
go on, like and We've all grown up watching the
Brits and I've seen the most iconic performances.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
So I was just like really nervous.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And then you're also performing for like a room full
of everyone you look up to, and you know that
there's however many people watching online and you know it's
going to exist online forever. It was just it's like
the worst recipe for social anxiety. I remember waking up
the next day just like feeling so sick and looking
like dreading looking at my phone, but also like torturing
myself by like trying to look at all the feedback
(11:53):
on it. But no, I am proud of it and
I am happy with it, but yeah, I can't watch
it back.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah yeah you should be. I was like, holy shit,
that is incredible, Like what a performance, because I think, yeah,
the Brits produces like those iconic moments, and sometimes they
come from Adele and one spotlight and a piano, and
other times they come from an artist that's like going
to have been like new to a lot of people.
And that's that is one thing that I do appreciate
(12:20):
about the Brits, but I think that was a particularly
weird year because it was it was like not even
half full, right, because it was social distancing and so
like all the artists were there sat like little.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, it was really strange.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
We were all really far away from a table not
too much, probably the same size as this.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
But I guess it's my only real experience of the Brits.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It will be interesting to go this year where we're
properly free again, because I don't I haven't experienced the
Brits and that kind of hey there you feeling where
everyone's just getting drunk on the floor with Jack Whitehall
just taking the make out of everyone, you.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
I'm excited to experience that kind of Brits because it's
it's been pretty covidly since so.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah it has. And that that night was that when
you first got to meet Taylor Swift.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Yeah it was. That was just like the cherry on
the cake at the end of the night.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
After I've done all the like again, first real red
carpet experience, first real like press experience, did the big performance,
got the award, sat down, Taylor go gets her award.
She kind of like said my name in the mic,
just to say hi. That was scary enough. And then
the night had ended and we were walking back to
our dressing room and then my manager kind of took
(13:29):
me on a detour and he was like, time to
meet Taylor, and I was like, oh my god, and
so yeah, yeah, I went into her dressing room, said hi,
you chated for a bit, and she was really lovely.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, she was eating some chips.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
She was eating chips.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Offered me a chip, did she Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
It was lovely because people don't eat at those events,
so I was relieved to see a whole rider full
of chips.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It's great, yeah, amazing, and like yeah, I mean it's
it's not just like big artists co signs and another
emerging artist. You know, that's a night nice to have
or a nice feeding because Taylor, since like your real
kind of formative years of discovering music, has been like
an important artist to you and something a big influence,
(14:11):
like her songwriting and everything else. So regardless of whether
it's Taylor Swift or if Taylor Swift didn't have billions
of fans, if it was just like your songwriting idol,
that would have been like an important moment.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Right, definitely. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, there are two layers to it where it's like,
first you're being like recognized by someone who's completely at
the peak of their game, but also yeah, being recognized
by someone who I just really who raised my creative journey,
I guess, And I think she's obviously renowned for raising
a new generation of songwriters. But yeah, I was definitely
there at eight years old listening to Fearless, So yeah,
(14:50):
she's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yeah, she's doing about a billion gigs at Wembley Stadium.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
This insane. It's like, how do you even get that big?
It's wild?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Yeah, yeah, have you got ticket?
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Do you know what? Confession? I don't, No, I know,
I just I don't know the whole Like.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I never was never raised going to gigs, so I
don't really have the gig culture in me.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
And then I didn't This whole swifty cult is a
new thing. I thought. I didn't realize.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I don't know, this is like a new thing, isn't
it kind of the level of cult that swifties are.
I was just on my way to school listening to
Taylor Swift, obsessed with it. But I didn't realize there
was like so much commitment with it. So and also
I don't know. In my head, I just will be there.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
I don't know. I'm just putting that out there. I'll
find my way there, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
I'm not organized enough to do all the cues and
the pre orders and the pre sales and fight people
for it.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I don't know. I'll just say a prayer and hopefully
I'll make it.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
You're just going to have to I'm just gonna have
to be one of the supporting artists.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Well, Taylor, if you're listening, I need I need to
see the show. So if you don't mind, just maybe
instead of just a ticket maybe, Yeah, And anyway, I'll
be there.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, I want to.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I want to talk about kind of background and your upbringing.
You're from King's Langley, King's Langley, which is a sleepy village. Well,
I grew up in Welling Garden City Fellow.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Half Yeah, exactly in the suburbs, Northwest Suburbs.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Exactly, not too far away for people that don't know.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
For everyone that does, nobody knows exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Kings Lanley kind of like punches in terms of like
Anthony Joshuas from kings Lanley.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Yeah, we've got one or two claim to fames, Anthony Joshua.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I can't remember if there's any others.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
And I guess we've got the Watford football team, which
Alton John has made famous.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
We've got Harry Potter studios.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
In Watford been no, No, I've never been in. And
also are they claimed to famous that?
Speaker 4 (16:52):
I think?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I think tale has it that the Game of Thrones
writer or something was on the train past kings Langley
and that's why it's somewhere in Game of Thrones is.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Called kings Landing.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Oh okay, I could.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Be chatting absolute shit, but I think that's the rumor.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, King's Landley's doing all right. And then yeah, and
so yeah, you are like one of you one of
the most famous people to ever come out of Kingsland.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I mean I think that's I think the population is
about five thousand people, so I don't know how impressive
that is, but yeah, yeah, I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
For everyone else. Probably most people listening to this just
describe your kind of King's Langley, kind of sleepy village,
like very quaint, like beautiful little place.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, I mean it's pretty English countryside. I mean it's
weird because it's proximity to London. It's like only forty
five minutes out, but it definitely feels like countryside. There's farms,
there's cows, there's old people, there's pubs, a lot of grass,
and that's about it.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Like the churches.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Do you love a country walk?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Yeah? I love country walk yeaheah.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Country walk in a country pub is kind of all
there is to do, to be honest, So yeah, not
loads going on. Didn't actually resented it growing up. Not
diverse or very white, very middle class, so we definitely
and again the population is not very big, so I
think as a family, we definitely stuck out when we went.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, because you're like, in terms of your family heritage,
you've got like you've got Jamaican, you've got Chinese. First off,
I would bet cuisine and like culture in your house
is so rich with so many great things.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Yeah, I mean it's weird.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I only I only realize it when I get asked
about it and talk about it in this context, because
when you're growing up, it's just that's just home, so
you know you're not there going oh wow.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
It was such a culturally rich upbringing.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
You're there going like I don't fit in and my
home is weird. But yeah, I means Mum's pretty typical
Chinese tiger mother. They're not quiet breeds of mothers and
you know, very hard on discipline. Dad is again pretty
stereotypically chilled out Jamaican Dad, two older brothers. Mum cooked most,
(19:09):
so it's mainly a lot of Asian food. But I
think Dad really brought in the music and the creativity,
and I think music is such a rich part of
Black culture, so I think that was ingrained in us
from a very young age. And then we also started
fostering when I was about eight, so then there was
a lot of yeah, kind of foster siblings in the
(19:29):
house as well, so it was mad.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
I have friends who are foster parents, and for me,
it's like one of the most generous things that anybody
can ever do. To be honest, I think it's such
a warm hearted and generous gift to be able to
like to welcome somebody into your family and make them
one of your own.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yeah, I mean it's not for the week or what's
the saying, not for the lighthearted. It's a twenty four
hour job, do you know what I mean? It's not Yeah,
it's definitely not like you a few hours of charity
and then give them back. It's like they're there to
live with you and be part of the family.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
So yeah, yeah, you get stuck in.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Where did music become like such a big deal for you?
