WEBVTT - Jessie Ware 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:23.156 Pushkin. Jesse Ware has always moved between worlds. She's a 0:00:23.156 --> 0:00:25.356 British soul singer who spent the early part of her 0:00:25.436 --> 0:00:29.476 career making intimate, understated records. Then in twenty twenty, she 0:00:29.556 --> 0:00:32.276 released What's Your Pleasure and morphed into a full blown 0:00:32.356 --> 0:00:37.156 disco goddess. The record received widespread critical acclaim, earned Jesse 0:00:37.276 --> 0:00:39.876 her first top three album on the UK charts, and 0:00:39.996 --> 0:00:43.476 was nominated for British Album of the Year at the Brits. Today, 0:00:43.556 --> 0:00:46.876 Jesse traces that sonic evolution back to an especially ripe 0:00:46.916 --> 0:00:49.996 creative period in her life, when she launched Table Manners, 0:00:50.116 --> 0:00:52.916 the podcast she hosts with her mom, Lenny. Table Manners 0:00:52.916 --> 0:00:55.716 has become one of the UK's most beloved shows, racking 0:00:55.796 --> 0:00:58.516 up over sixty million listens and in turn gave Jesse 0:00:58.796 --> 0:01:02.476 a new kind of confidence. This month, Jesse is releasing 0:01:02.596 --> 0:01:05.916 super Bloom, her sixth album. As she has since What's 0:01:05.956 --> 0:01:08.556 Your Pleasure, Jesse A and R is the record herself, 0:01:08.716 --> 0:01:12.316 staying carefully in control of every creative decision. Her production 0:01:12.396 --> 0:01:16.356 team included core collaborator James Ford, the producer behind Landmark Records, 0:01:16.356 --> 0:01:19.636 with Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Florence and the Machine and Blur, 0:01:20.356 --> 0:01:23.076 as well as three time Grammy winner Stuart Price, best 0:01:23.116 --> 0:01:25.676 known for producing Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor and 0:01:25.756 --> 0:01:29.276 The Killers Day and Age. On today's episode, Lea Rose 0:01:29.316 --> 0:01:31.996 talks with Jesse Ware about how super Bloom was born 0:01:32.116 --> 0:01:35.636 after a particularly difficult year filled with illness and loss, 0:01:36.196 --> 0:01:38.076 and how that led to an album that sounds like 0:01:38.196 --> 0:01:42.476 pure joy. Jesse also talks about channeling Grace Jones to 0:01:42.476 --> 0:01:45.716 slip into a sexy persona to record sultry new songs 0:01:45.796 --> 0:01:49.196 like Ride and SNA, and she explains how Many Ripperton 0:01:49.196 --> 0:01:52.036 and Stevie Wonder inspired her to make her private life 0:01:52.196 --> 0:01:59.316 public like never before. This is Broken Record, real musicians, 0:01:59.556 --> 0:02:07.876 real conversations. Here's Lea Rose with Jesse Ware. Head over 0:02:07.876 --> 0:02:10.876 to YouTube dot com slash Broken Record podcast to see 0:02:10.916 --> 0:02:11.676 the video. 0:02:13.196 --> 0:02:15.516 With the new album super Bloom. I think it is 0:02:15.636 --> 0:02:20.556 so brilliant how you are approaching life as a woman, 0:02:20.916 --> 0:02:23.356 you know, women in our forties. It's like you're so 0:02:23.716 --> 0:02:28.036 often getting struck with these messages about sort of like 0:02:28.156 --> 0:02:33.156 withering and drying out, and here you are, you know, 0:02:33.596 --> 0:02:36.836 in this super Bloom, and you're creating this world that's 0:02:36.876 --> 0:02:41.476 relishing in pleasure and sensuality. Were you conscious when you 0:02:41.516 --> 0:02:44.396 were making the album that you were sort of flipping 0:02:44.436 --> 0:02:45.796 those tropes on their head? 0:02:47.556 --> 0:02:48.756 No, I don't think I was. 0:02:48.836 --> 0:02:53.516 Actually I think I I was just writing and writing 0:02:53.556 --> 0:02:57.436 and writing, and then the songs that made the my 0:02:57.596 --> 