Mr Hudson Interview

I chat to Ben Hudson (a.k.a. Mr Hudson) about his new album, Kanye West, and why it's important to stay grounded...

Ben: Hi there, how you doing?

Rosanna: I’m good thank you, thanks for taking the time out to talk to me.

Ben: My pleasure. I’m horizontal on the sofa, I’m chilling, so it’s all good.

Rosanna: That sounds pretty nice. How’re you doing at the moment?

Ben: I’m good yeah, I’m just running around, it’s early starts and late finishes... I did Never Mind the Buzzcocks last night and Freshly Squeezed this morning so lots of different things, meeting lots of people, it’s great.

Rosanna: Sounds pretty exciting. Is this all to plug the new album then?

Ben:  Yeah, we put so much into the record and I’m really proud of it, so I’m perfectly happy to tell everyone that I meet and everyone that I speak to about it. Some people ask me if I ever get bored of doing interviews, but they’re important. It’s like asking a parent if they get bored of talking about their child.

Rosanna: It obviously means a lot to you then – are you excited to see people’s responses?

Ben: Yeah, it’s my child; it’s like “look at my baby”.

Rosanna: Awww. And how would you say that it compares stylistically with your debut album?

Ben: Musically I think that the first album is a lot closer and more like going ‘round to my pals and playing in the living room. Whereas this album is the sound of me having travelled and played some big old venues, and just having grown a lot... it’s two or three years down the line and it sounds a lot more like the studio as well.

Rosanna: Would you say that it’s a maturer album than the first one?

Ben:  Well it’s three years older, so yeah!

Rosanna: And would you say the same for your songwriting – that it’s improved and matured as you’ve gone along?

Ben: Yeah, I think that I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel... I think that I used to cram more ideas into 4 minutes, and now I’m happy to have three or four ideas and really get them across.

Rosanna: And I hear that that’s where your album got its name from, because it’s straight, no chaser...

Ben: Yeah, it’s just got a directness, a punchiness, a kicking in the nuts approach. There’s not lots of ornate intros and outros.

Rosanna:  Right now, what’s your favourite song from the album?

Ben: At the moment, Stiff Upper Lip.

Rosanna: And why do you think that There Will be Tears didn’t manage to achieve the same success as Supernova?

Ben: Well There Will be Tears was never actually a single, we just leaked it... Why did Supernova do so well? I don’t know, I mean it did kind of blow up didn’t it? It’s had 3 months in the top 40 now, it’s crazy. I just think that over the summer, it captured something – a real feel good thing... there’s something about that chorus I think that makes everyone want to sing along. I got to the MOBOs the other day, and started walking down the red carpet, all these Scottish kids started singing it at me! 200 Glaswegian children, singing Supernova.

Rosanna: Does it feel good to see that then?

Ben: [laughs] Yeah!

Rosanna: How did it feel not being able to get a number one because of JLS?

Ben: Well we can’t all be number one can we? And JLS, they’re good fun and they’re good lads and they’ve got six-packs and I haven’t.

Rosanna: Ah, maybe that’s where you’re failing then...

Ben: [laughs] Who knows.

Rosanna: Did you have a good festival season this summer?

Ben:  Yeah, I really enjoyed it - Bestival, The Great Escape, Lovebox... yeah, it’s been great fun. I would have liked to have done more but running back and forth between America and here, you can’t do everything unfortunately.

Rosanna: How did find Summer Sundae in Leicester?

Ben:  That was one of my favourite gigs of the year! That was probably in my top five gigs ever... it was nuts, a brilliant, brilliant crowd... I’d definately come back.

Rosanna: And you’ve been spending a lot of time over in America haven’t you? What’s that been like?

Ben:  It’s been brilliant and when I’m out there I’m tempted to move out there but then I get back and I realise why it’s important to stay here. I think it’s living here that’s given me a bit of an edge... there’s no point me just becoming American is there?

Rosanna: Exactly, then you wouldn’t be you. But obviously you’ve got the links over there with Kanye... how did you two first meet?

Ben:  He just heard the first album so it was all about the music really... I’m really proud of that fact. He was a fan of the first record and got in touch, and I’m glad that it was just a really natural, organic thing, and that it was about the music, it wasn’t a backroom deal between record companies or anything like that.

Rosanna: And would you say that he’s really helped you to develop as an artist?

Ben: Yeah, working for him is very inspiring and he sort of woke me up to what I could achieve... he made me aware of what I could do basically... he’s saying that I can be a pop star.

Rosanna: He’s even saying that you can be bigger than him now... how does that feel?

Ben: [laughs] I know! It’s a lot of pressure but I just try and ignore it and deal with what’s in front of me. I can’t worry about whether I’m going to be bigger than him or not... it’s completely out of my hands – it’s up to the people at home isn’t it?

Rosanna: Do you find that having such a positive reception from the press and fans does put the pressure on to deliver?

Ben: No, if anything it’s just you and it helps you to go on and have the confidence to express myself. Also, it’s important not to get a big head.

Rosanna: How do you manage to keep yourself grounded?

Ben: I just go down the cafe, order my beans on toast and they take the piss out of me, or go and hang out with my pals in the pub. They’ll say “oh we saw you in the paper” and have a laugh. And I’ll ring my mum every now and again.

Rosanna: Has it been hard to spend as much time with your family and friends since becoming successful?

Ben: It is very tricky, just because I’m so busy. I just want time to call my mum, you know? I’m still close to all my school friends though. It’s important – I’m not gonna be one of those guys who clears off to America. I’m just trying to keep my feet on the ground.

Rosanna: Finally, where would you like to be in a year’s time?

Ben: I suppose I’d like to be telling you about the next album... I just wanna keep producing music and working with other people and having a laugh... yeah, I guess I’ll be talking to you about Straight, No Chaser 2, whatever that’ll be.

Rosanna: Well best of luck for the future and thanks very much for your time

Ben: My pleasure, thank you.

http://www.myspace.com/mrhudson

Mr Hudson’s new album Straight, No Chaser will be available to buy from 19^th October. Click here to buy: http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/v-v/091009143754

Special thanks to Katerina Marka of the Mercury Music Group.

By Rosanna Pound-Woods