Favourite Records, with Jools

So lovely to have you here, Kirsty, you've brought some records of your own, but first of all, when did you first realise that music was going to be your life?

"My brother Hamish is nine years older than me, and I started nicking all his records when I was about three or four. That's what really got me into it. I remember getting a copy of Good vibrations that he'd bought, and I played it so much he just said 'Have it!'. I was allowed to play it, and I played it incessently for about twelve hours a day, working out all the different parts and harmonies. When I'd learned all there was to learn on that side I turned it over and did it with the B side, Wendy."

Your first choice of record is, I believe, Steely Dan.

" No. I do love Steely Dan but they weren't my first choice... The first one actually is a bit of the Faure Requiem, just because it's got some great choral harmonies and stuff. It's just so fantastic."

Jools plays part of the Faure requiem (In Paradisium) ...

That's beautiful, my cold's almost better.

"I think there's something really modern about it. It's not ancient music or anything, I think it was around 1912. They used a lot of it in the film Elizabeth about Elizabeth I, which I thought was was quite funny."

Let's move on. You've worn out Good vibrations, when did you realise that it was possible to be a musician professionally?

" My first thing that I got into was songwriting. The album that triggered me into thinking "I could have a go at this" was Harvest by Neil Young. I think that was about the first time I had a guitar and I started trying to work out chords to play along with him. I realised that I could actually play a few of the tunes. That was very liberating really, realising that three chords could get you anywhere."

Who were the other people you really liked at that time?

"I always had really diverse taste. Steely Dan were a really big influence but before that, because of my brother being older than me I had a lot of records passed on to me. I was really into Frank Zappa as well, about the same time I was into the Beatles. I was quite a strange child."

But look at what a beautiful adult you've blossomed into... Your next choice is by Iggy Pop.

"I love this whole album [Lust for Life] by the way. The song is called Success and it always makes me laugh, it sums up the pop music business."

Jools plays Iggy

Your life flashes past on this show, because you then had a lot of success, you wanted to find out about songwriting then you wrote lots of successful songs.

"Well, you know, now and again they're successful then I have fallow periods in between. I'm not one of those sorts of people that can write twelve songs a year and just whack 'em out. I don't know where people get their ideas from when they do that."

What sort of things are inspiring you at the moment?

"It's usually events which have a big effect on your emotional life. I've been really happy for a couple of years, so I'm trying to find a different way of writing.instead of being miserable, you know, which you get used to and it's easy."

Do you think [emotional] tension helps with songwriting?

"I don't know, you just get used to doing it that way."

Jerry Lee Lewis once said he didn't write more songs because it takes too much out of you, that's what killed Hank Williams. But you're looking very well on it! (KM laughs) Now your next choice of music is Buddy Miles.

"It's a cover of an Allman Brothers song called Midight Rider which lots of people covered, but this one's about the best."

Jools plays Buddy.

Now there's been a mistake, because I wanted to play more of your records but neither of us brought them. You have got a record out at the moment called Tropical Brainstorm. Tell us about that, it's influenced by ... what, would you say?

"Well it's got a lot of Cuban rhythms and Brazilian rhythms in it, and it's quite a Latin flavoured weird hybrid of my sort of songs with those Latin rhythms and some strange kind of hip-hop input."

When did you first get into that Cuban style of music?

"I think the first time I heard the Fania All Stars it made a really big impression on me. In those days it was pre Buena Vista and it all became really popular. I didn't know which artists to go and look for, but the first time I went to Cuba was in 1992, and that's when I started buying a lot of Latin music. I used to come home and listen to all that stuff, and there really wasn't much on the radio, pop music stuff, that was worth listening to. I got into that kind of music to the point that I alienated my entire family. They said, "Can you play something else?" and I moved on to Brazil."

Did that help?

"It did."

Where are you now?

"I'm just about to start writing a new album, actually, but this album's not out in America yet so I think we'll be going there next to do some touring and stuff."

Style [ Standard ] [ Cool Blue ] [ Tropical ] [ Hangover ] [ Text ] [ BIG Text ]

Favourite Records, with Jools

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