Lewis Watson (26/07/2014)
When it comes to the singer-songwriter genre it can hit or miss. You can hit the mark and launch your career as a singer-songwriter into the pop mainstream circuit. Yet for however many success stories there are, there are four times as many unsuccessful stories.
That is not to say that those unsuccessful are at all poor writers or singers. On the contrary, it tends to be the beautiful, talented and passionate that miss the mainstream spotlight for one reason or another. Lewis Watson is one of those yet the only difference? He’s starting to be noticed all around the world; and for good reason.
His debut album, The Morning is out now via Warner Brother Records and the response has been one that Watson couldn’t be happier with.
“As far as I can tell man, the response has been fantastic. I’m over the moon with the sheer amount of support I’ve gotten, it’s been ridiculous,” the singer says with a hint of surprise in his voice.
Watson’s surprise comes only from the fact that having released five EP’s before The Morning, there is a large expectation placed onto his shoulders.
“Coming into the morning was nerve wrecking I’d say!” Watson laughs. “I’ve done five EPs, one with a few covers, the rest originals and honestly I think people take albums a lot differently. EPs people look at and can kind of see that there maybe a few errors, maybe a song isn’t that catchy or fulfilling. Yet they forgive it. EPs feel more home cooked per se. They don’t seem to take EPs as seriously. So coming to do an album, it felt like people were expecting everything to be fine-tuned or top-notch. And so it should be!”
Having poured his heart and soul into a large collection or songs, both released and unreleased, Watson sees that when you’re dealing with more than four songs, it’s even easier to make mistakes. The room for error grows exponentially as an artist begins to deal with forty minutes of material, rather than twenty. “You deal with a lot more meat I think. There’s a lot more going on in album because there are just more songs. Flow becomes a big thing to work with when the listener will be there for forty odd minutes. It takes more time to work through an album than it does an EP because honestly, I was just so worried people weren’t gonna appreciate the material with high expectations! So I worked really hard on this and for it all to be praised so well, it’s amazing.”
The life of a singer-songwriter is a road travelled alone for the better part. When the weight of an album sits on you and no one else, time becomes you’re biggest enemy. “I feel bad because I honestly don’t see my friends as much as I like,” Watson tells us solemnly. “I’ve missed parties, weddings, birthdays and sometimes I’m not even on tour, sometimes I’m honestly just in the studio and I need to work on my material because it’s my job. There’s no set time frame. If there’s a song I need to do to; I’ll do it because if I go out and chill with my mates al my inspiration might leave me. Creativity has no concept of time and thankfully my friends understand that and still love and appreciate me. I think they also like having a friend who’s a bit famous around the country!”
Yet although the times are terrible and there’s no overtime pay, being a singer-songwriter is also a very free way to write. It is you and only you. Your clock, your pocket and your music.
“I’ve been in bands before, all from heavy bands to pop bands and although I love that and I love that experience, I found it wasn’t for me. I wasn’t weighed down by the other members when it was just me. And I didn’t weigh them down either. There was no practice times, it was just whenever I wanted to write or had to write. If I wanted to write till five in the morning, I could. I didn’t have to miss practice because I couldn’t afford the bus to get to the rehearsal space,” laughs Watson loudly. “I also got freedom to write. It wasn’t something we all had to agree on; if I wanted to write a love ballad that was all sloppy and cheesy, I didn’t have to check it with four other people. Obviously that has its downs but I loved that freedom”
Yet as Watson says this, it’s easy to note that his music does exist beyond the guitar or piano and his vocals. Taking Into the Wild for example, Watson never stops to include any form of percussion or added synth to his soundscape.
“It’s important to have that depth in the music. If I have percussion or synth or piano as well as my guitar, even an electric guitar, it adds so much more to the song and breaks it up. Forty minutes of a guitar and I isn’t all that exciting yet I know some people can pull that off, I’m just not one of them.”
The name of Ed Sheeran gets dropped into the conversation and Watson explodes on how much he respects and honours the fellow Brit singer-songwriter.
“He’s one of those guys that just seems to get it! He had that great amount of folk and adult-contemporary with the right amount of pop to hit all areas. He’s sucked in so many people to his music and what’s so great is that he isn’t just a cheap, catchy artist, he’s a brilliant song-writer. He KNOWS how to write a song and how to structure it. He’s had so much success and it’s really inspiring to see it happen!”
Yet one name that couldn’t escape the chat was that of Mike Rosenberg, better known as Passenger. With his hit single, Let Her Go Rosenberg was launched into the spotlight yet rather than seeing him as an idol for his popularity, Watson sees him as an idol for his hard work and dedication.
“What not a lot of people know is the [Passenger] was going for about ten years before Let Her Go as a band for about six or seven. It’s crazy. He must have had so many people tell him, ‘Mike, give up man, it’s been three years and nothing is happening!’ Then at five years ‘Mike, your killing yourself’ and ‘Mike, eight years is a long time’. But he didn’t stop. He kept going and going. He never put down the guitar and look at him now. It’s crazy yet so inspirational. Not many people knew what Passenger was and now he’s a household name!”
