28 Dec: Digital Spy Interviews Duffy

Digital Spy article. Pasted below.

Duffy

Friday, December 28 2007, 06:00 GMT

By Nick Levine, Music Editor

There isn't exactly a dearth of female singer/songwriters in Britain at the moment, even if they do have an irritating habit of getting pregnant/ cancelling all promotional engagements until the end of the year, but north Wales' Duffy is talented enough to stand out from the pack. Her debut single 'Rockferry', released last month, is an epic, sixties-style slice of pop melancholy, sung in a voice that quivers with longing and positively bristles with determination. We gave the Welsh songbird a call to find out about her journey towards musical greatness.

When did you first think 'I'd really love to be a singer'?
"When I was really young. It was always around, but I remember announcing it to myself when I was just a baby. I knew it was going to happen, I was dedicating myself to it."

Did you ever doubt that it might happen?
"No. I used to think to myself 'this is going to kill me if I don't do it'. Never."

When did you first sing in front of an audience?
"When my family all got together, I'd always get up and entertain everyone, but it was all a bit of a joke. My first real memory of singing for people was when I was about eleven or 12. I'd just started a new school and my new headmaster pointed at me and said: 'YOU! SING!' It was really embarrassing, but I remember thinking it was a little moment, because I'd never told anyone I wanted to sing before. I didn't rush home and tell my parents or anything - I kept the moment to myself."

Did your parents support your ambition to be a singer?
"Well, because I always knew, I never looked for reassurance or acceptance from anyone because I knew it was never going to go away."

How did you go about realising your ambition?
"I just did everything I could to get to where I am now. Every day I advanced a little further - whether it was ringing up directory enquiries and asking for the number of a record company in London, or getting into a different band, or getting a job in a recording studio. I did it all on my own at that stage - my family didn't know where I was half the time."

Was there a moment where you suddenly thought 'Aha! I'm definitely on the right track now'?
"Yeah - when I met Jeanette Lee and Geoff Travis from [my record label] Rough Trade about three-and-a-half years ago, just after they'd heard my demos. We've made the record together over the last three years - it was a really shared experience - and it was the first time really that I ever let anyone in."

When did you decide to go by Duffy, your surname?
"It was never a conscious decision - I was introducing myself as Duffy and my friends were calling me Duffy, so I just knocked off the first half of my name. For me it's no big deal, but a lot of people want to unearth why I've called myself this. It's just what I'm known as, you know. A lot of people expect me to be a boy. Taxi drivers turn up and say 'you're a girl called Duffy?!'"

You've worked with Suede's Bernard Butler on your album. Were you starstruck when you first met him?
"I didn't know who he was when I first met him! I thought he was just some guy at Rough Trade, hanging around and saying hello. Then we got together that afternoon and I had no expectations of what might happen. But, as I've found out after working with him over the last few years, he's truly amazing. I'm a genuine fan. It's just a really natural working relationship. I don't walk into the room thinking 'Oh my god I'm in the studio with one of the greatest guitarists ever'."

How's the album turned out?
"There's ten songs on the record, and I think they're all very different, but there's something that relates them to each other. I was conscious about making a record that sounds fluid, even though I worked with a few different people. It's not a concept record, but it sounds like a record, you know."

'Rockferry', the single, has a big, sixties-style string arrangement. Are any of the other songs in a similar vein?
"'Rockferry' has a cousin, shall we say, on the record called 'Just A Dreamer'. It's got a really nice, luscious string arrangement. Some of the songs have big arrangements; some have smaller arrangements; some have modern arrangements. The album's really made up of all different shapes and sizes."

What's 'Rockferry' about exactly?
"It isn't actually about the place geographically; it represents something other than that. 'Rockferry' is a song about trouble. If you're trying to achieve something in your life, if you're trying to get somewhere, 'Rockferry' is that place."

Where would you like to be five years from now?
"I'd like to be very wise. I hope I know a lot more than I do now! I'm learning all the time at the moment - every day there's a new challenge for me. I'm only just learning what language to use when I want my microphone turned down, you know, because it's all so new to me. It can be quite difficult on a daily basis to communicate with the people I work with, so I'm just looking forward to knowing more."

'Rockferry' is out now. Duffy's debut album follows early next year.

Rockferry is in Sun's Top 20

An article in The Sun today names Duffy's single Rockferry in their Top 20 Singles of the year.

Duffy Radio 2 Music Club 14th Dec 07

Duffy performs an intimate concert at the BBC's famous Maida Vale Studios in London.

This was the webpage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/event_duffy.shtml

Interview with Simon Mayo (Duffy's mum calls her on her mobile mid-way through LOL)



Songs from the concert:

Mercy




Rockferry






Serious




Warwick Avenue





Cry to Me




Finally - I believe this is the set list and you can download the audio from this session in MP3 below:
Interview with Simon Mayo
Rockferry
Warwick Avenue
Serious
Mercy
Cry to Me (Tom Petty cover)

Duffy Live@Cardiff Uni XFM Winter Wonderland

Duffy performed a 3 song set at this gig. Read a review of the entire gig here and more details here.

