LIVING IN THE MOMENT
Music has helped The Voice UK winner Mo Jamil through some tough times. MARION McMULLEN finds out how he has poured loss and his turbulent past into his debut album
INGING champ Mo Jamil says winning The Voice UK has changed his life forever. The ITV show has already reunited the talented 22-year-old with his long-lost birth mother, launched his music career and boosted his confidence.
“Winning The Voice UK really was a dream come true,” he admits. “I have always wanted to pursue my dream of music and now I have been in studio to make my first album and have been working with so many amazing people.
“The album has given me the chance to get a lot of stuff off my chest and I am now looking forward to sharing it.”
One of the first people to hear some of Mo’s new tracks was Oscar-winning American Idol finalist and his former The Voice UK coach Jennifer Hudson.
“I tried to keep the album hush hush for a very long time,” smiles Mo, “but Jennifer was among the first to hear some of the songs and was very positive and supportive from day one.”
He adds: “She knew how to get the best out of me without making me feel uncomfortable. Every time I was in a room with Jennifer she would say ‘You’re an artist.’ She encouraged me to do things out of my comfort zone.”
Mo has co-written and produced his debut album Evolve with Swedish singer-songwriter David Kjellstrand.
Released on March 30, it includes some of the hottest writers and producers around including Mr Hudson, Maths Times Joy, James Earp and Artery Music. The album also features a cover of Post Malone’s I Fall Apart.
“I just wanted to get into the studio as quickly as I could and start recording. It’s a little nerve-wracking. It’s my first album and I’m a new artist. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells, but hopefully it will resonate with people,” says Mo.
Music has always been his escape through an early life of fostering, adoption and back once again into the foster care system.
“I always believed life was going to get better. Music can get me through anything.”
Born in London, Mo moved to Warrington in Cheshire, with his foster mother and was banned from listening to chart music. He sang in church and learned how to play piano and guitar at school and later played drums as well.
Mo has channeled his experiences into the album and says there were moments when he’d find himself crying in the recording booth while singing.
“It brought out a lot of pain, but it was a good feeling getting everything off my shoulders.”
One of the positives of winning The Voice UK for Mo has been finally meeting his birth mother for the first time after years of searching.
He learned she had given him up for adoption as her religion frowned on unmarried mothers and he has since changed his stage name from Adeniran to her surname of Jamil.
Their reunion was emotional and Mo says he feels like he has also found a best friend.
“It’s been quite overwhelming really this last year and everything that has happened to me,” he says.
“My mother came over for a week and I went to meet her at the airport. We had a great time and she’s told me so much about my heritage and background.
“We just opened up to each other and she met my friends as well.
“She already sent me clothes from the Gambia.”
He laughs: “Nothing shows a mother’s love than homemade clothes.
“It was an emotional reunion, but she is a very relaxed and calm person. I feel I can talk to her about anything. She is really wise and really funny. It was not what I expected. “I also noticed we have similar mannerisms and pull a lot of the same faces. I see where I get it from now.”
Mo has been avidly following all the action of this year’s series of The Voice UK and appeared as a guest mentor with Leona Lewis.
“Everything has changed for me in a very dramatic way and I couldn’t be happier,” says Mo.
“I’m enjoying the moment. So much has happened in a short space of time. I have lost quite a few friends, a bandmate and one of the members of (the Warrington band) Viola Beach who died in motor accident.
“I think all these things shape and mould you into the person you are. I miss them and think about them every day and they will always be with me. Every step of the way I feel their presence all the time and I know they have been watching over me. “It’s been difficult but I know they have still
got my back.”