................. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ................. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ................. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ................. ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
>> MUSIC
Ryan Maclean HOW’S THE TOUR GOING SO FAR? It’s going really good, I love Calvin’s crowds man, they’re really up for it, I’ve been having a very good time, burning the candle at both ends. ANY CHANCE OF COLLABORATING WITH CALVIN IN THE FUTURE? He’s got a remix of Supernova, which is pretty banging. But yeah, hopefully we’ll keep on working together, he’s a cool guy. IT’S FAIR TO SAY YOU ONLY CAME ON TO A LOT OF PEOPLE’S RADAR WITH THE RELEASE OF ‘SUPERNOVA’, HOW DID THE COLLABORATION WITH KANYE WEST COME ABOUT? He heard the first album (A Tale of Two Cities) and liked it, and he was just a fan of the music, and I think that’s really lovely; it wasn’t an industry deal, it just felt really natural. I’d obviously heard his stuff, and was a massive fan, so when I got the phone call saying Kanye wants to executive produce your next album I didn’t have to think twice, it was a no-brainer! HOW MUCH OF AN INFLUENCE WOULD YOU SAY KANYE HAS BEEN? Massively, particularly in the last year, and not just musically, but like in how to deal with life on the road and how things change in your life, cause there’s almost different rules now, but he’s a very good man and he showed me how to hold on to that. HOW WAS WORKING WITH KANYE ON THE ALBUM? Well it’s not just Kanye, it’s working with his whole team out there, and being in America, listening to American radio and being in LA, it’s just kinda equipped me with the confidence to use new production tools and equipment. When it came to making ‘Straight No Chaser, I didn’t muck around, I just attacked it, I mauled it. I wanted something that would just kick people in the nuts, something a bit more grown up, a bit like, you know that line of Kanye’s, ‘what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger’, and I feel like I’ve lived a lot, I’ve toured a lot, I’ve seen a lot in the last couple of years since the first album, and I just feel like a little bit more match fit, do you know what I mean? I’m literally in better shape too, I played so much basketball out there, I went to the gym with those guys, you know what American’s are like, they watch what they eat, they work hard, they play hard, I’m pretty sure this chest infection I’ve got is from doing a six mile run in Aberdeen! I’ve got this rocky thing going on, the eighties were the decade that, aesthetically at least, influenced this album, you know I wanted this ‘kick them in the nuts thing’, you know like Die Hard, or the Arnie films, I think there’s a bit of that widescreen blockbuster eighties film kind of theme about the album, particularly the first half. THEN WORKING WITH JAY-Z ON THE BLUEPRINT III? That’s another ridiculous career highlight, I couldn’t
DECEMBER 09
have imagined that like 5 or even 2 years ago. I remember, Kanye was in London, it was the third time we’d met and I’d just signed to his record label, and I got in the car and he was like ‘Yo Hudson, what’s goin’ on player´ and I was like ‘Yeah, I’m good, how are you?’ and he said ‘I’m gonna get you on the Blueprint III with Jay-Z’, so I said ‘Yeah, cool, ok’ but kinda thinking, I’ll see it when I believe it; and now here we are, a year later and it’s actually happened, and hopefully I’ll be hooking up with Jay at the end of the week back in London town, so yeah, it’s a funny little life I have. I kinda feel like people are proud to have a British person on the record.
I got a call saying “Kanye wants to exec produce your next album.” I didn’t have to think twice! HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU’VE DEVELOPED SINCE BEING AN INDIE KID SINGERSONGWRITER, TO NOW CROSSING OVER TO URBAN MUSIC? My first instrument was the drums, when I was 10 or 11. I had learnt a bit of piano as a kid obviously when I was at school, and I took the drums very seriously - it was like a girlfriend. You know, at that age before you start talking to girls or anything, I got obsessed. I fell in love with the drums, then the guitar, then the saxophone, then the bass, then I got into recording demo’s on my little 4-track, and then eventually production. So my background is definitely as a singersongwriter with an acoustic guitar sitting on the edge of my bed, sort of moaning about being rubbish at talking to girls. Then to end up on Kanyes record, writing, producing and singing on it, and then singing with Jay, yeah, it’s a long way to come. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY THE MAIN DIFFERENCES WOULD BE BETWEEN ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’ AND ‘STRAIGHT NO CHASER’? Tale of two cities was cross-genre, people ask me “why did you dump the Library”, and I call Joy over, and she’s like, “well I’m still here”. But I haven’t thrown the baby out with the bathwater, just ‘cause the library isn’t on the posters, it was just a bit of a mouthful wasn’t it? But that was the concept for the first album. Straight No Chaser was more about me, about what I wanted to say musically. I made most of it in my bedroom above a pub in Camden. I was just like, it was some sh*t from ‘Rocky’, but musically! You know those
montage scenes in those 80’ films when someone is getting themselves together with the little punching bag and the medicine ball? I was like that musically. I’d get up and drink some coffee, go out for a run, and come back and sit at the piano and write, then go down to the pub, have a couple of pints, then go up to bed and watch a movie. Films are great when you come out of the studio, ‘cause your ears are fucked, and your eyes are screwed from looking at the computer. You’re wired but tired, so a movie just allows you to zone out and hand over control and just forget about yourself. YOU GOT NOMINATED FOR TWO MOBO AWARDS, HOW DID THAT FEEL? I’ve been asked before if it was surreal, but nobody mentioned the fact I’m a white bloke at the awards, I think they’re almost like the Urban Pop awards now, but I think it’s a good thing - a good sign that it wasn’t an issue. It was a great feeling. AND THEN YOU WON THE Q AWARD FOR BEST BREAKTHROUGH, HOW WAS THAT? Now that was surreal! We put a couple of singles out in 2006, the first album came out in early 2007, and now here we are in late 2009, it’s funny how time flies! But yeah, it’s great to be recognised! WHAT HAVE YOU GOT PLANNED FOR 2010 AND BEYOND? I want to get my work rate up, just do more, move up the gears and put my fucking foot down! I want to be talking to you again at like maybe the beginning of 2011 when I’ve put out the third album. I’ve just shot the video with N-Dubz for that new single which we’re really excited about. It’s called ‘Playing With Fire’. It was almost like work experience, like Jim’ll Fix It, like can I be in N-Dubz for a day! I’m working with Estelle on a duet, which will hopefully end up on her album. You’ll see me step it up, I’m not just an Urban artist, I love working with RnB and Hip-Hop people, but you’ll see me doing a lot more. FINAL QUESTION, HAVE YOU MANAGED TO NAB YOURSELF A PAIR OF THE ‘HUDSONS’ YET? No, have you? They’re like £800, I haven’t seen a pair in the UK yet, but I tried some on in Chicago. That was nice, but having Louis Vuitton shoes named after me, that’s the kind of crazy shit that goes on in my life just now. I don’t take these things for granted, I still take pleasure in the small things, you know.The best things in life still come cheap, like taking a walk round Aberdeen, getting lost and getting freezing in this little jacket, then finding a nice little restaurant to have a little fish broth and a whisky toddie. They are the things I enjoy, you know. I don’t need a £500 bottle of Champagne yet!
Mr Hudson’s new album, ‘Straight No Chaser’ is available to buy now.
011