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Theo Bleak Said Like A Poet Featured Image (TRi THIS Music)

Theo Bleak shares new single “Said Like A Poet”

Introduction

Last Friday, Scottish singer-songwriter Theo Bleak dropped her second single, and visualiser from her next EP, “Bad Luck Is Two Yellow Flowers”, “Said Like A Poet”. This follows on from Bleak’s last (demo) EP, “Heaven.Wav”, which, quite hard to believe, was released just under year ago. In between these EP’s we saw an incredible collaboration between Theo and The Twilight Sad with “Don’t Borrow Grief For Later”, followed by her first 7″ vinyl release via Assai Records, with the AA side single, “In My House / Like A Thorn”. 

Since 2022, Theo has been constant with her music, embarking on contrasting, unique and highly personal, styles and creative directions with each. This track is no different. Written with returning collaborators, Mark Johnston, Megan McNally, Dan Gautreau and with art by, Kit Martin and photography from Joy, this release highlights a new and fresh visual presentation of Theo’s story.

The New Track

Coupled with “Peach Sky”, the track is another dive into a feeling of emotion, longing, a dreamlike state. Accompanied by a style of songwriting and lyrics, that could only be Theo Bleak. Nobody does it like Katie, that is what we have come to learn on this journey of music. 

While Theo Bleak could be described as a thought, or an idea, an artistic direction, the ideas could not be more real and present. And this is very much clear in the EP so far.

The EP releases on Apple Music on May 15th, with a vinyl release set for the 16th, with pre-orders available now. Don’t miss there special Assai Obi Edition of the EP, with an exclusive Obi Strip hand-signed by Theo Bleak, limited to only 100 copies, on transparent pink vinyl. 

Ervin Munir (Featured Image) TRi THIS Music

Ervin Munir’s new album ‘Pure & Simple’: Authenticity & songwriting as therapy

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‘Pure & Simple’, Ervin Munir’s brand new album

Introduction

Hailing from a coastal, Norfolk town, minutes from the sea, Ervin Munir has crafted an album that is both a personal memoir and a universal exploration of human experience. ‘Pure & Simple’, his second album; following on from ‘Broken Compass’ which was released back in 2023, is exactly what it says on the tin. The album, released January 31st, features many deep, personal themes throughout, much like our interview! The album, may just be Ervin’s finest work to date, it features collaborations with skilled musicians, including Aeron Z Jones and Tina Blaber’s providing accompanying beautiful vocals. The stories going behind the album are a journey through love, loss, creativity, and resilience. 

Ervin spoke at length about the therapeutic power of music, and the delicate balance of creating art that is both deeply personal and universally relatable. Deep-diving the inspirations behind ‘Pure & Simple’, sharing insights that are compelling, walking through the album, that is such a fitting tribute to those lost on the way. 

The Interview

TTM: I’ve been listening to ‘Pure & Simple. It’s probably gonna go triple platinum in this house. There’s so many different themes, so much to explore. What were the inspirations for you going into it?

ERVIN MUNIR: Well, mainly that I’m in I’m in quite a good writing mood, and have been for the last few years. So it’s about like I’m writing maybe a song every sort of 10 days or so, and some of them don’t make the cut. So it’s just really a matter of, whatever I’ve been writing, trying to put it together in a cohesive sort of form that makes sense.

Obviously, there are songs of love and breakup’s and other things in there, and trying to sort of get a good balance with all that and make it feel like it’s ending well, as well. The last track is a song about my dog that died, unfortunately. But that seemed like the appropriate one to put at the end. And it was, an enjoyable process. I think people these days don’t really don’t think  albums are useful. They prefer playlists so they can make up lists of their own favourite songs. But there is some thought, that goes into the ordering of songs, and the type of song that’s in any album that I write anyway.

TTM: Is that not, emotionally exhausting for you with the amount of writing that you do?

ERVIN MUNIR: I think it’s therapeutic. I do think it’s therapeutic. It’s also extremely enjoyable. I mean, there are lots of things about the music industry I don’t enjoy but, but I really enjoy that first spark of inspiration to getting the song produced and mastered. Getting it produced is a lovely process. If I’m tapping into things that I haven’t normally spoken about with other people about how I feel about something, if I’m tapping into that, then it makes a song all the more real.

Building The Album & Songwriting Styles

TTM: I do feel like the album flows really nicely.

ERVIN MUNIR: Yeah, and there’s only one track I’d say that’s unusual in this, it’s called ‘King’, which is much more of a folky track, but it’s where I’d probably watched too much Game of Thrones, I think. I sort of had this tragic theme running through my head.

I do a lot of songwriting retreats, and sometimes you get exercises to do… we had an exercise where we were given a book, a book of idioms and and the you had to run your thing, choose a page randomly, run your finger down wherever it stopped, open your eyes. Wherever it stopped, you’d write something about that idea. In the case of ‘Pure & Simple’, that was the idiom, ‘Pure & Simple’. And this guy, Tim Levy, he wrote the words for it. I adjusted the words a little bit, changed them a little bit, but not very much, added a middle eight, and put the melody and the chords to it, and that’s ended up on the album. 

TTM: Do you do stuff like Morning Pages, stuff like that? Do you do a lot of journaling to help with the writing process? 

ERVIN MUNIR: Don’t do it very often, but I have done it; then you end up with words you would never publish in a song. Yes, I have done that sort of thing. But in general, I use my phone a lot. I use my phone for lyrics. I’ll almost write a poem to sort of get, the lyrics down, and then I’ll sing into the voice recorder. And I love doing that. That’s a really nice way of working. You know, I fancy writing a song. Let’s see what I’ve got in my notes.

‘Happy Home’ got played on the BBC, which is nice, but that was done through an exercise of walking out of the hotel room and writing about the first thing you saw, and I saw a woman driving away in a car, and there was a man sort of like nearby. And so it was about this woman, she’s driving away, and she may never come back.

I’m on a roll at the moment!

Personal Experiences

TTM: Do you draw a lot of inspiration from your own experiences throughout your life? 

ERVIN MUNIR: I try to connect it. I mean, the most obvious one for people is to write about breakups. Because we’ve all been through breakups. My wife also died. So I’ve got that’s one of the songs as coming out on the album ‘Three’, it’s is a very… quite a raw song that I wrote probably in the first month and a half after she died, and I was still sort of like grieving. And so, that was more therapeutic for me to get it out to be honest. I left the song for about three – four years, and then I went back to it, late last year, and started recording it and producing it with my producer.

TTM: I’m so sorry to hear about that, Ervin, but I feel like there’s so much light in the fact that you can have that, almost self-therapy, and be able to translate, you know, these emotions and then really do these experiences justice, almost. What do you want your audience to take away from your music?

ERVIN MUNIR: I’ve improved my writing style. I mean, I’m a much better songwriter now than I was five, six years ago. I’d like them to see a sort of a progression there. I’d just like people to identify with it and hopefully identify with each individual song, and hopefully they will gain something from it themselves. Maybe it’ll open up something for them. But I think as a songwriter is a really great way of laying out your feelings on the table. 

When I look back at  some songs that I haven’t touched for a few years,  I can get quite emotional remembering how I felt at the time when I wrote them, There is a slight danger of becoming a bit too self indulgent in songs like that. I think a lot of people will identify with “Last Breath’.

