Jonathan and Charlotte
Jonathan and Charlotte have taken the music world by storm since we were introduced to them for the first time on Britain’s Got Talent.
They are set to return with their second album Perhaps Love this autumn; a record that shows them off as solo artists as well as a duo.
We caught up with Charlotte Jaconelli to chat about the upcoming album, the development of the duo and what lies ahead.
- You are about to release your second album Perhaps Love so what can fans expect this time around?
This time you can expect a development from the first album. We wanted to take everything that we have experienced throughout the year and put it into some music.
As well as showing what we can do together, we wanted to show what we can do individually; so people can see what we were before we made it as a duo.
- The album has been produced by Nick Patrick, so how did that collaboration come about?
We were introduced to him by our label Sony Classical, as they had worked with him many times before with people like Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson.
When the opportunity came up to work with him, we both jumped at the chance because we had listened to music that he had produced before, and he is really well known for what he does. We were really excited to get into a studio with him and get on it straight away.
- That does lead me into my next question. He has worked with the likes of Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson and Blake, so how did you find working with him? And what do you think his experience brings to this record?
It has allowed us so much creativity as he was so easy when it came to us throwing ideas out there. Sometimes when producers have such a strong vision, it is hard for them to let other people have their ideas.
With us and Nick, he was so open to suggestion, and if we didn’t feel like something was right he would be like ‘let’s scrap it and try something else’. It just felt like the project was really ours, if you like.
- How much more confidence have you had in the studio this time around having been there and done it all before with the debut album?
I think that there are still the initial nerves when you go in as what you lay down in the studio is what will go on this CD forever (laughs). At the same time, we were so much more comfortable going in the studio, knowing what things were, knowing how to use things and knowing how long we were going to be there for.
Because we were doing everything for the second time we did feel like we knew what we were doing; at the same time, you are still learning so much as you go along. I would say that we were a lot more confident this time then we were when we recorded the debut.
Last time it was all done so quickly; we came off the show and went straight into the studio, and we didn’t really know what we were doing. It was so nice this time to have more time to prepare.
- There are still a few weeks to go until the release of the album, but have you been able to gauge any of the early responses to the album?
On social network sites there has been a lot of excitement building. A lot of people have been pre-ordering and have been telling us that they have already copies for their Christmas presents; which is always great.
I always find it weird with social networks because with our type of music, you wouldn’t expect people to use Facebook and Twitter; it is surprising how many people actually do. We have been getting a good reaction and, finger crossed, that on October 14th all goes well (laughs).
- Can you talk a bit about how you came to choose the songs for this record?
We were on the way to meet with the label to discuss everything and Johnny, and I were in the car just throwing ideas at each other; we usually chuck ideas and each other and say ‘yay’ or ‘nay’. If someone says ‘no’, then the song goes straight away.
So we had a list of songs that we thought might work and which songs we thought would need a bit more work then others. We went into the label, and it was made so easy for us; they also suggested songs that perhaps we wouldn’t have thought of without their help. They all coincided with each other, and they all fit really well together.
It was such an easy decision to make; we must have made the decisions on the songs in about an hour and a half because we were all so set on what we wanted to do.
We also all had a very similar vision of how this album should be and how much of a development of the last album that it needed to be.
I think we all got to put our own little think into it, and through us being able to pick them, it has allowed the album to really represent what we are like as people and our experiences of the last year.
- You have mentioned already that you have both recorded some solo tracks for this record. You have done It Must Have Been Love and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, so what drew you to these tracks?
Phantom of the Opera has always been one of my favourite musicals ever and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again is a song that I have always sung growing up. I wanted to show how my voice has developed from the last album to this one.
Being a song that I have grown up with it is one of those songs that I am attached to. I am obsessed with musical theatre as well; I wanted to get my musical theatre stamp in there somewhere (laughs).
It Must Have Been Love is a song... It is very different than the original as I have changed it quite a lot. Now that it has been slowed down and has been shown in a different way, I think it brings a whole new meaning to the song and allows people to connect with the words.
- These are very well known songs, so how difficult a process is it to put your own stamp on them?
With the classical crossover, it is always so different from the original; it’s a very fine line between whether it is going to work or not. Sometimes if you pick the wrong song, it can start to sound like jokey music when it is not, as the classical is so serious.
I think we have done it so many times with different songs - not necessarily songs that we have put on albums. Johnny and I have sat and gone through these songs and tried to see how they could work and how we could change them. So when it came to making the album, we were ready for it.
When you have got so many people around you who know how it works, and you are all putting your own little bit in - it actually becomes quite easy. If we were doing it on our own, it would probably be quite difficult (laughs).
- This is your second album so how do you feel this record show your progression as artist?
I think it shows that we are a lot more comfortable in ourselves as we really have found our feet now. It definitely shows how we have improved vocally.
We have also improved as artists because everything flows into each other, we know what we want, and we know how we want people to approach the music.
We have also listened to people throughout the year; not just people that we work with but people on Facebook and fans that we have met. We have listened to what they want, and we have tried to put that all into this album to move it forward for everyone.
- Britain’s Got Talent is where you got your breakthrough, so what made the pair of you go on the show in the first place?
This question is always awkward because I feel like I should be giving this massive story. However, it was literally me on ITV Player catching up, when the application form popped up, so I applied (laughs). I didn’t even tell Johnny that I had applied until about a week later.
We totally forgot that we had until we got an email asking us to come to an audition. It was all a bit random and a bit spontaneous.
- Now that you have had some time away from the show how would you sum up the experience when you look back on it now? And what were you able to take away from the show that you have been able to take forward in your own music career?
It is the fast working pace of everything; with Britain’s Got Talent one minute no one knows who you are, and then the next millions of people in the UK have seen you in telly. Everything works and happens to so quickly, and everything changes so quickly.
I think that reflects the entire industry as everything chops and changes. I allowed us to become quite thick skinned and quite organised very quickly - even if we weren’t very organised before (laughs).
It has been a massive platform in terms of meeting people and getting to know different kinds of people that are in the industry.
- You have also been out on the road touring this year, so how have the live shows been going?
The live shows were so much fun. When people tell you that they have listened to the album, and it is so nice when they get to hear the tracks they have been listening to for the whole year live. To also get to talk to the people in the audience is great. It was just so much fun.
It was really cool being on the road and experiencing what a tour is like; we had never done it before. At the same time, it was tough because we were singing so many songs a night, which we weren’t use to doing. We had to really be careful and look after everything.
- You have an ever growing fan base, so for any of those fans reading this interview do you have a message for them?
Just thank you from being there from the beginning; and also to those who joined on along the way. It is never too late to join up (laughs).
- Finally, what’s on the horizon for the pair of you going through the rest of this year? Are there more shows in the pipeline?
We have got the release of the album, so we do have a lot of promotion on the run-up to Christmas. We are also doing some big TV shows - I don’t think that we are allowed to tell anyone about them yet.
Because we are signed to Sony Masterworks in the U.S. we are hoping, fingers crossed, to be going over there into 2014, which will be really cool. So that is what is in the pipeline at the moment. It is all really exciting for us at the moment.
Jonathan and Charlotte - Perhaps Love is released 14th October.