Standing on that stage looking out... it was a beautiful thing
HIS MIC MAY HAVE BEEN CUTTING OUT, BUT GEORGE EZRA TELLS MARION McMULLEN HOW HE JUST KEPT CALM AND CARRIED ON
“EVERYONE kept asking ‘are you nervous?’ before I went on at the Platinum Party at the Palace,” says George Ezra, “maybe I should have been, but I still can’t quite believe it happened. It was huge.”
The singer-songwriter was part of a stellar line-up last weekend that included Diana Ross, Queen, Alicia Keys, Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers and Sir Rod Stewart.
“I was fortunate to be offered it,” says George. “Standing on that stage looking out at an avenue of people; it was a beautiful thing.
“Backstage it was a mix between a TV backstage area and a festival backstage. Even if I was not nervous myself, there was a very palpable energy from the crew putting it all together. And once the red light comes on, you were off and doing it.
“Then my mic was cutting out and I just thought ‘You are kidding me’. There is no training for something like that. It’s not like being at school and you do maths and English and how to carry one when everything goes t**s up at the Jubilee.
“I suddenly found myself doing an a cappella version of a song, but I was fully aware, fully conscious, I was just a very small part of the big day.”
George’s eagerly awaited new album Gold Rush Kid is out this week and he headlines his biggest ever show at London’s Finsbury Park on July 17 followed by a UK and Irish autumn arena tour.
Joining George at his first live show in almost three years, presented by Festival Republic, will be special guests Blossoms, Holly Humberstone, Mimi Webb, The Big Moon, Mychelle and the London International Gospel Choir.
“Finsbury is huge and I will be nervous for that for sure,” admits George. “I am asking people to watch me perform for an hour-anda-half in a big field.”
His diary might be looking packed, but he says since lockdown he has been learning not to say yes to everything – “Well apart from the
Jubilee concert,” he laughs. “I had to do that, but my attitude to touring has changed completely.
“Doing music, I can make it the best job in the world.”
George’s two blockbuster albums – Wanted on Voyage in 2014 and Staying at Tamara’s in 2018 – both reached number one in the UK and sold millions around the globe.
Shotgun became his first number one single and helped win him the 2019 Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist.
Gold Rush Kid was written and produced entirely in London with long-standing collaborator Joel Pott.
“The Gold Rush Kid? That’s me,” says George. “I listen to the record now and I am very content.
“I have never been that person that has a clear starting point. I was aware that if I did not start writing there was not going to be a record.
“It was ‘Ok, I’m going to sit down a write a song today.’
“I’ve known Joel for 10 years, we’ve had a partnership for 10 years. I know other people have done writing sessions on Zoom, but that’s not for me. Most of it was done at Joel’s studio in south London.”
George explains that his new single Green Green Grass, with its lyrics: “Green green grass, blue blue sky; You better throw a party on the day that I die”, was inspired by a trip to the Caribbean.
“I was on holiday in St Lucia at Christmas 2018, with two of my closest mates from home. We were in this beach bar, drinking homemade rum punch and the local lager. And this music started up, three streets back from the sea.
“After about half an hour, I had to go see what it was. And there was a street party going on, with three different sound systems, people cooking in the street.
“I asked a woman what was going on and she told me it was a funeral – for three people. They were celebrating three lives! I thought ‘that is not how we do this at home’. And it’s really beautiful.”
One of the first people to hear the new album was his sister Jessica. “The white label vinyl turned up and me and my sister had a little cry the first time we listened to it.
“I was just happy happy. I couldn’t quite remember writing specific moments, how I did it and I just felt like saying ‘thank you George from the past’.”
George marked his 29th birthday last week by treating himself to a curry and going to bed, but says he might celebrate in a pub somewhere in Soho if the new album is a success.
He reveals he feels he has found his voice on Gold Rush Kid: “You emulate the people you look up to in the beginning.
“I was 18 or 19 when I wrote some of the songs on the first album and you do your best, but you owe it to yourself to get closer to the truth and I feel that is what I’ve found now.”
Visit georgeezra.com for album and upcoming live performances
You owe it to yourself to get closer to the truth and I feel that is what I’ve found now