A Conversation with Duffy – HuffPost 12.17.10

Mike Ragogna: Hello, Duffy. How are you?

Duffy: Good, thank you. And how are you? And where are you?

MR: I’m well, thank you. I’m in Fairfield, Iowa, at Solar-Powered KRUU-FM, which is the only one in the Midwest. I’m also going to be using this as a piece in The Huffington Post, so you get a double dip, Duffy!

D: Nice, I love it. You are covering a lot of ground here.

MR: (laughs) I have been so looking forward to interviewing you because I’m a huge fan ofRockferry. It was one of my favorite albums the year it came out.

D: Wow, thank you. That is so sweet of you to say.

MR: It was beautiful. Now, I was lucky enough to be friends with Ellie Greenwich before she passed away, so I love the whole Brill Building style of writing. When your album came out, it was, in some respects, “retro,” but with a breath of fresh air.

D: Thank you. I was definitely aware during the introduction phase of my life, if you like, that I stood for something else. I wasn’t fitting into the more cockney British movement. I was called “classic.” I don’t know really what that means, so thank you for saying that.

MR: It’s just a wonderful respect and nod to great, classic songwriting.

D: Have you looked at the new album?

MR: Yes, of course, let’s get into right now. So, “Well, Well, Well” is your latest hit from your new album, Endlessly?

D: For me, it’s a reintroduction to let people know the flavor of the album. There is a little bit of shock value, I think, to that song in the sense that it is a little bit different–it’s more rhythm section based. But I made a record that way so I have to think how do I let people know that I am back without fooling them that this is Rockferry “part two.” So, I had to be brave, I think.

MR: Now, you’re Welch-born.

D: Yes, I am, born and raised.

MR: But your records are not particularly bound by any national sound. To me, they sound like really good classic pop, even Brill Building-ish.

D: Oh God, you are so kind to me.

MR: (laughs) Let’s dig into this album some more. You co-worked on this project with Albert Hammond?

D: Yes.

MR: And he’s the writer of the megahits “When I Need You,” “The Air That I Breathe,” “It Never Rains in Southern California,” all that.

D: Yes, yes.

MR: Let’s discuss the title track, “Endlessly.” I loved the old scratchy track you used as a bed to simulate old records.

D: “Endlessly,” I think, sets the tone for the entire record. There is a lot of emotion. So, for me, it’s a song that I think also introduces a different side of this record. It isn’t over-produced as well.

MR: Exactly, yes.

D: I don’t know if that makes sense to you or that’s what you hear. But that is kind of the sense of that song.

MR: No, I’m with you. Its approach–using acoustic guitar as opposed to a big rhythm section–is pretty personal and basic.

D: Yeah. Actually, I can tell you a secret….it’s the acoustic demo, I simply recorded that on an iPod. The take that we used on the record is what came from Albert’s living room recorded on the iPod. That’s me and him on vocal and guitar.

MR: One of them is your contribution to the War Child Heroes: Volume 1 compilation, “Live And Let Die.”

D: Yes.

MR: Paul McCartney himself has said you did a great job on it.

D: Yes, Actually, there is a photograph of him and I bumping into each other at the Grammys, and he came over to me in front of Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus and he was like, “Yo kid, you did a really great job on “Live and Let Die.'”

MR: You must be so thrilled to have experienced that. And to have a photograph to remind you!

D: Yeah. There was like this moment between me and Sir Paul McCartney.

MR: There is a song on the album, a ballad which just kills me, “Don’t Forsake Me.” I love the lyrics, “I am sick of drying everybody else’s tears with nobody to dry mine.” Doesn’t it always seem to be that way?

D: For me, that song, in many ways…I know I am still young, but it was kind of overdue. I needed to say that, to be honest about a few emotions, a few subjects that have continuously followed me throughout my life. It’s been funny. I feel like people assume that when you are a star, that you’re strong, but I do need people there for me, you know?

MR: Yeah. It’s “beautiful person” syndrome. Nobody hits on the beautiful person because they assume that that beautiful person has a beautiful boyfriend, girlfriend, entourage…

D: Ya think? I am going to use that.

MR: (laughs) Duffy, it is such a pleasure to talk to you. You are on a new label with Endlessly, right?

D: I am working under new management with new collaborations, so yes. It’s a very different chapter in my life.

