16 MusicWeek 06.07.12 Q&A EXAMPLE
The Ministry-signed artist is aiming high with his new album, due later this year
SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE
RIGHT Kicker | Caption style
OPPOSITE Kicker | Caption style
Enrique Iglesias? I want Enrique to sing one of my songs. He’s sold millions of records, the guy’s worth a couple hundred million, he’s got his own jet, he’s huge in the Spanish-speaking world. Imagine if you’ve got a single that everyone in the Spanish- speaking market buys into... PRS is just going to go [crazy]… I basically want songwriting to become my pension if my career goes tits up in five years or 10 years or whatever…
TALENT BY TINA HART
T
here are few hit acts in the UK whose sound, and following, has developed quite as significantly as Example.
His Twitter profile may poke a bit of fun at
his sonic evolution (‘Started off singing. Then rapping. Now back to singing’), but it’s strange to recall the initial rise of Example – real name Elliot Gleave – as a comedy rapper, one who hit back at Lily Allen’s Smile with a razor-edged retort called ‘Vile’. Since those times – when signed to Mike
Skinner’s The Beats label – he’s honed his craft at Ministry Of Sound as a deliverer of floor-filling euphoric dance. He embarked on his first headline arena tour of the UK in April this year. Tracks like Changed The Way You Kiss Me and
Stay Awake topped the UK charts, and even America is listening; Example signed a US deal with Mercury at the tail-end of last year. He’s now working on the follow-up to 2011’s No.1
album, Playing In The Shadows, whilst displaying a burgeoning songwriting career – penning recent hit for Chasing The Sun for boy band The Wanted. Music Week caught up with Example at Radio
1’s Hackney Weekend to ask about his development at Ministry, life as a composer and what to expect from his new LP…
You signed to Ministry when it was better known as a singles / compilations label. Now you’ve helped
ABOVE Out of the shadows: Music Week caught up with Example as he wowed the crowds at BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend (inset and above right)
turn it into credible, successful artist albums label. Does that bring you a special satisfaction? Yeah, it’s kind of nice to sort of be the golden boy, if you like. I know they’ve got Wretch [32]
and [DJ] Fresh and everyone. They’ve done a really good job with everyone they’ve signed. The marketing team over there are amazing, the CEO [Lohan Presencer] is great. The head of A&R, Dave Dollimore, I have to
give him a lot of credit. He’s basically shaped me from an underground comedy rapper into someone who signs and writes electronic dance, emotional anthems. That’s all credit to him putting me with the right songwriters and producers.
Speaking about writing: you penned Chasing the Sun for The Wanted. Who’s next on your collaboration list? My favourite person to write with is Alex Smith from Metrophonic. He co-wrote Heart Skips A Beat for Olly Murs. He also wrote with me Watch The Sun Come Up and Won’t Go Quietly from my first album. I learnt all my melody and lyrics writing from him and how to structure a pop song. We’ve written three more absolute bangers –I
don’t know who for yet. At the moment we’re thinking it could work for One Direction, we could tweak it and make it work for Kylie, we could make it work for Enrique.
Let’s talk about the US deal with Mercury. How's it going out there? Can you reveal any plans, successes, frustrations? I’m not really frustrated, I just haven’t really had the time in my diary to tour. I really like the Mercury team. I did a bit of promo over there but I’ve only done what my diary can allow. I look at what Adele’s done: being a mate of
hers she told me she moved out there for 18 months and pretty much toured non-stop. [Ed] Sheeran’s been hard-working enough to use every available day in his diary to fly back over there, even if it’s two days at a time and I think that’s when they really connect. The problem I’ve had is that every spare day I’ve had, I’ve had to finish my album. That’s coming in November - it’s probably 90 per cent done. I haven’t had the chance to go on the charm
offensive for the US market which is what you need to do. I mean obviously Adele and Ed, I think their music is a lot better than mine… But I do think that part of the reason they, and Mumford, have done well is they go there, they tour and they put the groundwork in. I haven’t had the time in my diary to tour or charm the radios because there’s a hundred radios in every state. I haven’t had a chance to do the TVs. Changed The Way You Kiss Me kind of feels
like the set up single, the taster. So I’m hoping the big singles I’ve got on my next album - which sound more like electronic Killers/Coldplay, a lot more epic stadium dance music – will work better for the US market. And then of course we’ve got this Calvin [Harris] single - if that does well that could be
my door opener. We’ll Be Coming Back by Calvin Harris featuring Example is released on July 29
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