Was it almost? Was it like something you had for
you that was your time, that was like a that
you could concentrate on, like a bit of a refuge.
Is that how it emerged as something that you you
got so engrossed with.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Yeah, I think it was that. I think I grew up.
We grew up in church as well, so that was
a big thing.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
And like I just remember, like obviously the sermons were
so boring and the music was the fun bit. So
every time there was the praise and worship, it was
cool and it was and I think I was fortunate
to grow up in a church that had quite modern
music as well, so it wasn't like hymns it was
banned and it was like.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Proper pop chorus it is almost.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So I think that was like my first realization that
I really enjoyed music, and then yeah, it became something
that I think I felt good at doing and I enjoyed. Also,
my parents were so the combination of like immigrant ethnic
parents means that like, I don't know, it was very
(21:12):
strict no TV in the week, and then also very
Christian parents meant that even the TV we were allowed
to watch was very sheltered. So in terms of entertainment
and like what you do with your spare time as
a kid, it was like, well, I just played the
piano then for hours, and so that became, yeah, like
a safe place for me, I think, especially in like school,
(21:34):
and I didn't feel that good.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
About myself, and I don't think I realized.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
It's only in reflection and in hindsight that I realized
that I didn't really feel secure or belonging in school,
and I think I kind of used music as a
bit of a safe space for that.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
So yeah, I think people identified that in your music
as well and gravitate towards it. So like you're sharing
in that respect to things really important, hope.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
So yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Want to kind of like bring things into into the
present a bit more, or rather like bring things into
the past couple of years a little bit more. Because
we talked a bit about the Brits, like you're kind
of there was. It was incredibly like accelerated everything that
happened for you around like you know two thousand, two
thousand and one, two thousand thousand.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
And one when I was born, that was accelerated. Yeah, yeah,
I wasn't in the world that I was. It was
a pretty crazy experience actually, it was yeah, yeah, the world.
Oh my god, here I am.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
This is big. It's fast, it's fast.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Here we go and dad, yeah exactly, yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
No, no, yeah, I know what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Around twenty twenty twenty one, you there was just there
was so much going on, like you know, you were
kind of taking your first steps in music and then
very quickly like finding yourself on some like massive stages.
In terms of the supporting Coldplay on tour, going on
the Future Nostalgia tour, we do a leaper getting to
(23:07):
play with they'd shearing like, how did you find those
adjusting to those experiences stadiums and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
It was really intense, if I'm totally honest again, coming
out a few years of COVID and then never have
toured before and then straight onto a tour bus. I
mean most artists will talk about how brutal touring is,
and so to kind of go straight into it on
that scale was a lot.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
It was a lot to learn.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
There's so much, so much of touring that there's no
rule book on then no one gives you any warning
of It's like down to the relentlessness of just being
around people every day, you know, and building your team
and like waking up to your like you know, your
back line guy and your drama and in the tour bus,
and then performing every night, and just the resilience around
that and just like vocal training and performance and also
(24:00):
to engage a crowd.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
And then also like the.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Other side of it is that you don't make any
money really, so then that's the whole thing. And then
just being away from home and being away from family.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
It was.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah, I definitely felt like I was kind of in
in boot camp for touring very quickly.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Did you bring any mementos back from many of those
those tours?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
I guess the one that came to mind is like
sitting when I sat down with Chris Martin and listened
to the music. I still have kind of the notes
that he wrote down about all my songs and he
wrote a lovely little letter just to encourage me. So
that's something I'll always have. But otherwise otherwise, I don't know.
It's also so lame. But because we take so much
stuff on our phones, and I feel like all my
(24:44):
memories are just like on there.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
That's such a like gen Z thing to say.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
But yeah, yeah, since you bring it up. Obviously, you
went on tour we Coldplay. You got to spend some
time with Chris Martin when you when you went to
record Astronaut. I've met Chris Martin before. He's always seem
very yeah, like it was very like warm and like
very like humble and sensitive and quite generous guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(25:12):
And so what was your what was your experience liked?
Was was he encouraging? What how did he Because he's
like very collaborative and I'm always interested to hear of
like what artists are like in that mode, because some
people are better at giving advice or encouragement or feedback
than others, and like you kind of yeah, I don't
(25:32):
know what Chris Martin's like in that scenario.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Yeah, it was pretty pretty nuts.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
I mean, I I was, I mean, I constantly felt
guilty that I was taking up too much of his
time because it was so generous of him, Like firstly,
like him offering to listen to music. I just thought
he was being polite, and then it actually happened, and
that whole day I just was like, oh my god,
this is so not embarrassing, but like, oh my god,
(26:00):
he's got so many things to do. He's Chris Martin.
He doesn't have an evening to spend listening to my music.
But that was really he was really encouraging, and I
think he.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Read me really well.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Like I was listening to the music so nervous, like
I literally couldn't make any eye contact. I was staring
at the ground. Stopped the music. He's like, chill, this
is amazing. Like he was so encouraging in the right moments,
and I think he really it's amazing how he switches
from like super social Chris Martin and then also switches
straight into like music Chris Martin, and then suddenly speaking
(26:36):
that language and giving such helpful music feedback, like that's
the chorus, even though that you think that's your middle light,
that's your chorus, or like that's actually the title of
the song, even though you think that's the title of
the song that like that kind of perspective was really
really helpful, and so yeah, it was crazy, but it's
also I don't know, I felt like the whole time
(26:56):
I was just trying to not think about the fact
that I was in the studio with Chris Martin. But
I'm sure then coming across like really really fucking weird.
But I don't know, because I like, just be cool,
be cool. But then I sometimes I'm like, maybe I
was too cool and maybe I needed to be more
like I don't know, I'm such a in my head person.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
But no, he was I mean, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
He was amazing, and he left you the message of encouragement.
He wrote something for you, like a kind of like
a little letter or something. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Well, we sat down and listened to a lot of
songs and so he was like, right, let's start getting
getting like, you know, pen and paper. So he was like,
you write down your favorite songs. I'll write my down
my favorite songs. And then just at the end, he
just wrote a nice little note just to say that
the album's great, the music's great, and it's going to
be great, which.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Is nice, amazing. That's gotta be framed somewhere right.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I know, I know, I actually found it like crumbled.
I thought I'd lost it and I said, oh my god,
no way have I lost the note. And then I
found it like the bottom of a tope bag amongst
a load of other touring shit. So no, I know, terrible.
So now I've like put it on my side. I
need to put it in a.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Frame, definitely. Yeah, that one needs to go in the
in the memory box.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Yeah, exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Let's talk about your new music, miss Me Too. You
released not too long ago. Love that track and it's
kind of you described it as sort of something that
came about in this sense of like rediscovering or questioning
what it means to sort of come out of adolescents
and just sort of reshaping who you are. Make it
like kind of just trying to connect with that sense again.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Yeah. Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Now when I talk about what the song's about, I'm like,
oh my god, it's I hope it doesn't come across
in a really cheesy way, because it wasn't. Yeah, it
was a song about wanting to find yourself. I think
it's it's more like.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
I think along long the long old road of life.
I don't know. You do kind of lose.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Fragments of yourself, whether it's in relationships or time periods,
or you've lived in one place and you move, you know,
you lose bits of yourself. And I think it's just
about kind of retracing those steps and figuring out where
it is you lost those bits. And sometimes it's good
to lose a bit of yourself, and sometimes there's actually
a sense of yourself that you really need to get back.
(29:08):
And I think that's kind of what, yeah, what the
song's about. And that's why I love that the production
is super high energy and hopeful, because even that the
lyric is quite sad, I think there is a sense
of hope where it's just like there's a sense of
searching for yourself again.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Yeah, and you shared it amongst a group of songs,
a collection of songs that make up Volume two of
They're to goa to write those songs that might write
and thinking you booked out some different airbnbs, and that's
just because in the past you've done so much. You're
writing at home in the space that you've created your
like home studio.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Right, Yeah, So I think I think there were a
few things. I suddenly felt pressure to write, which is
a feeling I've never had with writing, because writing was
always for me. And then like post Brits and everything,
everyone was like, where's the album. I'm like, I don't know,
I've been on tour, and so that dynamic was there.
So I think being in Airbnb's was me almost trying
(30:03):
to trick my brain into feeling like I was in
a low pressure environment, you know, because I didn't want
the label to put me out a big, fancy studio.
I'd be so conscious of how much it costs and
the time and what I'm how productive it is that
I almost wouldn't tell the label when I'm going away
to write because it's it's better. I don't want people
asking me, you know, from my homework at the end
of the day.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
And then also for some reason, I think I was
I always used.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
To be able to make music at home and make
loads of noise at home, not feeling like I was
being heard too much, and I think it was there
was the element of just like my mum's so busy,
my dad's out of work, my brothers and boys, they
don't care like the screaming kids like I could just
I could blast a song, and honestly, I would come
out and it would be so hectic outside of the
house in the house that it just didn't matter. Whereas
(30:47):
I think from COVID, things were so focused and intense,
and Dad suddenly working from home and we had some
kid changes, I suddenly just felt very self conscious about
making noise in the house. So I just got I
knew I couldn't right in at my family home. So
that's kind of why I started just booking little airbnbs.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
And there's a fun feature on it on.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
The desktop version where you can, if you just scroll
a little bit, you can filter in where a piano is.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
So that's all I do. Really, I just go on.
When I knew when i'd get back in between tours
and I knew I had like maybe two weeks, I
would just put the piano filter on and find one
that felt like it wasn't going to blow the budget,
and then drive a few hours and then like, yeah,
I hope it was tuned, and like.
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Come back to the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
No.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I would send a message being like, HI, just checking
the piano's tuned, and then yeah, I'd always like get
there like immediately get there, unload my car from all
my music equipment, put on some music, and then like
reshuffle the house and like because if the piano is
in the kitchen or whatever, I'd like move it, take
a desk from somewhere, like put a lamp somewhere, like
create some kind of on beance and be like, ha,
(32:00):
this is this week's studio.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I've got visions of you like knocking on the neighbor's
door just being like I'm staying. Do you mind how
we get the I need to get a piano.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, no, No, I actually wouldn't try and ignore any
neighbors because I knew I'd probably be making a lot
of noise late at night, so I just thought I
won't show my face and hopefully no one complains.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah, did you find any like cozy spots? Like did
you go anywhere in particular that you were like this
is this is great? Like this is exactly the type
of space I need to be creative.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
They were all pretty kooky and pretty scary to be hones,
especially because I turn up alone, So like the first
night you'd be a bit eerie and like getting to
know the house. But I think the first one I
went in was Image in Heap's house and that was
actually a studio r and her house is insane.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
She was she wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
She rents it out now, but it's like I think
it's one of the only roundhouses left in the UK.
And it has this huge spiral staircase in the middle
and all the rooms kind of circle all around it,
and then the studio is in the basement and that
was a pretty are in place to be.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I've got a final couple of things I want to
talk to you about before before we before we wrap up.
But on YouTube you share lots of different stuff, one
of which is like a series that you've been doing
where you cover songs and you've been doing for this
for quite a while and also done it with loads
of different artists Georgia Sigrid sg Lewis like loads of
(33:27):
people that you've kind of raped in to basically do
cover versions. You set yourself an hour to uh to
basically recreate, reversion, reshape a song and share it. How
has that gone? And like, in all honesty, when is
it gone? What are some of your favorite times when
you think it's gone really well? And what are the
science times when you're gone, this has gone terribly wrong.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
They're all really kind of a lot because it's quite intense.
Sometimes I'm meeting the people for the first time I've
messaged them or whatever, and you've got cameras on, and
it is a bit like, yeah, it's real social anxiety.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
I thought, what was a good one?
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I thought the Birdie one became really good because the
studio we'd booked was awful. It was like this horrible
little box and you could tell that like people have
been in their hot boxing it and like Birdie is
so like quaint and gentle, and it just wasn't a
beautiful studio at all. And anyways, we did Bloody by
(34:28):
Your Lights and then I think it turned out really
really nice, and a lot of people talk to me
about that one. The Tom Adele one was funny because
he kind of came in. I'm not even sure he
really had a concept of what it was. I mates
with Tom, and he just kind of came in and
quite Tom fashion was like I've got to leave in
twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
I was like, what the the idea is? One?
Speaker 4 (34:47):
Tom?
Speaker 1 (34:48):
So then I was like, get on the piano and
then we did the Villie Eilish one, so that one
was kind of funny.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I quite like the one did with Cigared was good
because it sort of just all fell apart and then
you were just like, Okay, knew, I We've got like
fifteen minutes left.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
But yeah, I'm trying to remember what song I did
with cigarette Actually I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Was it a Taylor Swift song?
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Yeah, it must have been. Yeah, I think we switched.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Off with shoes and you were both really funny on
that one. It was good. I think you both embraced
the fact that it seemed to be just sort of
going going shape.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I know.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
It also depends how like I'm feeling as well, because like,
I don't really produce very well under pressure. I need
time and space and then suddenly I'm like ah, and
then also like pulling up a terrible set synth sound
and then hearing the other artists judge me it's just awful.
But yes, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
It's called Against the Clock, I should say, so if
anbody's going to check it out, it's on YouTube. And
I guess my final question was just about like your
plans and your ambitions for like the next kind of
like year or two. I don't want to get like
too far ahead, because you know, you've been, like, from
what kind of outside perspective, you're kind of you seemingly
(35:53):
quite prolific, Like you've been writing a lot of songs,
You've shared like a quite a lot of music last
couple of years. What are you kind of like headed for,
what what you're hoping for you and what kind of
artists would you like to be in terms of like
a level do you And it's an odd question to say,
I'm just saying, like I guess I'm asking you know,
is this really about like longevity? Do you really just
(36:14):
want to like try and write as many like timeless
songs that mean something to people as possible? Are you
thinking like I really want to, you know, have him
shared a stage with Coldplay and do a leap and stuff.
You're thinking like I want to play stadium shows or
what's because you know, you're you're You're You've always said
that you're so passionate about the song and songwriting, like
ahead of like the kind of being an artist, being
(36:36):
the kind of the face of it almost that I'm
just really keen to know, well where you you like
to take things.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Yeah, I've had to really.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Do you construct a little bit what I think is
successful because I think at the beginning, I just I mean,
I guess every artist is kind of their own worst critic,
but I definitely thought be quicker and like an overnight thing.
So that was like a brutal awakening. And then now
(37:09):
it's like I don't even know what any I don't
think anyone knows what success is, you know, like with
short form, with TikTok is like even the way record
labels are defining success, is it like how many creations
it has?
Speaker 4 (37:21):
Is it? Are we still caring about charts? Do we
care about radio? Like?
