Ents24's Ten Questions We Ask Everyone - Katie Melua
Ents24 recently got some time in with the wonderfully talented Katie Melua
to have her answer our Ten Questions We Ask Everyone.
She talks to us about cowboy boots, doll houses and cartography...
What or who inspired you to go into your line of work? My biggest inspiration I guess is the feeling of completeness I get when I hear a song that blows me away, or when I sing or write. The first time I got that feeling was hearing my mum play Moonlight Sonata when I was 6 years old. I just remember being frozen still, cause that melody had me mesmerised. I've never thought "I want to be an artist" instead I've thought I want to make music so I can keep feeling like that all my life.
When you're not busy working hard, what's your favourite thing to do? Collect furniture and pieces for my dolls house, its based on a Victorian design. I got it when I was 22 so its my mini toy world as an adult.
What three things can't you live without? Music, poetry and red wine.
What makes you different from other artists? I could only answer that question fairly if I could live in other artists minds for a day or two. Also I don't try to have a clear definition of myself as an artist or a person, I tend to resemble the movements of water. Which takes on different forms based on the temperature and the container that its in.
Apart from your home and car, what's the most expensive thing you've ever bought? An art installation by Sue Blackwell. The best way to describe it is, it hangs from my ceiling like a ghost of a small Victorian child, whose dress is turning into butterflies.
What one thing can't you do that you'd like to be able to? Be effortlessly stylish. The thought of dressing up makes me pretty stressed cause I really like my clothes to be casual, I literally live in cowboy boots.
If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? Something like Veronica, don't know why, it's the first name that's popped into my mind!
What one talent or skill do you have that not many people know about? I'm really good at reading maps. When my family moved to the UK, I was 8 years old and when we'd go on family days out. My dad would drive but because my mum couldn't speak great English back then I'd be the one that would have to read the maps. So from the age of about 9 I've been the navigator in the family.
Are biscuits better than cake? Depends if tea is involved, if it is... definitely biscuits!
If you were to describe your work in three words, what would they be? A surprise, fun and all consuming.
Postów: 916 Miejscowość: Częstochowa Data rejestracji: 10.01.07
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ostrzeżenia
Dodane dnia 02.07.2010 22:51:38
Kurczę, no nie mogę Katie mnie po prostu rozwala na łopatki tym swoim domem dla lalek xD To musi być jakieś totalne cudeńko, widział ktoś to kiedyś? Zadziwiające jest dla mnie <nie wiem czemu> że aż tak ważny jest dla niej domek dla lalek, hm.
SADM FOREVER!!! xD xD xD
..::Addicted to music::..
Muzyka to naprawdę mocny narkotyk. Może cię zatruć, podnieść na duchu lub sprawić, że rozchorujesz się, nie wiedząc dlaczego.
Postów: 414 Miejscowość: Kłodawa Data rejestracji: 04.01.10
"hoping for some understanding..."
ostrzeżenia
Dodane dnia 06.07.2010 12:48:24
W dzisiejszym dodatku poznańskim do Gazety Wyborczej jest artykuł o Katie i koncercie w Poznaniu. Przepiszę, dla tych, którzy nie mieszkają w Wielkopolsce.
Drobna Katie, wielki głos
Platyna za platyną, pierwsze miejsca list przebojów na całym świecie i jedno z najgorętszych nazwisk we współczesnej muzyce pop. Katie Melua zaśpiewa w listopadzie w Poznaniu.
Jeśli wierzyć brytyjskiemu "Sunday Times", majątek tej 25-letniej drobnej dziewczyny wynosił dwa lata temu ok. 18 mln funtów. A jeszcze nieco ponad 10 lat temu była tylko kolejną emigrantką na Wyspach Brytyjskich (Katie Melua jest Gruzinką, jej rodzice wyjechali z kraju podczas wojny domowej w 1993 r.), a muzyczna kariera była dla niej odleglejsza niż wyprawa na Księżyc.
Wszystko zmieniło się w 2003 r., jej debiutancki album "Call off the Search" wdarł się szturmem na pierwsze miejsca brytyjskich list przebojów i w ciągu pierwszych pięciu miesięcy sprzedał się w 2 mln egzemplarzy. Narodziła się gwiazda. Nastoletnia wówczas Melua w krótkim czasie stała się jednym z najgorętszych nazwisk współczesnej muzyki pop.
Przepis na sukces jest prosty. Artystka mistrzowsko balansuje między formą prostej piosenki a bardziej ambitnymi, soulowymi poszukiwaniami. Jest w jej muzyce dużo bluesa i smooth jazzu, ale nie czuje także obawy przed podróżą od czasu do czasu w mniej oczywiste dźwiękowe rejony.
Dzięki temu potrafi zainteresować swoją muzyką zarówno masową publiczność (jej pierwszy singiel "The Closest Thing To Crazy" to przecież zwyczajna, miła, popowa piosenka - nie bez powodu stała się brytyjskim bożonarodzeniowym numerem jeden), jak i na przykład fanów jazzu.