MR: What is the most exciting thing that has happened over the last few years around your career or your personal life?

D: I am going to tell you something really random. I did a twirl on the red carpet about four days ago in the UK. They asked me to twirl and I was so worried that they would see a bit of my bum. I thought, “Oh my gosh, did they see up my skirt?” So, I am really glad that I didn’t incriminate myself on the red carpet four days ago! Actually, there were some quite nice photos and, in that, I felt was lucky. I think people don’t realize that you can make mistakes and everything happens so fast like, “Oh my god, I did a twirl, what if everyone saw up my skirt?” So, no worries there.

MR: (laughs)

D: But if I am being really serious and honest with you, other than meeting Albert, the most important thing was meeting a young man that I am in love with. So, I feel as though my heart is a little bigger, warmer and stronger then it was when I was first introduced to you.

MR: Very sweet, Duffy. Of course everybody knows your singles “Mercy,” “Warwick Avenue,” “Stepping Stone,” and now, “Well, Well, Well.” There is another amazing song on Endlessly, “Keeping My Baby,” which, I imagine, is going to get some comparisons to Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach,” although it really isn’t topically exactly the same. But tell me, what is really going on in the song?

D: To me, there are a few things from my past that maybe I haven’t been honest with my own friends and family about. This is what I think is very difficult as an artist, is when you make a record, you can’t become hyper-aware of what people think or what you disclose about your life or your past. I do know that this song is a particularly sensitive subject, so when people hear it, I hope that people appreciate that I was dancing through the bad times.

MR: Absolutely. It’s probably my favorite track on the record in addition to “Don’t Forsake Me.”

D: Wow. Cool. Isn’t it amazing? I get so many different responses from people, so I can form a picture in my mind of who you are by the songs in which you turn to. It tells me a lot about you.

MR: Oh, thank you! I shouldn’t be revealing anymore then.

D: Yes, because then I would be like a shrink psychoanalyzing you.

MR: Well, Duffy, you know if you’ve got the time…

D: Don’t worry. I’ll set up a network. I can get you an 800 number or something. (laughs)

MR: Do you have any advice for new artists?

D: I have to be honest. I am not really down with those sorts of things, you know? I think that kind of works with journalists and if I had some mates who were in a band, some buddies who are coming out I would tell you about. But I am excited to see Adele return, and with the way she made a new record and the sounds with which she surrounds herself with. Adele is a great girl, and she won some Grammys here in America. So, I am going to be watching out for my soul sister.

MR: Pretend I am just picking up a guitar today, what advice would you have for me?

D: Do you want me to be Simon Cowell?

MR: Yes, be brutal.

D: I would say to you surround yourself with the music that you love. If it’s Depeche Mode, absorb it and enjoy it and narrow down what it is you love about music. What music connects with you so you start to form your identity. You start to form your references and start to understand where you position yourself in this big vast wide world. And then I would tell you only to focus on quality. Don’t think about fame, don’t think about songwriting, don’t think about who you are and who you’re not. Just be absolutely focused on quality and making sure it’s the best. Keep pushing yourself until you honestly feel you can do nothing to improve it. And also honesty as well. There are an awful lot of people who aren’t honest with themselves, who try and convince themselves that they can fulfill a pipe dream that just isn’t realistic.

People try to achieve jobs that just aren’t for them. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Formula One racing, but I could never be a Formula One racecar driver, you know? I just simply am dangerous behind the wheel. Are you kidding yourself or is this really real. Is this your life path? Is this the only thing you feel you are here to do? Or are you escaping from reality yourself. It’s very difficult. These are the only things that I can say from personal experience.

MR: Very nice and very smart and wise. In some respects, you’re considered a new artist because this is only your second album.

D: Yes, this really is the official debut. Before it was an introduction. Now, I am letting you know who I really am.

MR: Very nice. Thank you, Duffy. And ever since I saw you on Saturday Night Live, I have been in love, so there you go.

D: Thank you. And actually that was the TV show that Albert Hammond saw me on. So, he also saw me on that show and fell in love with me and then we became songwriting partners. That was a very poignant show for me, it seems.

MR: Nice. How much is Lorne Michaels making from the whole thing?

D: Uh, we are still in discussions.

Transcribed by Erika Richards