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2009 is the year of...
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Your guide to nightclubs and bars in Hong Kong
Interview: Peyton
You’ve been singing since 17, has this always been your dream?
I was really young – about five – [when I] started at church singing with my dad, and … did that until I left for college. When I went to the UK, I was involved with some projects and got signed to Virgin [at 29] – that was when I first started trying again to do stuff, and then everything kind of went tits-up…
Wait, tits what?
[Laughs] Yes, it’s a very British expression – it means everything went to shit. I was signed to Virgin with Nelly Hooper, a very famous producer, on an R&B project that never happened.
[Laughs] Yes, it’s a very British expression – it means everything went to shit. I was signed to Virgin with Nelly Hooper, a very famous producer, on an R&B project that never happened.
How was it to be signed with a big label like Virgin?
A bit surreal because we were signed, but they weren’t really giving us money yet. I was working as a waiter at the time, and they would send a long black Mercedes to pick me up at the restaurant and take me to some fabulous hotel for an interview. So I would change into some trendy clothes they had provided, and then they’d drop me back off at the restaurant [laughs].
So how did you jump from that to Hed Kandi?
Five years ago I wrote a song called Higher Place and shopped it around; in the end it was Hed Kandi that picked it up. The track wasn’t particularly for house – I just wrote the song and it got produced in the style of house music and became a massive hit.
Five years ago I wrote a song called Higher Place and shopped it around; in the end it was Hed Kandi that picked it up. The track wasn’t particularly for house – I just wrote the song and it got produced in the style of house music and became a massive hit.
Where were you when you wrote the song?
I wrote the entire song on a plane going from London to Boston. I sat there with a dictaphone [chuckles] trying not to draw too much attention to myself – singing lightly into my dictaphone. I sang this song to my friend on the beach and we laughed. At that point I thought there was no realistic way it could be a hit, [but] it turned out to be a huge track.
I wrote the entire song on a plane going from London to Boston. I sat there with a dictaphone [chuckles] trying not to draw too much attention to myself – singing lightly into my dictaphone. I sang this song to my friend on the beach and we laughed. At that point I thought there was no realistic way it could be a hit, [but] it turned out to be a huge track.
And after that you kind of just blew up. How did you feel being nominated for Outstanding Vocalist of the year at the House Music Awards in 2005? Did you want to be in the house music scene?
I’ve been doing all kinds of jobs in London – waiting tables, extra work, modelling – pretty much taking on any job to stay alive because I didn’t want to take on a real career, I wanted to do something more creative. I didn’t spend my life trying to be a big superstar, but I was happy for something really taking off.
I’ve been doing all kinds of jobs in London – waiting tables, extra work, modelling – pretty much taking on any job to stay alive because I didn’t want to take on a real career, I wanted to do something more creative. I didn’t spend my life trying to be a big superstar, but I was happy for something really taking off.
How was working with Eric Kupper [record producer who worked with Frankie Knuckles, Arthur Baker and Francois Kevorkian]?
It was just sublime. I come with the lyrics and melodies and he creates the fantastic soundtracks behind, but it just always works so it’s a match made in heaven.
It was just sublime. I come with the lyrics and melodies and he creates the fantastic soundtracks behind, but it just always works so it’s a match made in heaven.
Do you ever get people that tell you to sing on spot?
I think you’ll always have that no matter what, and people expect you to do it on command [laughs].
I think you’ll always have that no matter what, and people expect you to do it on command [laughs].
So what’s the easiest song for you to sing on command?
Maybe the Stevie Wonder version of Happy Birthday – I’ve had to do it so many times. You know the version?
Hmm – not sure – can you sing it for me?
It’s the slightly alternative more soulful version – happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you [singing].
That was just my tactic of trying to get you to sing without saying it.
[Laughs].
What distinguishes a Hed Kandi event?
They are still doing the vocal uplifting side of house. Dance music has all gone a bit hard the past few years – a bit tough, minimal and there’s been this trend towards more thumping soulless, vocal-less house music. Hed Kandi has carried the torch for vocals and funky uplifting happy house.
Do you karaoke? Are you the type of person that always needs to hold the mic?
If I’m in a karaoke club I don’t sing. [Long pause] I guess if there’s a really great prize up for grabs I might [giggles]. I have the opportunity to sing quite enough as it is, so if Karaoke gives someone the opportunity to get up and sing I should allow them to have their moment. It doesn’t have to always be about me – just most of the time [laughs].
Club JJ’s, Sat 22, $280 (adv), $350 (door), 10pm-late.
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