Katie Melua taught us there are 9 Million Bicycles in Beijing, she holds the world record for singing underwater (a concert at 303 metres under sea level in 2006)… And she also happens to be one of the bestselling female artists in Europe with four albums to date. The latest is The House, for which she worked with producer William Orbit and rediscovered the influence of ancient music. The New Yooxer met her for an exclusive interview.
Discover Katie’s Dream Box
Read the interview
Can you disclose something about your latest album?
My album is called The House. I make music when I feel my way into songs and try not to overthink things too much. The only thought I held while making this album was how amazing it would be to make an album that was influenced and inspired by the future of music and at the same time inspired by the most ancient musical roots.
Do you have an inspirational figure in music that has influenced you?
There are so many figures that constantly tread through my mind when I think of influences, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, Nick Cave and of course the ones who are not born yet, the inspiring musicians of the future.
What’s on your iPod?
I’ve got the National’s High Violet on at the moment, also Fever Ray’s latest album and I can’t get enough of Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter by Nina Simone.
You can’t live without?
My dollhouse, it’s based on an old Victorian dolls house. I love it so much, I collect furniture for it around the world and I change things around in there with every season. Christmas and Halloween are especially magical in there.
What do we find in your bag?
My diary, the only that can keep me organized in life! iPod to listen to music, my passport and that’s basically it. I like moving around as lightly as possible.
Do you sing in the shower?
I think so, I’ve been told I do, but it’s not the kind of thing that I do consciously.
What’s the greenest thing you’ve ever done?
I use a taxi company that only drives hybrid cars in London where I live. I’ve also got a garden at my house and I have rain water collectors to water it instead of the hose pipe.
What’s the best invention in life?
Planes! I fly all the time as a passenger and have taken a flying lesson once. Also I just read a small guide about aviation history, it’s so inspiring to read about the dreams they had not less than 100 years ago and now we can all fly anywhere around the world in them. Also for me planes symbolize big changes and unexpected turns in life. It was how we travelled from Georgia, the country where I was born- when I was 8 years old- to Belfast.
ABOUT KATIE
Born in Georgia only years before the Civil war would take her family from the Soviet Union to the green shores of Northern Ireland, Katie Melua enjoyed a pleasant childhood between Belfast and London. Originally interested in politics, she met her destiny on an unlikely British TV program during which her singing won her a talent competition. Katie then followed the logical route by attending the BRIT School for the Performing Arts and registering her first album age 19; Call Off The Search was the result of producer Mike Batt’s faith in Katie’s ability to “perform jazz and blues in an interesting way”. With Piece by Piece in 2005, she hit the big time and become the highest selling female artist in the UK for 2006 (and the bestselling European female in the whole of Europe); Nine Million Bicycles was the song to make it all happen. After a third album under the supervision of Batt, Pictures, Katie took a leap of faith (being an adrenaline junkie is her second passion and she even holds a world record for her underwater concert in Norway) and got William Orbit on board for The House, released earlier this year. “The whole thing has been really exciting. It was the same feeling I had the first time I went skydiving. I was really quite nervous, but I knew all I had to do was let myself go and it was going to feel amazing.” And it sounds pretty amazing too!