Speaker 1 (37:24):
I guess I never thought I would be like someone
who really was attached to the mainstream that much, which
is funny, which is why I think I found the
Brits quite an amazing but like an accelerated experience, because
I never thought I wrote pop songs for the charts,
which I think I do, which isn't a bad thing
at all, But yeah, I just want to write songs
(37:45):
that I love and move people really and in terms
of level, I don't know, like I'm so inspired by
the scale that I've witnessed, and I think anyone who
does this is driven to some extent and wants to
see and is competitive and like almost likes the sadistic
challenge of like beating yourself. So I wouldn't lie by
(38:06):
saying I didn't look at stadiums and arenas and get
super inspired. I would love that one day, but I
don't want to put that too much on a pedestal.
Almost Chris actually said to me, He's like, do you
write down what you want to do? Because he always
did that. He would write down, like I want to
do Glastonbury, and then he did it, and that's one.
It's a cool way of kind of I guess, manifesting
your career. I would just like a nice fan base
(38:27):
that are there whenever I'm ready to release a song.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
I think, like Adele does that really well. I think.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Frank Ocean seems to have the most ideal cult following
where you can just disappear and then reappear. Lord, I
think does it. I don't think I desire to be
this front facing, chatty person on camera, Like really, I
never thought I thought I'd be a songwriter. I didn't
think I'd be an artist, so I think the careers
that I like the look of is like Lord and
(38:57):
Frank and Adele and James Blake.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
I could definitely see you having like watched your collaboration
because you generously share it with the outside world. What
an amazing producer you'd be and collaborator like for other
artists when they're come to put their work together.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
I would love that one day, Yeah, yeah, because that
was really the goal. There's a lot of songs where
I was I give it away, pitch it out, and
I think I'm happy that I've landed here. But I
honestly I find so much fulfillment and I get such
a rush out of writing a good song that whatever
happens after the day I've written a song, I honestly
find so laborious. So whether it's writing a song for
(39:32):
me or writing a song for other artists, I kind
of just get gassed out of the idea of both
of them.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Midnight Chats is a joint production between Loud and Quiet
and Atomized Studios for iHeartRadio. It's hosted by Stuart Stubbs
and Greg Cochrane, mixed and mastered by Flow Lines and
edited by Stuart Stubbs. Find us on Instagram and TikTok
to watch clips from our recordings and much much more.
We are Midnight chats pot.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
For more information, visit loudan Quiet dot com
I guess I never thought I would be like someone
who really was attached to the mainstream that much, which
is funny, which is why I think I found the
Brits quite an amazing but like an accelerated experience, because
I never thought I wrote pop songs for the charts.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Go hit it. Evening, folks, welcome to another new episode
of Midnight Chats, our music interview podcast for late night listening.
My name's Greg. I'm here with Stu. Stu, what is
the big news in your world? Well, I've been moving house,
so I've just mainly been a ball of stress. But
(00:36):
I think I've turned a corner now now that I've moved,
I'm feeling a lot better.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
We've had a very busy time here on the podcast
as well. Thank you to everyone who listened to our
Brian Eno episode last week. I did very well, including
getting some shares on David Bowie's Instagram account, which was
nice to see.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
This week, I've recorded.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Two new episodes, one of which is going to be
next week's episode. We're going to turn that one around
quickly and we're going to hold onto the other one
for a bit later down the line. But let's talk
about tonight's episode, Greg, because you spoke to Griff, and
I'll be honest, before I listened to this, I didn't
know that much about Griff myself. I didn't know much
(01:16):
about her background or what she's been up to. And
in case there is anyone tuning in who is in
a similar boat to that, tell us a bit about
Griff herself, and also why you wanted to talk to her,
because you've wanted to speak.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
To her for a while. Well, I've wanted to speak
to Griff. I've been excited to meet Griff ever since
I saw her performance on the brit Awards, which was
back in twenty twenty one. She played her song black Hole,
which is a pop banger, and I was just flawed
because I don't remember a new artist ever delivering such
(01:51):
like an accomplished, impactful performance at the Brits. Basically, she
looked like she'd been doing this for like twenty years,
and I just from that was like, wow, like this
is somebody really really special. If you haven't seen that
BRIT's performance, it is on YouTube. Griff says that she
can't bear to watch it, but I've put a link
in the show notes. If you haven't seen it and
you can go and have a look at it, along
(02:12):
with some of the other things that we mentioned in
this conversation.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I do remember that performance and how amazing it was,
and for someone who is still so young as she
is now, when she was talking to you, it really
sounded like she's someone who just knows exactly what she
wants to do.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Oh definitely. I think she's twenty three now and she's
super grounded. They didn't seem to be sort of you know,
it wasn't anything kind of mechanical about her, if you
know what I meant. So she was just really really
open and just really really lovely to chat to. But
the big news is that she's just announced her debut
album and it's going to be coming out on the
nineteenth of July, and it's called Vertigo. And she's announced
(02:49):
a big tour later in the year, playing some massive venues.
So that's exciting because like her show is immense as well,
so it's basically it's going to be a big year
for Griff. Here.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It is then Greg talking with Griff on tonight's episode
of Midnight Chats. If you're new to us here, welcome.
If you've been here, before welcome back. Thank you for
listening to Midnight Chats. We love making this podcast. If
there's one thing you can really do to help us
and to help the show is simply tell a friend
force them to listen. That's the way that this podcast
(03:20):
is going to grow and we're going to get more
people listening to it. So if you are enjoying the episodes,
please do tell your friends who like music all about
it and join us on social media. We've sort of
ditch TikTok to be honest, but we are on Instagram
Midnight Chats Pod. There's lots of clips there. We're put
some bits of Griff, there's some stuff from the Emo
episode last week. Before that we had MGMT. We're trying
(03:44):
to ramp that up a bit and have a bit
of fun with it. So join us over there Midnight
Chats Pod. For now, though, here is Griff on Tonight's
episode of Midnight Chats.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
This will obviously exist in the world in a future time.
But today is release date. Well no, I shouldn't probably
say that, actually, but anyway, it's been a hectic day,
but it's good feeling.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I think we can say it's release day. It's fine.
Because people will understand that we've done this in the past.
We're speaking to our future selves. Yeah exactly, miss me too.
You're going to be sharing it later on today.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The release days feel exciting? Do they feel stressful?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Do they feel I'm getting better at them?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
I don't love them. They're not fun.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
There's no part of me that wakes up and goes,
oh yeah release day because they're stressful, and there's usually
lots to do and you're usually just pretty nervous about
how it's going to be received, and it's the moment
where as song has been sitting on your laptop forages
and then is out in the world.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
So yeah, fantastic, all and all. Happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
What a start of the year that you've had though,
twenty twenty four, Well, we're not far into it. You've
packed it in.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
It's been busy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah. So you celebrated New Year pretty much on stage
in Australia, Is that right?
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Well researched.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, I went to Australia twice in January, which is
just suicidal.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Really my god, I know.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So what out there back again?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
How is your jet lag?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Brutal I mean I did so. I did a festival
out there for New Years, which was fine. It's my
first time ever in Australia. Came back, finished a bunch
of music, then went back out to like Asia and
Australia and then America and then here I am back.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
To release some music.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
On the upside, you must have seen pretty much every
film that, like the airline has to offer, now, do
you know?