Duffy’s brief three-song set is a little respite for those knocked senseless by The Enemy. Her soaring voice and sublime songcraft still packs a punch and wins plenty of new fans.

Duffy’s three-song set is a little incongruous to say the least. Largely acoustic and very brief, it gives the crowd a little breathing space after The Enemy’s square boot to the knackers. Rather than brute force, Duffy’s weapon of choice is her sublime voice. Floating over the packed crowd, it enchants and intoxicates in the same way The Enemy battered and bruised.

You can listen to XFM's interview with Duffy in their player at the link below:
Listen to Duffy being interviewed.

Clip of her Rockferry performance below:


There's also this article below from Dec 11th.... (From here)

Duffy has a voice in a million

Dec 11,2007 by Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo

IN 2008 the best new voice in Wales is going to take the UK by storm – and you may already have tickets to see her without knowing it.

As part of XFM’s huge Winter Wonderland gig at Cardiff University on Wednesday you could be forgiven for looking no further than Super Furry Animals, The Enemy, We Are Scientists and Kids In Glass Houses.

But you’ll also be treated to a short acoustic set by a stunning newcomer called Duffy.

Amy Ann Duffy has the potential to be the next Amy Winehouse – musically speaking – with her classic songs, luscious arrangements and a voice that has industry insiders comparing her to Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin.

“I get that on a daily basis,” she says slightly embarrassed.

Recently I interviewed Alison Moyet, acknowledged as one of the defining female voices of her generation, and, unprompted, she spilled praise for Duffy’s debut single Rockferry, released last week.

“Young girls normally spurt their vocal too much and it usually takes them a few years to realise that less is more,” said Moyet.

“But Duffy has a great sense of what is right, great control – but not too controlled – and a really nice tone.”

It’s a sound capable of bewitching Radio One and Radio Two and so convinced are people of her success it’s whispered that her record company – Universal offshoot A&M – is throwing £1m at her on promotion alone.

Not bad for a girl from the North Wales hamlet of Nefyn.

Duffy was “discovered” by former Catatonia star Owen Powell and ex-60ft Dolls man Richard Parfitt in 2004.

The pair introduced Duffy to management company Rough Trade who, recognising they had a serious talent on their hands, gave her three years to develop her sound and write songs.

Among those she has worked with in that time is former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. On her MySpace site (www.myspace.com/duffy myspace) there is a video of the pair recording their song Syrup And Honey.

Her voice is such pure talent that it is easy to see why she was scared of it as a child.

“When I was younger I didn’t really understand my voice,” said Duffy, who loves to listen to artists like Scott Walker, Betty Swann and Sam Cooke.

“I thought, ‘this is something I can’t tell people because they will laugh at me’.

“I harboured this desire privately for so long but I have really developed as a singer over the last 10 years.

“I am proud of myself because at times I have been really scared and frustrated but I have come through it.”

With her debut album expected early next year, Duffy needs to ready herself for stardom but the endearingly grounded girl says she is not getting any big ideas.

“People ask me what kind of pop star I think I’ll make and I have no idea because I don’t think I am a pop star.

“At the minute I’m just taking every day as it comes but I want to make a lot more records and I’m already thinking of stuff for my second album.

“I’m in a great position now but, whatever happens, I’m just going to enjoy it.”

Duffy Live@Wrexham (Supporting The Magic Numbers)

Tonight (6th Dec 2007) duffy supported The magic Numbers at Wrexham Central Station. Rockferry performance is below.

6 Dec: Interview with Duffy

This interview appeared today.

Interview: Duffy (no, not the bass player in GnR...)

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Beren Neale

On the strength of a few demos Rough Trade introduced her to Butler and session man Jimmy Hogarth. “Nobody knew what I was capable of - I had never put pen to paper,” exclaims the singer.

And the result? “Rockferry and Warwick Avenue just came out. They were about hanging on for too long and breaking up - it all just unfolded. The moment that I delivered those demos to Jeanette she got quite emotional and told me how amazing they were and… it was fucking great.”

Comparisons

For someone who professes to know little about music or the industry, Duffy doesn’t appear overwhelmed at her rising success, though this too is new to her: “I only feel that now,” says the singer. “At the beginning I was so unconfident, unsure, and very scared. I was battered and bruised from everything I had gone through and if it wasn’t for Rough Trade finding me at that point, I might just have been a washed-up singer who stayed in Wales.” Battered and bruised? “Emotionally. From being in different relationships with men I shouldn’t have been with… Just being a kid I guess.”

