A Conversation with Emeli Sandé – HuffPost 9.10.12

Mike Ragogna: Emeli, it’s like you came all the way from Scotland to have this conversation with us!

Emeli Sandé: Yes, across the world! Hey! hello!

MR: Thank you very much. So “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall.” There’s a little Coldplay interaction here.

ES: Yes, I’m a massive fan of Coldplay, and “Every Teardrop…” is definitely my favorite song of last year. I love the lyrics so much that I do my own cover.

MR: Can we give a little history lesson? First of all, let’s tell everybody that you’re an international star already…

ES: Yeah, I released my debut album in February in the UK and the success has been amazing. It really blew me away. So I guess now, we’re just trying to spread the word and take the music across the world and see if anyone else likes it.

MR: Another song that is familiar to the US might be “Next To Me.” Would you tell us what your creative process is? When you’re either writing songs or singing, what’s going on inside of you?

ES: Well, I think when I write, it’s the one time when I really just allow things to come out. I guess it’s more of releasing control and letting whatever you’re going through subconsciously come through in the music. I don’t really have much of a process apart from sitting at the piano and trying to be as free and as open as possible.

MR: Now, your career got a little boost due to…I believe it was a chipmunk?

ES: Yes, there’s a rapper in the UK called Chipmunk, and that was my first commercial release. I sang the hook for him on that one. That’s how I introduced my voice to the UK. That was great. That was kind of how I got published, and that was where the door opened for me in the music industry.

MR: Nice. You’ve had a few hugely successful singles including “Next To Me.” “Heaven” was your first solo single, right?

ES: Yeah, that was the first one. That was out a year ago in the UK. It’s hard to believe that it was only a year ago but that was a really exciting summer for me. I was just really introducing myself to my country with my first song, so I’ll always remember that song with fond memories.

MR: And of course, you have a couple of number one records, “Read All About It” and, again, “Next To Me.”

ES: Yeah, the album came out and it’s all just been an exciting ride so far.

MR: Can we reveal a little secret about your name to the readers?

ES: Yeah, sure.

MR: Your first name is Adele, as in Adele Emeli Sandé. Did you have to go and duke it out with the other Adele on who was going to use that name and she won?

ES: Before all this, I was studying medicine, and at that point, Adele was coming out. I kept hearing this buzz in London about “This girl Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele…” and people kept ringing me saying, “Yeah, we heard your song on the radio!” I’m like, “That’s not my song. That’s another Adele.” Then she did so well and she won the British Critic’s Choice award. That’s when “Diamond Rings” was coming out, and they asked me what name I wanted on the record and I thought, “Well, it’s going to be a bit silly to have two singers from the UK called Adele,” so I took my middle name which is “Emeli.” Considering how phenomenal her career’s been, I think it was a good move.

MR: You know what, you’ve officially outsold her in 2012.

ES: Yeah, which is something I didn’t expect, because that record is just selling like crazy. I’m very excited about this year and about the success of the album.

MR: You’re on Alicia Keys’ new album–her fifth, I think. How did that come together?

ES: I’ve always been a massive fan of Alicia Keys since she came out. I remember as a kid in Scotland hearing “Fallin'” and I was just blown away. Last year, I opened up for her. She was doing some really intimate gigs for the celebration of ten years since Songs in A Minorcame out. So I opened up for her at the Royal Albert Hall in London and from there, she heard about my music, invited me over to New York, and we began writing with each other. It was a really great collaborative process, a real meeting of minds. I’m really excited for people to hear what we’re working on. I think it’s going to be a beautiful album from her. It’s such an honor to work with someone I’m in such admiration of.

MR: Nice. And speaking of collaborative efforts, it seems that you and the Olympics also got together.

ES: Yeah! It was a real honor to be asked by Danny Boyle to perform in the opening ceremony, and then also to be asked independently by the closing ceremony to perform. It was just such an amazing time, such a fascinating buildup for me to see a vision come to life like that. To be involved in such a humungous production was really just very inspirational.

MR: Did you get seasoned, so-to-speak, when you were on tour with Coldplay this summer?

ES: Well, yeah, performing for such big crowds with Coldplay helped, but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for eighty thousand people in that stadium and then on top of that, thinking about how many people were watching down that camera lens. It was all very immense.

MR: That was like a billion people.

ES: Yeah. Nuts.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

ES: Know what you want to say. Make sure you know exactly what type of artist you are before you pursue any type of record deals, all of those types of things. They’ll always be in place for you to take, but knowing what you want to say is probably the most important thing. Also, perseverance and patience are two virtues you have to have as a new artist, and really believing in what you do, because that will keep you strong. That will keep you going.

MR: Let’s also mention that you won the Critic’s Choice category at the Brit Awards.

ES: Yeah, that was incredible. The Brits is such a massive thing. Back home, it’s something I’ve watched since I was a kid, so to win a Brit is really like a childhood dream. I’m still pretty blown away by that one.

MR: And you also were on the UK’s X-Factor and The Voice.

ES: Yeah. I performed on both of those shows. This whole year, there have been so many things that happened that I’ve dreamt of doing for a very long time. So I just need to take some time, I think, and really contemplate and take it all in.

MR: What are you predicting the next year will be like for Emeli Sandé.

ES: God, I don’t know. I could’ve never imagined all of this, this time last year. I was just thinking “Man, I want to release a single and I want it to go well.” I think I just want to take it day by day, because I think that’s the only way you can and make sure you’re going in the right direction. I don’t know how I can top this year. It’s been pretty phenomenal, so I don’t even want to make any predictions.

MR: I really appreciate your time, Emeli, and all the best. Let’s do this again when the new album comes out here.

ES: Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne