Welcome to Jamie Lidell

Jamie Lidell is the most American of English artists. Now based in Nashville, the soul and funk innovator has treated himself to an ego trip on disc.

After wandering around the electronic contraband of Berlin and taking to the nightlife of New York, Jamie Lidell has now moved to Nashville, the historic cradle of country music. For his fifth album, the English globetrotter has carved a little monument to himself: Jamie Lidell, an eccentric and slightly egocentric album of retro-futurist soul. A veritable chameleon, Lidell changes musical colour whenever he gets the urge. Perched on the branch of Afro-American popular music, he sings like a god and dances like a madman. Welcome to Jamie Lidell.

The title of the new CD is your own name. Is it a self-portrait?
Jamie Lidell: You could see it that way. This album is me and everything I love: drum machines, soul music, electronics, R&B, and Eighties sounds. And you’ll also find my obsessions with Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones on it. After four albums, there was no question, for me, of doing something that wouldn’t be as good. I wanted to record an ambitious disc. Using my name for the title was a good way of putting myself in danger, of feeling the pressure. No excuses allowed. With a title like that, I took on full responsibility. Without being able to get myself off the hook.

The album opens with a track called “I’m Selfish”. That’s not a very flattering way of presenting yourself. After the self-portrait, it’s time for self-criticism?
Lidell: I’m not the most egotistical man in the world. I think you could easily find worse than me. [Smiles] Nevertheless, my wife often tells me that I’m egocentric. I don’t think she is wrong... So I wrote that track to remind myself that I can be that guy, arrogant and a little over-confident. In life, you have to be aware of all that and face up to both your faults and your good points in order to find the right balance.

After living in London, Berlin, and New York, you decided to move to the heart of America, in Nashville, the capital of country music. Why move there?
Lidell: It’s true that it’s an odd choice! [Laughs] I spent a few years living with my wife in New York, in a superb apartment in Chelsea. But the rent was dear and the place became too small to store all my equipment. It is never easy, moreover, for a musician to come to terms with neighbours. Whatever you do, you always make too much noise for them... Anyway, we felt the need to go and look elsewhere. We started by looking for a place in the United States, a place to live, where culture is important. For a while, we thought of moving to Los Angeles. But in financial terms that was still costly. And for travelling to Europe, it was clearly twice as far. Nashville is a good compromise between New York and Los Angeles. Music is omnipresent there. There are musicians everywhere. The people are cool. My neighbours are easy-going and love what I do. What’s more, I got the chance to buy a house and set up my own studio in it. I’m over the moon, like a kid someone has just given a pony! Now I can even play the drums in the middle of the night. It’s a dream.

Do you never miss England?
Lidell: Recently, I was eating a delicious slice of pizza with a group of friends when, all of sudden, somebody mentioned my nationality. Just like that, nothing more, just on the basis of my accent. I was a bit embarrassed. For I have to admit I still can’t talk like Nicki Minaj. [Smiles] Wherever I am, I feel a bit foreign. I must have lost my identity along the way. I have become an English nomad, a sort of citizen of the world.

Onstage, you are a real entertainer. But once you are in a studio you turn into a multi-faceted artist. Do you feel yourself to be primarily a writer, a singer, or a musician?
Lidell: I see myself first and foremost as a singer. Onstage or in the studio, my voice remains the basic foundation of my world. Most of the time, when I’m writing a song, I do so while singing. My voice defines me and its development marks out my progress.

In the past, prestigious musicians have helped you to record your songs. You have worked, for example, with Chilly Gonzales, Chris Taylor (of Grizzly Bear), Beck, and Mocky. What about on this new album?
Lidell: I don’t always manage on my own! [Smiles] For the keyboards and the synth parts, I called on the services of a local musician, James Rowland. He lives in Nashville; that made things easier at the organisational level. For the percussion, I turned to Paul Taylor, alias Lucky Paul, Feist’s drummer. The producer Justin Stanley [who has worked with Eric Clapton, Beck, and Mark Ronson - NAL] also played several instruments. And he was a great help in recording the disc.

When one listens to your new album, it is impossible not to think of Al Green, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, and Sly Stone. All those artists are mythical figures of the genre. Do you have ambitions of becoming the most popular white man in the history of soul- funk music?
Lidell: [Laughs] That’s not my ultimate goal. My career is guided above all by my tastes in music. I focus on the music I love. And it so happens that I adore R&B, funk, and soul. I may be white, but I am obsessed with that whole Afro-American tradition. I am aware that I am a rare bird, but all I am doing is listening to my heart. In the United States there is still a gulf between black and white audiences. But I honestly think we have entered a new era. Lots of artists are currently changing the whole set-up. I am thinking, for example, of a guy like Frank Ocean: his music blends elements of soul, R&B, pop, and hip hop. Today we are at a cultural crossroads. In my own way, I hope to take part in changing things. And to continue to encourage attitudes to develop.

Jamie Lidell • 17/3, 20.00, SOLD OUT!, Ancienne Belgique, boulevard Anspachlaan 110, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-548.24.24, info@abconcerts.be, www.abconcerts.be