And of course now there are the comparisons: Duffy’s mentor and manager Jeanette Lee has already been cast by some as a modern Vicki Wickham, Dusty Springfield’s manager and confidant in her 1960s heyday. But what does Duffy make of being compared to some of the greats she’s only recently discovered? “At the moment, everyone seems to say Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin, but I can’t say I comprehend that.” There’s also something of Holly Golightly, I chip in, immediately wishing I hadn’t. “I’ll check her out,” she quickly answers. “Comparisons are fine - it’s part of our culture. It’s good to create associations and, fortunately, I’ve had great ones. But what I’m excited about is over the next year for people to get to know other songs of mine. There’s no rush,” she concludes. “I’ll be here for a while.”

Duffy article Music Towers

This article (pasted in below) found here.

Interview: Duffy (no, not the bass player in GnR...)

Thursday, December 06, 2007
Beren Neale

Duffy, the newly fated heir to the British soul diva’s crown, has a secret: “In terms of music, I’m only just learning about soul,” says the 22 year-old singer/songwriter. “I came from Nefyn, a little village in North Wales where there weren’t any record stores, so I just listened to the radio. I’m only just becoming familiar with Motown and all the great blues artists.”

This admission is a bit of a shock when you consider Duffy’s voice – like a roll of velvet being unfurled, it is a medicine of unaffected emotion that seeps through the new Bernard Butler-produced single Rockferry, a soul soup of 60s pop and Motown grandness. Her voice sounds like the product of countless late nights pouring over Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin records, not the result of a youth spent listening to Radio 1.

British Record

Although her sound may be indebted to American soul, it seems the emotional core couldn’t be more British. “When I lived in Nefyn, London was my furthest horizon. So we were consciously making a British record, because for me living in a small village and going to London was so massive, I couldn’t think about going anywhere else.”

“There was also Bernard Butler bringing the British rock ‘n’ roll, and me, somehow, having this blues element,” she says, quickly adding “and as much as I appreciate what Bernard brought to the record, how he set the tone, there was a big pressure on me - I had to live up to it and write songs to the standard that people expect, or give up and go back home.”

Luckily, there was no added strain of working with one of Britain’s most prominent guitarists: “I have to say, I didn’t know who Bernard was when I met him. I mean, I knew Suede because I’m a girl of the 90s, but as I say I only had the radio. So I wasn’t a crazy Bernard Butler fan when I met him, but now I’m up there – I’m aware of everything he’s done.”

Rough Trade

Once you get over the age and accent, neither of which fit with the weather-beaten voice on the records, it’s clear that Duffy is relishing each step into the limelight. This is especially clear when she talks about the people that ‘discovered’ her: “Jeannette Lee and Geoff Travis from Rough Trade heard some demos I was singing on, and I met up with them in a pub one afternoon and we instantly connected. I think they could see that, although I didn’t know music, I had this drive and passion, so together Jeannette and I embarked on making a record.”

On the strength of a few demos Rough Trade introduced her to Butler and session man Jimmy Hogarth. “Nobody knew what I was capable of - I had never put pen to paper,” exclaims the singer.

And the result? “Rockferry and Warwick Avenue just came out. They were about hanging on for too long and breaking up - it all just unfolded. The moment that I delivered those demos to Jeanette she got quite emotional and told me how amazing they were and… it was fucking great.”

Comparisons

For someone who professes to know little about music or the industry, Duffy doesn’t appear overwhelmed at her rising success, though this too is new to her: “I only feel that now,” says the singer. “At the beginning I was so unconfident, unsure, and very scared. I was battered and bruised from everything I had gone through and if it wasn’t for Rough Trade finding me at that point, I might just have been a washed-up singer who stayed in Wales.” Battered and bruised? “Emotionally. From being in different relationships with men I shouldn’t have been with… Just being a kid I guess.”

And of course now there are the comparisons: Duffy’s mentor and manager Jeanette Lee has already been cast by some as a modern Vicki Wickham, Dusty Springfield’s manager and confidant in her 1960s heyday. But what does Duffy make of being compared to some of the greats she’s only recently discovered? “At the moment, everyone seems to say Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin, but I can’t say I comprehend that.” There’s also something of Holly Golightly, I chip in, immediately wishing I hadn’t. “I’ll check her out,” she quickly answers. “Comparisons are fine - it’s part of our culture. It’s good to create associations and, fortunately, I’ve had great ones. But what I’m excited about is over the next year for people to get to know other songs of mine. There’s no rush,” she concludes. “I’ll be here for a while.”

Duffy Live@ Royal Festival Hall

Duffy did a gig tonight (5th December), supporting The Magic Numbers at Royal Festival Hall....





If anyone has further details (setlist, pics, vids) then please let me know!

Rockferry Single Released in UK!

Today Duffy's single Rockferry was released!

Like the haunting theme tune to a 1960s film, Duffy's debut single sparkles and shimmers in its widescreen, cinematic scope.

Her voice, smoky and soulful is - like a few female vocalists coming to the fore at the moment - more Aretha than Mariah. Which has to be a good thing.

Full review by BBC Wales is here.