Music Industry

TTM: What keeps you motivated through the music? How do you stay so creative?

ERVIN MUNIR: I’m not doing it for anyone except for myself, so I’m not being pushed to do anything. I do feel a slight pressure to try and keep some momentum going in the streaming world. I do enjoy it, and I do think every experience and every song is unique. The whole thing is quite joyous. But where I start enjoying it less is the promotion stuff. I’m enjoying this interview, by the way. I’d just like to say that, Ross, you’re easy to talk to! Calling people and pushing, I’m not a very good salesperson, and I find that a little difficult and and also don’t like the fact you get a bit hooked on following streams and numbers and things like that. 

Really, at the end of the day, the only important thing is that I, I wrote a song and people like that song.

TTM: Is it a lot different nowadays, creating music now compared to how maybe you would have done say, 10 years ago? 

ERVIN MUNIR: Well, a long time ago, I had a Tascam, four track cassette recorder, and that was enjoyable as a hobby. But in October ’22, I started getting a bit more serious about it, and played in London and the Camden Club and  recorded inAbbey Road Studios. There’s a song on my first album called ‘Carolynn’, and I think I started getting more serious about it.

The only dodgy thing in the creative process, at the moment is trying to avoid or trying not to use AI, and trying to and forgetting about the fact that you’re competing with people who are releasing songs using AI. I don’t know if it can be stopped, or if there can be a way of knowing that a song is AI produced or not? I just don’t know. But I think none of us do, and I think that we have got to be true to our process.  I think where it starts falling down is, especially, for new artists and artists who haven’t gained those millions of followers yet is, is how to make it pay.

TTM: What would your advice be to, say somebody who was just starting out on their journey? What routes would you advise that they take in terms of, navigating songwriting and putting together an album.

ERVIN MUNIR: Collaborate with someone, find another person who can sing or play an instrument with you, and move on beyond just having your voice. I think it’s a really great thing to do, and there are loads of ways of doing it. Go to a songwriting workshop or residential. I recommend because you build better relationships with people. Just keep going. 

TTM: Isn’t that the great thing about music, bringing people together. I think it’s one of the most magical things, especially for artists. How do you know when you’ve got that good connection with another artist or collaborator. 

ERVIN MUNIR: I think it’s like falling in love, and committing, if you don’t try, it’ll never happen.

TTM: How is it bringing stuff to life on the stage, with Cutting The Mustard?

ERVIN MUNIR: It’s lovely. I mean, I think I have a love hate relationship with performing, and a lot of the gigs I do, I’m by myself, and I try and make a show out of it, whether it’s a local pub to gig, or in a bar somewhere. I try and make a show to try and provide some variation and some interest throughout, but I think until I get past the first two songs, I’m always really nervous. In the band, because there’s five of us, we can carry each other. So I don’t feel very nervous about band gigs.

TTM: What would you say is your proudest moment?

ERVIN MUNIR: I was really proud about recording at Abbey Road Studios and doing the Camden gig after that. But when I look at the result of it, the ‘Carolynn’ track turned out really well. And that’s about my current girlfriend, and her name isn’t Carolynn, haha. I know my wife, my late wife, would have been very proud of it as well.

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Chesney Hawkes 2025 (TRi THIS Music)

Chesney Hawkes releases ‘Living Arrows’: “Live out loud, grab life by the horns”

Introduction

Ahead of his highly rumoured entry into the Celebrity Big Brother House, this coming Monday night, Chesney Hawkes is back today with his comeback album, ‘Living Arrows’, which is set to be his biggest hit since his 1991 debut ‘Buddy’s Song’.

An album which is vulnerable, full of grief and heartache, but an overwhelming sense of hope, joy and gratitude for his life and career so far. The album is dedicated to two very close and influential figures in his life, Vic and Kiki, and is an incredibly touching tribute to those lost on the way. ‘Living Arrows also features a range of collaborators, such as Nik Kershaw, Jake Gosling and Soren Anderson, who have further brought the album’s themes and messages to life. It also serves as an almost roadmap to life for his children,  with tracks like, ‘Surprise Yourself’, dedicated to his son Casey. ‘Living Arrows’, may just be Chesney’s greatest work to date, it’s relatable for fans, and features deep songwriting, that may overtake his previous big hits, in terms of authenticity and vulnerability.

The album is available on a range of different physical formats, with signed bundles still available on Chesney’s store (while stocks last). Our interview with Chesney was emotional and full of difficult themes, but just like in the album, he was authentic and it serves as one of our most exciting interviews yet!

Signed ‘Living Arrows’ bundles are available to purchase here!

The Interview

TTM: The amount of effort that has gone into getting the album out there, getting it to the audience, getting it to the fans, and really bringing the fans of such a high quality after what feels like a long time. That must be like the best thing in the world to do, right?

CHESNEY HAWKES: Ross, totally. You hit it on the head. Completely. 100% it’s a lot of hard work, and it’s all paying off now.

TTM: How long have you been writing the album? 

CHESNEY HAWKES: Well to be honest with you, it was in a very different state, we were looking at releasing just before COVID hit. Yeah, that’s how long. So this album has been in the making for a long time. It’s a different album now, because different songs have come on and different mixes and all that kind of stuff, but yeah, it’s been in the works for a while.

TTM: How excited are you to finally have this out and finally present it to the audience? This must be the best musical moment of your life!

CHESNEY HAWKES: I would say it is, yeah, very well put it’s because it’s taken so long, and because it’s such an important record for me, and there’s so many songs on there that I really want people to hear, and I think people are going to relate to the songs. Yeah, it’s a massive moment.

TTM: There’s some really important themes in there, like grief and loss. Was it difficult working and facing your way through these themes? 

CHESNEY HAWKES: I mean, it’s been a cathartic, therapeutic journey. It really has. And you know, you mentioned ‘LOUD’. I mean, that one came along at the time when… I’d already written the song, actually, before, but my best friend literally just passed away. So I’m now out there. It’s the latest single, and I’m out there promoting this record about loss, while I’m thinking about Vic and going around talking about it. And it’s raw, it’s right there at the surface, but it’s really seems to have resonated with people.

I’ve had so many messages from people saying, “Oh, thank you for that song, it reminds me of my mom or my brother who passed”. It’s going to be our song now. Those kind of things, it’s so overwhelmingly beautiful, messages from people that I’m just humbled by, I really am. It’s so special. And I guess that’s what music can do, right?

TTM: Creating this album must have been a great way to process the grief, to be able to create and write in their honour, turning those emotions into something special that will go on. 

CHESNEY HAWKES: It has been. He fell in love with the record and he loved that particular song, and he even said, “You know, when I’m gone, that’s how we’ll communicate”. And so, it has been quite a journey for me in that respect, but the whole album now for me, I’m doing it for him, like I had an hour before he died, and literally the day before he died, with him, where he basically just said, “Mate, just smash it to pieces. Just go out there, live out loud, grab life by the horns, because you know, it’s the short life we lead”. I’m doing it for him.

TTM: How has it been, taking this album, out on the road, meeting fans, meeting the audience, and connecting with them through the album?

