Kirsty Almeida

Kirsty Almeida

After breaking away from previous label Decca, Kirsty Almeida is on her own label and ready to make a name for herself.

We chatted to her about setting up her own label, her upcoming single and the future.

-How would you describe 'Late At Night'?
I guess it's a bit Bob Marley-esque, a little bit Nora Jones-esque. The song is about knowing that someone's not right for you, and questioning being alone in the dead of night.

-Where do you draw on for your influences, generally?
Most of my influences are visual or story-tellers, so seeing people in the street, over-hearing conversations, things from my past. My inspiration comes from my imagination.

It's not really a musical thing really, besides, I guess, my peers. There's a very good music scene in Manchester, and I listen to a lot of the artists up here. I think from listening to each other a lot, we all seem to pick things up.

-Was it hard coming through the Manchester music scene, because it's quite saturated, but has a lot of history?
I don't think it's hard. As long as you're an artist who sticks to working really hard...I don't really have any boundaries, so I think the sky's my limit really. I really believe in the power of positivity, and in the support network. I'm involved in a collective up here.

So, I think because of that, it's easy to come through. I don't believe in saturation. I think that the scene...there's a lot of people out there. There's enough space to do what it is you want to do. If you've got 100 followers, but they're loyal, that's better than having 1,000 followers who think you're a fad.

-The track 'Late At Night' was produced by Youth, who has worked with Sir Paul McCartney. How was it having him involved?
It was amazing. It was great. Him and I really hit it off, which is obviously why I picked him as a producer.

I just really clicked with Youth because he is totally bonkers, but he's extremely creative. He's really visual, as well as a sonic artist, so we really clicked.

His way of working is rehearse something, get it ready - not too ready - then go in the studio and record it as quickly as possible. We did the whole album in 12 days.

-How was the reaction to Pure Blue Green once it came out?
Well, it didn't really come out, it's coming back out now. What happened was, Decca put it out, but they didn't actually supply it to all the shops.

That's why I left, I just picked everything up and got out of there. It was never really released, only my immediate friends and family were able to buy the album, and then that was it. So, we're re-releasing it.

It'll go out with a couple of extra tracks. It's going out as what it was supposed to be in the first place. So, I can't tell you how it was received!

-Was that what prompted the move from Decca to your own label?
Yeah, definitely. I think the days of having to be with a major label are completely gone. Major labels are like giant ships, that are growning, going down slowly with people screaming on it.

It wasn't for me. It's hard for them to have any faith. They try their formula, it doesn't work, and they move onto the next artist.

-Was it different setting up your own label?
No, it was really easy. Luckily, a lot of people that I'd been working with, came on board and stuck with me. It was easy to move on.

The thing that was hard, was to find my confidence. Decca broke a lot of my confidence, because of their nature. They were saying that I shouldn't wear a dress shorter than my knees, because I didn't have good legs. It isn't very human.

It was easy to build a label and get a really good team. Once you see how not to do things, it's really easy. I feel like I'm in my element.

-What are the benefits of working at your own label compared to having a big industry name backing you?
Well, the biggest thing is just the amount of creativity. The industry itself has gone down, and no-one can really sell any music as they used to. The big benefit is that you can find your own formula, and change it all the time.

Big labels have a set formula. They make a single, put it out, then make an album. If you have your own label, you don't even have to have an album. You could release a single every month, and your audience would buy it because they're loyal to you.

Anything can work, if you believe in it, and you're positive and creative.

-Can you tell us a bit about 6 Degrees 2 Jools?
That was an experiment, really. I read about the 6 Degrees of Separation, so I decided to test that. Each package will have different art, they'll be in different countries around the world.

The first 6 people have to try to get these packages to Jools Holland within six steps! We're just going to monitor it, get them to take photographers in the way. We'll try to get it to Jools Holland, and get me on the show in January.

-You've got the re-release of the album planned. What do you have set for the rest of the year?
Well, I've got another album called Winter Songs that I'm bringing out in the winter. I've already written a new album that I'm going to start recording in January next year.

I've got some art exhibitions in October in Manchester. I'm also curating for a light festival in Bury. They've given me a street that they want me to curate the whole thing, with performers all down it.

Lots of art, lots of music and lots of fun.

Female First - Alistair McGeorge