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From washing vans to the vanguard of modern music
James Morrison is looking a little dazed. Just two years ago, the singer was washing vans at East Midlands Vehicle Hire, in Derby while his girlfriend, Gill, a healthcare assistant, paid the rent.
Now he’s the toast of the music industry, 2006′s next big thing, with fans and critics alike frothing at the mouth about his mix of soul and folk, and his bluesy voice. “I definitely feel like something big is happening,” he says. “All the radio stations are playing my record. And I keep getting recognised. I never thought that would happen. I thought I could just skim under the surface. “But I was walking down the street and this girl just went ballistic. She kept going, ‘Oh my God!’. I was just like, ‘Oh no’.”
Given his background, it’s not surprising the 21-year-old is finding it hard to adjust to his new-found pop star status. His is a real Cinderella story, the tale of a broken home and endless struggle that features in the often surprisingly optimistic songs on his debut album, Undiscovered. Born in Rugby, the middle child of three, James’s dad left when he was young, leaving his mum to look after their three children, and he is unabashedly candid about his family history. “My dad was always around,” he says. “He used to drink and that was the main reason why he wasn’t involved. But he’s a great guy, a lovely bloke and I get on with him really well. “I’ve been honest with him and said, ‘You did mess up, big time’. Both my parents did. But I was always honest with them about how I felt, and it’s a good relationship because of that.”
With debt and depression always hanging over James’s mum, the family continually moved house – to Northampton when James was nine, then Porth, in Cornwall, when he was 15. While the family had little, James certainly didn’t lack a musical education. His mother, who once sang in a band herself, was an avid music fan and would play everything from Pink Floyd to Van Morrison to Stevie Wonder. “I was always obsessed with their voices,” he says. “All these fantastic singers who could express how they felt through their voice. I always wanted to know how I could use my voice in that way.”
At 13 he began to learn guitar when his uncle showed him how to play a blues riff. He started busking when he lived in Cornwall, but it was only when he moved to Gill’s home town of Derby that he began pursuing a career as a musician. James was fired from his van-washing job and, much to Gill’s chagrin, started trying to get gigs. It was tough – most pubs wanted karaoke – but then a guitarist he had met at an open mic night offered to help him record a demo. Former A&R man Spencer Wells heard it and offered his services. Before he knew it, James was signed with Polydor and well on the way to becoming a pop star. It was that fast.
“It makes my head spin. If I’d had a good life and it was all sorted before, and then I’d got a deal, maybe I wouldn’t be so spun out by it. But I never had anything, so to be in this position where I’ve got so many choices now…,” he tails off, shaking his head. Before he’s even had a record released, James has had to contend with the double whammy of appearing on Jools Holland’s show with the likes of Gnarls Barkley and Franz Ferdinand, and, even more impressively, turning down a lead role in a Hollywood
film. The latter was the unexpected outcome of his attempt to get a song featured in the forthcoming film, August Rush. But the singer decided he just wanted to concentrate on the music. “I think I could act,” he shrugs. “But it didn’t feel right. If your mind’s in two different places it’s not going to be as good, and I wanted all my attention on the album. I don’t regret it.” Performing on Later With Jools was a more overwhelming experience. “Cee-Lo, from Gnarls Barkley, was like, ‘Hey, man, that was cool’,” laughs James. “I was like, ‘You’re amazing, dude, don’t give me that’. He’s pretty funny, but he’s a right womaniser.”
There’ll be no rock star-style womanising for James, as his heart quite obviously lies with Gill. Listen to album track, Pieces Don’t Fit, however, and the singer paints a different story. He wrote it just as he got the record deal and his life began to be turned upside down. “It was how I was feeling at the time,” he says. “I really did feel like maybe we should leave it because I didn’t know what was going to happen and I didn’t want to hurt her. But at the same time it didn’t feel like the right time.”
Basically, he explains, the balance in the relationship had shifted. In a moment, the couple had gone from Gill supporting James to James being the one with all the money. “I know if I was in her position I’d feel really weird,” he says. “If I had a girlfriend who was going on stage and all that, I’d be like, hey, what about me? “I’ve seen it with Corinne Bailey Rae (who James supported on tour] and her husband. He was spinning out a bit because his missus is at the front of his band and is getting all the attention. It’s got to be a lot to deal with.” With her boyfriend in the Top 10 with You Give Me Something, it seems that Gill will have to deal with it for some time yet.
Before Undiscovered has even been released James seems an assured success, with comparisons to Al Green and Otis Redding being bandied about. “I don’t really know what to do with the compliments,” says James. “When people start saying, ‘You’re amazing, you’re the best new British soul singer’, and all this rubbish, I’m just like, whatever, don’t give me loads to live up to. I’m just a singer, man, just a singer-songwriter.”
Written by Wil Marlow