0:03:00.436 sense together and that I feel like, then then the 0:03:00.436 --> 0:03:02.876 theme becomes apparent, you know what I mean, it's kind 0:03:02.876 --> 0:03:05.356 of you're writing, you're you know, And I think that 0:03:06.196 --> 0:03:08.996 the story you tell with how you sequence the record 0:03:09.356 --> 0:03:12.116 or how you know, how you position these songs, like 0:03:12.156 --> 0:03:13.756 what journey do you want to take them on? Like 0:03:14.116 --> 0:03:16.956 how do you want to tell this story? I definitely 0:03:17.076 --> 0:03:21.036 feel like out of conversations and understanding of this record 0:03:21.076 --> 0:03:23.636 being the record and seeing the themes that were coming 0:03:23.676 --> 0:03:27.396 back at me, I now understand that I wasn't trying 0:03:27.396 --> 0:03:29.916 to be provocative or I wasn't trying, but I think 0:03:29.956 --> 0:03:33.916 I'm always trying to Whilst before there was like a 0:03:33.956 --> 0:03:39.116 fear of this idea that you have a shelf life 0:03:39.116 --> 0:03:41.876 in music, particularly as a woman in music, right, particularly 0:03:41.876 --> 0:03:43.076 as a woman in pop music. 0:03:43.636 --> 0:03:45.116 I was thought of as a pop star. 0:03:45.196 --> 0:03:47.556 But I don't feel like I am necessarily the most 0:03:47.676 --> 0:03:49.956 kind of obvious pop star, So then that was a 0:03:50.036 --> 0:03:53.876 kind of confusion. I didn't want to make a big statement, 0:03:53.956 --> 0:03:57.276 but I just wanted to feel confident enough to do this. 0:03:57.316 --> 0:04:01.076 And I think the reaction to these songs and the 0:04:01.156 --> 0:04:05.716 kind of confidence has been like amazing, and the reaction 0:04:05.796 --> 0:04:09.796 to the music video for Ride has been kind of resoundingly. 0:04:09.836 --> 0:04:11.836 Whereas before I would have been like, oh god, how 0:04:11.836 --> 0:04:13.916 am I going to go to the school gates, like 0:04:15.756 --> 0:04:19.876 people have been like yeah, thanks, like yes, You're allowed 0:04:19.916 --> 0:04:22.316 to be a sexy woman and want to feel sexy 0:04:23.116 --> 0:04:25.716 and show that at forty and I think the other 0:04:26.036 --> 0:04:29.876 artists have done this forever, you know, but also been 0:04:30.116 --> 0:04:32.316 slated for it too, which is not fair. 0:04:32.476 --> 0:04:33.916 And I think, wow, I'm in that. 0:04:34.076 --> 0:04:36.396 I'm in that age where we're not allowed to We're 0:04:36.396 --> 0:04:37.676 apparently not allowed to do things. 0:04:37.756 --> 0:04:39.036 But I do think things are changing. 0:04:39.116 --> 0:04:42.836 Maybe yeah, I just feel inundeated, like you know, even 0:04:42.876 --> 0:04:46.476 on social media, like the algorithm is pushing like weighted 0:04:46.596 --> 0:04:50.676 vers glt ones, yes, like all this stuff, and I 0:04:50.716 --> 0:04:53.836 love that You're just kind of like, you know, fuck 0:04:53.876 --> 0:04:56.596 are that. I'm in this world where I just feel 0:04:56.636 --> 0:04:57.716 good and I'm I. 0:04:57.716 --> 0:05:01.076 Do feel good. I feel really good, and I don't. 0:05:02.156 --> 0:05:05.876 I feel fulfilled, I feel confident, I feel good. I 0:05:05.916 --> 0:05:08.516 feel lucky to do a job that I am excited 0:05:08.516 --> 0:05:11.356 by the change every day. I feel a bit tired, 0:05:11.516 --> 0:05:15.396 but like that's okay. Yeah, I feel excited. I feel inspired. 0:05:15.516 --> 0:05:18.956 I feel lucky to have a family. I feel lucky 0:05:18.956 --> 0:05:21.156 that I can walk down the street and not get papped, Like, 0:05:21.596 --> 0:05:23.276 I feel lucky that I then get to go and 0:05:23.836 --> 0:05:26.876 wear mad costumes and sing my heart out on stage 0:05:26.956 --> 0:05:29.116 like I don't hate any of that for granted. And 0:05:29.116 --> 0:05:32.116 I think but probably because for a moment I thought 0:05:32.236 --> 0:05:34.916 potentially it was going to end. 0:05:35.836 --> 0:05:40.396 Yes, I really do get your death experience, and. 0:05:40.676 --> 0:05:46.476 You saw the yeah, I yeah, I just I And 0:05:46.516 --> 0:05:48.716 I don't want it to be like happy clappy, like oh, 0:05:49.036 --> 0:05:53.276 like it's hard, but it's also a gift that I 0:05:53.316 --> 0:05:56.436 get to do this job that so many people would 0:05:56.436 --> 0:05:58.796 want to do, and I get to create these worlds, 0:05:58.836 --> 0:06:00.436 and I get to invite people in, and I get 0:06:00.476 --> 0:06:03.876 to have a conversation with an audience, you know, and 0:06:03.916 --> 0:06:05.436 I get to like be artistic. 0:06:05.596 --> 0:06:08.196 It's like the greatest feeling in the world, you know. 0:06:08.276 --> 0:06:11.396 My daughter, I've got like a couple of vinyls and 0:06:11.476 --> 0:06:14.876 my daughter's there looking at it and she's like, this 0:06:15.036 --> 0:06:15.956 is cool, and I. 0:06:15.916 --> 0:06:18.036 Was like, first, it is cool. 0:06:18.316 --> 0:06:21.116 I've got to get your kid to think you're cool. 0:06:21.396 --> 0:06:23.636 I know she definitely doesn't think I'm cool, but she 0:06:23.676 --> 0:06:25.396 looked at it and she was like studying it and 0:06:25.436 --> 0:06:27.156 I looking at the pictures and she knows the songs, 0:06:27.196 --> 0:06:29.596 but she was like, this is really cool. 0:06:29.676 --> 0:06:31.156 And I was like, you're right, it is cool. 0:06:31.156 --> 0:06:33.276 And it's been hard work and I love it, and 0:06:33.316 --> 0:06:37.556 I love that my family like acknowledge that, Wow, we 0:06:37.636 --> 0:06:39.156 have a good time and we can have a good 0:06:39.156 --> 0:06:40.356 time working. 0:06:40.836 --> 0:06:44.116 Yes, So when you were recording a song like Ride 0:06:44.196 --> 0:06:46.796 and you're in the studio, is it hard to get 0:06:46.836 --> 0:06:50.036 into like a sexy place when it's just you and no? 0:06:50.636 --> 0:06:53.356 Tell me, like what's the dynamic with who's in the room, 0:06:53.516 --> 0:06:54.436 Like how's it working? 0:06:54.476 --> 0:06:58.916 I find it really easy, and I don't think. Firstly, 0:06:58.956 --> 0:07:02.676 I'm usually I'm pretending to be somebody else. So if 0:07:02.676 --> 0:07:05.076 it was me, oh my god, I vomit. 0:07:05.196 --> 0:07:05.796 Do you know what I mean? 0:07:05.876 --> 0:07:12.196 So in songs like Ride or Sauna or even don't 0:07:12.196 --> 0:07:15.876 you know who I am? Or mister Valentine, I'm not Jesse, 0:07:16.276 --> 0:07:19.436 mum of three doing the school drop off, you know, 0:07:19.876 --> 0:07:23.876 making a sour dough. No, I'm a fucking bad bitch, 0:07:24.996 --> 0:07:26.836 and I am not me, and I have a nay, 0:07:26.956 --> 0:07:31.596 a different name, and I have a different posture and stance, 0:07:31.716 --> 0:07:36.956 And in my head, I'm like Grace Jones, Madonna, Lady Garga, 0:07:37.356 --> 0:07:38.276 Marilyn Monroe. 0:07:38.356 --> 0:07:42.036 I'm all of those women. Shaka, I'm those people. 0:07:42.276 --> 0:07:42.876 I love that. 0:07:43.276 --> 0:07:45.716 So I don't know if that makes me authentic or not. 0:07:45.876 --> 0:07:51.236 But I remember doing a piece on Donna Summer, who 0:07:51.276 --> 0:07:52.836 I think was amazing. 0:07:53.636 --> 0:07:56.196 I was doing a piece on Radio four for. 0:07:56.196 --> 0:08:00.356 Her, and I read her memoir and I read about 0:08:00.396 --> 0:08:02.756 how she pretended to be a character. 