CHESNEY HAWKES: That’s been special. And actually, I’ll give you an example. These two ladies came to me in the signing, I was in Newcastle, and yeah, they were middle aged ladies, and they basically were saying how they’re best friends, and have been since they were kids. And last time they saw me was in 1991 at Newcastle City Hall, when they came to see me, as their first gig, and now they’re back, 34 years later, seeing me live again. And I’ve had lots of moments like that over this tour, and they’re all bringing their kids along. So I’ve got, like, different generations of people  in these crowds, and it’s been really special.

TTM: The album feels very much like a journey for your kids too. A lot of the messages that are going in there, it kind of fits their age group as well, right? 

CHESNEY HAWKES: Well, that’s what I had in mind all the way through. I mean, it’s something that was an unconscious theme that ran through the whole album. It’s like a little road map to to life for the kids, I was very open, very honest in this album, and some of the things we’ve been through together, I’ve addressed them all, and so, yes, it’s a special one for me. And my son is my guitar player now, he’s out on the road with me, my youngest. So that’s,  beautiful as well. And I’ve still got my brother on the drums, so it’s a family affair Ross!

TTM: It must be like the most magical feeling, though, being able to create this art and create this album, create this music, and just have everything fall into place. To be doing it with your family too, and having the audience there. And I suppose that they must feel like your family as well, you’ve been on this journey together for 34 years!

CHESNEY HAWKES: It’s something that I say, we’ve been selling the shows out and I always say to them, “Where’s my 90s kids? *Chesney cheers* and I always say, thank you so much for being here. We’ve grown up together, haven’t we, because I was a teenager too, when that record came out. So it’s like we literally have come through this whole journey of life together and these people have been with me since the beginning. So yeah, it’s wonderful. 

TTM: You’ve also done so much work on a mental health side, tell us a bit about that.

CHESNEY HAWKES: Yeah, well, CALM came along for me,  there’s a song on the album that I wrote for a young friend of mine that took her own life, she was a young artist that I was working with that was very much part of our family, and we loved her so much. She was only 24 and so there’s a song called ‘The Meaning Of This’ on the record, which is very powerful and  difficult, another difficult one to sing. I keep writing these songs that are hard to sing emotionally. I’ve also been affected by suicide in my family, my uncle did the same thing, took his life. And so, it’s a massive issue in this country as well. It’s the biggest killer of young people. I mean  isn’t that insane. It’s just such a ridiculous statistic, and so we need to talk about it. So CALM came along to me, and they’re such an important organisation, such beautiful people, doing incredible work and making it less taboo to talk about so I’m absolutely honoured to be a part of that organisation.

TTM: You’re able to support the audience authentically and be relatable through music. And I feel like it’s stories like that although they’re really tragic and really sad, it is like you say somebody’s reality.

CHESNEY HAWKES: Totally. We all go through these things. We all know the one thing in this human condition that is always going to be there is we are going to go through loss and grief, in whatever form. And we all have to talk about it. We all have to be in this together. I really think it’s important to bring up these issues and these topics, because we have to stick together in these things. We have to.

CALM Website & Information

TTM: What keeps you motivated Chesney? What has really pushed you to the finish line for this album?

CHESNEY HAWKES: My family. That’s number one, the most important thing for me. But music itself, I love, I love how music can  affect people and connect with people. Those two things together are the most important things in my life. 

TTM: You also co-wrote a song with your wife on this album?

CHESNEY HAWKES: There’s two songs actually I wrote with my wife!  One of them is called, ‘Do You Ever Think Of Me?’ We were talking about our exes and just now being very healthy in our own relationship, just talking about, what they meant to us and what it was like in those days, with that person. And I wonder what they’re doing now. And I wonder if they ever think of me, so that was what the song was about.  

TTM: What would you say is your proudest moment so far Chesney?

CHESNEY HAWKES: I nearly said West Ham winning the Conference!! It has to be my kids. It has to be. They’re what I’m most proud of, and they’re such amazing humans now. I mean, they’re late 20s, sorry, late teens and early 20s now, and you know, they’re all doing so well. So yeah, I’ve got to say my kids.

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HIFI Sean - TRi THIS Music

Hifi Sean on new album ‘Twilight’: “I’m still doing what my heart follows”

Introduction

Valentine’s day, saw the release of sister album to ‘Daylight’, ‘Twilight’ from DJ’S Hifi Sean and David McAlmont, which is also released on Plastique Recordings. The album flows through twelve night-time tracks, beginning with fellow DJ, ‘The Blessed Madonna’ on the opening track, ‘The Comedown’. A very fitting edition to the vibe here, after her own album release back in October 2024, ‘Godspeed’, we’re all on a comedown!

The album follows of course, the hit single releases, ‘Star’, ‘Goodbye Drama Queen’, ‘High With You’, and ‘Sorry I Made You Cry’, the last of which arriving with a brand new music video. ‘Twilight’ is also (just like ‘Daylight’), released on vinyl and CD formats – the vinyl is released on a ‘Purple Midnight’ vinyl, alongside a 7″ flexi disk with the track, ‘Driftaway Dub’, and a signed art print too! 

Our last meeting with Hifi Sean covered his 2023 ventures with The Soup Dragons, vinyl/single releases and live headline tour, including collaborations with B52’S frontman, Fred Schneider. The physical releases around this time, were quite literally at the highest quality, especially for 7″ singles – with vibrant colours and heavyweight vinyl, both the ‘Daylight’ and ‘Twilight’ vinyls, really shine. Hifi Sean, a very busy man if we do say so indeed! For this interview, we deep dived and focussed on Hifi Sean’s diverse musical career. Touching upon, his creative process, collaborations with David, the challenges of social media, and his excitement for future projects.

Click here to see the vinyl release over on Bandcamp!

The Interview

TTM: Sean, you wear so many different hats, you’ve been everywhere and done everything! 

HIFI SEAN: I had a band after The Soup Dragons, called The High Fidelity, which is another you can delve into. It’s all on Bandcamp, but it’s actually not on streaming, which I need to do. But yeah, there was The High Fidelity, and we all were given, it was kind of like at the start, and it shows you how long ago this was, we were all given, email addresses by the guy who was running our website at the time. 

Everybody in the band had an email address like, Hifi Sean, Hifi Paul, HiFi Ross, Hifi Adrian. About a year later, my friend asked me to DJ Glasgow Art School with a really close friend of mine Alan. And then we, we started doing it every Thursday night. So we decided to start a club called ‘Record Players’, which ended up running for about five years.

His DJ name was ‘Hush Puppy’ at the time. He said to me, “You need a DJ name” And I’m like, “Can I not just be Sean Dickson?” And he went, “No, no, you’ve got that email thing!”. Because, not many people had email addresses at that point, and that’s where Hifi Sean came from.

That’s how Hifi Sean, ‘the artist’, came about. I was making club records from DJing. I made an album called ‘FT’ back in 2017 which featured Crystal Waters, Yoko Ono,  Fred out the B52’s. It’s where I met David, and we became close friends. And look at us now, three albums, the new albums out, and it’s all going excitingly well!

TTM: How do you know when you have a great connection with a fellow artist?

