This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast is brought to you in association with the Old Glory iconic music and sports fan merch superstore. More from them in a bit. Chatterbox. When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. And welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Nick and Sue and today our special guest is Ella Clayton. This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment.
Oh, yeah! Chatterbox! And now in Chatterbox, we're just lucky enough to welcome Ella Clayton. Ella, how are you? Welcome. Hello. Thank you for having me. I'm very well. Great to meet you. You're welcome. Great to meet you. Right, we've got a single, As You Are, and an album, Could It Be You? Yeah. Well, we've both listened to the single. I've heard it a few times. You've just heard it for the first time, so haven't you? So that all sounds good. So we'll chat about
them in a minute. Wonderful launch at the hundred club, but before we do tell us a little bit about yourself I mean, there's a page and a half here of press release, but let's let's do have it in your own words How you got here what you listen to as a kid what's been played at home? Just some of that stuff just to give us an idea of what your influences might have been the makings of. Yeah, so I grew up in a music loving household.
Both my parents play music, not professionally, but we all, my brother and sister included, played together in a very sort of on trap way as children. And I think my parents put me on stage in a pub when I was eight years old. And I was singing at school without realising, getting into trouble. It's just like in my bones. And then started playing open mics and small gigs in my sort of late teens, early 20s. And then I met my producer, Lester Duvall, and we made my first album together,
Murmurations, which came out in 2022. That led to sort of festivals and some of the songs were placed in films and things like that. And then I made my second album with Lester and that came out Friday, just passed. And yeah, it's been really exciting. I've got a tour. Coming up, starting this Friday, I'm going to Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Norwich, and then we end in London, in my hometown, with the biggest headline show I've ever done. I'm really nervous and excited,
but yeah, it's at the 100 Club in Solo. Why is it called the 100 Club? Excuse me, I don't know. It's been called it ever since I can remember. Why is it called the 100 Club? Do you know why? Oh, why? I have no idea. Okay, I think we're about to find out. Why is he called the 100 Club? Well, it won't be that. Why are you looking that up, Ella? Are you ready for this, Ella? I'm ready. It's called the 100 Club simply because it's located at number 100 Oxford Street. Well there
you go. Originally known as the Feldman Swing Club and live music began there in 1942, renamed the 100 Club in 1964 by Roger Horton. So it's been called the 100 Club 62 years anyway so it's got quite a history. Yeah it does, it's got such an iconic history. And now you know, that's brilliant, you'd be telling everyone, and please do. On stage, first thing you say. Anyway, back to you. Yeah, if you could go on tour, what band or artist or duo would you like to go on tour with? Oh,
there's so many. Big Thief. Do you know the band Big Thief? No, but I will do an interview. Yeah, they're one of my favorite bands making music at the moment. Adrian Lenker is their songwriter and she's absolutely prolific. She's released something like four solo albums and the band, I think they might have just released their sixth studio album. So I think her songwriting is absolutely like she's going to be remembered as one of the best of our generation. I'd love to support them.
Do you know, I'm really manifesting a support tour and within reason I'd go on the road with anyone. Do you know what I mean? I just really want the experience. I'd love to tour outside of the UK as well, in Europe. But yeah, Big Thief would be my number one. That's good. I'll just read you some of these things here about some of the shows you've been in. There was some Netflix series here, you had something rather to do with
that. My song was featured on a game called Dead Man's Phone and it's like a Netflix interactive game and then it was also on a film soundtrack. called Sweetheart. The film is a beautiful sort of coming -of -age narrative. Yeah, my song was in there. Don't you go underselling yourself here, will you? You know, it's pretty good, some of this. How do you feel that your song's been played in a film? Oh, it's wonderful. It's, yeah, it's absolutely amazing. I'd like to do a lot
more of it. Yeah, I mean, I was... Speaking to someone earlier and just talking about sort of musical influences, I think a lot of my music tastes that sort of didn't come from my parents, from what they were playing, the stuff that I discovered myself was a large part down to movie soundtracks. And it can sort of totally elevate a film. So to have my music in... you know, to accompany the visuals of a film would be amazing to reach new audiences. Yeah, absolutely. So
got to eat somehow, you know. So got this lead single from the album. So the album could it be you and lead single as you are. So I got the date of 24th of April, which was just gone, isn't it? Yeah. So already available kind of thing. Is that right? Yeah, it came out on Friday. yeah uh the 100 club tell us a bit more about that the date on the 100 club uh when when you're doing the the big like thing there so yeah so
that's on the 28th of may Yeah. I'm glad you said that because I will get confused because we've got 28 to make 28. I'll just get all over the place though. Thank you. 28 to make. Brilliant. What can we expect next from you? I mean, yeah, she's just got the album out, but what can we expect now? What's planned? Because you obviously don't... I mean, your third album, is it? Something like that. So is there another album already?
Are you one of those people, seeing the songwriters, that's always writing something, you think, oh, I'll get that down and then... Are you one of those people? Yeah definitely, it's like a sort of compulsion in my mind, it's like an overdrive all the time. I definitely have periods where I'm, you know, you need to sort of like top up your experiences so that you can then write about them but I'm always writing things down and I try and practice songwriting as a sort of muscle.