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I try my best not too And I'm a sleeper.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I can sleep anywhere on anything at any time of day,
so I actually don't by the time I wake up,
I haven't gotten around to like seeing the entertainment.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I'm so jealous of that. So you can you could
get on a pretty much and fall asleep.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah yeah, Like if you gave me fifteen minutes right now,
I would probably be out so.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Many artist to be listened to this going, Like, I'm
so jealous because like the touring thing is had brutal
and so like if you can catch a nap when
you're in the airport, and.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
That's fine, yeah, it helps the jet.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Like like usually I can usually be anywhere if I
can just I can power up, if I can power
up forty five minutes.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I'm pretty good. Yeah, that's what my days look like.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah. So seeing in the New Year on stage, have
you ever done anything? What's what would you have normally
been doing?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I probably would have been chilling with some girlfriends. I've
never done New Year's abroad, let alone in a hot place.
That was kind of freaky, but it was really nice.
I was out there with Holly up Well, we happened
to both be on the same lineup, so I think
we just were like, let's buddy up.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
And be friends.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So yeah, we got wasted and pop champagne on the stage,
which was really fun. The footage is actually terrible though,
because you can tell we're not party girls and we're
absolutely amateurs. We were like, yeah, let's pop some champagne,
and then when you look back, we clearly forgot to
do the thumb over the thing, so we were essentially
just pouring the bottle on all these cables.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
But it was nice.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It's fun, but that's something you could get used to that,
I mean, learning how to pop champagne, Like, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Know, who would have thought I need to know that?
I know.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
So after that, I mean, you, like you said you
were in the Far East, doing some shows, and then
you went to the States.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I did Grammys, popped in not I wasn't at the
actual Grammys. I went to an after party, which was
like fun those things again, never been to a Grammy
after party.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Lots of famous people, was there? Yeah, that's fun.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Any spots that you were like even outside of the
music world, anybody who were just like, oh, I'm in
the room with this person.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
That room was it was mainly music people, but it
was just like, who was it. I'm trying to think, Uh,
it was like really famous. I mean Ed Sheeran came down,
He's pretty famous. Yes, I think was there. Barry Kergan,
the actor, thought he was there. The guy in Selburn, Yeah,
that was that was cool.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Like Doo was there. Yeah. Lots of famous people. It's
quite weird.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, and some people that you actually know.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah, yeah that's true.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, yeah, nice like quickly say hi and then the
music's so luge you can't even really talk.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
But yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah. So this year has been Is this going to
be kind of typical of how this year pans out?
Because you've you're like heading overseas to play like some
big shows. You're no doubt kind of trying to continue
to write music, you're sharing music, all this stuff going on.
Is that the kind of you're switching modes a lot, right?
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
How?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah? It does.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
It's weird now, I think being an artist because I
don't know. To me when I went into this, I
always understood an artist's job in cycles. So you tour
and then you write, and then you promo, and those
those cycles last for good lengths of time, whereas now
it feels like you kind of have to do all
of it at the same time and there's no mercy.
(08:50):
So yeah, it's like one day you've got your tour
hair on, next day you've got your promo hair on
and your social's hat on, and then next day you're
trying to write. So yeah, it's all happening at the
same time. But I'm excited. It's been a while since
I've released music, so it's nice to be back in
the flow of it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Definitely. Yeah, And we're going to talk about some of
that music that you're you've shared recently. As we speak,
it's it's Brits Week in the UK. Are you going
this year? I am. I'm going to pop in, Yeah,
pop in. I love what you say, popping. It's like
as if we're going to sort of testa.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah, we're just going to Tesco, pop in and see
what the new kid, new kids on the block, you.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Know, pick up some bits.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah, just wave to a few friends, take a photo,
and then pop out.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah. Yeah, as I was kind of looking forward to
chating you to you today, I was had went back
and watched your BRIT's performance from twenty twenty World and
oh god, does it make you feel of it?
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Like, yeah, that feels me the same nerves that I
had at the time. I've never watched it since, have
you not? Yeah? I think I watched it back once
after my performance and then that was it.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Can I Well, I want to tell you a story
about what I was watching it that night because I
felt I must be honest, I don't always watch the Brits,
but I was watching that night.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
That seems like a choice since you're a music person,
Is it because you don't go around to it because
you like, I'm anti awards, I'm anti establishment?
Speaker 2 (10:04):
No, oh, I'm a bit anti establishment. I'd like to
think of as that was establishing. No, just like I
think sometimes sometimes I'm kind of like, yeah, I want
to catch it. In other times I'll want to churning
out of it. And I just remember, I mean, first off,
that was a weird year because it was like I
was really I think we were all feeling like super
(10:25):
hungry for music and missing it because it was twenty
twenty one, so we were like emerging from lockdowns and
like COVID pandemic. So it had its own sort of
surreal spin for those reasons. Yeah, but I just remember,
I remember your performance. I was sat, I was sat
on the sofa with my wife and you came on
and I was like, my god, like you are it
(10:47):
was so assured, and it was just so like it
was amazing, like composed, and I was just considering that, like,
you know, what a platform, what I like, surreal moment
that must have been to find yourself in and like
probably undoubtedly super nerve wracking. Yeah, it was as if
you'd played the Brits like twenty years in a row.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Oh that's really kind Yeah, so what.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
So but you suggested that probably what was actually good,
what was actually that.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Time is Oh, it was just so a lot because
it's again I think it, like you said, it felt
really extreme because of COVID. So I've sat in my
bedroom for two years and then suddenly everyone was like, right,
go on, like and We've all grown up watching the
Brits and I've seen the most iconic performances.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
So I was just like really nervous.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And then you're also performing for like a room full
of everyone you look up to, and you know that
there's however many people watching online and you know it's
going to exist online forever. It was just it's like
the worst recipe for social anxiety. I remember waking up
the next day just like feeling so sick and looking
like dreading looking at my phone, but also like torturing
myself by like trying to look at all the feedback
(11:53):
on it. But no, I am proud of it and
I am happy with it, but yeah, I can't watch
it back.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah yeah you should be. I was like, holy shit,
that is incredible, Like what a performance, because I think, yeah,
the Brits produces like those iconic moments, and sometimes they
come from Adele and one spotlight and a piano, and
other times they come from an artist that's like going
to have been like new to a lot of people.
And that's that is one thing that I do appreciate
(12:20):
about the Brits, but I think that was a particularly
weird year because it was it was like not even
half full, right, because it was social distancing and so
like all the artists were there sat like little.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, it was really strange.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
We were all really far away from a table not
too much, probably the same size as this.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
But I guess it's my only real experience of the Brits.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It will be interesting to go this year where we're
properly free again, because I don't I haven't experienced the
Brits and that kind of hey there you feeling where
everyone's just getting drunk on the floor with Jack Whitehall
just taking the make out of everyone, you.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
I'm excited to experience that kind of Brits because it's
it's been pretty covidly since so.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah it has. And that that night was that when
you first got to meet Taylor Swift.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Yeah it was. That was just like the cherry on
the cake at the end of the night.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
After I've done all the like again, first real red
carpet experience, first real like press experience, did the big performance,
got the award, sat down, Taylor go gets her award.
