Interview #147: Terri Walker

The first ever Hugo Urban Rules concert took place in London recently. The concert was the culmination of the first two months of the Hugo Urban Rules nationwide music development programme which was devised by Hugo Fragrances to uncover and invest in new urban music talent.

The evening began with a superb performance from Daizy, the winner of the first stages of Hugo Urban Rules. Daizy was one of over 500 artists who sent in demo’s for the chance to join the masterclass sessions and auditions which took place in London. All participants were trained in vocal coaching, dance choreography, the music business and were also invited to a Q+A session with all the artists and members of the judging panel.

Terri Walker followed with one of her legendary soul performances proving why she’s one of the ultimate diva’s in the UK. Hugo Urban Rules heads to Birmingham and Manchester in 2007. Artists can upload their demo to apply to the Birmingham masterclasses and auditions from December onwards.

I Like Music caught up with soulful songstress Terri Walker to talk about Hugo Urban Rules, her advice to new artists, her latest album and plans for the future.

“I like music because… it makes me alive.” Terri Walker

ILM: You're involved in Hugo Urban Rules, which is a such a brilliant initiative, educating and showcasing future talent with these workshops. And the winner gets to perform in stage with you and Sway among others and record a track. How did you get involved?

Terri: They approached us and I’m always up for showing kids that if you have a dream and you’re good enough at what you’re doing, it’s possible so I was bang up for it. I’ve been doing so much stuff with my record and promoting, so they approached me and I was up for it.

ILM: Tell me more about the project.

Terri: Time-permitting because I’m starting my new record soon, I said anything that I can do, I’m going to be there at some workshops giving some singing lessons, and I’m doing as much promo and press as possible, and I’ll be at seminars answering questions about how start in the music business, I’ll say be confident in what you do and all of those kinds of things I’m very much involved in.

ILM: You've been in the business a while, and have a classically-trained voice. What have you learned about the business side and stagecraft? What are your biggest tips for artists coming into the industry now?

Terri: If you’re a singer, nurture your voice, make sure you look after your voice, respect your voice, respect your craft and always make sure that you practice and are always learning stuff. Look at a lot of the greats that have been out, but try to become an individual. There’s Beyonce right now, and I love Beyonce, but I don’t choose to be like a Beyonce, I choose to be like Terri Walker. I think a lot of kids now they see someone on TV and they want to be an exact replica of that thing and I think the reason why she stands out is because, yeah she was inspired by Tina Turner and the old school greats but she’s made it into her own thing. So kids definitely need to know, yes, use it as a template, but add you, add you towards it. That’s the most important thing, because that way you will always succeed because you’ll be different, and nobody can say they’ve heard something like that before.

ILM: It’s about finding your own voice then?

Terri: Yeah and it doesn’t happen overnight. It took me a while to find my voice to be honest. I was classically trained so when you’re trained like that and influenced by different things, I was kind of singing whatever but at the time I was just trying to sound like them, until I went to America one time and over there everyone is very individual, and trying to break new boundaries and that’s when I really found my voice. I was like, ‘oh my God, that’s me, that’s my voice!’ I don’t hear anyone that sounds like that, there may be songs that sound similar but as far as my tone and the way I sing, I know if I heard it I know it’s me singing, like the way you talk, there’s only one person who sounds like you.

ILM: And then also you can be natural.

Terri: Yeah.

ILM: In terms of life skills and staying on the straight and narrow, what's your advice to kids?

Terri: Now it’s very easy to go off the rails and do the whole Bling Bling thing. It’s a mindset thing really, for instance, me and you might go out and look at something and think, that doesn’t excite me at all. But other people get caught up on how much money someone has. And the problem is if they’re going to get into trouble, they’re going to do it anyway. But if you want to make something of yourself and you look at the benefits in the long run, then hopefully the fact that you didn’t get yourself into these stupid situations, you’ll know that it was really worth it.

ILM: You’ve been touring. What’s your favourite Terri Walker track to play live?