So could you be sat on a train and then there's this so a couple of sentences come to you and you just have to be writing down. Yeah I do or if I hear some interesting conversation on the train and someone says something quite juicy I'm like oh write that down or yeah all sorts of things dreams conversations with friends you know landscapes nature all sorts of things. Cool cool you've already been Talk about venues, is there a venue where you, the 100 Club's pretty
nice for this launch thing. What venues have you got in mind as part of your musical career you'd like to play at? Is there any places you'd think, oh I'd love to play there? Albert Hall? Yeah, but you're not the artist here. Albert Hall is iconic, it's an amazing venue. I think for me, my... One of my dream venues is the Roundhouse. I saw Alice Phoebe Lou play there last year and it was absolutely electrifying. I also love the Union Chapel. It's another North London venue.
It's a church but I've seen some amazing gigs there and I have played there but only as a support. I'd love to come back and do a headline there. Oh, there's so many. I mean, I'd love to. I'd love to play. I'd love to play in New York. Yeah, I just. Well, we wish you every success with this, of course. Tell us about some of the other album tracks, because we want the whole album here. Perhaps we'll stick one or two more in when we edit and put the thing on the Chatterbox
radio show. Tell us about some more of the tracks and maybe some stories behind them. I miss strangers. I wrote that one in lockdown and I didn't have the chance to sort of sit on trains and spy on people and I really missed that and there's a line in it about like looking at a beat -up pair of trainers and you know wondering at the multitude of lives that they may contain and Yeah, just that sort of, you know, the sort of interactions you can have with strangers that totally transform
your day. And while like, you know, spending time, I was lucky enough to sort of spend that lockdown with people I really loved, but there was like something missing for me in that sort of, you know, unexpected opportunities that come from meeting strangers. And I loved the way we ended up recording it in the studio. It was a total surprise. Alex Crawford, the guitar player, ended up coming up with this. Oh, who's that? It's Twinkle. She's been rubbing around my legs
and she has to say hello to everybody. Hello Twinkle. Yeah, she's fine now. But yeah, now she's met you. Now she's met me. She's chill. Yeah, so that song in the studio we ended up recording in a completely unexpected way and it was really exciting and brilliant. This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast is brought to you in association with the Old Glory iconic
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techniques to combat climate change. 1 % of all commissions is deducted at source and donated to the Stripe Climate Program and helping to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. It takes two to tangle And two to present a radio show So here's Nick and Sue Your musical duo This is Nick and Sue with Cheddar Box Giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment Cheddar Box Cheddar Box Which other song shall
I choose? Please Me is the opening track and it's one of the more soulful songs on the record and I guess it's it's a sort of love song for people with anxious avoidant attachment styles and Yeah, it starts off quite sort of guarded and spiky. And then the sort of turning point in the song is in the chorus when you sort of realize like maybe you're not so choosy and, you know, avoidant, maybe you're just holding
out for something that's really good. Are the songs that you write, I appreciate you, you get things out when you hear them, you get ideas, whatever, I get that totally. But your songs generally... True stories with a connection to you. Are you telling a story yourself or something that's happened to you? Or you just get those ideas down and you could do a song that way. Yeah, it's a mix. It's a whole mix. Most of the time the spark of inspiration is related to myself.
Like something that's happened to me. or a feeling I'm trying to work out or, you know, something that's happened in real life around me, whether or not it's directly me or someone else or whatever. But then I think the process of songwriting for me is almost trying to get out the way of myself
and just let it be whatever it wants to be. And sometimes that means kind of removing myself as as much as possible and other times it means like tapping into you know excavating the sort of deepest darkest bits of myself that I'm I'm trying to hide um so it can vary yeah these song as you are I think in all sorts here what's the song about what do you what did you take from it what was the You just take it away with you.