Matthew Sievers
That is not to say that those unsuccessful are at all poor writers or singers. On the contrary, it tends to be the beautiful, talented and passionate that miss the mainstream spotlight for one reason or another. Lewis Watson is one of those yet the only difference? He’s starting to be noticed all around the world; and for good reason.
His debut album, The Morning is out now via Warner Brother Records and the response has been one that Watson couldn’t be happier with.
“As far as I can tell man, the response has been fantastic. I’m over the moon with the sheer amount of support I’ve gotten, it’s been ridiculous,” the singer says with a hint of surprise in his voice.
Watson’s surprise comes only from the fact that having released five EP’s before The Morning, there is a large expectation placed onto his shoulders.
“Coming into the morning was nerve wrecking I’d say!” Watson laughs. “I’ve done five EPs, one with a few covers, the rest originals and honestly I think people take albums a lot differently. EPs people look at and can kind of see that there maybe a few errors, maybe a song isn’t that catchy or fulfilling. Yet they forgive it. EPs feel more home cooked per se. They don’t seem to take EPs as seriously. So coming to do an album, it felt like people were expecting everything to be fine-tuned or top-notch. And so it should be!”
Having poured his heart and soul into a large collection or songs, both released and unreleased, Watson sees that when you’re dealing with more than four songs, it’s even easier to make mistakes. The room for error grows exponentially as an artist begins to deal with forty minutes of material, rather than twenty. “You deal with a lot more meat I think. There’s a lot more going on in album because there are just more songs. Flow becomes a big thing to work with when the listener will be there for forty odd minutes. It takes more time to work through an album than it does an EP because honestly, I was just so worried people weren’t gonna appreciate the material with high expectations! So I worked really hard on this and for it all to be praised so well, it’s amazing.”
The life of a singer-songwriter is a road travelled alone for the better part. When the weight of an album sits on you and no one else, time becomes you’re biggest enemy. “I feel bad because I honestly don’t see my friends as much as I like,” Watson tells us solemnly. “I’ve missed parties, weddings, birthdays and sometimes I’m not even on tour, sometimes I’m honestly just in the studio and I need to work on my material because it’s my job. There’s no set time frame. If there’s a song I need to do to; I’ll do it because if I go out and chill with my mates al my inspiration might leave me. Creativity has no concept of time and thankfully my friends understand that and still love and appreciate me. I think they also like having a friend who’s a bit famous around the country!”
Yet although the times are terrible and there’s no overtime pay, being a singer-songwriter is also a very free way to write. It is you and only you. Your clock, your pocket and your music.
“I’ve been in bands before, all from heavy bands to pop bands and although I love that and I love that experience, I found it wasn’t for me. I wasn’t weighed down by the other members when it was just me. And I didn’t weigh them down either. There was no practice times, it was just whenever I wanted to write or had to write. If I wanted to write till five in the morning, I could. I didn’t have to miss practice because I couldn’t afford the bus to get to the rehearsal space,” laughs Watson loudly. “I also got freedom to write. It wasn’t something we all had to agree on; if I wanted to write a love ballad that was all sloppy and cheesy, I didn’t have to check it with four other people. Obviously that has its downs but I loved that freedom”
Yet as Watson says this, it’s easy to note that his music does exist beyond the guitar or piano and his vocals. Taking Into the Wild for example, Watson never stops to include any form of percussion or added synth to his soundscape.
“It’s important to have that depth in the music. If I have percussion or synth or piano as well as my guitar, even an electric guitar, it adds so much more to the song and breaks it up. Forty minutes of a guitar and I isn’t all that exciting yet I know some people can pull that off, I’m just not one of them.”
The name of Ed Sheeran gets dropped into the conversation and Watson explodes on how much he respects and honours the fellow Brit singer-songwriter.
“He’s one of those guys that just seems to get it! He had that great amount of folk and adult-contemporary with the right amount of pop to hit all areas. He’s sucked in so many people to his music and what’s so great is that he isn’t just a cheap, catchy artist, he’s a brilliant song-writer. He KNOWS how to write a song and how to structure it. He’s had so much success and it’s really inspiring to see it happen!”
Yet one name that couldn’t escape the chat was that of Mike Rosenberg, better known as Passenger. With his hit single, Let Her Go Rosenberg was launched into the spotlight yet rather than seeing him as an idol for his popularity, Watson sees him as an idol for his hard work and dedication.
“What not a lot of people know is the [Passenger] was going for about ten years before Let Her Go as a band for about six or seven. It’s crazy. He must have had so many people tell him, ‘Mike, give up man, it’s been three years and nothing is happening!’ Then at five years ‘Mike, your killing yourself’ and ‘Mike, eight years is a long time’. But he didn’t stop. He kept going and going. He never put down the guitar and look at him now. It’s crazy yet so inspirational. Not many people knew what Passenger was and now he’s a household name!”
Matthew Sievers