Edward Bell

Q: Hey Edward, how are you today?
Not great actually, I think I must have undercooked some chicken last night. Still buzzing with getting to £7500 of essentially strangers money though. Especially with the way the industry has become so apathetic recently, I think it speaks volumes that individuals are wresting power back from big labels and helping the little guy .

Q: You started writing your own music at the age of only 15 but with a mature feel to it. Tell me what made you start writing music.
-Hope you don’t mind a long one!
My mother, who is one of the finest people I could hope to be related to, gave me the chance to take piano lessons when I was little (4 or 5 years old), and I kept it up classically for a long time (I’m still partial to tinkering away through a Mozart Sonata-but I don’t readily admit to that…) but when I was 14 my piano teacher set me to work on the Raindrop Prelude by Chopin. I was frustrated that I couldn’t make such a beautiful piece sound as nice as the recordings I’d heard. I realized I was never going to be a world famous pianist and that got me thinking outside of the box. We started playing through some Elton John and some jazz as well as the classical programme and as a singer, I would sing along with the vocal part and piano. We worked on more and more ‘popular’ music and that’s where it all began.

Writing my first song, Leave It All Behind, I had become very close to a really wonderful girl, and it was written for her, as there was a possibility I would move schools after my GCSE’s and I really didn’t want to leave her behind. The song wrote itself, the lyrics are simple, arguably ‘cheesy’, but they came from such an honest place for such a direct purpose that I didn’t mind. I played it to her and she loved it. Soon afterwards she became my first girlfriend.

Q: Your lyrics act as simple love ballads but there is much more to them, care to give a deeper insight how and more importantly in accordance to where they were created?
Well, I think it’s very kind indeed that you say there is ‘much more to them’. I’m not sure it’d be right for me to try and explain why that might be, subjective as it is. I would say that I am hyper-critical of myself, which is more a blessing than a hindrance, and lyrics, chord progressions and chorus’s are thought about, rewritten, played to musical friends for feedback and finely tuned as a composition through a few performances.

In answer to ‘where’, my method for my best songs has been one where I will be overcome with that feeling of needing to vent something that I start scribbling down (essentially) poetry and it will just be the song right there on the page, I can hear it in my head, I get to a piano as soon as possible and it takes 10 minutes from pen to paper to piano. I think the best songs will always be that organic.

I wrote Two Continents for a girlfriend who went abroad for 2 weeks and it was the first time I felt that neediness. The River was written when I’d run out of money and all my friends were going out somewhere, and I was frustrated, almost angry and it just fit the mood. Autumnal Goodbye’s was written on a train on a drizzly day. Montmartre was just the sounding out of a childhood obsession with Paris. In some respects it’s London with chic, where London is Paris with edge (creatively).

I won’t continue with an account of each song I’ve ever written, but they’ve all been part of the zeitgeist, they’ve all fit with something going on with me, in that respect (and that respect only) I suppose they are autobiographical.

Q: You played quite a number of gigs already – is there a certain one that has a special place in your heart?
Valentine’s Day at the Troubadour was perfect. I had the right number of friends there supporting me (too many and it dilutes how you feel about the audience’s reaction, too few and you feel a little isolated!), there was a massive sense of occasion, even if it was a commercial one(!) and I played well. The reaction was great, laughs at the right moments between songs, silence the whole time I was playing and a real intensity in the air. It was great.

Q: You already have a selection of tracks ready for your album – will there be a special theme to it? Any sneaky peaks or info you would like to share?
I want it to be the perfect balance of the simplicity of me at a piano live, and the rich wall of sound you can get in a studio with every instrument at your disposal. As a debutante, my emphasis will be on the quality of songs, a theme can wait until the 4th album at least!!! I can think of nothing more amazing than looking down at a well-made CD and seeing the track list you’ve made for songs you’ve written. Seeing ‘Cavalry’, ‘Sophie’, ‘You’, and all the new songs one after the other in big letters will make me very proud.

Q: If you would have to dedicate one of your tracks to each season which would those tracks be and why?
-spring: Cavalry- opening line ‘What is this chaos? Unordered bliss’…it’s new buds and grass and birds and movement and intensity.
-summer: You- It’s the smug smile of a man walking along a street on a sunny sunny day!
-fall: Autumnal Goodbye’s- Obvious, but it’s the only choice isn’t it!!! It’s all about change, fallen leaves, moving away, transition…I think it’s synonymous with the season.
-winter: The River- It’s cold, it’s bitter, but sort of powerful in its own way.

Q:. If you could choose any artist on this world to do a duet with who would it be?
A very difficult question it changes every day! Today however it would be Nick Drake.
Amazing man. Tragic life. English voice.
A true musician with his own tuning systems for his guitar (not uncommon, I know, but some of his were crazy).I think I idolize Nick Drake more than any singer/songwriter.

Up with him for me to duet with would be Kate Rusby, a glorious English Folk Singer and Seth Lakeman another glorious English Folk Singer. There’s something beautiful about modernized folk, which is that the words are so simple, so effective and don’t have to be over-analyzed. I’d also like to do a single with Sufjan Stevens who has written some incredible songs and has a great voice.

Q:. To roll back the time, you got involved with music at the age of 5, do you remember who your favorite artists were at that time and what is your opinion on them now?
I was very into Michael Jackson when I was 6 (no jokes please).

His album Dangerous has at least 3 songs that still make me jealous from a songwriting point of view, even if they are a little soppy in parts. I don’t want to tell you what happened then, and the reason I don’t want to tell you is because I was into the Spice Girls, Louise, and Celine Dion.

My brother saved me from all that with the introduction of Brit Pop and after Blur I got into the typical teenage Rock/Pop of the time, Feeder, Blink182, Green Day etc…

Q: To ease up a bit a quick five:
-What is the first thing you see when you first open up your eyes in the morning?
My keyboard. It’s right there, so I have no excuse not to get on it lots!
-What do you have as your ringtone melody?
‘Fare Thee Well’ by Kate Rusby. Youtube it now.
-Are you a dog or a cat person?
Dog. All the way. And if you’d met my 3 legged psycho cat Barney, you’d understand.
-What was/is the name of your first pet?
3 cats, Olliebeak, Tiddles, and Scoutie. 1 dog, Putney. (I was born when all 4 were around)
-Coffee or tea?
Coffee; black no sugar (amazing),

Q:. Here is yet another chance to tell people to invest in you, so why should they invest in you, what can you offer?
The world.

Q: Well that’s it, thank you for your time! If you have anything more to add for the end go ahead!
My answer to Question 10 was only half serious(!). Here’s a real one, pretending to be Question 11; I can offer 16 years of experience as a semi-prof/professional musician. I’m grounded, I’m willing to change and evolve if I see merit in the idea. My songs have been poorly recorded in no more than 100 minutes (no jokes) and I chomping at the bit, nay, foaming at the mouth at the prospect of recording a full album in a great studio. I have a great team of friends who act as advisors to make sure I get a full spectrum of ideas on where to go.

Music is the one place I don’t have an ego. That’s it…

You can find Edward Bell at;

http://www.myspace.com/edwardbell

Interview by “Alnilam”

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