You just get away. It's a male's perspective perspective and it's the female that's doing the song and It's to do with a male. I can't explain it. Is that correct or wrong? Oh No, I mean, it's there's no incorrect. I love hearing Different people's sort of interpretations of it. I think of this song as a sort of friendship love song and just about this sort of, like, marvelling at the chances of crossing paths with someone that you end up valuing and loving so
much. It's just like, yeah, those moments with friends, I don't know, in the second verse, it's all like, you're rollerblading in the park and just having a laugh and it's like... can't believe that we met and that this is, you know, in this lifetime we get to spend all this lovely time together. It's a bit cheesy, but that's what
the lyrics are about. There's that thing I used to say a lot in interviews, wasn't it, about songwriting, this saying that's like going to... a song's like, it's a bit like going to an art gallery and you look at someone's painting and there's, you've got a hundred people there and they've got a hundred different interpretations as to what the painting is about. A song could be the same as it's on your frame of mind, how you feel. Totally, totally. That's the beauty
of it, you know, that's the... And you're the first person that's asked me what I thought of that song. Really? Brilliant, yes. Well, you know, because I have my reasons, obviously, and like, ideas about what it is. But then when I release it, it's not mine anymore, you know, it's like, pass on and then it's whatever you feel is. It's not a really good way of looking
at it. I see also among the venues you've already played in London, the St Pancras Old Church, to speak to a lot of people that have played there on the way up, which is brilliant. It sounds like a must -go. It's not exactly far from a railway station for us to get off and go to. That's pretty obvious it's in the name, dear. Yes dear, thank you for that. Even you'll find
that one. so uh no it's just it keeps cropping up that one it seems to be like one of the places to be in london is you know making your name being heard there there's some pancreas old church and they're they're people each of you they're people that are like like you know having a big launch or they're supporting somebody or whatever so yeah it sounds like it's one of the venues to be in london anyway so uh yeah it's brilliant it's a gorgeous church um right next to some
pancreas station and um And I played there like three years ago, did my headline, but then I've played there since as a support act. Okay. Yeah. Where's the venue we're going to next week? Oh, that's right up high up Victoria. It's two stops, two stops away from there actually. Yeah, it is. We would change, get on probably Euston, get on the... Probably Victoria Line there. Two stops after that. So it's close, but not close enough for what we want to be doing. What's the
venue? I'm going to have to look it up now. We're seeing Bobo in at their record launch next Friday. And do, do, do, do. The pub anyway, but it does lots of music out there. Bobo. Good guy. Must mean it to be a hall or? Better than a hall,
darling. Like a cathedral. it's cathedral yes it's st paul's cathedral dear all right it's all part of it open anchor it's actually islington yeah oh the open anchor i know yeah you know brilliant yeah it just sounds like there's a whole like floor bath or something there's a whole area which is done for the music so it sounds like a really good music venue that's what they're one of three acts so we've interviewed them a few so sometime you'll be seeing us come
to you as well so there you go we will we will we've been talking to them for a while we got to they like become music friends so yeah we've We're actually going to their launch. So there you go. If you could write a song, who would you write the song for? Would you like the person to sing it? Oh, okay. Like a musician to sing one of my songs. But you could also write a song for that person. Yeah. Who would I write a song for to sing? I'm now blanking on every single
artist I've ever listened to in my life. How about going dead or alive? Dead or alive? That sounds good, doesn't it? Let me find a way of getting them. Dead or alive. So... I think it would have to be... I'm gonna go with Alice Phoebe Lou. She's an amazing... singer, songwriter herself, and she has covered songs in a really cool way. So whether I wrote something for her or whether she covered one of my songs, I feel like she'd do it in a really interesting way. Okay. Is your
next interview four o 'clock? We've got no one at four? Yeah. Okay, right. Because I could chat for ages to you, but we do it again sometimes. It's fascinating. We ask if you can keep us updated with your new songs when they come out. This is where we're going next, because we're going to do the social media bit. So if you've got a website, then I just get the press releases
off that. So social media time, Ella. So what social media have you got, and how can our listeners take a look and, yeah, find a bit more about you? So I'm on Instagram, TikTok, Substack. Substack is my favorite sort of mode of communication. I write newsletters, and you can sign up. through my website, but I'm on Instagram, Ella Clayton, TikTok, YouTube. My website is www .ellaclayton .com and you can find my tour dates there and
a link to buy my vinyl. I've got the new record on 12 inch eco mix vinyl and it's on Bandcamp as well. And basically if you can think of a social media, I'm on it and you can just search Ella Clayton and you should find me. Okay, I'm far too well for TikTok, but I'm sure most of our listeners are on that. There was one I haven't heard of. There was one, I'll write that down, substack, never heard of that, I've written that
one down. Oh yeah, well, it's like a newsletter thing, so you don't have to have the app to, it goes straight to your email, basically. Okay. So you'd get like an email with like a little letter from me and some information. Nice, well, it's been great meeting you, so wishing you every success, especially with that launch at the 100 Club on the 28th of March, which in case people forget where it is, it's at number 100 Oxford Street. It's a great little fact to know, isn't
it? It's a great little fact. When did you say it was open? 1947 or something? 1942 we've got here, and now it's saying as the Feldman Jazz Club Wait for this. It's the world's oldest continuously running independent music venue. Yay. Wow. There you go. And the 100 Club in 1964. There you go. And now welcome Ella Clayton's album launch of Could It Be You with the full band. That's brilliant. There you go. Ella, I really enjoyed chatting to you and I hope we can do it again some time.
Good luck with everything and the whole lot of it and all the rest of the interviews for launch. Now we've chatted, we'll be looking out for some more stuff from you anyway, so there you go. We know who you are now. All right, Ella, thanks a lot. Cheers. Thanks so much. Enjoy your change this week as well. Bye. Thank you. Bye -bye.
You've been listening to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue and Nick and today our special guest was Ella Clayton If you're interested in becoming a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux podcast, or the radio show Chatterbox UK, you're welcome to submit songs, books, or whatever it is you do, and send us a CV, synopsis, or press release. However, we receive several thousand such press releases every week, and it's impossible
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