HELLO THERE!
I hope you are all well and safe.
Currently I am on the Britannia with Chris Wong, out in the Atlantic about to turn left to Gibraltar, then on to Alicante. We have seven shows on board and our old pal Gareth Gates is sharing the venue with us.
I was on this ship in July and both Wongy and I made a lot of friends who remained on board all this time, so it has been like a homecoming.
This morning we are both going to a Ballroom Dancing lesson before I head off to study the comics, I need an element of comic timing for PROUD CABARET, which requires me to MC as well as sing.
Life is more manic as usual as I prep costumes and do press for PROUD CABARET ALL STARS and continue to promote POSH POP.
There has been a sense of control when it comes to the promotional journey on POSH POP. I wanted to hit only the press that would centre purely on my work and the creative process of the album.
I was keen to only talk to music journalists for the first three months, in the build up to the album release, which has worked beautifully. Now I am broadening out into the popular press for PROUD CABARET ALL STARS and the response has been great there too.
I have a full schedule of OK Mag, This Morning, RYLAN on BBC RADIO 2 and many, many more.
Perfect for the good natured, rebellious night out that PROUD CABARET promises to be.
What will I bring to the show? 42 years of Rock n Roll experience, Bravado AND a sense of the outrageous that to some extent I usually have to suppress that will now be UNLEASHED with abandon!
The team are adorable, from the hostesses who manage the tables right to the performers, who push the boundaries of the wonderful space and setting……..My evenings are going to be Punk Noir!
The autumn is going to be a perfect blend of high glamour and beautiful POSH POP ROCK.
The POSH POP tour in Oct/November being the precursor to the Feb/March 2022 tour, is going to a journey to a musical destination I’ve been pushing towards for a while. Everyone on stage singing and playing.
At The Putney Half Moon, the incredible yet challenging intimacy of the space, alongside the experience of the fantastic band and intense pleasure coming back from the audience was exactly like the late 70’s when the whole room morphed into “the place to be”. A heightened intensity, electrically charged and encased.
courtesy Mark Evans
The show was being filmed by Robert Cooper and his team. I found myself being split into two people. The singer “live” who let’s anything roll and the actress who keeps movement, cameras, lighting in check.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition and one that’s very hard to relinquish!
Having learned the hard way as an actress that only you as the performer have the responsibility of finding your mark and the lens.
Robert Cooper has been one of those incredible people who captures performances for many artists because he loves to do it and when we realised that the audience where going to be right up to the stage I knew that enthusiastic chatter was going to bleed into the vocal mics along with beer glasses clinking against the mic stands.
Chloe, our fab PP keyboard player walked on stage and exclaimed “OMG this is intimate!”, made me hoot with laughter…….
Knowing that my lead mic could suffer, I explained to Robert Cooper that he would have to sit with his camera directly in front of me and act as my security barrier too……this made the show UTTERLY FANTASTIC for me! As Robert was pressed against the stage by the audience, balancing on his seat holding his camera, I kept looking down at him and we were both laughing.
And ironically it has given us the most fantastic camera angle, the stage and the room plus myself look incredible, the perspective is great.
As I looked out over the audience I saw a hundred or so brand new IPhones,…..this was a week or so after their release and I commented on how could so many people afford them and a voice came back “up your prices!”.
This is a virtual conversation that started in lockdown, when fans complained I don’t charge enough. It’s a very “moving” discussion to be subject to. I don’t think I have ever heard any other artist being asked to charge more for what they do.
This subject was raised when fans asked why Robert charges twice as much as me…well three times more than me, for artwork and Video Messages. For me it’s about knowing your audience. In my experience fans have to save money to come to see me….if you HAVE to save money to come to see me I am already charging enough!
As much as I’d love to play Wembley, Red Rock or Pompeii, I am not sure I can handle the thought of someone not being able to afford to come in.
42 years ago Joel Bogen and I used to open all the exit doors at venues to let the audience in for free…….. there’s something about that act that never leaves you.
I often fantasise about putting on free shows but alas I have bills to pay too! My aim is for as many people to see me as possible and not for many to be left outside.
RIGHT! Off to my ballroom lesson with Wong!