0:08:02.716 --> 0:08:05.596 For I Love to Love You. 0:08:06.956 --> 0:08:09.916 So she's like, then, apparently she was trying to be 0:08:10.556 --> 0:08:14.556 somewhere between Marilyn and Mickey Minnie Mouse. Oh yes, so 0:08:14.596 --> 0:08:17.836 there was this character that she was trying to be. 0:08:18.476 --> 0:08:22.476 And so I'm sure when Donna was in the room, 0:08:22.516 --> 0:08:26.636 who was like a lovely church girl, and she's saying, oh, 0:08:26.676 --> 0:08:28.876 it's like she's not she's not been Donna, do you 0:08:28.916 --> 0:08:31.956 know what I mean? She's being another person and that's 0:08:32.116 --> 0:08:34.596 I guess acting. I don't know it's just fun. 0:08:35.036 --> 0:08:41.276 Whatever works. I feel like, looking at your career and 0:08:41.316 --> 0:08:44.196 sort of reading the story that's been written about you 0:08:44.436 --> 0:08:48.876 in the press, it seems like something happened, some sort 0:08:48.916 --> 0:08:54.076 of change happened after your third album, Glasshouse, came out. 0:08:54.356 --> 0:09:01.276 Between Glasshouse and What's Your Pleasure Tablemanners started, but there 0:09:01.356 --> 0:09:03.476 was some it seems like there was some sort of 0:09:03.996 --> 0:09:06.996 change in that period. Does that seem accurate? 0:09:07.836 --> 0:09:11.756 Yeah, I mean, I mean I had a one year 0:09:11.796 --> 0:09:18.676 old when Glasshouse came out. I finished touring it quite 0:09:18.796 --> 0:09:21.356 quickly that kind of summer, so then I had a 0:09:21.436 --> 0:09:25.436 kind of nearly two year old, and I had had 0:09:25.476 --> 0:09:27.556 the idea to start a podcast from when I was 0:09:27.636 --> 0:09:30.796 pregnant with my kid. So that was like I remember 0:09:30.836 --> 0:09:33.956 we had this conversation with my best mate on Year's 0:09:33.956 --> 0:09:36.876 Eve of two thousand and six, fifteen. He was like, 0:09:36.876 --> 0:09:39.796 you should do a podcast, and I was like, oh, yeah, 0:09:39.956 --> 0:09:44.676 But I think I started the podcast as I was 0:09:44.756 --> 0:09:49.476 so kind of disillusioned by the music industry. I think 0:09:49.516 --> 0:09:52.116 I was tired. I was a new mum. I was 0:09:52.116 --> 0:09:53.876 trying to do it all. I was trying to prove 0:09:53.916 --> 0:09:56.396 that I could do it all, and I just was struggling, 0:09:56.516 --> 0:09:59.756 and I was on the verge of burnout and the 0:09:59.796 --> 0:10:04.876 podcast was just it provided this outlet that was escape, 0:10:05.516 --> 0:10:11.516 but also was distraction from my music career that didn't 0:10:11.556 --> 0:10:15.476 feel like it was flourishing. And I think I was 0:10:15.476 --> 0:10:18.156 in kind of not survival mode because I never thought 0:10:18.196 --> 0:10:22.036 that the podcast was going to be this hit, you know. 0:10:23.556 --> 0:10:27.756 I just it was just another avenue of just distraction. 0:10:27.996 --> 0:10:32.716 But it then became this big success, and I think 0:10:32.836 --> 0:10:37.116 with the success of it, it gave me confidence and 0:10:37.156 --> 0:10:41.116 belief in myself that actually it was my idea and 0:10:41.156 --> 0:10:45.276 we'd managed to make it happen. And I had enough 0:10:45.356 --> 0:10:47.556 love from people that were willing to come on and 0:10:47.596 --> 0:10:50.316 have some turkey meat balls with my mom or you know, 0:10:50.356 --> 0:10:51.916 they were willing to take a punt on me and 0:10:51.916 --> 0:10:55.076 support me. And I felt that love, and you know, 0:10:55.276 --> 0:10:57.996 and then with that, I was definitely always going to 0:10:57.996 --> 0:10:58.836 make another record. 0:10:59.516 --> 0:11:02.396 Okay, that's what I was going to ask you, Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:11:02.436 --> 0:11:05.236 I already knew at the end of touring in the States. 0:11:05.876 --> 0:11:08.076 I knew who was going to produce it, I knew 0:11:08.676 --> 0:11:11.116 it was I knew exactly what I wanted to make. 0:11:11.156 --> 0:11:14.356 I wanted to make this kind of dance disco record. 