HIFI SEAN: I know when a record’s good, when making it, and I can’t put my finger on it, and I’m sure a lot of artists feel the same as well, but you just get that little tingle, that little buzz, you just get really excited, and you turn into a child. That’s the thing I love about making music. It makes you feel young. In my head, I’m still 17. I’m still making records that my 17 year old self wanted to make. It was insane working with somebody like Yoko Ono. 

I kind of tried to think of a concept to give me a kick up the ass. So I thought, I’ll just ask lots of really interesting people who are all very unique, if they’d want to make a record with me, and I’ll make an album. So everybody on that album does their own thing, but they’re also very, very unlike anybody else. There’s not another Yoko Ono, there’s not another Crystal Waters. Everyone was just saying yes, it was insane. 

When I asked Fred, I decided I’m going to New York. I want to meet Fred. I want to be in the studio with Fred. We went out the night before. We didn’t have a clue what we’re going to record. Took him to the to the West Village, and got really drunk, and he got  a notepad of paper out, and he’s like, “what are we going to write about?” And I just went “truckers”. “Let’s write about truckers.”

TTM: Do you think it comes down to experience too? 

HIFI SEAN: I’m not experienced. I always think it’s really funny when people talk about my career. I’m not careerist. I’ve never sat down and thought, right, this is what I’m doing. And in a way, it just kind of looks like a career, but it was all made up. You’re only here once. You might as well do everything and anything that you want to do.

TTM: You’re so present on social media, it’s good to see, but it’s such a mind game, isn’t it?

HIFI SEAN: Yeah, everybody struggles. Basically, because you don’t feel that you can know if people are seeing your posts, you’ve got all the algorithms. It’s all about money. It’s like to post something now on social media and put money behind it… actually it kind of demeans you as an artist sometimes, because you feel a bit of a slut. You feel like you’ve got to oblige and fall into that category of making a dick of yourself. And I kind of refuse to do it. 

TTM: It does give us all the false illusion that we’re all connected. Björk, was talking the other day about how Spotify and streaming services are some of the worst things to happen to the industry, it’s a similar situation. 

HIFI SEAN: The big issue for independent artists, is where artists on major labels, the major labels pay a lot of money to these to these platforms, so they have, like a fast track. So, it’s a bit like when you go to the airport, you go through the posh lane to go on the plane faster. These artists are just kind of walking through straight onto the plane. Whereas all of us are standing on a five mile long queue at customs. And it’s exactly that analogy. It never used to be like this, and it’s getting harder and harder.  

It really worries me that there’s going to be so many young people that decide I don’t want to do this, you know, I can’t do this. I can’t make a living. They’re up against this digital machine. The heyday was MySpace, because MySpace wasn’t policed and wasn’t controlled. A really good example of that was Lily Allen. The Queen of Myspace.

TTM: You and David have produced a whole art/lyric book for ‘Twilight’, can you tell us more about that Sean?

HIFI SEAN: Nobody’s ever done that before. It’s crazy. It’s the third album we’ve released. As for every album of those three albums, we released the lyrics and a beautiful art book a month or a few weeks before the album came out, which totally came from when I was a teen. 

I lived in Bellshill, which was like, about, 10-12 miles outside Glasgow. So I used to do that thing, going into town on a Saturday afternoon to buy my records, and then on the train trip home open the records and read the lyrics in the inner sleeve.

And it introduced you to this world, and then when you go home, you put your music on and read them. So it’s like, I always had that thing about lyrics and music being kind of like two entities. David loved the idea because, David writes the lyrics, and our friend Arber, the artist, loves the idea as well, because he gets to present each song with an image. He does all the videos as well. But, I mean, why has nobody ever done this before? But the good thing is, if anybody does do it now, we can say we were first!

Twilight Artbook

TTM: We’ve got the physical release of ‘Twilight’ as well, and it’s on this really beautiful lavender/purple vinyl, isn’t it?

HIFI SEAN: The problem is, I’m colour blind. Both these albums, ‘Daylight’ and ‘Twilight’ have been really quite difficult for me, because they have both the colours that I have problems with! I had to keep asking, is that purple, or is this red, orange or yellow?

I’ve said this a million times in Tesco when buying bananas, I might look to the person next to me and go, “Is this yellow or green?”. Usually, people walk away from me slowly.  I have texted pictures of bananas to my husband and asked what colours they are, because I have a real problem with buying unripe bananas thinking they’re yellow.

I suppose I’m really proud of all the content we’ve done physically,  it’s really beautiful, and we’re really lucky to have Arber, working with us, and he’s worked with us from from the beginning.

If you listen to the start of ‘Daylight’, it’s got the little mantra, ‘Daylight’ becomes ‘Twilight’. So it’s, kind of like a cyclic 24 hour, you know?  I’ve played ‘Daylight’, and then I played ‘Twilight’, and then I played ‘Daylight’ again to see if it works. Totally works.

TTM: A 6 month turnaround is so insane too!

HIFI SEAN: Try writing 24 songs and recording them and producing them in six months! We were writing, uplifting, joyous songs, and also writing these darker songs. So it was like, why don’t we do it as two separate things? And we did it. We did it. During the summer, I was mixing the winter album, and then during the winter I was mixing the summer album. I don’t think anybody’s ever done this. I don’t think anybody’s released, an album, brother and sister album, in the space of six months. It originally was supposed to be the first day of summer, first day of winter, but we couldn’t work it out like that. So we thought Valentine’s Day was a really nice way to release a sexy, nighttime album for the lovers!

TTM: What do you think of the club scene Sean? Are there club influences going into this album? 

HIFI SEAN: ‘Daylight’ had reviews mentioning it being a club influenced album. I didn’t hear that at all. I just thought it was a kind of like a psychedelic soul pop album. ‘Twilight’, has just been like that, but more down tempo and and once again, you know, we’ve had people, some reviews, saying it’s like a chill out album, like post club album, which I didn’t expect at all. They always say that the person that finds it hardest to describe their own music, is the people that make their own music. I would likely be the worst person to write a review of my own album.

I get the thing about ‘Twilight”s a coming back from a club type album. It’s really, soft and gentle and warm. It had to be because, ‘Daylight’ was so bright and sunshine. I was on the motorway one night, it was literally one of those drives where, you didn’t see anybody else on the motorway, and I put the album on, and it was such a thrill, to experience it in that situation.

Excerpt From ‘Twilight”s Artbook

TTM: Overall, what can we expect from the album? 

HIFI SEAN: The album opens with a song called, ‘The Comedown’. We want you to feel like you’re coming down from, what was the last track on ‘Daylight’, ‘The Show’, which was the end of the show, big explosion. We wrote this song with The Blessed Madonna, and she narrates a section as well. The song was based around the fact that your heartbeat is roughly the same BPM as dance music. So we wrote the song on top of a heartbeat, and that’s what she talks about, “I can hear my heart beating like a drum.”.

The Blessed Madonna

So it’s a beautiful way to start the album. Actually I think it’s one of my favourite tracks on the album. Next track is ‘Twilight’, which is based around lots of strange, twisted choral voices. My dogs, Fred and Barney, are on the record. Actually, they’re old boys now. They’re 14 next month, and I wanted to kind of immortalise them on vinyl, so I thought it’d be a beautiful thing to do. It’s a really beautiful moment in the record, because the tracks are all about escaping to safe spaces. And my safe space is the graveyard that I walk my dogs in. So that’s where it was recorded. The boys were running about in the graveyard, barking, and I recorded them and then put them on the record. David has his favourite bird song at that section as well. There was a lot of a lot of kind of unusual production skills that I’ve always wanted to do that I managed to play around with this one. It’s the best produced album I’ve ever made. Making an album of all these little lullabies that just kind of slowly drift over you.

