The soloist Morcheeba Skye Edwards on her solo career and the dangers of white nights
Morcheeba come to Bosco Fresh Fest in Moscow, British classics downtempo 90s, at one time survived much more troubled times than their music suggests, almost inseparable from the voice of Sky Edwards. On the eve of the concert, we talked with her about Morcheeba’s distant past, the path of an independent musician and what it is like when your son plays with you in the same band.
About how Skye became Skye
At first I did not think about the career of a singer, I was going to become a fashion designer. And when I met Paul and Ross (Godfrey brothers, the founders of Morcheeba. - Approx. Ed.)I rather joined their dream - they saw me as a singer. Later, when it became reality, it became my dream. In the sense that I understood: "Oh, and from this really something can turn out." But my first passion was fashion.
This was not what I sang in the bathroom, holding a toothbrush instead of a microphone. But I remember that I took poems and thought up a melody for them, composed harmony. Just having fun in this way, I had no plans for something more serious.
I started calling myself Skye (SKYE is the abbreviation of the singer's passport name, Shirley Clariss Jonaviv Edwards. - Ed.)when she was in fashion college. I wanted to come up with a cool name for myself, and Skye sounded better than just Shirley.
About relationships with Morcheeba songs and riot
The first time we heard our song on the radio, having stayed in the studio till night, it was the year in 1994 or 1995. At two o'clock in the morning a small underground radio station put on the air "Trigger Hippie" - and we had a feeling of triumph. We even included "We Are the Champions" Queen for the occasion. What an absurdity! But then it seemed to us that we became stars.
We were very concerned about pushing a song on the radio, making a hit. And we constantly argued about what would shoot, and what not: "Here! Here's a pop song! They will put it everywhere!" This was repeated time after time: you like the song, and the others hate it.
I remember that when Paul and Ross brought me "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day", I didn’t like it terribly. Now I love to perform it, and listeners at concerts always take it well. But then I didn’t understand her at all - it was probably the first time when I harshly said no, I really rebelled. We have been arguing for a long time about this song. Paul and Ross said: "What are you, this is a great song for the radio." I spat on her, but still sang - and "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day" hit the top ten of the charts in ten countries. For us it was a good result.
But this often happens with musicians and songs. R.E.M. can not stand "Shiny Happy People". Or Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” is clearly not their favorite song, and yet it has become very popular.
About solo career in the Internet era
I launched my label after having suffered with the first solo album. His exit was constantly postponed. And then I decided that my second one, "Keeping Secrets", would be released on my own. I was lucky in the sense that I had a little money from the sale of CDs at concerts, and this allowed me to publish on my own. And since then all my albums I release at my own expense.
The Internet has changed the music, changed the way we listen to it. And this has its advantages. Someone uploaded the song "Not Broken" from my second solo album to YouTube, and now it has seven million views. It's nice to know that people like this song so much. On the other hand, my first album, downloaded by someone on the Web, was downloaded 120 thousand times or so - and I did not receive a single penny from it. And it is so simple that no one considers it a theft. Children, never do that.
About children and youtube
My son, he is nine years old, loves broadcasting video games - when one of the adult gamers plays and the others watch. "Who do you want to be?" - "Mom, I want to be YouTube!" And the daughter is constantly watching video blogs. Reviews of new nail polishes, lipstick, do not know, new blenders! It's amazing how seriously people take it. And they do not need to get into the TV - they have their own TV.
Jahah's eldest son played drums in a band. I constantly told him: “You’ll not make a career out of this, you need to work hard in the music industry until seventh sweat, so you better find yourself a normal job.” And I did not have time to notice how Ross invited him to Morcheeba - I learned about it after the fact. Of course, I was shocked that my son now plays with me. Jaage is now 18 years old - and Ross was also 18 when he created Morcheeba, so he doesn’t see anything surprising in this: "The guy plays the drums? Let's give him a chance."
It's funny that I told my son that music cannot make a living, and now I pay him as a musician.
About white nights and bad advice
Once we were in St. Petersburg when there were white nights. And that time something went astray. Because usually, when it gets dark, I go to bed, and here we drink one round after another - and it does not get dark. We came to our senses when it was already eight in the morning and it was time to go to the hotel to pick up things. Checkin at the airport was nightmarish. I felt so bad that our guitar player decided to help me and advised me to drink some more. I drank beer - it didn’t get better, so I drank more ... In general, we were lucky that the bus doors were open because I was sick of absolutely monstrous.
About the status of Morcheeba and labels
Ross and I did not plan to record and perform as Morcheeba, so last year’s album was released as Skye & Ross. The fact is that his elder brother Paul left the music, but formally, he retained the rights to the name of the group. The situation was a stalemate, and, frankly, we were confident that Morcheeba was over. But now we managed to come to an agreement, so now we can act as Morcheeba again, it remains to settle the last details. And we will release the new album as Morcheeba.
I know that it is a sticky label - "Sky from" Murchiba "" (in one of the early releases, the singer is so marked. - Approx. Ed.) - but it is so. I am Skye from "Murchiba". It took me a while to realize this, but in the way the band sounds, there is also my merit, why refuse it. When I write solo albums, I don’t want them to look like Morcheeba - although they usually convince me of the opposite.
Cover: Morcheeba