00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to
00:06start talking about the Chichester Fringe for this year and a really intriguing gig
00:10coming up from David Robinson, who is known as the Cold Heart Review. You are playing
00:16in the Picture Palace at the New Park Community Centre on June 7th. Now the appeal for you
00:22is this fits 13 people. And as you were saying, you'd rather have 13 people who are there
00:28specifically for you than a massive crowd that wasn't.
00:34That's exactly right. I wanted to do a performance in a place where you could really reach hold
00:40of people. You know, if someone's in your living room and someone gets a guitar out and plays
00:44a song, you're not going to miss it. And I wanted that kind of feeling. I wanted to be
00:52able to really reach out and to be able to see people's faces and their responses. And
00:57I've been really lucky and I've opened for Madness and Dr. Feelgood and Gina Washington
01:04and quite a bunch of musicians I really love. And that's a great experience.
01:09But I didn't really know what it would be like to headline a show to even to 13 people. What
01:15did that really feel like? And it's a big thing I'm building up towards. It's 13 people,
01:21it's one hour, it starts at 6.30. And let's see how entertaining I'm able to be in that
01:28setting. And the picture palette is beautiful.
01:30Sounds super appealing, not least for the fact that in a way you are kind of finding yourself
01:36musically, aren't you? You've done a couple of albums as collaboration with a blues performer
01:40that you admire. But this one is writing songs just for you and finding your voice, isn't
01:46it? Is that a fair summary?
01:49That's right. I'd written a lot of songs for an American performer called Johnny Mars and
01:54we'd done two albums. And writing for someone else's voice is a really different experience.
02:00And I think like most people, we downplay the events of our own life. And when you go back
02:07and start remembering, it's, oh, actually, that was interesting or that might be worth
02:12writing a song about. And I'm sort of building the show around that. So I've got new songs and
02:18they're not the bits of your life story that feel obvious. It's not kind of birth, my first
02:24day at school or, you know, whatever it is. It's the little random things. Well, why do
02:29I remember that? Why is that important? And then you write songs about them and you explore
02:34them. And that's what the show is about. Just songs that really no one else would be
02:38able to sing because it'd be hard for them to relate to because they're real memories.
02:43And a doubly important show because you'll be doing 15, 20 songs from which you will be
02:47choosing 10, which will become the album when you get into the studio in October.
02:53That's right. And the audience are very much like voting members.
02:58They're going to be part of that choice then, aren't they?
03:01They absolutely are. And I've been toying with the idea of, I'm always a big believer
03:06of song titles. And I'm toying with the idea of having a notice board with the song titles
03:12on and seeing what ones the audience actually think, oh, hang on, that looks like an
03:16interesting name for a song. And letting them kind of steer the direction.
03:21And so all of the songs are going to be rehearsed. But the order I might not know
03:26myself is going to be what grabs them. And there's a reason that a word or a phrase
03:31will grab an audience member. And normally, if an audience is having a reaction in
03:37concert with each other, they've picked up on what ideas are better.
03:41Or you've got to do that. You've got to have a list of the 20 songs and give everyone
03:4710 votes, haven't you? Isn't that the way to do it?
03:50Well, I think that's a really nice idea because audiences and I've played in like really rowdy
03:57bars. And I've played at Royal Albert Hall. And the better songs got a better reaction each
04:04time. And the worst songs got a worse reaction. And people think audiences vary, but they don't
04:09really. They recognise what works and what doesn't.
04:13Well, I suppose it's down to you to demand attention, isn't it?
04:16So it's quite an important night for me. And those 13 people are going to play a big role
04:21in shaping not just that night, but what I record and then my next couple of years.
04:27And so anyone who's there is going to have quite a big sway over what I do next.
04:31It sounds a unique and special evening. David, lovely to speak to you. I'm sure it'll go
04:37brilliantly. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I'd love you to come down if you're free.
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