00:00Yeah, obviously it's been an incredibly tough week.
00:04We worked with Liam, toured with him, wrote songs and so yeah, it's really, I mean, just
00:09heartbreaking news and yeah, I think, I absolutely think more needs to be done to protect young
00:14artists and so I really hope that this can start that conversation and yeah, obviously
00:24I think everyone's just in shock still.
00:26Can I ask, obviously you've worked with him over the years and toured with him, what were
00:30some of your fond memories, I guess, of being with him?
00:33We had some great memories. I mean, you know, all of the boys were so lovely to work with,
00:38especially back in the day when they were really young and fresh and new to the business.
00:42They reminded us a lot of ourselves and it was a great honour for us to get to, you know,
00:48work on their albums and then tour with them so yeah, we had some great memories.
00:54Liam was a Wolverhamptoner so I kept an eye on what he was doing and to see a lad so young
01:05with so much going for him to the outside world and to see where the other side of fame
01:14took him has broken my heart. We need more care for young people in the music industry.
01:24He was initially 14, 15 when he started, the 1D lads were babies and, you know, as minors
01:34there should be so much more care, so much more attention. In theatre there are chaperones
01:42for kids until they reach the age of 18. We should have the same in music.
01:48Kids need to be protected, they cannot just be a means of, you know, making money or generating money.
01:59They cannot, they have to be protected. Their mental health has to be looked after first and foremost.
02:06Absolutely, I think there's definitely something to be said for protecting artists full stop.
02:10You know, I think there's a lot of things that people don't see behind the scenes.
02:13They just see the glitz and the glamour, they see what goes on stage, they see the successes often
02:17but they don't see the everyday struggles and the things that people go through behind closed doors
02:22and of course, you know, it was devastating news. We had a great relationship with Liam.
02:27As you know, ourselves, JLS and the 1D boys, we performed a number of times together.
02:32Funnily enough, we knew Liam before he was in 1D because he was part of the 2008 X Factor journey
02:39even though he didn't go to the live finals. So yeah, it was a tough week for me last week.
02:44Marvin's spoken incredibly well about our relationship with him and his personal relationship with him as well.
02:50So it was a lot to process but, you know, one of the things, and Marvin mentioned this,
02:55one of the things I was just so proud about and of with Liam was that he actually got to live his dream.
03:01You know, if you knew him pre-X Factor and pre-One Direction, he was just a happy-go-lucky kid.
03:07Loved to sing, wanted to share his voice with the world and he got to do that.
03:11So that is the silver lining, I think, with this terrible news.
03:15Yeah, it's devastating. We weren't close. We'd met him a few times, just kind of cross paths, touring and things like that.
03:23But yeah, it's, I think, yeah, it's just, there's not really much to say. It's just so, so sad.
03:33Yeah, it's been a difficult week. I mean, yeah, we didn't know him well and we never collaborated.
03:40We were talking about collaborating in around 2018-19 but we never recorded anything.
03:46But yeah, it's just been so shocking and yeah, I wish that he'd had a better time.
03:59Going through this business is not an easy thing, you know.
04:02I mean, I feel for Liam and his family and it's just so, it does spit you out, this business, you know.
04:11And I feel like there needs to be more support for artists that go through, especially artists that, you know,
04:18go through these kind of reality shows where they're just kind of very famous for one minute and then spat out.
04:25And we all know that there have been casualties of that machine.
04:30And I'm hoping that, you know, with tragedy like this comes some kind of hope that the business is going to look after these people.
Comments