2 September 2024
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with Windsor/London based artist Graham McGregor-Smith to find out more…
Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I was born in Stourbridge, West Midlands; brought up in Worcestershire on the edge of a village, Finstall, on the edge of a town, Bromsgrove, on the edge of a city, Birmingham. My father was into Jazz and my mother was into Opera so I lived in a house where soaring arias and swinging rhythms competed beautifully… and with that much passion for music flying around, it wasn’t long before I was well in to music myself.
My earliest serious music loves were The Beatles, introduced by school friend Chris Page. I then heard the Wings album Band on The Run being played loudly out of a classroom window at the school fête and it blew me away (when Paul McCartney played three songs off the album at Glastonbury I was in bits…)
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I grew up in the ’70s & ’80s and developed a broad taste in music thanks the output of the BBC in general and Radio 1 specifically. Daytime Radio 1 was the soundtrack to my time at school while John Peel sent me to bed. So, I’d go from Siouxsie to Sinatra and Simone via Simple Minds and Chic to AC/DC and Grace Jones. I was heavily into basslines, so the work of Bernard Edwards; Derek Forbes; Cliff Williams & Robbie Shakespeare really spoke to me… and still does today.
Now, the contemporary artists I admire are Curtis Stigers, for his sharp style and peerless story-telling, and Mario Biondi for his effortless showmanship, and the ability of he and his band to consistently bring an audience to rapture. Mindblowing. But my influences for my album were very much the stars of the golden age of songwriting – Berlin; Porter; Gershwin; Jobim & Bacharach. I wanted to write songs with longevity, and so the Great American Songbook felt very much like the place to start.
How would you describe your sound?
My songs are a seamless blurring of vocal swing with classic pop, telling contemporary stories from the point of view of a man who has lived a full life. I like to use very accomplished jazz musicians for that classic jazz sound palette, and for their versatility and virtuosity.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
My debut album, Road to Anywhere, came about because I wanted to write songs with staying power. I would love one of my songs to continue to be sung over the next seventy plus years, well after I’ve left this planet.
I could see that so many of the songs written at the beginning of the 20th Century have become “standards” and are not only still being played and enjoyed today, but will continue to be played and enjoyed long into the future. So, possibly naïvely, I thought I’d write songs that pay tribute to The Great American Songbook, in the hope that one or more of them would, in due course, become standards themselves…
What’s your local music scene like?
A disparate patchwork of jazz oases!
The local jazz scene depends so much on individuals making a difference in their local area, be it Fleur Stevenson in Oxfordshire & Reading; or Denny Ilett in Henley-on-Thames; Steve & Hazel Coburn in Camberley; or Marianne Windham in Fleet & Guildford.
The monthly jazz jams in Camberley and Guildford, together with jazz-singers’ night in Reading are all buzzing, vibrant events and great for catching up and networking with other musicians, however, you do have to have the means and desire to travel…
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
The period leading up to the album launch was very hectic and full-on, so I’ll be chilling for a couple of months over the summer and starting to finish work on new material. Inspired by the reactions to my live gigs, I now have three different directions that I’d like to explore, all very exciting in their own ways, so watch this space!
I’ll also be planning gigs for 2025, hopefully with a return to Pizza Express, Soho and further afield.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Yes, Mario Biondi. I’d absolutely love to write songs with and for him.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Not yet, but I certainly hope to have many in the future! The people who come to my shows are generally very polite and well-behaved, so it’s always fun to mix things up with a drinking song or two and get some audience participation going.
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
I believe there is so much more that unites us than divides us, both in the UK and around the world.
You can find out more about Graham on his website or via Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify or YouTube.
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