TTM: What was the reaction like to the listening party of the album?

HIFI SEAN: It was insane. People loved it, they totally got the vibe within the first track. Either it’s one of those albums you either get or you don’t get. It’s got a space. I think it’s one of those albums people will reach out to when they want to feel calm, which is nice, because we need music for different emotions. Some days  you want to walk down the street with your headphones on and just feel safe warm, you know?

TTM: Is that kind of reaction not a testament to both your own, and David’s talents and experience?

HIFI SEAN: We’re on the same page, which is a huge, which is beautiful, because that doesn’t happen much.  We have this unspoken synergy that seems to happen. I’m just, incredibly blessed to work with such an amazing artist.

TTM: Are you excited for the future, Sean? The magic, could that happen again?

HIFI SEAN: Yeah, I’m excited. I’m always the person that is more excited about the next thing. Yeah, I’m already in my head thinking about what to do next. This year I’m going to make a lot of club tracks, because I’ve kind of had that on the back burner whilst I’ve been doing all this stuff. I’m doing lots of remixes with people. I’ve got a few dance records coming out. Myself and David have already got ideas about what to do next, and I’ve got some exciting electronic records coming out as well. I can’t stop, I can’t stop thinking music. Genres are not a thing for me, I don’t think in genres. I just think of sound, sound bites and sonic capabilities and I think that’s what ‘Twilight’ is. Very proud of it.

TTM: How do you feel about the club scene nowadays? So many venues are closing down. How do you feel about this whole vibe that’s going on at the minute? 

HIFI SEAN: Everything has peaks and troughs, and the troughs usually lead to more interesting things that come from it. I think social media has a lot to do with it as well,  It’s just so boring. We’ve seen it all a million times. Stop posting. Nobody’s interested. There’s all different forms of club music. It’s not all about building, a ‘banger’.  Kind of feels like it’s becoming homogenised by what you see and what you hear on social media.

TTM: Revisiting The High Fidelity just briefly, I was shopping at a record store and came across this single, and I knew exactly who it was, do you recognise this track?

The High Fidelity – Addicted To A T.V. CD Single

HIFI SEAN: Oh that’s ‘Addicted To A T.V.’. Yeah, I recorded that in my bedroom! That record a really funny story. It was originally on a Japanese label, the guy from Tokyo phoned me and wanted to hear it. I played it down the phone, he went, “yeah, yeah, put it out.”. I’ll tell you a mad story about the video, right? This record, like no had no money behind it. It was the first single by The High Fidelity, which, at that point, The High Fidelity was just me. There was a campaign going on by an electrical store, called Dixon’s. There was this campaign going on, and you could buy anything you wanted out the electrical store, and then if you didn’t like it, you could take it back like eight hours later if you wanted to. So I thought, let’s buy loads of video equipment. So we bought video cameras and stands and lights. Next day, we made a video and then on the Monday, we took it all back, and it was about two or 3000 pounds worth of stuff, and they had to give us the money back! We made the video, and I got my friend to edit it, and at the start of the video, it says….

Opening to ‘Addicted To A T.V.’ Music Video

TTM: Thinking back to that time period, in the 90’s with The Soup Dragons,   if yourself in 1990, could see where you are now and see what you’re doing today, would you be proud?

HIFI SEAN: I completely would, because I’m still doing what my heart follows. A lot of people I’ve seen over the years fall to the wayside because of how difficult it is. A friend said to me once, “you’re really lucky that you’re still making music after all these years.”. I’ve been doing it since I was 16 or 17. 

"I'm proud that I've stayed true to myself all along."

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In May, Hifi Sean & David McAlmont will be opening for Erasure’s Andy Bell on his solo Tour, ticket’s are available here!

“In York, Birmingham and Manchester, the brilliant Grammy-winning US DJ and producer Dave Audé will be starting the party with a dedicated DJ set.

At all the other shows, our opening act will be Hifi Sean & David McAlmont, one of the most interesting and exciting collaborations around, who will be opening the show with a special live performance.” – Andy Bell

Tickets Available Here
Kenzie Vois - TRi THIS Music

Kenzie Vois: Overcoming vocal paralysis, and new single, ‘On My Way’

Introduction

Up-and-coming musician Kenzie Vois, joined us this week to talk all about his new single, ‘On My Way’, which much like his style of production, is bright and vibrant, drawing inspirations from Bruno Mars and Dominic Fike. 

At only 19-years-old, Kenzie has proven his creative worth, and talent attributed to song-writing and producing. His story is also one of resilience, when COVID-19 spread, Kenzie was left with a condition called, Left Vocal Cord Paralysis. Having been unable to sing, he shifted to production, and in 2023, the truly innovative “VOIS” implant from Austria, was fitted and restored his vocal cords.

The Interview

TTM: What are the inspirations going behind ‘On My Way’?

KENZIE: Musically, it’s definitely got to be Bruno Mars, right? Bruno Mars has been my inspiration my whole life, yeah, I think it just kind of came out of nowhere. Bruno Mars, definitely with the Sonics. But the reference song that I had was a song called, ‘Phone Numbers’ by Dominic Fike, especially with the guitar. I mean, everything was done in this room. Like, every song I put out was done in this room. Look this, this is the guitar that I made ‘On My Way’ on, it’s this ‘vibrant’ colour too!  Like this is so bright.

Everything from the concept to the beat just instantly hit me. Let’s make this as fun as possible. This is the first song I released with a co writer, who’s my best mate from school. We just kind of wrote this song on a whim. And as we were writing it, I was adding sound effects as we were going so it’s one of those ones that’s just, yeah, just loads of fun.

TTM: It’s crazy how much talent you have at such a young age, it’s really astounding, don’t you think? 

KENZIE: I feel older than I probably should. I just kind of take everything as it comes.

TTM: You’ve overcome so much as well, with the surgery, and just being overall resilient. 

KENZIE: When I got diagnosed with vocal paralysis, they just said, I wouldn’t be able to sing, and so I just kind of had to accept it. Because of that I had to start producing and writing songs. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have gone all out with making music. So when I got my voice back, it was just the right decision to record everything and start putting things out. It’s given me time to get better, and better at writing music before I put things out too. So it’s kind of been a blessing to learn more about my voice as well. At first, obviously, I didn’t know why it was… why I was chosen for this to happen to, but I guess, everything happens for a reason.

“Make as much art as you can. Be yourself. Make things that you think are cool. Do what you think is right.”

TTM: I’ve never actually thought properly about the technique that goes into crafting vocal’s, until now really. I know that may sound stupid. 

KENZIE: Oh no, it doesn’t sound stupid. I would say I think,  before I had this issue, I was singing incorrectly anyway, so you know, I was straining my voice and and now that I’ve had those three years of learning how to sing effectively, I’ve I’ve figured out how to sing and not lose my voice every time I do a show.

TTM: What has kept you motivated through all of this?

