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Interviews with A&Rs at Parlophone Records
Interview - Feb 21, 2002
“I've had the worst quality home-produced demos, done on a 4-track, that have been really exciting and energetic.”
Miles Leonard is A&R at EMI/Parlophone UK. He signed, and currently works with, Kylie Minogue, Blur, Gorillaz, Coldplay and Radiohead, among others.
How did you get started in the music biz and how did you become an A&R?
I started at Virgin Records in 1991 as an A&R scout, and within my first year there I signed a band called The Verve. After working with them for several years, I moved on to Roadrunner Records, where I stayed for about 2 years, before moving on to Parlophone in 1996.
What experiences have been important to you in developing your A&R skills?
Nothing more than love and passion for music, which I've felt from an early age. Being an A&R is all about personal taste and opinion, really, and I don't believe there are any specific qualifications that help you to become one. I think it's purely love and passion that help you succeed.
What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on Blur, who will release a new album this year. Then there's Dirty Vegas, a recent signing that we're very excited about. Coldplay are working on new material, and Beverly Knight's new album is being released in the next few weeks.
How do you find new talent?
Mostly through management companies, agents and friends. But they can come from anywhere: word-of-mouth, directly from the artist to the label, from DJs, from producers. There isn't a specific set of people who we get our acts from. It's very different here from the US, where artists often come through lawyers. In the UK, you can find new artists anywhere.
What do you look for in an artist or an act?
A unique, individual talent. That might sound obvious, but I think every successful artist has a very unique sound, whether it's a vocal sound or a musical sound. The ability to perform live is integral to success, if you're that kind of performing artist. I also like somebody who has the ability to write songs. It's not essential, but I think an understanding of the songwriting craft is very important.
How did the signing of Gorillaz come about?
Damon Albarn was doing the Blur project, obviously, and then we talked to him about a solo venture. He was looking for ideas and a direction in which he could take his songs. We discussed producers and the sort of styles that might work for Gorillaz. We came up with a really urban hiphop and dub-based sound, a sound which we were both fans of. Then it was just a case of finding the right people and the right producers to make the project work.
You signed Kylie Minogue at a time when many people thought her best days were over. What did you see in her and what drove you to take her on?
I believed that she was still very strong vocally, and still definitely a star. There was something there that hadn't been achieved by her last label, and I didn't think it really had anything to do with her. It had to do with the A&R process and the awareness of the talent she actually had, talent which hadn't been tapped into, I think. I believed in her as an artist and I knew that with the right project, the right songwriters, the right producers, the right team, she would still have a fanbase out there.
When you planned her reappearance, what were the important aspects you had to think about regarding how she would be perceived by the media and people in general?
I knew the media still loved her, because she was always a star. I knew that she could walk in to any TV station or magazine. However, would they accept her for her music or as a fashion icon? It was about turning that perception around, and I believed that with strong songs it would work very easily.
How did you go about finding her direction musically? Was it obvious where you wanted it to go?
We sat down and spent a long time talking about wanting to make a pop record. I felt she was a pop artist, and that that direction had been lost before. But I didn't want to make a throwaway pop record. I wanted it to have an edge and some depth, and that could only come from working with the right songwriters and producers. The ideas we had took us across the first album (“Light Years” in 2000 – Ed.), which had a slightly more direct pop approach, which said “Look, I'm back and I'm making pop records”. But we always had a more electronic, programmed and contemporary sound in mind, and that's what we've achieved with the new album, “Fever”.
She has a real vision as well; she has an idea of what she wants. I respect that in an artist. I tend to only work with artists who do have a vision: it's something that's really important to me.
Would you work with acts from outside the UK?
Yes, definitely.
How involved are you with the production?
It varies from project to project. Sometimes I get very involved in the production and mixing, and other times I have a very hands-off approach. I think that a great A&R person is somebody who can sit back and accept when something is working and feels right, and not meddle with it just for the sake of it.
How sure do you need to be about the available market space for an act, before signing and releasing them?
You always have to be aware of the marketplace, have a general overview of it, but you can worry too much about the marketplace and forget about the actual songs and the artist. In general, though, I think that being aware of what is happening musically is always a good thing.
Do you have any advice for unsigned artists with regard to record label contracts?
There are few labels that would sign an artist without him/her having a lawyer. At the end of the day, if I get any artist to sign a contract without them having legal representation, it can always come back and hit me in the face later on. So I always recommend them a good lawyer if they haven't got one, because it helps me just as much as them.
Do you accept unsolicited material?
