George Pelham Interview - soul meets retro pop
By Tania C
Not Tonight out 20th March
“And I just said ‘not tonight’ because I couldn’t - I wasn’t over my ex in that way. The whole song is about that.”
In August, George Pelham released What A Time To Be Alive, a modern re-invention of an Olly Murs-style track which soared in popularity, amassing over half a million streams. George has since ventured into a more bold and soulful sound, with Someone To Love Again. This month, he’s set to release Not Tonight, a track which combines a nostalgic disco feel with a modern pop infusion. Run That Again chats with George Pelham after his busiest year yet.
We ask George to tell us more about his upcoming release, written around the time he was going through a difficult break-up.
“Oh my gosh, well there’s so much to say really. It’s a true story about how I was playing a gig about four years ago…there was someone in the crowd and I had spoken to her after, and she was all over me. And I just said ‘not tonight’ because I couldn’t - I wasn’t over my ex in that way. The whole song is about that.”
“When I wrote Not Tonight I was playing all the time.” But a good thing about live gigs is that “if people like it live, it will work for a track.”
The song, though extremely relatable in theme, took more than just one heartfelt musical confession. “I did about 15 different productions of it”, George admits it “was originally a trap song...I thought ‘how the hell and I going to fit it all together?”
His influences include Sam Cooke and The Beatles amongst others “so I just slowly found this 60s thing”. The music video is George’s ode to Saturday Night Fever, with a colourful backdrop and retro feel to the camera shots.
Over 15 different productions of Not Tonight after four years gives insight into the kind of hard work ethic George is used to, but after gigging over 300 times in the last couple of years, it’s surprising he’s had any time to write songs, or even function.
“I don’t do as many now. There was a time when I didn’t really know what my sound was or anything, so I just played loads of gigs- about 10 a week.”
How do you fit that in and also sleep, we ask?
“You don’t [he laughs]. I was pretty tired all the time. But you definitely learn your craft and find out about yourself…It was crazy. When I wrote Not Tonight I was playing all the time.” But a good thing about live gigs is that “if people like it live, it will work for a track.”
One thing we loved learning about George is how grateful he has been about his situation, particularly given the different stresses that come with being a full-time musician in London. George teaches in his free time to keep it all moving:
“I always think about this because I’m really lucky - I live with my parents…I don’t know how people do it...you have to do so much for the release, you have to pay for it all - especially these days - you can do it yourself. You got to write it, produce it, gig, pay for rent…I honestly applaud anyone doing it [without support] because I know how hard it is.”
We asked the hard-working singer-songwriter what he think makes a good song?
“The most important things is that it comes from a really emotional place. That’s going to beat everything else…I feel like songs really connect more when they have a real purpose to them. Is this a song you want to dance around to, is it a song you want to cry to?”
And we feel like Not Tonight is a bit of both. It releases on the 20th March with an accompanying music video. We asked what else George had in the pipeline for his listeners:
“Do you know what. I think I’ve just got too much in the pipeline. I think I’m honestly spreading myself a bit thin.
“Early next year - an album- I’ve nearly finished recording it. I also want to write the next album and I also what to learn the trumpet, it’s so really random but there’s so many things I’m just excited about!.”
Trumpet?
“[He laughs] So many artists I admire kind of do it all. Bruno Mars does it all. Prince did a bunch of albums himself…that excites me, the idea of me being about to make a song, write it produce it, release it (you don’t even need labels anymore) is really empowering and the trumpet is step one of that!”
And of all the things he has in store for us, perhaps the most intriguing is his new self-asserted challenge.
“I’ve been doing this ridiculous thing just to make myself do Tik Tok - a cover every day for 30 days but I do it in 30 suits.”
We asked how he planned to get hold of 30 suits?!
“Well I’ve got about 10. But I’m a bit worried about it because I don’t know whether [with this current climate] I’m going to be about to leave my house to get the different suits. I will make it work! A big Tik Tok challenge to promote this track because Tik Tok is the future!”
Well said, George. We can’t wait to see how his sound develops over the next couple of years.
Not Tonight by George Pelham, out 20th March 2020. Link to George’s Spotify here.