Hello Emily how are you?
Hey Del! Lovely to chat with you – I am very good thank you!
Congratulations on the release of an iconic song “Pass The Dutchie” how does it feel?
I am feeling relieved it’s finally out and very excited to share it to the world!
What led you to covering this song?
Dennis Seaton from Musical Youth suggested we do a cover of it – a new up-to-date ragga jungle drum and bass version!
You worked on it with Dennis Seaton one of the members of Musical Youth, how did that come about?
It was the universe working it’s magic! One evening, someone said something to me about passing something to the left and I started singing… ‘Pass the Dutchie on the left hand side!’ This track I hadn’t even thought about in many many years. Then the next day I received a message from Dennis Seaton saying he had seen my videos and songs online and wondered if I would like to work with him and collaborate on some songs! I couldn’t believe it and thought it was a joke at first!
What was your favourite memory of those sessions?
Dennis is just the most genuine, loveliest down-to-earth guy and he was making me laugh constantly. I loved hearing him tell his stories about when he went to Michael Jackson’s house etc.
You shot the video in your studio, how did the concept come together for it?
Me and Dennis had a conversation with our artistic director Aleslie Springer and we came up with the idea of using a dutchie pot to pass to each other infront of the green screen and then I added all the flags of the world when I edited it. Pass The Dutchie is about showing hope, faith, love and positivity to the world as people are starving and lonely. We want to spread happy, pure, fun, positive vibes this summer to lift people’s spirits.
You are an artist from Banbury, how did it all begin for you?
It began when I was a child and started to play the piano, keyboard and saxophone. Then I started writing and recording my own pop songs at home. I went on to study Music Technology at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. My music career then began in London working at the famous Red Bus Recording Studios in Marylebone and sitting in recording sessions with Mungo Jerry and Petula Clarke.
After that I worked as Studio Assistant at Two Camels Music with famous session musicians John Thirkell (the trumpeter in Level 42, Jamiroquai, Swing Out Sister, Lisa Stansfield etc) and Erwin Keiles (Musical Director & guitarist for Jamiroquai, Take That, Westlife, Boyzone, Peter Andre, Charlotte Church, Gabriella Cilme, Shalamar, Gloria Gaynor, Belinda Carlisle, Rick Astley, Go West, and Donna Summer etc). After that I decided to start up my own commercial recording studio in Watford called The Sound Cube which I ran for ten years recording and mixing all the sessions from bands, instrumentalists, singers and groups of adults and kids including celebrity kids including Tony Blackburn’s daughter Victoria and Nicholas Lyndhurst’s son Archie.
What did you listen to growing up?
Luckily for me my parents had the most awesome taste in music so I grew up listening to all the greats from Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Donovan, The Beatles, Supertramp, Mama’s and Papa’s, Pink Floyd, Yes, Spandau Ballet, Michael Jackson, Dire Straits, Wham, Bob Marley, Bananarama, Tears for Fears, Mannfred Mann etc and then later when I was a teenager I got into more dancey music like Baby D, The Prodigy, Roni Size, High Contrast etc.
You’ve also got your own radio show with Future Hits how are you finding it?
It’s so much fun having my own radio show. I absolutely love discovering new artists and giving them airplay as I know how hard it is to get heard. Any new emerging artists out there – please do send me your pop/dance tracks to consider for my shows! iamemilymusic@gmail.com
You are a singer songwriter and producer how does a normal writing session usually begin for you?
Sometimes I just sit down at the keyboard and from the first ever chord I play sparks a brand new song… or sometimes it could be just a sentence of a lyric I come up with that I put to music…or sometimes producers send me tracks to topline so I sit and listen to their music over and over and suddenly a melody will pop up out of thin air in my brain … it really just comes down to being in flow with the universe, relaxed and happy. I can’t write and record songs if I’m tired and stressed. It just doesn’t work.
Post pandemic, what have you learned about yourself in the last three years?
Before Covid I had stopped doing music really and decided to try and focus on running a candle business and spend time with my family. But during lockdown I learnt I am only at my happiest when I’m being creative. If I don’t do something creative every day, my soul feels sad. In particular, if I’m not writing and recording songs I feel my true soul purpose is not being fulfilled and I lose my sparkle. I vowed as soon as lockdown was over I would start making music again and NEVER give up again!
Did you pick up any new skills?
Since lockdown I have achieved and learnt so much, like learning to DJ, presenting my own radios shows, running my own record label etc
What are you listening to at the moment?
Oh that’s a good question! Well because I’m a dj now I need to keep up with all the new music coming out, but I’m all over the place and listen to anything from pop, folk, drums and bass, house or reggae! I’m loving High Contrast’s new track (he is my drum and bass hero), I also love Disclosure and anything with happy vibes like Peggy Gou to The Blessed Madonna’s Shades of Love which makes me smile everytime I hear it!
If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be?
Apart from Dennis, then definitely my drum and bass hero High Contrast or Disclosure, Calvin Harris or if The Spice Girls were to re-unite then definitely I would HAVE to collab with my old girl power heroines or Madonna maybe? Haha! The dream would be to team up with Swedish magical hit maker Max Martin!
What’s next for you?
I have a few more tracks I’m recording with Dennis currently. I have two drum and bass EPs coming out this September which I’m currently working on the music videos with Aleslie Springer and I have a solo album coming out in 2024. I am also currently looking at a script where I will be co-writing songs with Aleslie Springer. But I will let you know further down the line what the script is. Also there will be lots of live gigs and DJ club sets to come and maybe even a tour!
