A charming little fella
Put on your best outfit and have a laugh, John Newman tells Shanthini Naidoo
JOHN Newman is not instantly recognisable, until you hear him sing. He looks a bit like a bully out of Grease , moonwalks like Michael Jackson and has one of those voices that is old but new, classic but fresh. He also sounds like he is singing while chewing tobacco, vaguely similar to Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas.
It is the overly pronounced Os. “I need to gnaw now, gnaw now, can you love me again?” from what is probably his most recognisable track, the soul pop Love Me Again that topped 5FM’s dance charts last year.
Nominated for three BRIT Awards this year, Newman first found himself on international airwaves as the vocalist on the Rudimental’s Feel To Love and Not Giving In two years ago.
Prior to that, the 23-year-old from small-town Yorkshire was living in a London warehouse waiting for a break. Not long before that he ditched his ambitions of being a mechanic to study music.
It has been a steady rise, but he says there were no groupies following him on his tour of Europe and America, even after he appeared on Ellen.
“The change has been OK. A year is a long time. Actually, a week is a long time in this industry,” he says from his apartment in Camden, London, where a friend is visiting to play Play-Station.
“I am just trying to be professional and calm. People say fame can change you, but it doesn’t really. There are too many eyes watching you as an artist nowadays. The people that are close to me, my family and friends, know I have never changed and I’m careful about new people. I am still the same charming little fellow who can find his own feet,” he says.
The charming fellow has had to find his feet several times. He has worked minimum wage jobs, lost friends in a car accident while at university, and had a brain tumour removed.
Newman was in hospital recovering from the surgery when he heard Love Me Again on national radio for the first time. “That was quite surreal. The nurse was quite fit too, so it was good to turn around and say, ‘ That’s my tune!’”
A child of the house music generation, he says he became obsessed with Motown and soul from listening to his mother’s records from the ’ 70s. Along with Diana Ross and James Brown, and punk music, he talks about his love of Otis Redding, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye and Adele.
“And Michael Jackson. What an aura he had, when he walked into a crowd. When you listened to them live they would blow your mind. We’ve lost that now, as artists, because of social media.
“But I am after longevity. It takes time to establish yourself as an artist and I am working damn hard. I am just winging this project and growing up as I get on with it.”
Newman doesn’t seem to sit still. He produces, plays, performs and remixes his own music, writes his own video scripts and designs his own clothes.
“I even design the artwork for my albums. It is all the same, creating something. It helps me unwind a little bit, working on the sofa, drawing and designing. I love Indian curries, so we get takeaways and play Fifa and watch films, funny ones.
“The best part is my mum gets to retire now. She is a very proud mum.”
Newman has just finished a tour of the US and Europe and leaves soon for South Africa and Australia.
“The gigs were good and performances were awesome, even though we still have to do lots of promotion to remind people who I am. The American trip was mad, the album went to N0 2 there so the following was brilliant. Ellen was a highlight. Everyone was just there for the good time,” he says.
He is “really excited” about the visit to South Africa. “I’ve heard it is very beautiful and sunny and the people are good fun. I want to hear about the music scene. South African audiences, put on your best outfits and let’s have a laugh. That’s all that I want.” LS • John Newman performs on April 23 at the Good Hope Centre, Cape Town, and on April 24 at Town Hall Lane, Johannesburg. Tickets available at Webtickets.