0:11:14.436 --> 0:11:18.316 I wanted to work with very few people. I wanted 0:11:18.356 --> 0:11:23.156 to A and R. I wanted to do all of that, 0:11:23.236 --> 0:11:27.316 and so that was always going to happen. But I 0:11:27.356 --> 0:11:29.676 think with the success of the podcast, it just made 0:11:29.716 --> 0:11:32.436 me slightly more confident totally. 0:11:32.956 --> 0:11:35.276 I just love the fact that you had this time 0:11:35.316 --> 0:11:40.076 where you found yourself. And I'm sure it didn't happen overnight, 0:11:40.796 --> 0:11:43.916 but the podcast started, the podcast took off. Then you 0:11:44.076 --> 0:11:47.996 A and R. What's your pleasure, which is you sort 0:11:48.036 --> 0:11:53.756 of like setting the entire scene and designing the whole thing, right, Yeah, 0:11:53.876 --> 0:11:55.876 you finding the sound and making it happen. 0:11:56.156 --> 0:11:59.716 Listen, like James Ford cannot be ignored in that process, 0:11:59.756 --> 0:12:02.436 and Shin Goodzo and Danny Parker. We were the core 0:12:02.476 --> 0:12:06.276 group and it was the most magical time I think 0:12:06.316 --> 0:12:09.276 I've ever had in the studio where I felt so free. 0:12:10.196 --> 0:12:14.516 I felt the opportunities and like the possibilities of creation 0:12:14.756 --> 0:12:18.956 felt endless, and so there was no having to hang 0:12:18.996 --> 0:12:21.996 on to something just in case. It was like, it 0:12:22.036 --> 0:12:25.276 was just this beautiful creative space and I think we 0:12:25.356 --> 0:12:27.916 all adored it, and we still check in with each 0:12:27.956 --> 0:12:31.396 other and remember that time, and it was up in 0:12:31.516 --> 0:12:35.436 James's attic, and I think the balance of life felt 0:12:35.436 --> 0:12:38.476 really beautiful too. I walked to work, I walked over 0:12:39.676 --> 0:12:42.956 like a park. I said goodbye to my daughter. I 0:12:43.436 --> 0:12:45.796 you know, I was at home. I was able to 0:12:45.796 --> 0:12:48.196 be a parent. I went to work. I had very 0:12:48.236 --> 0:12:51.356 strict times, which really worked for James too, because he 0:12:51.436 --> 0:12:53.516 was a parent of a kid the same age as 0:12:53.596 --> 0:12:54.076 my kid. 0:12:54.716 --> 0:12:55.836 And we would work. 0:12:55.956 --> 0:12:58.356 We would work, but we would have fun and we 0:12:58.396 --> 0:13:01.076 would escape, but we would also talk about real life 0:13:01.116 --> 0:13:08.716 and engage in family. And I think I felt not bruised, Yeah, 0:13:08.796 --> 0:13:11.876 I think, But I think I felt like I had 0:13:11.956 --> 0:13:12.596 to do it. 0:13:12.436 --> 0:13:13.636 On my own terms. 0:13:14.116 --> 0:13:16.876 Yeah, because if this was the final time, then I 0:13:16.916 --> 0:13:21.316 had to really really believe in every single beat and 0:13:21.436 --> 0:13:24.796 melody and word on that record, and that like worked 0:13:24.796 --> 0:13:28.596 out for me, and then you know, and then you 0:13:28.676 --> 0:13:31.676 just carry on doing that, and then like your confidence grows, 0:13:31.916 --> 0:13:36.476 and then I'm always aware that I never want it 0:13:36.516 --> 0:13:40.076 to be arrogant, and I also really want people's opinions still. 0:13:40.796 --> 0:13:44.476 I just know whose opinion I need, Yes, somebody with 0:13:44.556 --> 0:13:45.076 no agender. 0:13:45.716 --> 0:13:49.876 Do you feel like there could possibly be another sort 0:13:49.876 --> 0:13:53.476 of like sound or theme shift at this point in 0:13:53.516 --> 0:13:57.076 your career, like could you possibly go into like after 0:13:57.156 --> 0:14:00.596 it seems like what's your pleasure that feels good? And 0:14:00.636 --> 0:14:03.596 even the new album super Bloom could sort of be 0:14:03.716 --> 0:14:07.716 thought of as a trilogy maybe part of the same world. 