The former Stoke Newington resident and rising soul star is keeping his feet on the ground, writes James Lachno.
“I don’t fucking write hits”: Liam Bailey says his album is a musical buffet with something for everyone. Photo: Charm Factory.
Liam Bailey is suddenly anxious. “Oh, just wait a moment, before you go…” he calls out. I’ve just concluded an interview with the remarkably candid soul singer in the foyer of Universal Records’ offices in Kensington – one in which he has blasted X Factor contestants and recalled a smorgasbord of hedonistic activity. He grins apologetically. “The thing is… my mum doesn’t like me smoking. She hasn’t minded so much since I got a number five hit, but if you could not mention it that would be ace”. Before I have chance to respond he says “ah, don’t worry, cheers mate!” and ambles off.
It’s an amusing – but not unsurprising – postscript to an exchange in which Bailey consistently belies his status as one of 2011’s feted musical talents. And what a talent he has. The raucous, incendiary beauty of his voice so bewitched neo-soul songstress Amy Winehouse that she released his debut EP, 2am Rough Tracks, on her label, Lioness, last year. Earlier this year, he was earmarked by chart-scaling drum ‘n’ bass outfit Chase and Status to sing on their track ‘Blind Faith’, culminating in the top-five hit of which his mum was so proud.
A less grounded man might already have fallen victim to the airs and graces of his burgeoning fame. But not Bailey, who, whether jumping up from his seat to play chopsticks on a nearby piano or swearing heartily in his heavy Nottingham accent, is atypically down-to-earth. He says he regrets having to relocate from Hackney to Bethnal Green.
“I actually moved out of Stoke Newington because I couldn’t afford it. I was there for about five years on the same rent, but it finally went up so much I had to move. I miss knowing everyone in the pub and coffee shop down the road.”
Retaining ties to his past are evidently important for Bailey, even though his childhood in Beeston, just outside Nottingham city centre, is remembered with a mixture of fondness and relief that he got out.
“I grew up on a council estate and I remember doing petty crime from a young age – just nicking sweets, but that evolves.” He twiddles a coil of his afro-spiked hair ruefully. “I still see friends that mattered, although a lot of the kids I knew ended up in prison.”
Old friends play a crucial role in keeping Bailey’s ascending star in check. When Chase and Status came calling, it was his friends, not his record company bosses, who compelled him to take on the project.
“I got sent the track, we all sat around and played it, and the lyrics were so fitting – ‘riding with automatic self-destruction’ is just how it feels when your throat’s fucked and you’ve been battering drugs all weekend. We all thought it was hilarious, so I said I’d do it.”
Indeed, when I broach the subject of Bailey’s forthcoming debut record, Out of the Shadows, he bristles at the idea that he is merely a money-making vehicle for executives in record company boardrooms.
“When I got signed [to Polydor Records], I said ‘I don’t fucking write hits’…” He trails off, furrowing his brow, before concluding: “But there’s a bit of everything on there. It’s like a buffet. If you want the fucking vol-au-vents, have it. If you don’t like it there are some drumsticks over there”.
Now 27, Bailey is virtually a dinosaur within an industry which increasingly favours the malleability of young starlets. Had he not been discovered, how long would it have been before we saw him vaunting his talents on the X Factor?
“Oh no,” he snorts, recoiling with a grimace, “It makes me cringe. Horrible, isn’t it? I met that Katie Weasel, and I said to her – ‘why is it every time I turn on the fucking TV you’re either singing out of tune or crying?’ The X Factor kids just want to be famous. Their life is Asda, ITV and Heat magazine.”
But doesn’t he crave fame, just a little bit?
“My mates won’t let me get away with acting like a diva. I want to make money because I want to eat, but I won’t write music just to sell records. I’m not expecting to be a millionaire anytime soon.”