Terri: There’s this one track that we do on my second album called Ain’t No Live its kind of a Motown feel. It’s the one track that’s got a sample in it, it’s an old school Al Green sample and we turn it into this big medley of Motown songs, with a bit of Stevie in it, and when I sing that song I kind of go outside of myself and I really go for it, and the reaction… everybody gets really excited because there’s so much energy everyone feels like that they have to scream and dance, so that’s my favourite one that I like to sing.

ILM: It notices when you’re having so much fun so the energy goes out into the crowd and you connect.

Terri: Yeah! D’ya know what I mean? That’s why some people are great performers and some people aren’t, because, you could have a great song but if someone sings it like a limp potato, you’re like, ‘how boring?’ You need a bit of energy that makes you go, ‘Oh my God!’

ILM: What’s your favourite ‘live’ experience seeing other play recently?

Terri: Anthony Hamilton, he’s very soulful. I heard his stuff and I was like, yeah, he’s alright. But when I saw him perform, his energy… when he starts dancing he breakdances in the middle of his song and he starts rapping and he starts singing and talking to the crowd, and now I love this person. And Alicia Keys, the first album, I thought she was good but she didn’t really touch me vocally as much. But then when I saw her sing her second album, she has an album launch party and was doing a couple of songs at the Criterion Theatre and she was amazing, she was like mind-blowing, vocally she was just pushing herself and ever since then I’m one of her biggest fans. She’s just absolutely amazing.

ILM: Of all the tracks on your I Am album, which one did you have the most fun laying down?

Terri: That was a fun thing. All of them y’know. It was after I left my first label, so it was a thing of me just doing it myself, so every single song was really dear to me to be honest. And the mixing of the records was my favourite part because we went to LA and went to mix it for a few weeks in this amazing studio, so we got to hang out and eat great food, because when you mix the record you’re getting all the balances right of what it’s supposed to sound like, but I Am, when it was finished and mixed that’s the one I was so excited about, I was like ‘aaah, that sounds so wicked!’

ILM: From lyrics to final mix you were involved, must be awesome.

Terri: I Am on the record is probably the most quirky one. When I was writing it with my friend, we were saying, ‘oh it’s a bit too quirky, I’m not sure’ but we decided to leave it on there, it’s fine, and after that everyone was like, this one is really fun, I really like this, so….

ILM: How did it compare with making your debut album, Untitled? Just freer and more fun to make?

Terri: Recording the third album was great because I was very free and I was being me, whereas, the second album they wanted me to try and go into the commercial pop side of things and it wasn’t me, it’s not what I do, because I sing soul and more specialist type of music, but I did it anway. It was fun but it wasn’t that much fun, because it’s so restricted. It’s very structured, it’s very formulated. It’s like ‘you can’t say hello twice in the chorus’ and you’re like, ‘why? It sounds good, it’s about the vibe,’ so there wasn’t a vibe with my second album. This one and the first one was more about a vibe and coming across as me.

ILM: Yeah and that’s what being creative is about isn’t it. I mean you wouldn’t go up to an artist and say, ‘right, you’ve got to paint it this way, using these colours,’…

Terri: Exactly, by numbers darling… No... look at me trying to get all deep.

ILM: Can you describe the Terri Walker process of writing such good music?

Terri: It depends on the day and depends on the vibe. Sometimes I need to hear music to give me a picture of what I want to say, and sometimes a line will just come into my head, so [sings] I Am What I Am and then I focus on that constantly, and the song will draw from there, so what am I? Do I want it to be serious or do I want it to be fun? In this song, I’m singing ‘I Am the twinkle in your eye, I Am, I Am, I mean, obviously I’m taking the piss, I’m not really going to say I’m that great as a person, but it’s kind of the tongue in cheek, and that’s how I wanted it to come across and it did.

And often it depends on situations. Like there’s a song on my third album called No Matter Whatever, it’s about my girlies. Like one of my friends is always getting herself in these situations and she always feels embarrassed when she phones to say, ‘Oh Terri, I’ve gone and done it again, and I’m like, ‘I’m your friend, no matter what you do, I’m here for you, don’t worry about that shit, it don’t work, that’s why I’m your friend. I’m not a part time friend, I’m here for everything, so I’m saying no matter, whatever, call me, don’t feel afraid to be here. And that’s one of my favourite songs on there because it reminds me of all my girls. I’ve got a lot of really close girl friends and it is about empowering us as women, but it is about letting us know that we are strong and can do whatever we want to do. To let each other know that we’re here for each other, because not all women are bitchy with each other. They make it out like we are and it’s horrible, I don’t like that.