0:14:08.276 --> 0:14:10.956 Do you ever could you ever go into an entirely 0:14:11.036 --> 0:14:11.556 new world? 0:14:13.076 --> 0:14:15.716 I mean an entirely new world would be me like 0:14:15.796 --> 0:14:19.396 doing a folk album, I think yes, or like a 0:14:19.516 --> 0:14:22.836 rock album and never say never, but I don't. I 0:14:22.876 --> 0:14:26.156 don't think I'm doing any of them anytime soon. I 0:14:26.236 --> 0:14:30.636 may pull in moments of that, but I think I 0:14:30.716 --> 0:14:34.036 found I found, I found my genre, and I found 0:14:34.076 --> 0:14:38.156 my place in music, and I've found my sound. And 0:14:38.196 --> 0:14:41.356 whilst I want to evolve that always and I don't 0:14:41.396 --> 0:14:44.116 ever want to feel like I'm totally repeating myself, I 0:14:44.156 --> 0:14:48.076 do think that there is strength in an artist understanding themselves. 0:14:48.156 --> 0:14:50.156 You know, you look at somebody like and this is 0:14:50.196 --> 0:14:53.476 not me comparing myself to Tracy Emen, but Tracy Emen 0:14:53.796 --> 0:14:55.636 the most incredible artist she has. 0:14:56.036 --> 0:14:57.876 I went to her. She doesn't like to call it 0:14:57.916 --> 0:14:59.196 a retrospective, but she's. 0:14:59.036 --> 0:15:05.156 Got an exhibition on at the Tate Modern and you 0:15:05.236 --> 0:15:10.196 see her work from the nineties and she has remained 0:15:10.196 --> 0:15:15.276 true to her art and her openness and her form, 0:15:15.356 --> 0:15:19.196 and that's really I love that because I love everything 0:15:19.196 --> 0:15:22.156 about what she does. But I don't need Tracy Emmen 0:15:22.236 --> 0:15:24.796 to go and I want her to feel fulfilled and 0:15:25.316 --> 0:15:29.876 inspired and push things. But also there's something really beautiful 0:15:29.916 --> 0:15:33.956 about how she has this strength and autonomy and identity. 0:15:34.156 --> 0:15:38.236 And I feel like the artists that I look to 0:15:39.596 --> 0:15:43.956 have that similar strength and they have a sound and 0:15:43.996 --> 0:15:46.916 that can change. I mean, it can move around, but 0:15:46.956 --> 0:15:48.396 I don't think I'm never going to go and do 0:15:48.436 --> 0:15:50.836 something particularly drastically different. 0:15:51.356 --> 0:15:55.916 Yeah, I read that before you started working in music, 0:15:55.956 --> 0:15:58.676 so I guess before you were a backup singer, before 0:15:58.676 --> 0:16:03.076 that all started, you worked in journalism. You're a reporter. 0:16:04.436 --> 0:16:07.596 You worked at the Jewish Chronicle and did some sports journalism. 0:16:07.916 --> 0:16:08.556 Is that true? 0:16:09.156 --> 0:16:09.556 Barely? 0:16:09.876 --> 0:16:14.076 But like sure, yeah, yeah, what was the sports journalism? 0:16:14.196 --> 0:16:16.716 I mean, I wanted to be a football journalist. I 0:16:16.756 --> 0:16:19.556 was football mad and it's so funny, like I was 0:16:19.716 --> 0:16:24.916 obsessed with Manchester United and you know football, And so 0:16:24.996 --> 0:16:28.076 when I was sixteen, I got work experience on the 0:16:28.156 --> 0:16:33.076 Daily Mirror and I went and followed with this great 0:16:34.276 --> 0:16:37.316 journalist called Darren Williams and he just really let me 0:16:37.316 --> 0:16:39.876 get involved and we had a really great time, and 0:16:39.916 --> 0:16:41.396 I was like, this is the best job ever. 0:16:41.436 --> 0:16:42.076 You get to go to. 0:16:41.996 --> 0:16:45.916 Football matches and like just write about football and talk 0:16:45.916 --> 0:16:48.596 about football all the time. And it's so strange because 0:16:48.636 --> 0:16:51.556 like my love for football is just