KENZIE: Ignorance. I suppose ignorance is bliss. I just thought,  I can’t sing anymore. Well, which probably isn’t the best mentality. If it happened to me now, I’d be a lot more upset. But yeah, what got me through it is just accepting it and just finding something new to be passionate about. And that was how production saved me, producing music and writing music. When the singing came back it all just glued together really nicely. I’m glad I went through all of that, and I learned a lot about myself throughout the whole process. 

TTM: What does the future look like for you?

KENZIE: I don’t really know where it’s going to go, but I want to make excitement. I think I think if I can find a community, that really likes what I make, then I’ll be more than happy. And if that’s like 10 people or 10,000 people or 10 million people, whatever, I’m cool with it, as long as people like it.

TTM: What is that EP going to be looking like? What can we be expecting? 

KENZIE: This is all one project. This is all one EP. Really, we got one more song. But it’s going to be an exciting project, because once it’s out, we’re going to start doing some shows. 

TTM: What would be your best piece of advice that you could pass forward to somebody? 

KENZIE: Best advice that I can give is just do everything. If you can write songs, if you can produce, if you can play an instrument, create more opportunities for yourself. Make as much art as you can. Make things that you think are cool, not that other people think are cool. Just do what you think is right. Just keep it real. Just stay proactive.

TTM: If you had to pinpoint one moment in your career so far, what would be your proudest? 

KENZIE: I’m very proud of all the songs that I’ve made, and I think I become a lot more proud when I make them, rather than when I release them, because I’m very protective of them. It’s like giving them away to the world. 

I went on stage with Dominic Fike, that’s got to be my proudest moment. And I have done quite a lot of stuff, but that was, that was mega that made me definitely want to be an artist. 

Kenzie with Dominic Fike 20/09/23
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Kate Nash Music Fans' Voice Survey

First-ever Music Fans’ Voice Survey: We hear from Kate Nash, “We are in crisis”

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Introduction

For the first time ever, a Music Fans’ Voice Survey has officially launched and with it, a call to action. A call to action to support and protect our live music spaces across the UK. This survey urges participants to spend only 15 minutes to complete and shape the future of live music. I spoke to singer-songwriter Kate Nash in collaboration with the campaign, & the SMN about the state of grassroots venues, the importance of the survey itself and what they aim to do with the data collected. 

Data will be used to help inform decision making within the government, the music industry and various city regions. As you can tell this data will be incredibly important when it comes to the future of the industry. 

A large part of the live music scene here in the UK has become unethical and unsustainable; below is a video of a protest led by Kate at various important locations, with more details, and context.

The Interview

TTM: What are the challenges that grassroots venues are facing?

KATE NASH: Massive challenges. I mean, we are in crisis. We’re definitely in crisis. We’re seeing closures of a ton of venues. We’re seeing bands canceling tours. So, that means we’re giving less access to lot’s of areas in the UK to actually see and experience live music, and it also means we’re cutting off who can make music and tour and make a career out of music.

TTM: What can we do to support local venues? 

Kate Nash: The most important thing is this survey right now, Music Fans’ Voice UK is where you can take 15 minutes out of your day, fill in a survey. As boring as it sounds, it’s data collection. And as we know, in 2025 data is extremely valuable.

If we can collect this data, there is so much that we can do. This is basically what they did in the football industry, and they made the biggest changes to football in 25 years. So I cannot stress how important this survey is. From getting my ass out and starting an Only Fans and causing a media frenzy to make a point of how much money you actually lose if you go on tour, to like, now handing the microphone over to the fans and saying, for the first time in history, have your say, because you’re also being exploited.

"We're going to implement change. We're going to take this to government. We're going to change legislation."

KATE NASH: You’re being overcharged for tickets, you’re being restricted, you’re not going to be able to see diversity in the arts, and loads of venues are going to close. Fill the survey, Music Fans’ Voice, 15 minutes.

TTM: What are you hoping for the future of the live music scene? What are you hoping will come into place after this survey?

KATE NASH:  I want things to be fairer. I want things to be more ethical. I think our industry is so amazing because, it’s soul work, it’s emotion work, it’s fun, it’s like joy. It’s giving people an escape, serious or non serious, and it’s people expressing themselves. That’s one of the most beautiful things that we have in the world, right? Creativity. And the moment that we shut the door on that and say, ‘this is only for a certain group of people’. That’s a devastating moment. 

I’m not going to allow that to happen, because I don’t know how ‘Kate Nash’ now, would get started. I find that there’s so much pressure on young people, but there’s also so much talent, so I want to basically make the music industry a bit of a fairer place, because right now, it’s built on total exploitation. I think the music industry has failed. It’s failed artists. And they’re becoming , richer and richer. To the industry, many people, it’s just… we’re pebbles on a beach. You pick one up, you play with it, and you throw it away from for a while…  I believe the Head of Interscope said that in like, 2008 or 2009, because my mum read it in a magazine and was, like, really scared about what would happen to me in my career. Understandably so. 

"I want young people to feel supported, and I want them to earn more money from the hard work and from their music that they should have more rights over."

TTM: What advice would you pass forward to new artists, just starting out in the industry?

KATE NASH: Don’t give up and have hope, because we are at a point I think, where things are going to break. They have to. They’ve almost gotten so bad that it has to be better. So don’t lose hope, and just know that there is a ton of people fighting to make things better for you. So, like, I’m not here to say everything’s rubbish. We are not allowing them to destroy things that so many people care about so much. So just have some faith and believe in yourself and take risks. Don’t sign crazy contracts! That’s my main advice.

MUSIC FANS' VOICE SURVEY WEBSITE
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Marshsa Swanson Like An Angel Website Featured Image

Marsha Swanson shares the emotional journey behind her new single “Like an Angel”

Introduction

Could this single be Marsha Swanson’s greatest song to date? Maybe. But it’s a difficult question to consider casting an eye back on such a successful and long career, full of differing themes, inspiration’s, styles and influences. Catching up with Marsha for the release was a truly reflective experience, much like our first meeting back at the beginning of 2024, for hugely successful album, ‘Near life Experience’.

There were two focuses for our interview, the impact of her music, and the exploration into the emotional journey guiding the creation of ‘Like An Angel’: taking inspiration from a personal loss, and its evolution from a ghost track and later becoming a standalone release. 

The Interview

TTM: Marsha, how have you been? How has this year been for you?

MARSHA: It does feel like I haven’t quite had time to sort of take stock yet. And I’m sure it will come. I think it’s probably, I’m guessing, it’s coming in six months. I don’t know why I’m saying this, I’m guessing it’s going to be in six months where there will be that proper pause to kind of really see, and I know that Henry, who’s the producer that I’ve been working with, we keep saying we need to to meet up to just take stock of the journey that we’ve been on together so far. And you know, we haven’t been able to yet because, because we’re still in it. You have to be slightly out of it, I think, to get your reflective hat on. 

TTM: It was really nice when I put the interview together this time last year. I felt like almost I was reflecting on your career. It gave me the opportunity to go through and flow through the years of albums and get to Near Life Experience. It was really amazing.

MARSHA: Love the way you say that “…get to Near Life Experience?”, because that is the thing, isn’t it? How do you get to Near Life Experience? How do you live, always with, a Nearer Life Experience mentality?”