Yes, we do. We get around 150 CDs a week. It's hard for us to listen and reply to everything we get, but we do our best. I have a team around me that does a great job listening to unsolicited material. The quality varies, but, to me, it's not always about well-produced demos. I've had the worst quality home-produced demos, done on a 4-track, that have been really exciting and energetic. Then I've had people who've spent a couple of thousand pounds in a top studio, and they've been absolutely appalling.
However, the artists I tend to work with generally come from a manager or a producer.
Has the amount of time labels give new acts before they break decreased in the last decades?
No, I don't think so. We spend a long time here at Parlophone developing new artists. Some artists break with the first album, and that can be really exciting. However, we will work with the artists through a series of albums. If you believe in an artist, there's always a way you can break through. You're lucky if it happens with album one, but it's also an achievement to do it with album three.
How important do you think The Brit Awards are?
I think they're important. People have different views on them, though. There are people who think it's just an industry party where we all give ourselves a pat on the back. But I believe it means recognition of great artists and talent. Anything we can do to promote British music around the world is obviously a good thing.
How closely do you work with managers?
Pretty closely. We have very good relationships with the management teams surrounding our artists. The success of any band comes as a result of the management understanding what we're trying to achieve, and us understanding what the management is trying to achieve with their artist.
How important is it for your acts to enter the UK Singles Chart in the Top 3 with a new single?
It's not about that at all. It depends on where the act is. It's fantastic when a developing artist who has his/her first single go into the Top 75. If you have been hugely successful with an artist, and you're releasing a new single, of course you want it to be a Top 10 record. But it's not essential. There are many ways to break an album: touring, videoclips, and a strong fanbase that wants to buy the album and not the single.
Even though many UK acts still break in Europe, there seem to be fewer than 10 years ago. If you agree, what do you think the reasons are?
It's hard for me to say. My acts, Coldplay, Radiohead, Kylie, Gorillaz, all work in Europe. I think Europeans look to our album chart more than to our singles chart. If there's a successful album-selling artist in the UK, they take notice of that, because there are many singles that enter the singles chart that are just one-off singles, club and pop records behind which there isn't necessarily a true artist.
If you could dramatically change some aspect of the music industry, what would you do?
I would make radio a little bit more open to more artists. The medium can be slightly narrow-minded and blinkered. I'd rather have it as in the US, where different stations are dedicated to different genres of music.
What has been the greatest moment of your music career?
Everytime you have a No.1 single or album, you think well, this is it, this is a great moment. However, chart placings come and go, and I really believe having the opportunity to work closely with great, talented artists like Damon from Blur, Kylie, Richard Ashcroft from The Verve, etc, is really special. During my time in the industry, those are my fondest memories.
What do you see yourself doing in 5-10 years?
I hope to have the opportunity to run a label.
... to read the continuation of this article, click here.
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Interview - May 17, 2004
"There is pressure not to spend too much money and to break artists quite quickly."
Jamie Nelson is based in London, UK. He is an A&R at Parlophone/EMI and Innocent/EMI, and the artists he works with include Kylie Minogue and Jamelia (European Top 10).
How did you get started in the music business and how did you become an A&R?
My background lies in sound recording: I worked in a studio for about five years. From there, I went into sound engineering and then, about thirteen years ago, I slowly started getting into A&R by working at RCA Records as a scout.
What experiences have helped develop your skills as an A&R?
Failing and making mistakes. Working with acts that weren’t developing and making records that weren’t good enough has been most helpful to me in the past.
What prompted you to move from your previous position as A&R at Parlophone to head of A&R at Innocent?
In my new role, I A&R for Innocent but I also continue to do what I was doing at Parlophone. It’s very much a dual role and I still work with the Parlophone artists that I’ve worked with, Kylie Minogue, Jamelia and Beverley Knight (click on artist or song names to listen to Real Audio files – Ed.).
The reason why I’ve taken on this additional role is because I need to push myself and grow. Innocent is a very exciting opportunity for me because I am able to broaden what I do. It’s a label that has been very successful in the last few years and it’s gratifying to work for a label that really understands pop music, which is a genre I’m very passionate about.
Is Innocent fully owned by EMI?
Yes.
Will Innocent move away from being purely a pop label?
Music is constantly changing and I’m really keen to broaden Innocent’s scope. It’s important to be aware of what’s happening out there and, at the moment, pop music is evolving. I would like Innocent to become a broader label with bolder artists. Pop music can be Atomic Kitten, but it can also be something cooler than that, like Joss Stone, All Saints, E-17 or Madonna.
Are you looking for new artists for Innocent?
Yes, at the moment my focus is on developing new repertoire for Innocent.
How did Parlophone come to sign Jamelia?
