Interview | Eg White
Eg White Eg White is one of Britain’s finest songwriters. His credits appear on hits by artists including Will Young, James Morrison, Duffy, James Blunt, Take That, Joss Stone, Pink and Kylie Minogue. In 2009, the same year as he released his solo album, Adventure Man, he was awarded the Ivor for Songwriter of the Year. What are your memories of last year’s Ivor Novello Awards? My main memory is completely screwing up the speech. I wanted to say something about how songwriting today is very different from the past – and that you can now knock together songs really quickly with the lead vocal on the record almost certainly being the one sung there and then in the heat of the moment. Although something has been lost, I think it’s interesting that you also gain something. But then I realised that half of the people in the room had probably been hurt by this change in the industry and got tied up in knots. Has your songwriting method changed much over the years? Fifteen years ago I might spend ten days writing a song and the investment in it was massive. Nowadays I accept that the mortality rate is high. If I write 40 songs in a year, the majority won’t be that good. Eight might be singles, and only one will be very good. Which songs are you proudest of? The really sad truth is that I like the slushy ballads. I’m proudest of these “Trojan horse” songs that seem like they are loving songs but they’re actually about inability. Leave Right Now for Will Young, the ones for James Morrison and Adele. I couldn’t do a straight love song though – the language is too debased.
“I’m proudest of the ‘Trojan horse’ songs that seem like they are loving songs but they’re actually about inability.”
What do you think will be the next significant movement in British music? If I knew I’d be doing it. I was totally wrong footed by pop. I thought that we’d see increasingly erratic and uncontrollable self-expression, but instead it has been straightforward pop. I didn’t see it coming – and I will be happy to see a change.
Have you gained anything from having had a long road to commercial success? Some healthy cynicism. I know what it’s like to fail much more than to succeed, so I have a degree of patience I wouldn’t have. And I don’t feel confident or that the world is my oyster. I think that has saved me from a greater degree of arrogance. Are you glad you’ve had so much experience? I do know what I’m doing and it’s a nice feeling to know I can’t be embarrassed. But perhaps too much experience can be a disadvantage. It makes you less inclined to take risks – if you’ve seen a gate shutting in your face 25 times, you won’t go there. But perhaps one time that gate will open, and when it does, it’ll be fantastic. Sometimes you need to be fearless. If someone stole your music collection, which albums would you miss the most? I’d miss my vinyl most. I started collecting them in 1979 and they have influenced me hugely. Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, some amazing Ray Charles records from the mid 1970s. Even though I don’t play her so much anymore, losing the Joni Mitchell records would be a tragedy. But I’d mostly miss the Ben Britten, Charlie Parker with strings and Rachmaninoff. I’d take that over the soul. Are award shows a bit self-indulgent? The Ivors have always felt real to me. The moments I remember most over the years are hearing Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed and Vince Clarke. They were amazing. I go most years and find it’s an expression of power and prowess. It’s definitely not self-indulgent.
The 2010 Ivor Novello Awards | 49