TTM: What’s the story behind ‘Like an Angel’?

MARSHA: It was the loss of somebody very, very, very close to me in my life, and it was not planned. It came about during the making of this album, which touches on those similar themes from previous losses in life.

You can be writing about one thing, and then something else comes up that completely changes everything yet again, and I at the beginning, when I wrote it, I felt it didn’t feel the right place for it to be on the album as a main titled track because I hadn’t processed enough at that time, I do find that creativity is often ahead of cognitive processing. So you might intuitively be able to write something that’s got deep understanding in it, but your brain hasn’t caught up with that yet.

I felt that it, it was still very much part of the album, but in the Ether. So the idea of the ghost track felt really comfortable to me. It may be discovered, it may not be discovered, but it’s there.

TTM: You can really feel the story that you’ve just told us come through the single, what a fitting tribute.

MARSHA: I was thinking about the track and I realised…  have you ever seen a film called ‘The Blue Bird”?… It’s a beautiful film. There’s this moment where Shirley Temple, who’s this child, sees her grandparents who died a long time ago, and she sees them for the first time, and she’s says “Wow, it’s so great to see you. I haven’t seen you in ages.” And they said, “Well, it’s because you thought about me, dear.” And it was this beautiful sort of realisation that when you think about someone, that’s when they come to life again.

‘The Blue Bird’ 1940 Film Cover

TTM: How did the connection with Sam Chegini come about?

MARSHA: I think that it’s been another game changer working with Sam. So I met him originally because I had done the lyrics to some songs for a keyboard player called Benjamin Croft, and he had worked with Sam on one of his videos. When I saw the video, I suddenly could see how this person had used all the lyrics that I’d done and timed the music in the exact nuances, like in parallel with the story, and in the most sort of deeply resonant way. 

TTM: How do you stay inspired Marsha?

MARSHA: I think the inspiration part is never the difficult part for me. I think the difficult part would be the practicalities of what’s involved in doing justice to any one of those inspirations. But on an inspiration level, I think that it’s about living.

TTM: What’s next for you Marsha? 

MARSHA: ‘Near Life Experience’ isn’t quite finished yet, even though it might seem like it has twice, already been finished. So there are some more things still to come in the coming months.

There is a whole other project that I’ve been very deeply invested in, in parallel to this, which is, an album. It’s similar to what I’ve tried to do with my adult work. A whole collection of songs for children, with the idea of developing emotional literacy. Children of this generation have gone through so much, obviously, with the pandemic, with what’s going on in the world, and anxiety mental health has been at an all time high.

I know from the work that I do in schools, on a personal level, how powerful music can be as a way to get through to children. So that’s going to be very big that’s going to take up a chunk of my investment this year as well.

TTM: Are you proud of this year?

MARSHA: I am, definitely, I am. And I think it’s important to allow yourself to feel pleased. I think what I feel proudest about is probably that I’ve seen this all through to conclusion, with the help of these people that I’ve been working very closely to. I feel proud of us as a team.

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John Blaylock Featured Image

Rising Artist John Blaylock Releases New Single ‘Temples’: The Interview

John Blaylock's Return To Music

John Blaylock is a once again, rising musician, returning to the industry with a brand new single and debut album, in his own right. Blaylock has plenty of experience in the industry. Since the age of just twelve, he picked up a guitar and formed a band, which saw success throughout the nineties, including plays from Zane Lowe across Radio 1. This taste for the industry and genuine love for both music and people, has propelled him to where he is as an artist today. 

This newfound artistry, fuelled by heartfelt songs and gritty lyricism, really is a new journey for Blaylock. Our interview together really explores his journey, a brief reflection on his many experiences, inspirations and travels, and a glimpse into the new album, with a star studded production team. Citing names such as, Freddy Sheed, Guy Massey, and Helen Boulding. It’s a very exciting time to be fan of John Blaylock!

The Interview

TTM: The new single is such a success for you, such a great debut, what does the release mean to you? 

JOHN: Yeah, so it’s definitely a song about oneness and being connected to everybody and believing that we’re all the same. We’ve just got these structures that divide us where, society tries to put us in boxes and say, ”if you’re in that box, you shouldn’t like that person in that box, or that sort of thing.”. I’m saying, when the temples fall and the idols, egos, societal structures are gone, we’re really just the same as each other.

And my favourite line in the song is, ”If you take away the judgment, we’re just love.”. And I really believe that, man, people are fantastic. I’ve traveled the world and met the most amazing people all over on a community level, people will give you the shirt off the backs. They’re just fantastic people all over the world. We don’t need to be divided. We are humanity together.

TTM: What’s your relationship like with Manchester?

JOHN: Manchester, it means a hell of lot to me. It’s where I grew up. I’ve got so many good friends. I’ve spent a long time away from Manchester. I’ve lived in different places around the world. And so it’s always such an amazing place to come back to, to Manchester and see everyone here.

''We don't need to be divided. We are humanity together.'' John Blaylock

TTM: We know that a debut album is in the pipeline, and we’re so excited for it, what can we expect? 

JOHN: Honest, authenticity in lyrics and songwriting, but with some much bigger productions, which I’m really excited for. 

‘Temples’ is quite a stripped back, acoustic number, but the next single on February 13th is big. There’s a gospel choir. There’s full live strings, amazing drummer on it as well. So yeah, a lot of the tech. The forthcoming singles are much bigger productions, but proud to say, still have that acoustic guitar, finger picking, style as the core.

TTM: You’ve had such a great journey. So many great experiences, so many wonderful travels, as you briefly mentioned towards the start, how have those experiences and those travels inspired you today?

JOHN: In terms of inspiration for songwriting, traveling is great. The actual experience of just meeting people and having so many encounters. I love to write songs about real life situations. And people are inspiring. I meet so many amazing people, and I have met so many amazing people in different places around the world. 

It also gives me a huge sense of positivity, because if you turn on the news, you think everyone in the world is a psychopath and a killer, but in reality, if you go traveling, I mean, I traveled all through COVID. I was in like so many red list countries. They were fine, no problem at all, and I met so many good people in those places. And yeah, honestly, I think the way the world is portrayed to us is not accurate, and really there’s just the world’s full of fantastic people.

TTM: Are you a spiritual person John? I noticed the ‘Om’ symbol, on your t-shirt in the video!

JOHN: I completely believe in spirituality. Completely believe in God or source energy, whatever you want to label it as. And I do genuinely believe that I’m an eternal soul. I’m in a temporary experience as a human being, as ‘John Blaylock’, and let’s just have as much fun with it as I can.

TTM: You’re performing and supporting Wet Wet Wet, which is such a great collaboration for you really, really brilliant stuff. How did that come about? 

JOHN: So, that’s really thanks to the team that they’ve got me on the Wet Wet Wet Tour. And the tour starts this Sunday, and I’ve been checking out some of the venues, and they’re just some of the most beautiful theatres up and down the country. I mean, the one nearest you guys, Stoke, like that, Victoria Hall in Stoke. Wow. What a venue that is!

TTM: What’s keeping you motivated today? 

JOHN: It’s the determination to enjoy the journey, The most important thing is to enjoy the journey. Because, you know, the only moment is now and right now. If you’re not unhappy with what you’re doing, then something’s going wrong. Don’t get hung up on the negative stuff. Just enjoy the journey and live in the moment.