If you have a strong sisterhood around you, it can just make you grow everyday. Women who get so caught up in trying to please a man all day long, you won’t get nowhere, because when he goes, because you know what men are like, he might still be there but he’ll be doing his own thing, those women often lose their self-confidence and have low self-esteem.

ILM: And good girl friends know all your good and bad points but still see the true you and get things in perspective.

Terri: Yeah.

ILM: Loads of people are using the internet these days to get there music out there perhaps even before getting a record deal. How has the internet affected your music?

Terri: I’m so rubbish because I’ve only started to get into computers and email in the past year or so, because I’m one of those people I’d rather speak to you on the phone and I’d rather go out and buy the CD and have it in my hand physically, because nothing beats having the CD and being able to read the credits and just seeing pictures. That way it makes it really classic. Obviously it makes it easier when you haven’t got the time and it is great because millions of people can find about you anywhere without having to see you play, but it’s not very personable. I’d rather see someone live rather than watching a video. But I do think its brilliant and the resources you can get, you can find out anything on the Internet. And now I’m addicted to MySpace, I’ve got back in contact with people I haven’t seen in ages.

ILM: Four Mobo nominations, a Mercury Prize shortlist, and collaboration with hot producers, what has been the highlight so far?

Terri: Doing the Mercury awards was great because it was my debut album, so I’d come out the first time and they were saying this girl has one of the best albums of the year (one of twelve)… and I was like, wow I’ve just come out and I then four nominations and I was like, no this is crazy! But then all these award ceremonies I don’t think it’s right because it spurs the whole competition thing. And I really believe that with music, there is not only one person that does it, there are so many different genres and awards are like, you make people feel like, she didn’t win it, that means she’s not as good. But it’s not like that. It just means, you might have preferred that but there is so much more out there. There are so many different genres or RnB and soul and Motown you can’t put them all in one bracket to compete, but they do they tend to do that. It’s a compliment to be nominated for these things, of course, but, at the same time… some say awards, like the Mercury’s are curse.

ILM: Although I think the Mercury’s are one of the more credible awards. The winner isn’t basically the one who’s had the most radio airplay or biggest marketing campaign.

Terri: Yeah totally, I mean, you look at the Cheeky Girls, nothing against them, but they were actually number one at one point, and the Crazy Frog and stuff, it’s a joke!

Then you hear a Gnarls Barkley and you’re like, that’s a brilliant song. I remember when I was coming out first and Beverley Knight might be coming out the same week and they’d be like, ‘We can’t play your music because we’re already playing Beverley Knight.’ And it’s so dum.

ILM: That’s one of the good things about the internet, because there’s space for everyone and people are genre-hopping.

ILM: And what does the future hold?

Terri: Well I’m recording the next album in the next couple of months and I’ve been asked to do a pilot for radio as well, so I’ll be having my own radio show and maybe start writing for movies and stuff, and also maybe set up a management company or label at some point, if I do make enough money. We do need to have a proper outlet where people can do their own thing and not get caught up in the marketing side of if you don’t look like this, you’re not going to get anywhere.

I’ve definitely gone through it the hard way. I conformed for the second album and I know it doesn’t work for me, there’s no point doing something that doesn’t make sense to me.

ILM: Totally, well it touches people more if it’s not staged or having to conform.

Terri: Yeah.

ILM: What’s the best and worst thing about North West London?

Terri: I’m from Ealing. What I love about NW London is there’s a lot of great parks, beautiful parks, and it’s quite a nice tranquil area, and cultured. What don’t I like? Some of the people think they’re a bit more than they are, but you get that everywhere.

ILM: What are you listening to for pleasure?

Terri: I’ve been listening to old school Chaka Khan.