She kind of like said my name in the mic,
just to say hi. That was scary enough. And then
the night had ended and we were walking back to
our dressing room and then my manager kind of took
(13:29):
me on a detour and he was like, time to
meet Taylor, and I was like, oh my god, and
so yeah, yeah, I went into her dressing room, said hi,
you chated for a bit, and she was really lovely.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, she was eating some chips.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
She was eating chips.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Offered me a chip, did she Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
It was lovely because people don't eat at those events,
so I was relieved to see a whole rider full
of chips.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It's great, yeah, amazing, and like yeah, I mean it's
it's not just like big artists co signs and another
emerging artist. You know, that's a night nice to have
or a nice feeding because Taylor, since like your real
kind of formative years of discovering music, has been like
an important artist to you and something a big influence,
(14:11):
like her songwriting and everything else. So regardless of whether
it's Taylor Swift or if Taylor Swift didn't have billions
of fans, if it was just like your songwriting idol,
that would have been like an important moment.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Right, definitely. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, there are two layers to it where it's like,
first you're being like recognized by someone who's completely at
the peak of their game, but also yeah, being recognized
by someone who I just really who raised my creative journey,
I guess, And I think she's obviously renowned for raising
a new generation of songwriters. But yeah, I was definitely
there at eight years old listening to Fearless, So yeah,
(14:50):
she's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yeah, she's doing about a billion gigs at Wembley Stadium.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
This insane. It's like, how do you even get that big?
It's wild?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Yeah, yeah, have you got ticket?
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Do you know what? Confession? I don't, No, I know,
I just I don't know the whole Like.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I never was never raised going to gigs, so I
don't really have the gig culture in me.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
And then I didn't This whole swifty cult is a
new thing. I thought. I didn't realize.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I don't know, this is like a new thing, isn't
it kind of the level of cult that swifties are.
I was just on my way to school listening to
Taylor Swift, obsessed with it. But I didn't realize there
was like so much commitment with it. So and also
I don't know. In my head, I just will be there.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
I don't know. I'm just putting that out there. I'll
find my way there, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
I'm not organized enough to do all the cues and
the pre orders and the pre sales and fight people
for it.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I don't know. I'll just say a prayer and hopefully
I'll make it.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
You're just going to have to I'm just gonna have
to be one of the supporting artists.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Well, Taylor, if you're listening, I need I need to
see the show. So if you don't mind, just maybe
instead of just a ticket maybe, Yeah, And anyway, I'll
be there.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, I want to.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I want to talk about kind of background and your upbringing.
You're from King's Langley, King's Langley, which is a sleepy village. Well,
I grew up in Welling Garden City Fellow.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Half Yeah, exactly in the suburbs, Northwest Suburbs.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Exactly, not too far away for people that don't know.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
For everyone that does, nobody knows exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Kings Lanley kind of like punches in terms of like
Anthony Joshuas from kings Lanley.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Yeah, we've got one or two claim to fames, Anthony Joshua.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I can't remember if there's any others.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
And I guess we've got the Watford football team, which
Alton John has made famous.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
We've got Harry Potter studios.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
In Watford been no, No, I've never been in. And
also are they claimed to famous that?
Speaker 4 (16:52):
I think?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I think tale has it that the Game of Thrones
writer or something was on the train past kings Langley
and that's why it's somewhere in Game of Thrones is.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Called kings Landing.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Oh okay, I could.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Be chatting absolute shit, but I think that's the rumor.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, King's Landley's doing all right. And then yeah, and
so yeah, you are like one of you one of
the most famous people to ever come out of Kingsland.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I mean I think that's I think the population is
about five thousand people, so I don't know how impressive
that is, but yeah, yeah, I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
For everyone else. Probably most people listening to this just
describe your kind of King's Langley, kind of sleepy village,
like very quaint, like beautiful little place.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, I mean it's pretty English countryside. I mean it's
weird because it's proximity to London. It's like only forty
five minutes out, but it definitely feels like countryside. There's farms,
there's cows, there's old people, there's pubs, a lot of grass,
and that's about it.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Like the churches.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Do you love a country walk?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Yeah? I love country walk yeaheah.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Country walk in a country pub is kind of all
there is to do, to be honest, So yeah, not
loads going on. Didn't actually resented it growing up. Not
diverse or very white, very middle class, so we definitely
and again the population is not very big, so I
think as a family, we definitely stuck out when we went.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, because you're like, in terms of your family heritage,
you've got like you've got Jamaican, you've got Chinese. First off,
I would bet cuisine and like culture in your house
is so rich with so many great things.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Yeah, I mean it's weird.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I only I only realize it when I get asked
about it and talk about it in this context, because
when you're growing up, it's just that's just home, so
you know you're not there going oh wow.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
It was such a culturally rich upbringing.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
You're there going like I don't fit in and my
home is weird. But yeah, I means Mum's pretty typical
Chinese tiger mother. They're not quiet breeds of mothers and
you know, very hard on discipline. Dad is again pretty
stereotypically chilled out Jamaican Dad, two older brothers. Mum cooked most,
(19:09):
so it's mainly a lot of Asian food. But I
think Dad really brought in the music and the creativity,
and I think music is such a rich part of
Black culture, so I think that was ingrained in us
from a very young age. And then we also started
fostering when I was about eight, so then there was
a lot of yeah, kind of foster siblings in the
(19:29):
house as well, so it was mad.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
I have friends who are foster parents, and for me,
it's like one of the most generous things that anybody
can ever do. To be honest, I think it's such
a warm hearted and generous gift to be able to
like to welcome somebody into your family and make them
one of your own.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yeah, I mean it's not for the week or what's
the saying, not for the lighthearted. It's a twenty four
hour job, do you know what I mean? It's not Yeah,
it's definitely not like you a few hours of charity
and then give them back. It's like they're there to
live with you and be part of the family.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
So yeah, yeah, you get stuck in.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Where did music become like such a big deal for you?
Was it almost? Was it like something you had for
you that was your time, that was like a that
you could concentrate on, like a bit of a refuge.
Is that how it emerged as something that you you
got so engrossed with.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Yeah, I think it was that. I think I grew up.
We grew up in church as well, so that was
a big thing.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
And like I just remember, like obviously the sermons were
so boring and the music was the fun bit. So
every time there was the praise and worship, it was
cool and it was and I think I was fortunate
to grow up in a church that had quite modern
music as well, so it wasn't like hymns it was
banned and it was like.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Proper pop chorus it is almost.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So I think that was like my first realization that
I really enjoyed music, and then yeah, it became something
that I think I felt good at doing and I enjoyed. Also,
my parents were so the combination of like immigrant ethnic
parents means that like, I don't know, it was very
(21:12):
strict no TV in the week, and then also very
Christian parents meant that even the TV we were allowed
to watch was very sheltered. So in terms of entertainment
and like what you do with your spare time as
a kid, it was like, well, I just played the
piano then for hours, and so that became, yeah, like
a safe place for me, I think, especially in like school,
(21:34):
and I didn't feel that good.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
About myself, and I don't think I realized.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
It's only in reflection and in hindsight that I realized
that I didn't really feel secure or belonging in school,
and I think I kind of used music as a
bit of a safe space for that.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
So yeah, I think people identified that in your music
as well and gravitate towards it. So like you're sharing
in that respect to things really important, hope.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
So yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Want to kind of like bring things into into the
present a bit more, or rather like bring things into
the past couple of years a little bit more. Because
we talked a bit about the Brits, like you're kind
of there was. It was incredibly like accelerated everything that
happened for you around like you know two thousand, two
thousand and one, two thousand thousand.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
And one when I was born, that was accelerated. Yeah, yeah,
I wasn't in the world that I was. It was
a pretty crazy experience actually, it was yeah, yeah, the world.
Oh my god, here I am.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
This is big. It's fast, it's fast.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Here we go and dad, yeah exactly, yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
No, no, yeah, I know what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Around twenty twenty twenty one, you there was just there
was so much going on, like you know, you were
kind of taking your first steps in music and then
very quickly like finding yourself on some like massive stages.
