Part 2

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

That is an excellent question because I do give this advice to a lot of people starting in the industry because as an artist you cannot be that pedantic.

First of all, you've written something, you're singing on it, the instrumentation and the production is what you wanted. I think that if you do want people to hear what you want to bring other people and other audiences to you, to your platform, to who you are as an artist, you might be inclined to try different variations of that song.

So for me, I always tell people that they should strip it back and do an acoustic version of it. Get a remix on it. Get it into the clubs. The core of the song is still there and it will bring people to who you are as an artist. They might discover you and discover your work if you open up your channels more. I do advise people to do that.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

I started off in a totally different lane. I was doing some rock versions of like Motown and disco, working with a charity called Music for Youth, and we had like 30 or 40 kids who were involved in this project, and music, loads of choir, strings, bassists, guitarists, drummers, and they were all taking turns, being sprinkled across this recording project.

One song was ours, and I was lead vocalist, got remixed, and there I was sitting between Lady Gaga and the Scissor Sisters on the charts. It was then that it opened up a door for me. I never thought that I would go into that lane, but it was ironic because, growing up in the eighties and the nineties, that was the kind of music that I was inspired by in the clubs and in the gyms.

And so I got calls from producers saying, your vocal suits this genre of music, would you be inclined to writing some dance music with us? Then that's how it all started. When a door opens, go the fuck in the door. It's just gonna open up your creativity more.

I am an artist and I'm a creative and I love making sounds and I love making music. I'm true to myself and I love taking risks. And if it ain't gonna work, then I'm not gonna do it, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

I'm a big spiritual person. Let's put it that way. I believe that things happen for a reason and the lane that you go in and the things that you do in your life are, I wouldn't say planned, but I believe that there's a reason. I believe a little bit of fate. I believe that now is my time.

If I didn’t have kids and got married early and maybe tried this career earlier on in life, maybe I wouldn't have had as much success. I think now is my time.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

The process is I'll get the first track back usually from my producer quite quickly and I sit with it and I listen to it and I instantly write down things that I hear right away. Then I put it away. I send it out to my biggest critics, my children. They'll always have something to say.

One of my kids is a DJ, so he knows his stuff. I always like to get an opinion once I feel like it's almost finished. And they'll never criticize them. They'll never say to me, Oh, mommy, that song is shit, but I do like to run it by them. I really do. I really respect their opinion.

I want to be able to get the opinions from people. I might send it out also to the people that manage my catalogs and people in the industry, but I let it sit. And then I come back to it probably about a week, and then I listen to it again, and I would say every once in a while I'll find something different, and, or what I want to change.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?  

Oh my God. 50 50. I am one with my producer.

That song has to be sparkly, shiny, it needs to be able to be played on radio. It has to be clean. I worked so well with my producers and one in particular who like knows. me like a book, like what key I'm in, how, what challenges me as well. His production, I trust like unbelievable. I'll walk out of the studio and go, okay, you just put on your bells and whistles and he knows exactly what I mean.

Then of course the mastering process as well, same levels all have to work. That all has to sound like absolutely perfect coming out of my camp. The production is half of it. We work really symbiotically together and the production is, as important to me as the song itself.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I never thought of it that way, actually, because I have so many other things in my life.I put the creative process to bed on the recording side, I wrote a book and then I use my creativity in various different ways.

If I'm not writing songs, I'm doing something else creative wise. I don't find that there's an emptiness. I find it more like I'm so proud. It's like sending your kids off to college or something.

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

When we came out with my record ‘Soldier’ it was right after the Russia Ukrainian war, and we were like, the name of the song is called Soldier, is that gonna mislead people.

The actual message for soldier is  to be your own soldier in your life and be your own warrior and live your best life and your authentic self. It was based on a true story. A life story where I had friends who, were not happy with themselves and they had to make a really big change.

So you're right, that's how that could be misleading, I suspect, right?