Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/283625
7 29 Issue 61 / 2014 INDIE / ROCK guestlist.net FIRST TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF. I was born in Tiger Bay which is in Wales and my father's black my mother's white. He would play Marvin Gaye, she would play Bob Dylan and I was obsessed with both of those artists. I went into music because he was in a band called the Shades and he used to take me on the road with him all over the UK, packing his equipment to start. I just watched my father over the years because I idolize him. Eventually I started singing and before I knew it I knew it I was here at Guestlist doing this interview! YOU WERE QUITE YOUNG WHEN HE TOOK YOU ON THE ROAD, HOW WAS IT? It was great, I was very young, I started at 7 years old. He used to do a cabaret theme, which is a bit like Vaudeville in America and I would go around with him and just, you know sing the classics from Michael Jackson to Frank Sinatra, it was great fun and I learned a lot. After that you had a lot of professions. You were a professional disco dancer, boxing belt holder, trainee priest and front man for a heavy rock band. A lot of it was all entertainment cause the dance came from entertainment, the rock thing was another aspect of music, probably like yourself I like it all, you know I like Rock, I like Soul, I like Hip Hop and when you're finding your own self, you kind of journey through a lot of different sounds. So yeah I did a lot of jobs but it was mainly music. I boxed as a kid because I come from a rough background and my father used to send us to box to learn self-defense, so that was kind of a necessity at the time and then I won the championship which is pretty handy. AND YOU HAVE AN ALBUM COMING OUT SOON "LIFE AND TIMES", CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? I can. As the title is "Life and Times" I basically cherry picked every moment through my life and took songs that represented very important moments to me. My father recently passed away and we were very tight and the song on there is called "Ballroom Blues" from that. I was in the studio in Abbey Road making this album and about to bury my father, and everyone was sitting around not wanting to do music and the guitarist started to play this lovely riff. So we mic'd him up and then I didn't have a pen, paper or any idea what I was gonna sing about. I just sang the song from beginning to end which is the first for me. The incredible thing about this album, every song on it has a story behind it. IS THE SONG "SAY YOU LOVE ME" ABOUT A PERSON IN PARTICULAR? "Say you love me" came to me when I was driving in Wales and I saw a boy and a girl arguing at a bus stop. The girl was standing up under the bus shelter, and the guy was crying. I was really intrigued and managed to watch long enough without being seen, but it was like she had all the power. I went home and months later the song came up, called "Say you love me". I'm sure you've all been in there, where the relationship is over, but you're still in love with the other person, you just want to hear one more time say you love me, you know. OUT OF ALL YOUR PERFORMANCES WHICH ONE IS YOUR FAVORITE? That's a really good question. I think I'm gonna have to say, when I played Hop Farm with Bob Dylan. And not because it was Bob Dylan although that was a big moment for me, but because that was the first time I understood what I was trying to do, everything made sense. So hop Farm was a memorable gig for me and one of the most important. YOU ALSO SANG ALONGSIDE LENNY KRAVITZ, HOW WAS THAT? When I played Lenny Kravitz it was a nice balance, because he is kind of a combination pop, combination rock, it worked very well and the fans were really great. And when I played with Pablo Mode it was the same thing. I found out when I play guitar and sing a song it's even more natural, and I didn't want to fight all the time. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD TO YOUR FANS THAT THEY SHOULD KNOW? I'd like to use the opportunity to thank not so much the fan but you guys, all you guys working and doing what you do, because without this it doesn't grow. And I think it's the most important thing, I know we're all the same like a chain on a bike, everything is the same, you need me I need you, the fan need us. And I just want to thank anyone in the arts, just pushing forward and trying to do something cause it's great. Estelle | guestlist.net " As the title is "Life and Times" I basically cherry picked every moment through my life and took songs that represented very important moments to me. " INTERVIEW NOAH FRANCIS JOHNSON Tigerbay born singer and boxer Noah Francis Johnson joined Guestlist's Estelle to tell her all about his new album "Life and Times" Follow @noahfrancis