West Dorset Living Oct - Nov 2021

”
On his 20th
Anniversary tour:
I’m very proud of
the fact that I’ve
been able to remain
in the industry for
such a long period of
time, and it really is,
from my perspective,
something to
celebrate.
”
I can imagine. Just to get out and
see you and also see friends again.
Because we’ve all had to give up a lot
of our life! What can we expect from
the tour?
It’s a collection of material from the last
twenty-one years of my recordings. It’s
the repertoire that I think the fan base
would expect first and foremost and
then similarly a few surprises in there. I
think it’s all the material and repertoire
that underpins the last twenty-one years
of my recording career. I’m very proud
of the fact that I’ve been able to remain
in the industry for such a long period of
time, and it really is, from my perspective,
something to celebrate.
Does it feel like it’s been twenty-one
years since you recorded your first
album?
You know what, when I think about
all the things that have happened to
me over twenty-one years it feels like
two lifetimes! But when I actually look
back in retrospect to, say for instance,
when I first went into the studio with my
producer Nick Patrick in 1999, it literally
feels like the blink of an eye. It feels
like it was last week! It’s such a strange
feeling, but life is like that isn’t it? I think
all those moments that we feel underpin
who we are, the successes in our lives,
the failures, the difficult times, they’re the
moments that we single out and they are
they key elements in our lives. They are
part of a big jigsaw, and when you look
back on them it doesn’t feel like they
were that long ago but when you think
about all the water that’s gone under the
bridge in between it feels like I’ve done so
much, and I’ve been incredibly fortunate
in my career as well.
It’s like looking at old pictures of
yourself back in the 80s. Did I really
have a mullet? I did.
I know what you mean. I look at pictures
from that period, particularly with
reference to my teenage years and even
though, stylistically, some of the stuff I
was wearing was odd, I just look back on
it and think ‘Oh my god, that was such an
uncomplicated period of my life’. It just
seemed like it was sunshine every day
of the Summer, and snow in the Winter
and everything just seemed so massively
uncomplicated.
So you’ve been busy with a new
album?
No, there’s no new album this year. I’ve
decided to take a year off from recording.
But last year at the beginning of 2020
I went into the studio to make to 20th
anniversary recording which was released
last Christmas. So they’ll be nothing this
year. I just sort of feel like I want to let
the dust settle on 2021 and then maybe
next year, if everything is fully operational
again and we have some sort of
semblance of normality, then maybe we
can look at another four quarter release
for 2022.
During your career you have played
at some amazing venues around the
world. Does it still make the hairs on
the back of your neck stand up when
you walk on stage?
That can happen for different reasons.
It’s not necessarily with regards to the
location I’m performing in. But it can
happen if I get a moment in a song where
there’s maybe a memory of a certain
moment or somebody that maybe I’ve
lost in my life and a memory comes
in. But with regards to being in venues
where I would most definitely look out
and think: “My God how did I end up
here? This is awe-inspiring.” I mean the
Vatican is one of those moments that I
can single out. It was just tremendous,
not least of all because the Pope was
there as well.
No pressure there then!
You know what? I’ve never really felt
pressure. It’s funny, it’s something that
was born into me and it’s not something
I ever really think about. I just go on there
and I do what I do. It doesn’t matter
whether I’m singing to ten people or ten
thousand people. I go on and I do what I
do, and I do it with the same enthusiasm
and technique as I would do it anywhere.
I remember doing the opening ceremony
for the Commonwealth Games, and there
was one of the yellow bibbed stewards
stood at the side of the stage. I was
waiting to go on and he said to me: “You
alright there Russell mate?” I said: “Yeah
I’m good thank you.” He said: “You’re
not nervous are you?” I said: “No, I’m
fine.” He says: “There’s a lot of people
out there, about forty-thousand people in
the stadium I’ve heard.” I said: “Really?
Great!” He continued, saying: “All the
athletes from all the nations, all with their
banners. They’re all out there.” I said:
“Lovely.” He then says: “Her majesty
the Queen is out there, yeah she’s out
there too. And I’ve heard there’s about a
billion people watching live on TV.” I said:
“Right, please be quiet now because you
are making me nervous!.”
Who would you say are you musical
influences?
Believe it or not, my biggest musical
influence as a child would have been
my Gran! Whenever I would go round
my Gran’s house, she was a massive
classical music fan. I’ve been listening
to everything from Chopin, Schubert,
Schumann…all those greats. Mario Lanza
was a constant fixture in the house so I
was very familiar with a lot of those big
classical artists from an early age. So
she was a big influence. But in regards
to artists, Luciano Pavarotti was a big
favourite of mine. But as a kid it was all
about Paul Weller and The Jam and The
Beatles to a degree. I mean The Beatles
were slightly before my time, but still I
had my old semi-acoustic guitar and I
used to bash out tunes with my old pals,
sit up in our bedrooms or whoever’s
garage we could use and jam away to the
old Beatles bumper book of 101 songs.
Great memories, they were probably my
biggest influences.
How can we find out more information
on the tour?
You can find all the information you need
on the website including the dates that
we are doing. It’s russellwatson.com,
so you’ll find all my new dates on there,
plus you are able to book through it too
so that’s great.
www.minervamagazines.co.uk | 9