TTM: John, you have so much experience in the industry, do you have any advice for new artists, just beginning their journey?

JOHN: My biggest piece of advice would be to collaborate. I mean, I’ve learned so much as a songwriter, from writing with other people. Collaborate, get out there, make music with people. 

''The most important thing is to enjoy the journey.'' John Blaylock

TTM: If you had to pinpoint the proudest moment of your career what would it be?

JOHN: I used to be in a band when I was younger, and we were signed to a record label, and they weren’t a very good record label. We ended up a quarter million pound of debt to them, but that’s another story. The best thing that happened, though, during that time was I got a phone call once, and totally random. The head of the record label, says, ”Desmond Tutu wants you to write a song for Nelson Mandela.” I was like sounds a bit of a windup, but it wasn’t,  it was a legit thing. Desmond Tutu did actually commission me to write a song to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, and that was given to him as a gift on his 90th birthday, and I’ve now got a lovely letter from Desmond Tutu hanging on my bathroom wall back in Manchester.

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Roisin Murphy Website Featured Image - TRi THIS Music

Róisín Murphy releases new album “Hit Parade” in collaboration with DJ Koze

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Introduction

We sat down with music legend, Róisín Murphy to talk all about her brand new album “Hit Parade” – her sixth solo venture, produced in collaboration with DJ Koze. The album could very much be Róisín’s best solo work to date and stood as one of the best albums of last year. Now in 2024, Murphy is getting ready to embark on live shows, and a new remix album, “Hit Parade” Remixes on the way in May of this year. 

Interview

TTM: We saw you recently singing, “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”  in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From such a young age, singing a massive show tune like that, to then being where you are now,  selling out stadiums and performing  all across the world, that must feel amazing.

Róisín Murphy: Yeah, it was really good to get across South America last year, and to America, which I don’t always do on every album tour. And I’ve never, I’ve never played in Argentina, and so that was special. You know, as the years go by, my fan base kind of spreads, and they’re always ever so lovely. And my shows are always really exuberant and joyful because of who’s there just as much as what’s on the stage. 

TTM: What’s it like being a woman in the industry today? How have you found it? How have you found navigating in the industry in comparison to the past?

Róisín Murphy: I don’t really think about that. Don’t tend to look for misogyny in people. I try to avoid becoming a victim of anything. I grew up with a lot of very interesting men around me, so I’m well able for men. Starting with my father, who was terrible ladies man, and very charismatic and probably a bit sexist, but not when it came to me. He always thought I could do anything, and so I don’t judge people that harshly.

Maybe I’m the wrong person to ask, but I was very safe and secure in Sheffield for all those years in Moloko too. We were quite far away from the industry. We had our own studio. We had our own setup, up there, and we didn’t really have to intermingle too much with the industry, industry. We’d actually make our records and deliver them finished, and I’m kind of still that way now. And so I don’t have any interference with the creative side. I have a great female assistant with me all the time these days, but most of the people around me are men that work in this business. I try not to think about that too much. I just take people as they are.

TTM: One of the big releases from this album was “Freewill”, what were the inspirations going behind this single?

Róisín Murphy: 

TTM: You also got to collaborate with Jessie Ware, I would say you’re pretty much kindred spirits, how was that experience?

Róisín Murphy:  I met her on her podcast. She invited me onto her podcast. So I met her with her mommy, and they fed me. And that was lovely. Then she asked me to do something on this track, and it was really quite simple to do. She sent me the fully formed track and it just had a gap in it, and she said, “fill the gap”. Which I did here remotely, and sent it over and it all fit together perfectly. What we did do together was shoot that lovely pop video, and it was quite chaotic because we arrived on the day and there was like, literally, two mountains of clothes. We had to work that one out together. But it was fun. It was nice to do it with someone else for a change, to be honest.

TTM: Where would you say you get your sense of style from?

Róisín Murphy: Well I wouldn’t call it a sense of style… it’s a sense of fun, a sense of adventure. It’s really frivolous and pointless. It’s not necessary. You know? What is necessary is that the music’s great, and I can kind of do anything visual after I’ve got good music, I can throw any old visual on it, and it’ll sing. You know, the music’s the main thing. But as long as I’m enjoying it, I’ll be doing it and it is fun to me, you know, I’ve been like that since I was a child. I used to dress up as things, I suppose you call it cosplay. Now, my daughter’s the very same and she’s goes out into the world, as characters and or dressed completely from a specific era or whatever. My mom was an antique dealer, so I spent a lot of time on car boot sales and jumble sales and charity shops as a teenager. I loved it.

I’m an entertainer. I’m an exhibitionist. Sounds bad, doesn’t it, being an exhibitionist, but I think the real meaning of being an exhibitionist is that you put an exhibition on, for the delight of other people. And I’ve sort of born to that. I tried to use clothes to accentuate the performance rather than cover it up. You know, I’m not pretending to be anything. I’m not, as far as I’m concerned, anyway, it’s just like an accentuation of the performance. It’s supposed to amplify the meaning of the song and the truth of the performance. And I say the biggest influence for me on that has to be Grace Jones. She accentuates the truth. She’s not hiding. And once it becomes too much hiding, then I think it gets bit boring.

TTM: Have you enjoyed making social media content on Tik Tok and Instagram?

Róisín Murphy: Oh god. It was a whole new world for me and a whole new way of expressing. Initially on Instagram, it’s a great place to experiment visually and make little films and think about different ways of doing performances that go direct to the audience. Particularly over the period of the pandemic, I made all these little performances that were very simple to do, but quite intimate and a different way of seeing me and a different way to perform. And I made a full length performance film with the band called the Róisín Machine film. And that’s on YouTube. That was actually streamed during the pandemic and it’s a beautiful thing. Also, I get to connect with people through social media. So I connect with fashion designers, they can connect with me. And I might find a graphic designer or a lighting man or woman in that way, and you cut out a lot of middlemen. So I tried to use it in as creative a way as possible.

TTM: What can we expect from a Róisín Murphy performance today?

Róisín Murphy: I’m a born performer. I throw myself completely into it. No holds barred. I’m utterly committed to my performance. I’m very lucky in that I’ve worked with the same musical director for all these years. I make these electronic records, or studio based records, and it’s not easy to translate it into something live. It’ll be all the lights, it’ll be all the content. It’ll be all the costumes. It’ll be all the band, be all the songs. It’ll be all the fun dancing, lots of dancing and personal with my wonderful fan base.

TTM: What would you say is your proudest moment so far? 

Róisín Murphy: It might be when I get to stand on that stage at Ally Pally, because that’s the biggest show that I’ve ever sold with my own name. And do you know it’s like 10,000 people? And I still have to pinch myself. It sold out few weeks ago, and I could not believe it. So it might very well be that, but overall, it’s looking back at the entire catalogue that makes me the most proud, not in a super big headed way, because I’m actually, genuinely super surprised that I can look at it and go, “well pretty much all those records are good in one way or another.” I’m very proud of that, and I’ve done the way I’ve done that is by treating it all like a big adventure rather than a very ambitious sort of job. It’s really been a massive adventure. I’ve allowed it to happen to me, in a sense.