On the morning of Sunday 25 August, Miley Cyrus' monster of a team posted the audio of her latest track Wrecking Ball. I was just chilling at home watching the classic series 'Friends' - it was supposed to be my weekend of relaxation for my over-worked mind.
I have been working with the insightful and experienced producer and song-writer Charlie Hamilton on two tracks as of late. He suggested that I do some live covers and post them up on YouTube. I wasn't so keen on this idea as I didn't want to come across as another lame idiot saying "Hi Guys, this is my cover of xyz. If you liked the video, please follow me on every social media network available on planet Earth." No offense to those people. I don't mean that in a patronizing way at all. It's just not my style.
After uploading a cover of Katy Perry's latest hit ROAR, I immediately deleted it. I just looked so ridiculous! I told Charlie that I would rather post my own music videos than do covers. On Sunday morning I changed my mind.
Miley Cyrus' latest song Wrecking Ball completely compelled me within the first 30 seconds of hearing it. I could hear a lot of the melody was copied from Rihanna's song 'What Now' which I love. After hearing the song, I jumped off the couch, had a quick shower, phoned up my photographer Alison Els and producer Charlie and headed off to Charlie's studio.
We tried a million different backgrounds for the cover - in the studio, outside in the garden, on a couch. This is the perfectionist side of me. We tried the song acapella, with an electronic beat which Charlie whipped out in 10 seconds, and finally we settled with old-school vibes. Just me and the piano. With the moody lighting and all, it turned out to be a very intense performance. Something inside of me connects with the song.
The performance wasn't exactly perfect but it was real. I hope you enjoy my first cover.