She was discovered by Lloyd Brown, who used to work for us. He was out scouting for new things and he’d heard about a girl from Birmingham who was creating a stir. He went up there and spent some time tracking her down and eventually he found her. She was very young, only fifteen years old, when we signed her.
A few years after that, they made her first album, “Drama”, headed by the single “Money”. It was very much a development record; she was very new to everything and I think it has taken time for her to develop in the right way. The first record was something that Lloyd worked on; I worked on Jamelia’s second album, “Thank You”.
What were your thoughts as you were making “Thank You”?
That it was really important that she made a quality record and that she needed to work with a broader range of songwriters and producers. Which is what she did. The collaboration with Soulpower was probably the most successful.
She also worked with Karen Poole, with Cutfather & Joe as producers, she continued to work with C Swing, whom she had worked with on her first album, Ignorants on one track, and Copenhaniacs.
What was instrumental in breaking her?
Songs are ultimately the key. Great songs break artists. The pivotal point was cutting “Superstar” and her writing the title song “Thank You”.
Was it easy to get radio and TV?
No, I don’t think it’s ever easy to get radio and TV. We have an amazing promotion department at Parlophone, who work very hard. The first single from the new album, “Bout”, wasn’t successful, but the promotion people really focused on the following single, “Superstar”. They believed in the record and they worked it very hard, and so it slowly came together.
Are there plans to break Jamelia in the US?
Yes, Jamelia is ambitious and keen to do that, but it’s a very hard market to break and there are a lot of UK artists who aren’t successful over there. It’s about the records and the next album in particular is going to be really important. We’re going to be working with a broader range of people and hopefully that will be the key to breaking her there.
“Superstar” had already been a hit in Denmark in 2003 when Jamelia covered it. How did you become aware of the song?
Mick from Cutfather & Joe, the producers, played it to me. I loved the song and felt that it was a hit.
Had it been decided that Jamelia would do the song before Christine Milton’s version became a hit?
I really don’t know, I can’t remember the specifics of where they were with their track. I just heard the song, loved it and wanted to cut it, so I commissioned them to do the production. I was aware that Cutfather & Joe had also cut it with somebody else, but I didn’t focus on that.
So Cutfather & Joe also produced Jamelia’s version?
Yes, together with Remee, a really talented writer. He was very much involved with the production of the record.
How did you view the fact that it was already a hit in Denmark with an identical production?
It was more about the song being a great song, I’m not even aware of that the productions are identical.
Did it pose a threat to Jamelia’s artistic credibility?
No, I don’t think so. UK record buyers are probably not even aware of the other version.
There’s a lawsuit in Denmark regarding the fact that the production was used by another artist, Jamelia, after Christine Milton had released the track. Are you involved in that lawsuit in any way?
I can’t really comment on this except to say that no legal proceedings have been issued against Parlophone.
How do you find new talent?
Through contacts: producers, writers, managers, lawyers, effectively people who are friends.
Do you accept unsolicited material?
Yes.
How many songs do you receive from unsigned acts every week?
I don’t know exactly, but a lot, hundreds even.
Do you listen to all of them?
I try to. I work with good people who help me as well, so basically I give priority to contacts I really trust. If it comes from the right source, it’s more likely to get to me. But I really do try to listen to as much music as possible.
Have you found anything through demos that you’ve later come to work with?
I have cut unsolicited songs that came through the post. In terms of artists, I can’t think of anything that has come through the post and I’ve signed, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t.
Do you use the Internet to find talent?
I don’t surf the Internet to find artists, I just use it to keep up to date on what’s going on.
What do you look for in an artist?
Star quality and great artistry. Exciting music that sounds unusual. Great spirit and the ability to write great songs.
How important is it that the artists are also songwriters?
In a perfect world, you would have a great artist and fantastic songs. The actual process of finding songs is exhausting, so it’s always better to find artists who write themselves.
Would you work with acts from outside the UK?
Yes.
Can you break artists without radio support?
Yes, but it’s not an ideal scenario. Radio is really important, but it’s definitely possible to break artists outside radio; a good example would be the Katie Melua record, which was heavily worked on TV and in advertising.
If you have the right artist, it’s possible to connect in a different way. You only have to look at the success of Pop Idols, which is essentially kids television. TV has become a very important medium in terms of breaking artists these days.
How much input do you have on the production?
I work as closely as possible with the producers and I spend a lot of time with them in the studio making sure that things sound right.
Are major labels’ shareholders too impatient to let A&Rs develop artists over the course of a few albums?
I’ve never had any problems of that nature and I don’t think most A&Rs
have either....
... to read the continuation of this article, click here.
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