Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | March 19, 2015 | 31
Get the latest breaking entertainment news at cambridge-news.co.uk/whatson
MUSIC
Duke Special Northern Irish theatrical singer-songwriter Duke Special is coming to Cambridge Junction. ELLA WALKER caught up with him over email
How would you describe your sound to someone who hadn’t come across you before? Well, for me it’s about the song. Good songs can wear different clothes and each record I’ve done explores a slightly different landscape but ultimately I am someone who wants to write great songs which mean something. That’s all. Where does your interest in vaudeville come from? The world of vaudeville was something which interested me particularly on my earliest recordings. I was drawn to the idea of these evenings of entertainment held in music halls in which the audience was brought on this theatrical roller coaster ride through comedy, serious performance and the bizarre. I was trying to find a way of performing solo that held an audience and provided the vehicle for me to say what I wanted to say. What can you tell us about your upcoming new album, Look Out Machines? What inspired it? I suppose this is the first record in a few years where I didn’t start with a concept or a subject matter which informed the writing. I wanted to make an album where the songs could emerge however they wanted to. Your press material describes the record as your “most commercial album” to date. Is that a good thing and do you want your music to become more mainstream? The word ‘commercial’ bothers me because it infers that I have somehow compromised in order to reach more people than I normally would. I wouldn’t have used that word myself. I think what the writer means is that the songs are perhaps a little more direct and lean than of recent years which maybe means the songs are a little faster to get to know. For me this batch of songs is just where my head was at, at the time. When you sit down to write a song, what’s your process? Usually with a title, a feeling or experience I want to write about. Generally I will then fill a few pages just writing prose or whatever comes into my mind about that subject. Maybe then I will go to an instrument and roll some of the words on top of a melody to see what sticks. When it deems there is something taking shape
I try to leave the instrument alone for a while and concentrate on the words. For me the lyric is the most personal part and therefore the bit I want to really hone and get right before going back to the music. Of course, I rarely do what I have just said. I will catch inspiration whenever and however I can! What has been your career highlight so far? Honestly, I feel so fortunate to be able to still make music my way of life. I love performing and feeling people connect with a song or a lyric or the feeling the music brings. What are you listening to at the moment? While I am writing this I am listening to Clayhill. You’ve worked on some really diverse projects, from MoMA to the National Theatre. Is there a particular project you’d really love to get off the ground in the future? I’m currently writing for a theatre production based on Gulliver’s travels to show at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast in July.
Duke Special, HOT TICKETS WHAT’S ON Cambridge Junction, WHAT’S ONMarch HOT21TICKETS Saturday, at 8pm. HOT TICKETS WHAT’S Tickets £15 from (01223)ON WHAT’S HOT TICKETS 511511ON / junction.co.uk.