Muzyczny patchwork Katie dobrze ilustruje jej własny wybór najważniejszych muzycznych inspiracji.
W rozmowie z "The Sun" wśród swoich mistrzów wymieniła Leonarda Cohena, Boba Dylana, Joni Mitchell i Portishead. Z tego pierwszego bierze zamiłowanie do opowiadania historii w piosenkach, z drugiego dezynwolturę (pojawienie się w "Grindhouse" Quentina Tarantino i Roberto Rodrigueza niezbyt pasowało do jej wizerunku "miłej dziewczyny, ładnie śpiewającej o miłości" ), do Joni Mitchell z kolei chyba jej artystycznie najbliżej, a melancholię Portishead również można często u niej znaleźć.
Katie Melua podczas swojej jesiennej trasy miała zagrać jedynie w dwóch polskich miastach: w Zabrzu i w Warszawie. Na szczęście dla poznańskich fanów artystki w planach pojawił się również trzeci termin.
Melua zaśpiewa 20 listopada tego roku w hali Arena. Będzie promować swój najnowszy album "The House". Bilety kosztują od 90 do 300 zł.
What's your new single, 'A Happy Place', all about? "It's strange 2010 pop inspired by Sparks, David Bowie and Queen. It begins by looking around at the materialistic world we live in and trying to see beyond it without any judgement. It's ultimately about trying to gain some freedom."
Do you feel like you've done that on this album? "Yes. It wasn't that I didn't have freedom before, but it was different. I'd worked with the same producer [Mike Batt] for three albums and he had clear ideas about what the albums should and shouldn't be. There was still freedom, but those albums were more a collaboration, whereas this time I was solely propelled by the contributors I'd chosen, like William Orbit and Guy Chambers."
Your videos have been quirkier for this album. Do you feel you can let yourself go now? "It's probably a combination of things. I'm not taking myself too seriously now. I'm less obsessed with it being all about the music. There's more of an acceptance these days for artists to dabble in the visuals, but I think as long as the video isn't in front of the music, it's OK to show off a bit."
You're rocking rather an amazing hat in this video! "Isn't it great?! It was made especially for me by a designer called Milner. I try and get involved with the styling and stuff as much as they allow me."
Will this new-found quirkiness extend to your live shows? "I hope so! With a video you only have the length of the song to show off, but with a live performance you have up to two hours to be creative, which is an exciting thought. I do want to add elements to the live shows that people have never seen at my gigs before, but I'm not going to have 20 costume changes or anything like that!"
What was it like working with William Orbit on the album? "He's such an incredible person. He's inspired and excited all the time which is something you can easily feed off. He's also very free as a producer. We played around for the first month of making the album, but afterwards he turned into this Phoenix who took flight with all his gadgets and buttons. It was like he put his soul into the computer."
Why did you decide to work with him? "I always had an inkling about him. I didn't know for sure, but even though he worked in this world I wasn't familiar with, I always had such a respect for him and his music. It was actually Mike [Batt] who sent some of my songs to him to see if he was interested. The funny thing is, I didn't even know William had supposedly retired. Sometimes it helps being naive!"
Was it strange having your longtime producer send your songs to someone else? "It was difficult making the decision to break off the creative collaboration with Mike because it was something that always felt safe and secure. On the other hand, it wasn't that strange because he's also my manager and the head of my record label, so he was really just doing his job! Thankfully we still have a wonderful working relationship."
Would you ever explore the dance sound further? "I love dancing but I'm not a big fan of traditional dance music. I love dancing to Led Zeppelin and indie rock. Who knows though? In the future I could go through a massive raving phase and make a dance album!"
Have you decided on the next single yet? "We're floating round a few ideas, but a lot of people are saying it should be 'The House'. I'd love to know why actually. It's the most important song on the album because it was the first song I recorded for it, but I wouldn't necessarily pick it as a single."
You released your first LP back in '03 - how's the music industry changed since then? "Well, the rules have been stretched a lot, but it seems people who've been in the industry a while are still clinging to the old rules. It's creating a chicken and egg situation - and clinging to the old rules is making things worse in terms of the business side of things. It's the artists who have no rules that seem to be succeeding at the moment."
Finally, you're a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so what's your next challenge? "My dream's to go diving in the Arctic, but I've had to put it on hold because of the amount of prep required. I started prepping in October and it ended in a near-death experience! I was training to use the dry suit in a lake and as I went down parts of my suit got caught round my neck and my mouthpiece slipped out. I was on a complete high for the rest of the day because I really thought I was a goner. I'll be tackling it again soon though. Something like that isn't going to put me off."
Katie mnie po prostu rozwala na łopatki tym swoim domem dla lalek xD To musi być jakieś totalne cudeńko, widział ktoś to kiedyś? Zadziwiające jest dla mnie <nie wiem czemu> że aż tak ważny jest dla niej domek dla lalek, hm.
