From The Straits Times    |

Reporters from around the region gathered at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Singapore on monday to hear BRIT award recipient and Grammy nominee singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum speak.

His energy and enthusiasm were infectious. As soon as he bounded into the room, everyone was eagerly asking questions ranging from the direction of his newest album, ‘The Pursuit’, to his ability to hold his liquor. (“I’m a happy drunk,” Jamie cheekily informed the press, “I hug people and climb trees after too many beers.”)

Many of us were curious about the covers on ‘The Pursuit’, such as Rihanna’s ‘Don’t Stop the Music’, a genre quite apart from jazz, which Jamie is renowned for.

“I don’t pick which songs to cover, there isn’t any list. They usually come to me at the end of the day, after doing the housework with the radio on. The songs that stick in my head come pouring out, uninvited, when I’m at the piano.”

On tour with Jamie is his wife, former model Sophie Dahl. They wed earlier this year and when asked about how married life has been, Jamie politely shut that thread of enquires down with a short “it’s been very wonderful, thank you”.


HERWORLD.COM’S ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH JAMIE CULLUM

herworldplus.com: You’ve been getting really good reviews for ‘The Pursuit’ – do negative or positive reviews affect you in any way?


Jamie: Of course they do. Something I’ve learnt to do over the years is read as little as possible about myself, because I think even positive reviews can impact on you in a negative way. You start to believe what people say about you and it affects what you do. I think your creative mind should be the guide. If artists of the past could read about themselves on twitter and on blogs, I don’t think they would have had such singular visions.


 

herworldplus.com: Speaking of mixtapes, you wrote that you put Nine Inch Nails into some of the tapes you’ve made and list Ben Folds and Arcade Fire as your influences. Are you okay with being labelled as a jazz musician, or is that something you’re trying to break past?

Jamie: I’m not really interested in whether I’m being labelled or not, it’s not something I concern myself with – it’s a waste of time. All I want to do is make music that feels good. I grew up listening to Nirvana, as well as jazz. I grew up listening to electronic music, house music, rave music, drum and bass music. I also like classical and hip-hop. I think people of our generation are all that way. You can get the history of music all on your phone or the Internet, so why limit yourself to one thing?

herworldplus.com: That’s so true. I was listening to Julian Casablancas’ album, Phrazes For the Young yesterday, and my friend asked me what genre it was. She was really weirded out by how varied it sounded.

Jamie: To me that album was really… 80’s Synth-pop. You’d expect some kind of garage rock out of Julian Casablancas, but it was totally different from how The Strokes sound. I’m really looking forward to their next album.

herworldplus.com: You’re an English Literature major, so I have to ask you, what are some of your favourite books of all time?

Jamie: One would be ‘The Book of Illusions’ by Paul Auster; I’m a big fan. Another may be Colum McCann’s ‘Let the Great World Spin’, it’s beautiful. ‘The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay’ by Michael Chabon, that’s good too.

 

herworldplus.com: One last question: where do you go from here? What’s the next step up from ‘The Pursuit’?

Jamie: It’s hard to say, the answer varies from day to day. I try not to plan too much, I’m touring the world right now and maybe when that’s done, I’ll start making more music again. You must let your creative mind lead the way.

Jamie Cullum played a sold-out concert last night at the Esplanade Concert Hall, as part of the Mosaic Series.