like really weirdly 0:16:51.676 --> 0:16:54.196 gone away. And I was obsessed with it from like 0:16:54.556 --> 0:16:57.796 nine to about my thirties, and then I don't know 0:16:57.796 --> 0:17:01.036 whether it's like I don't have enough capacity to be 0:17:01.076 --> 0:17:02.996 able to have it, but it's like I know it 0:17:03.036 --> 0:17:06.516 could be a great form of escapism, and I just 0:17:06.676 --> 0:17:08.676 I want to fall back in love with it. I 0:17:08.676 --> 0:17:11.276 think I resent it now because my husband watches so 0:17:11.476 --> 0:17:12.076 much of it. 0:17:12.476 --> 0:17:15.236 But is it something where like the game has changed, 0:17:15.316 --> 0:17:17.916 has the role because I know in basketball may wait. 0:17:17.916 --> 0:17:19.516 And like my husband would say, it's because I'm a 0:17:19.516 --> 0:17:21.516 glory hunter, and it's not that because United are doing 0:17:21.516 --> 0:17:23.636 so crap, but I mean they're not doing. 0:17:23.516 --> 0:17:24.676 As badly as Spurs. 0:17:24.716 --> 0:17:29.036 But I just think I also we were in this 0:17:29.116 --> 0:17:32.716 like beautiful time of Manchester United and it was a 0:17:32.756 --> 0:17:34.876 class of ninety two and it was like, you know, 0:17:34.996 --> 0:17:38.436 Ryan Giggs, Nicky Bart, David Beckham, Paul Skulls, it was 0:17:38.476 --> 0:17:42.276 like these amazing player. Gary Neville was like this amazing 0:17:42.356 --> 0:17:44.276 time for the youth team, and so I kind of 0:17:44.356 --> 0:17:47.156 was young and they'd were young and I watched them 0:17:47.156 --> 0:17:49.956 grow up and was obsessed with them. But yeah, I 0:17:50.036 --> 0:17:51.356 kind of want to fall back in love with it. 0:17:52.196 --> 0:17:54.956 But it feels like so much like effort. That's the thing. 0:17:55.076 --> 0:17:57.756 Like it's such a scheduled so and I don't know 0:17:57.796 --> 0:17:58.316 if I've got. 0:17:58.236 --> 0:17:59.356 The time for at the moment. 0:18:00.236 --> 0:18:01.716 Did you play? 0:18:02.076 --> 0:18:06.836 No? I was crap. I wasn't very sporty. No, yeah, so. 0:18:06.836 --> 0:18:08.636 How did it switch? So if you were working, it 0:18:08.636 --> 0:18:13.556 sounds so like at age sixteen working with the Daily Mirror, like. 0:18:14.316 --> 0:18:16.796 That's all my work experience is like for two weeks 0:18:16.996 --> 0:18:19.676 in the summer. Two weeks okay, Yeah, it wasn't even 0:18:19.676 --> 0:18:22.396 a job like I went and did My dad was 0:18:22.396 --> 0:18:24.996 a journalist, and then I went and did like a 0:18:25.036 --> 0:18:27.676 diploma in journalism where you have to kind of get 0:18:27.676 --> 0:18:30.436 this diploma, and then I kind of, you know, it 0:18:30.516 --> 0:18:31.676 was very short lived. 0:18:31.756 --> 0:18:32.556 I really kind of. 0:18:33.196 --> 0:18:35.716 I worked in a television company and I wanted to 0:18:35.756 --> 0:18:37.836 kind of make documentaries and stuff like that, and it's 0:18:37.916 --> 0:18:41.676 just kind of, yeah, people work very very hard in 0:18:41.716 --> 0:18:44.036 those industries and there's like not as many jobs anymore. 0:18:44.396 --> 0:18:46.076 You can say it's hard. 0:18:46.796 --> 0:18:49.156 So how did the how did music start to come 0:18:49.196 --> 0:18:52.076 into it? Was it just like messing around with friends 0:18:52.156 --> 0:18:53.956 or how did you make the jump. 0:18:54.316 --> 0:18:57.516 So I'd like sung at school, and I'd always kind 0:18:57.516 --> 0:19:00.716 of been in the musicals and i'd sung in like 0:19:00.836 --> 0:19:03.836 a funk band at university, like as a backing singer, 0:19:04.076 --> 0:19:05.356 like and you got paid fifty. 0:19:05.116 --> 0:19:06.796 Quid per like Friday night. 