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Das ist ein Interview vom 10. August
British singer opens up to Starlounge about the toughest year of his life
He’s currently gearing up for the release of his third album ‘The Awakening’ and James Morrison says that the record is his most personal to date.
The 26-year-old ‘You Give Me Something’ singer reveals that his latest offering was inspired by the loss of his father Paul Catchpole, who died suddenly last August after a long battle with alcohol addiction.
“I had a depressing year, my dad died and loads of bad stuff happened, but out of it comes this album which is the best thing I’ve ever done,” he tells Starlounge.
While some of the songs focus on his grief, James says he tried to make the tone of the album as positive as possible.
“My favourite song is ‘In My Dreams’, it’s about what happened to my dad, but I didn’t want it to be negative.
“It’s basically saying ‘I miss you every day, but if I go to sleep I might see you in my dreams’. I wanted it to reflect that time. It’s difficult… trying to write about how your dad died is really tough.”
James became a father himself in 2008 when he and his long term partner Gill welcomed their daughter Elsie – now three.
“Being a dad keeps me grounded,” he admits. “Elsie is like a teenager, she has so much attitude!”
James, who has been with his “missus” Gill since he was 16, admits he finds it difficult to deal with the attention he receives from over-zealous female fans and hated being labelled as a hearthrob.
“It all got out of hand for a while and I felt like it was out of my control,” he explains. “I had girls shouting ‘James! We love you James’, it was just weird. I’d rather have people listen to the music to be honest.
“It’s fun having fit girls come down to my gigs, but I’m not really into that. While people are shouting out ‘I love you’ and ‘I want to marry you’ they’re not listening to my lyrics.”
He insists he stays away from the whole showbiz scene and still has the same friends he had before he became successful.
“I’m not a member of the ‘celebrity’ club,” he explains. “I think I got kicked out before I even joined.”
James is often compared to the likes of fellow Briton James Blunt and Paolo Nutini, something which he admits he feels uncomfortable with, as well as the assumption that he is rather bland.
“The whole nice guy image I get labelled with annoys the hell out of me,” he tells Starlounge. “I don’t want to be known as some boring, insipid ballad singer, that’s not me.
“People compare me to James Blunt which is annoying, because I don’t think I’m like him. But I can see why they do it.
“We have the same first name and we’re both thought of as being wet. I’m not wet, and James is an army guy so he could probably beat the hell out of me!”
‘The Awakening’ is James’s first release on record label Island Records, which was also the home of singer Amy Winehouse, who was found dead in her London home last month.
“I loved Amy Winehouse, she was one of my all time favourite female vocalists,” he says. “I was mowing the lawn when I found out that she’d died and I just couldn’t believe it.
“I met her once, she was walking by and I just had to talk to her, I told her I thought she was the most amazing singer. I had to tap her to get her attention as she seemed really dazed at the time.
“I wish I’d written the song ‘Love is a Losing Game’. I couldn’t stop listening to it after she died.”
James says that one of the best decisions he ever made was turning down the lead role in the movie ‘August Rush’, which he was offered shortly after his debut album ‘Undiscovered’ was released.
“Jonathan Rhys Meyers ended up doing it instead,” he says. “I’m so glad I didn’t do it because it was cheesy as hell and totally bombed at the box office. I think that would have totally confused people and I just want to be known as a singer.
“I hate that whole celebrity culture of selling every bit of yourself. In years to come I’d rather people be like ‘Oh there’s that guy who used to be a singer and disappeared up his own a***’.”
The Awakening is released worldwide on September 26
Written by Tamara Hardingham-Gill
British singer opens up to Starlounge about the toughest year of his life
He’s currently gearing up for the release of his third album ‘The Awakening’ and James Morrison says that the record is his most personal to date.
The 26-year-old ‘You Give Me Something’ singer reveals that his latest offering was inspired by the loss of his father Paul Catchpole, who died suddenly last August after a long battle with alcohol addiction.
“I had a depressing year, my dad died and loads of bad stuff happened, but out of it comes this album which is the best thing I’ve ever done,” he tells Starlounge.
While some of the songs focus on his grief, James says he tried to make the tone of the album as positive as possible.
“My favourite song is ‘In My Dreams’, it’s about what happened to my dad, but I didn’t want it to be negative.
“It’s basically saying ‘I miss you every day, but if I go to sleep I might see you in my dreams’. I wanted it to reflect that time. It’s difficult… trying to write about how your dad died is really tough.”
James became a father himself in 2008 when he and his long term partner Gill welcomed their daughter Elsie – now three.
“Being a dad keeps me grounded,” he admits. “Elsie is like a teenager, she has so much attitude!”
James, who has been with his “missus” Gill since he was 16, admits he finds it difficult to deal with the attention he receives from over-zealous female fans and hated being labelled as a hearthrob.
“It all got out of hand for a while and I felt like it was out of my control,” he explains. “I had girls shouting ‘James! We love you James’, it was just weird. I’d rather have people listen to the music to be honest.
“It’s fun having fit girls come down to my gigs, but I’m not really into that. While people are shouting out ‘I love you’ and ‘I want to marry you’ they’re not listening to my lyrics.”
He insists he stays away from the whole showbiz scene and still has the same friends he had before he became successful.
“I’m not a member of the ‘celebrity’ club,” he explains. “I think I got kicked out before I even joined.”
James is often compared to the likes of fellow Briton James Blunt and Paolo Nutini, something which he admits he feels uncomfortable with, as well as the assumption that he is rather bland.
“The whole nice guy image I get labelled with annoys the hell out of me,” he tells Starlounge. “I don’t want to be known as some boring, insipid ballad singer, that’s not me.
“People compare me to James Blunt which is annoying, because I don’t think I’m like him. But I can see why they do it.
“We have the same first name and we’re both thought of as being wet. I’m not wet, and James is an army guy so he could probably beat the hell out of me!”
‘The Awakening’ is James’s first release on record label Island Records, which was also the home of singer Amy Winehouse, who was found dead in her London home last month.
“I loved Amy Winehouse, she was one of my all time favourite female vocalists,” he says. “I was mowing the lawn when I found out that she’d died and I just couldn’t believe it.
“I met her once, she was walking by and I just had to talk to her, I told her I thought she was the most amazing singer. I had to tap her to get her attention as she seemed really dazed at the time.
“I wish I’d written the song ‘Love is a Losing Game’. I couldn’t stop listening to it after she died.”
James says that one of the best decisions he ever made was turning down the lead role in the movie ‘August Rush’, which he was offered shortly after his debut album ‘Undiscovered’ was released.
“Jonathan Rhys Meyers ended up doing it instead,” he says. “I’m so glad I didn’t do it because it was cheesy as hell and totally bombed at the box office. I think that would have totally confused people and I just want to be known as a singer.
“I hate that whole celebrity culture of selling every bit of yourself. In years to come I’d rather people be like ‘Oh there’s that guy who used to be a singer and disappeared up his own a***’.”
The Awakening is released worldwide on September 26
Written by Tamara Hardingham-Gill