In terms of the supporting Coldplay on tour, going on
the Future Nostalgia tour, we do a leaper getting to
(23:07):
play with they'd shearing like, how did you find those
adjusting to those experiences stadiums and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
It was really intense, if I'm totally honest again, coming
out a few years of COVID and then never have
toured before and then straight onto a tour bus. I
mean most artists will talk about how brutal touring is,
and so to kind of go straight into it on
that scale was a lot.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
It was a lot to learn.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
There's so much, so much of touring that there's no
rule book on then no one gives you any warning
of It's like down to the relentlessness of just being
around people every day, you know, and building your team
and like waking up to your like you know, your
back line guy and your drama and in the tour bus,
and then performing every night, and just the resilience around
that and just like vocal training and performance and also
(24:00):
to engage a crowd.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
And then also like the.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Other side of it is that you don't make any
money really, so then that's the whole thing. And then
just being away from home and being away from family.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
It was.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah, I definitely felt like I was kind of in
in boot camp for touring very quickly.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Did you bring any mementos back from many of those
those tours?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
I guess the one that came to mind is like
sitting when I sat down with Chris Martin and listened
to the music. I still have kind of the notes
that he wrote down about all my songs and he
wrote a lovely little letter just to encourage me. So
that's something I'll always have. But otherwise otherwise, I don't know.
It's also so lame. But because we take so much
stuff on our phones, and I feel like all my
(24:44):
memories are just like on there.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
That's such a like gen Z thing to say.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
But yeah, yeah, since you bring it up. Obviously, you
went on tour we Coldplay. You got to spend some
time with Chris Martin when you when you went to
record Astronaut. I've met Chris Martin before. He's always seem
very yeah, like it was very like warm and like
very like humble and sensitive and quite generous guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(25:12):
And so what was your what was your experience liked?
Was was he encouraging? What how did he Because he's
like very collaborative and I'm always interested to hear of
like what artists are like in that mode, because some
people are better at giving advice or encouragement or feedback
than others, and like you kind of yeah, I don't
(25:32):
know what Chris Martin's like in that scenario.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Yeah, it was pretty pretty nuts.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
I mean, I I was, I mean, I constantly felt
guilty that I was taking up too much of his
time because it was so generous of him, Like firstly,
like him offering to listen to music. I just thought
he was being polite, and then it actually happened, and
that whole day I just was like, oh my god,
this is so not embarrassing, but like, oh my god,
(26:00):
he's got so many things to do. He's Chris Martin.
He doesn't have an evening to spend listening to my music.
But that was really he was really encouraging, and I
think he.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Read me really well.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Like I was listening to the music so nervous, like
I literally couldn't make any eye contact. I was staring
at the ground. Stopped the music. He's like, chill, this
is amazing. Like he was so encouraging in the right moments,
and I think he really it's amazing how he switches
from like super social Chris Martin and then also switches
straight into like music Chris Martin, and then suddenly speaking
(26:36):
that language and giving such helpful music feedback, like that's
the chorus, even though that you think that's your middle light,
that's your chorus, or like that's actually the title of
the song, even though you think that's the title of
the song that like that kind of perspective was really
really helpful, and so yeah, it was crazy, but it's
also I don't know, I felt like the whole time
(26:56):
I was just trying to not think about the fact
that I was in the studio with Chris Martin. But
I'm sure then coming across like really really fucking weird.
But I don't know, because I like, just be cool,
be cool. But then I sometimes I'm like, maybe I
was too cool and maybe I needed to be more
like I don't know, I'm such a in my head person.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
But no, he was I mean, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
He was amazing, and he left you the message of encouragement.
He wrote something for you, like a kind of like
a little letter or something. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Well, we sat down and listened to a lot of
songs and so he was like, right, let's start getting
getting like, you know, pen and paper. So he was like,
you write down your favorite songs. I'll write my down
my favorite songs. And then just at the end, he
just wrote a nice little note just to say that
the album's great, the music's great, and it's going to
be great, which.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Is nice, amazing. That's gotta be framed somewhere right.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I know, I know, I actually found it like crumbled.
I thought I'd lost it and I said, oh my god,
no way have I lost the note. And then I
found it like the bottom of a tope bag amongst
a load of other touring shit. So no, I know, terrible.
So now I've like put it on my side. I
need to put it in a.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Frame, definitely. Yeah, that one needs to go in the
in the memory box.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Yeah, exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Let's talk about your new music, miss Me Too. You
released not too long ago. Love that track and it's
kind of you described it as sort of something that
came about in this sense of like rediscovering or questioning
what it means to sort of come out of adolescents
and just sort of reshaping who you are. Make it
like kind of just trying to connect with that sense again.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Yeah. Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Now when I talk about what the song's about, I'm like,
oh my god, it's I hope it doesn't come across
in a really cheesy way, because it wasn't. Yeah, it
was a song about wanting to find yourself. I think
it's it's more like.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
I think along long the long old road of life.
I don't know. You do kind of lose.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Fragments of yourself, whether it's in relationships or time periods,
or you've lived in one place and you move, you know,
you lose bits of yourself. And I think it's just
about kind of retracing those steps and figuring out where
it is you lost those bits. And sometimes it's good
to lose a bit of yourself, and sometimes there's actually
a sense of yourself that you really need to get back.
(29:08):
And I think that's kind of what, yeah, what the
song's about. And that's why I love that the production
is super high energy and hopeful, because even that the
lyric is quite sad, I think there is a sense
of hope where it's just like there's a sense of
searching for yourself again.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Yeah, and you shared it amongst a group of songs,
a collection of songs that make up Volume two of
They're to goa to write those songs that might write
and thinking you booked out some different airbnbs, and that's
just because in the past you've done so much. You're
writing at home in the space that you've created your
like home studio.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Right, Yeah, So I think I think there were a
few things. I suddenly felt pressure to write, which is
a feeling I've never had with writing, because writing was
always for me. And then like post Brits and everything,
everyone was like, where's the album. I'm like, I don't know,
I've been on tour, and so that dynamic was there.
So I think being in Airbnb's was me almost trying
(30:03):
to trick my brain into feeling like I was in
a low pressure environment, you know, because I didn't want
the label to put me out a big, fancy studio.
I'd be so conscious of how much it costs and
the time and what I'm how productive it is that
I almost wouldn't tell the label when I'm going away
to write because it's it's better. I don't want people
asking me, you know, from my homework at the end
of the day.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
And then also for some reason, I think I was
I always used.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
To be able to make music at home and make
loads of noise at home, not feeling like I was
being heard too much, and I think it was there
was the element of just like my mum's so busy,
my dad's out of work, my brothers and boys, they
don't care like the screaming kids like I could just
I could blast a song, and honestly, I would come
out and it would be so hectic outside of the
house in the house that it just didn't matter. Whereas
(30:47):
I think from COVID, things were so focused and intense,
and Dad suddenly working from home and we had some
kid changes, I suddenly just felt very self conscious about
making noise in the house. So I just got I
knew I couldn't right in at my family home. So
that's kind of why I started just booking little airbnbs.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
And there's a fun feature on it on.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
The desktop version where you can, if you just scroll
a little bit, you can filter in where a piano is.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
So that's all I do. Really, I just go on.
When I knew when i'd get back in between tours
and I knew I had like maybe two weeks, I
would just put the piano filter on and find one
that felt like it wasn't going to blow the budget,
and then drive a few hours and then like, yeah,
I hope it was tuned, and like.