0:19:07.556 --> 0:19:10.156 And my friends were always come down and it was 0:19:10.236 --> 0:19:12.556 very much like I wasn't really doing anything with my voice. 0:19:12.556 --> 0:19:15.396 But my best friend Sarah was just like, you're really silly. 0:19:15.436 --> 0:19:17.236 What are you doing. You've got this really good voice. 0:19:17.236 --> 0:19:18.036 And I was like, well, I don't. 0:19:18.076 --> 0:19:20.796 I haven't written a song and I can't play, and 0:19:20.916 --> 0:19:22.676 I think I was just kind of too scared to 0:19:22.716 --> 0:19:26.996 give it a go. And it was my friend Jack Pinnarte, 0:19:27.236 --> 0:19:30.836 who you know, quit UNI and was just gigging and 0:19:30.996 --> 0:19:35.476 got signed by XL and I was so like, wow, 0:19:35.556 --> 0:19:38.796 this is amazing, Like he's just really worked hard and 0:19:38.836 --> 0:19:43.756 like he's such a star on stage. And then you 0:19:43.796 --> 0:19:47.516 know our friends who my childhood friends, a band called 0:19:47.556 --> 0:19:50.116 the Maccabees. They got signed too, So I was like 0:19:50.236 --> 0:19:53.196 surrounded by these friends that you know, hadn't been in 0:19:53.196 --> 0:19:55.796 the school musicals. Well Jack had a bit, but like 0:19:55.876 --> 0:19:57.596 they were just doing it and they were part of 0:19:57.676 --> 0:20:01.916 like an indie scene in London and they were absolutely 0:20:01.996 --> 0:20:05.516 killing it and I was just there to like support 0:20:05.556 --> 0:20:08.076 and I was so proud. And Jack yeah, asked me 0:20:08.196 --> 0:20:13.076 to do some backing vocals for him for a Zane 0:20:13.076 --> 0:20:16.476 Lowe radio one Made of l session. So I took 0:20:16.476 --> 0:20:19.916 a day off work and I sung. And I was 0:20:19.996 --> 0:20:23.316 not a backing singer. I was I could sing and 0:20:23.356 --> 0:20:25.876 he needed someone. It was very sweet of him and 0:20:25.876 --> 0:20:29.036 he kind of really and through that. I then was 0:20:29.196 --> 0:20:31.916 supposed to go and do a law like law conversion degree, 0:20:32.076 --> 0:20:34.076 and Jack said, oh, do you want to come on 0:20:34.796 --> 0:20:37.316 tour with me in the States for six weeks with 0:20:37.916 --> 0:20:39.956 Mike Snow We're doing a tour together. 0:20:40.356 --> 0:20:41.916 I was like that sounds really fun. 0:20:42.316 --> 0:20:45.116 And I was single, and my mum was like, oh 0:20:45.316 --> 0:20:47.076 the Lord that we can just wait, like just go 0:20:47.076 --> 0:20:48.916 and do it, like defer go and be a backing 0:20:48.956 --> 0:20:49.636 singer for a year. 0:20:50.276 --> 0:20:52.156 How cool is that she said that to you? 0:20:52.436 --> 0:20:55.876 I mean, it was like the best advice she could. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:55.956 --> 0:20:56.636 yeah she was. 0:20:56.756 --> 0:20:59.116 I think she knew that I was quite sensible, so 0:20:59.156 --> 0:21:00.796 I would have always just got a job. 0:21:01.076 --> 0:21:02.316 I would have found a way to get a job. 0:21:02.316 --> 0:21:05.396 It wouldn't have been like you know, but I really 0:21:05.476 --> 0:21:08.196 appreciate that because I think that, you know, if she'd 0:21:08.196 --> 0:21:11.196 been like, I think you should this sliding doors. So 0:21:11.276 --> 0:21:13.956 then from that, I did a session with an amazing 0:21:14.036 --> 0:21:16.956 artist called Subtract. But that was because my friend, who 0:21:16.996 --> 0:21:20.436 was playing bass and guitar in Jack's band, was like, 0:21:20.476 --> 0:21:22.956 you should go and do it. So like Tick, he's 0:21:22.996 --> 0:21:25.396 an incredible a and R and he was just a friend, 0:21:25.396 --> 0:21:26.996 but he kind of a and rmed me, you know, 0:21:27.196 --> 0:21:29.116 he put me in the right rooms because he believed 0:21:29.116 --> 0:21:32.156