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Living the dream: Katie Melua |
Katie Melua is an award winning singer and songwriter who crashed into the charts in 2003 with her debut single ‘The Closest Thing To Crazy.’ |
| Since then she has been on an upward spiral to fame and fortune and has achieved her dream of owning a flat in London. |
| Louisa Austin talks to her in this exclusive interview about her life so far. |
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Katie Melua’s website |
| It was while her mother made her breakfast on a Sunday morning in December 2007 that the Georgia born singer was told she had reached the number one spot in the charts. “I was ecstatic and happy,” Katie explains. “But the ecstasy, disbelief and amazement lasted about half an hour and then my mum said, ‘Oh well, that’s lovely.’ Fireworks didn’t suddenly go off. Cilla Black didn’t suddenly come out of the garden. You’re number one but you’re still at home having your breakfast cooked.” |
| Katie had a rather colourful life growing up, which may explain her down to earth and ‘take it in her stride’ attitude. |
| At the age of eight her parents took the decision to move from Georgia, amidst the conflict with Russia and set up home in Northern Ireland. “It was so exciting,” Katie says. “Life in Georgia is documented as being really dark and bleak but it is exciting as a kid when the lights go out, and exciting when they come back on. And it is exciting living with candlelight so I always loved Georgia, it wasn’t for the sake of moving away from something really horrific. But there was a subtle understanding we were going somewhere much better, as in quality of life and my dad got a job in Belfast so we moved there. On one side I was really happy about it and knew what was going on and on the other I was very naive but the naivety was good, it got me through it.” |
| Katie was 14 when the family moved again, this time to Sutton in England and then Surrey. “I moved to London by myself after my career took off,” she recalls. “I remember thinking how incredible it would be to have a flat in London. I remember being 15 and walking round Notting Hill late at night and peaking into peoples windows. Like the basement flats where you can only see the curtains and I thought I would love to own a flat here one day and then a few years later I did!” |
| Katie didn’t always want to be a musician and when growing up was set on becoming a historian or politician. She says of her ambitions, “The troubles in the countries I lived in were quite an active ingredient and my dad was always very vocal about politics. When you have a parent who is so vocal about something it gives you an opinion about it - for or against. Music then took over in an undercurrent kind of way and it felt really natural, like step by step. It is like I stepped into it little by little and before I knew it I am here talking to you.” |
| After her GCSE exams Katie had to make decisions about her future and what she wanted to do. She was encouraged to audition for a place at The Brit School, a performing arts college in London, by a friend who was planning to go. She says: “I thought oh it must be expensive and she said no it’s totally free. I was like, really!? So I spoke to my parents and I think they were impressed that for the first time in my life I was making a decision about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go - something quite practical. They were happy for me so I auditioned and got in!” |
| It is at The Brit School that Katie caught the eye of Mike Batt, a songwriter and producer who took her into his recording studio and then signed her to his record label. An amazing achievement for someone who had only just left school. “People always ask how I feel,” the singer says. “It is a really good question because if you know how something feels then you have also achieved it I think. The only thing that makes me go, oh my god this is so amazing and so weird, is when other people keep telling me it is amazing and weird. If you didn’t point that out to me and ask me how it feels to have four albums then it is what I’m used to and that’s the way it is.” |
| This year Katie is to embark on a European tour which will include songs from her previous albums as well as some new material. “I am playing stuff from the older records as well because I respect and appreciate anyone who listens to my music and I know a lot of people did get into my earlier stuff,” she says. “Now looking back I do think that is so wonderful so there is no reason really to fight that. Predominantly the gigs tend to be an entity of their own and every night I try and make it different. The thing about being on tour is that it is very monotonous and the gigs make it so exciting and are so much in contrast to the monotony of the travelling. I just want to feel incredible when I sing and not think about anything. If I can be in that state I hope the audience can be as well.” |
The tour will bring Katie to Liverpool and she says, “I have been loads of times. One of my friends who is at Liverpool University said he will come and see me play which is nice. I used to find it so nerve-racking when my friends came to my gigs but now I enjoy it because we have a big party afterwards.” |
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