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Come back to the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
No.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I would send a message being like, HI, just checking
the piano's tuned, and then yeah, I'd always like get
there like immediately get there, unload my car from all
my music equipment, put on some music, and then like
reshuffle the house and like because if the piano is
in the kitchen or whatever, I'd like move it, take
a desk from somewhere, like put a lamp somewhere, like
create some kind of on beance and be like, ha,
(32:00):
this is this week's studio.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I've got visions of you like knocking on the neighbor's
door just being like I'm staying. Do you mind how
we get the I need to get a piano.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, no, No, I actually wouldn't try and ignore any
neighbors because I knew I'd probably be making a lot
of noise late at night, so I just thought I
won't show my face and hopefully no one complains.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Yeah, did you find any like cozy spots? Like did
you go anywhere in particular that you were like this
is this is great? Like this is exactly the type
of space I need to be creative.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
They were all pretty kooky and pretty scary to be hones,
especially because I turn up alone, So like the first
night you'd be a bit eerie and like getting to
know the house. But I think the first one I
went in was Image in Heap's house and that was
actually a studio r and her house is insane.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
She was she wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
She rents it out now, but it's like I think
it's one of the only roundhouses left in the UK.
And it has this huge spiral staircase in the middle
and all the rooms kind of circle all around it,
and then the studio is in the basement and that
was a pretty are in place to be.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I've got a final couple of things I want to
talk to you about before before we before we wrap up.
But on YouTube you share lots of different stuff, one
of which is like a series that you've been doing
where you cover songs and you've been doing for this
for quite a while and also done it with loads
of different artists Georgia Sigrid sg Lewis like loads of
(33:27):
people that you've kind of raped in to basically do
cover versions. You set yourself an hour to uh to
basically recreate, reversion, reshape a song and share it. How
has that gone? And like, in all honesty, when is
it gone? What are some of your favorite times when
you think it's gone really well? And what are the
science times when you're gone, this has gone terribly wrong.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
They're all really kind of a lot because it's quite intense.
Sometimes I'm meeting the people for the first time I've
messaged them or whatever, and you've got cameras on, and
it is a bit like, yeah, it's real social anxiety.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
I thought, what was a good one?
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I thought the Birdie one became really good because the
studio we'd booked was awful. It was like this horrible
little box and you could tell that like people have
been in their hot boxing it and like Birdie is
so like quaint and gentle, and it just wasn't a
beautiful studio at all. And anyways, we did Bloody by
(34:28):
Your Lights and then I think it turned out really
really nice, and a lot of people talk to me
about that one. The Tom Adele one was funny because
he kind of came in. I'm not even sure he
really had a concept of what it was. I mates
with Tom, and he just kind of came in and
quite Tom fashion was like I've got to leave in
twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
I was like, what the the idea is? One?
Speaker 4 (34:47):
Tom?
Speaker 1 (34:48):
So then I was like, get on the piano and
then we did the Villie Eilish one, so that one
was kind of funny.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I quite like the one did with Cigared was good
because it sort of just all fell apart and then
you were just like, Okay, knew, I We've got like
fifteen minutes left.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
But yeah, I'm trying to remember what song I did
with cigarette Actually I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Was it a Taylor Swift song?
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Yeah, it must have been. Yeah, I think we switched.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Off with shoes and you were both really funny on
that one. It was good. I think you both embraced
the fact that it seemed to be just sort of
going going shape.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I know.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
It also depends how like I'm feeling as well, because like,
I don't really produce very well under pressure. I need
time and space and then suddenly I'm like ah, and
then also like pulling up a terrible set synth sound
and then hearing the other artists judge me it's just awful.
But yes, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
It's called Against the Clock, I should say, so if
anbody's going to check it out, it's on YouTube. And
I guess my final question was just about like your
plans and your ambitions for like the next kind of
like year or two. I don't want to get like
too far ahead, because you know, you've been, like, from
what kind of outside perspective, you're kind of you seemingly
(35:53):
quite prolific, Like you've been writing a lot of songs,
You've shared like a quite a lot of music last
couple of years. What are you kind of like headed for,
what what you're hoping for you and what kind of
artists would you like to be in terms of like
a level do you And it's an odd question to say,
I'm just saying, like I guess I'm asking you know,
is this really about like longevity? Do you really just
(36:14):
want to like try and write as many like timeless
songs that mean something to people as possible? Are you
thinking like I really want to, you know, have him
shared a stage with Coldplay and do a leap and stuff.
You're thinking like I want to play stadium shows or
what's because you know, you're you're You're You've always said
that you're so passionate about the song and songwriting, like
ahead of like the kind of being an artist, being
(36:36):
the kind of the face of it almost that I'm
just really keen to know, well where you you like
to take things.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Yeah, I've had to really.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Do you construct a little bit what I think is
successful because I think at the beginning, I just I mean,
I guess every artist is kind of their own worst critic,
but I definitely thought be quicker and like an overnight thing.
So that was like a brutal awakening. And then now
(37:09):
it's like I don't even know what any I don't
think anyone knows what success is, you know, like with
short form, with TikTok is like even the way record
labels are defining success, is it like how many creations
it has?
Speaker 4 (37:21):
Is it? Are we still caring about charts? Do we
care about radio? Like?
Speaker 1 (37:24):
I guess I never thought I would be like someone
who really was attached to the mainstream that much, which
is funny, which is why I think I found the
Brits quite an amazing but like an accelerated experience, because
I never thought I wrote pop songs for the charts,
which I think I do, which isn't a bad thing
at all, But yeah, I just want to write songs
(37:45):
that I love and move people really and in terms
of level, I don't know, like I'm so inspired by
the scale that I've witnessed, and I think anyone who
does this is driven to some extent and wants to
see and is competitive and like almost likes the sadistic
challenge of like beating yourself. So I wouldn't lie by
(38:06):
saying I didn't look at stadiums and arenas and get
super inspired. I would love that one day, but I
don't want to put that too much on a pedestal.
Almost Chris actually said to me, He's like, do you
write down what you want to do? Because he always
did that. He would write down, like I want to
do Glastonbury, and then he did it, and that's one.
It's a cool way of kind of I guess, manifesting
your career. I would just like a nice fan base
(38:27):
that are there whenever I'm ready to release a song.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
I think, like Adele does that really well. I think.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Frank Ocean seems to have the most ideal cult following
where you can just disappear and then reappear. Lord, I
think does it. I don't think I desire to be
this front facing, chatty person on camera, Like really, I
never thought I thought I'd be a songwriter. I didn't
think I'd be an artist, so I think the careers
that I like the look of is like Lord and
(38:57):
Frank and Adele and James Blake.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
I could definitely see you having like watched your collaboration
because you generously share it with the outside world. What
an amazing producer you'd be and collaborator like for other
artists when they're come to put their work together.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
I would love that one day, Yeah, yeah, because that
was really the goal. There's a lot of songs where
I was I give it away, pitch it out, and
I think I'm happy that I've landed here. But I
honestly I find so much fulfillment and I get such
a rush out of writing a good song that whatever
happens after the day I've written a song, I honestly
find so laborious. So whether it's writing a song for
(39:32):
me or writing a song for other artists, I kind
of just get gassed out of the idea of both
of them.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Midnight Chats is a joint production between Loud and Quiet
and Atomized Studios for iHeartRadio. It's hosted by Stuart Stubbs
and Greg Cochrane, mixed and mastered by Flow Lines and
edited by Stuart Stubbs. Find us on Instagram and TikTok
to watch clips from our recordings and much much more.
We are Midnight chats pot.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
For more information, visit loudan Quiet dot com
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