<\/em>I found out I could sing while I was doing experimental theatre in 1989 \u2013 it was a cultural crossover between Ukraine and the UK. My biggest fear was singing in public and I wanted to do something I was afraid of, so I turned a Rimbaud poem into what I imagined was a blues song. And I loved it. Afterwards, I met this producer, William Orbit \u2013 I was 19 and he was 37 \u2013 through one of the women in the play whose husband was the manager of the Pogues. William decided: \u201cShe can sing. I will make a star of her.\u201d He hooked me up with a wonderful singing teacher. But I probably will never see myself as a singer. Even last week I was like: \u201cOh yeah, I guess I am a musician, that\u2019s ended up being what I do.\u201d I still can\u2019t quite get my head around that.<\/p>\n
When making a new song up, do you have a job to do, or are you inspired? And in which order do the songs come, regarding melody, chords, words? <\/strong>gin007
<\/em>I get inspired and that\u2019s why I write. I could be walking in nature or having a conversation and it\u2019ll spark something in my head and I\u2019ll make notes. Then I\u2019ll go to the piano or guitar and often if I\u2019ve got something percolating, that will find its way into the chords. So, melody, words and chords often come together at once. Then I do the work, which is the filling it in. The easy part is the la la la, here\u2019s the idea, here\u2019s the shape, here\u2019s the form, and then it\u2019s like: this all came unconsciously, how do I write to that standard consciously? That can be really, really challenging. It can make your skin crawl because it\u2019s hard to write a good song.<\/p>\n
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