James Blunt interview

soFem: James, we're here to talk about your first album, thanks for coming to chat to soFeminine! Now we hear the writing of the album was a bit of an adventure: is it true you went off to Ibiza all on your own, a bit like a modern-day Robinson Crusoe?
James: Well, it's not as difficult as all that, Ibiza! I toured for 2 1/2 years after I released my first album, and then there was a lot of noise, really, with all the touring and the media attention and the focus. So I went to Ibiza. I went in the summer when it was busy and I went to the clubs and then in the mornings I stayed up and wrote music. And then I went in the winter when it was totally quiet and secluded and there was no-one around, and I lived in a house in the hills on my own and I got to understand what has happened over the last three years. 
 

soFem: What has happened over these last three years?
James: Well, I put out an album which sold a few, and I didn't know at the beginning if it would start that way, I didn't know what would happen at all, and in that process then suddenly I was very visible, on a world tour there are many things that come along, you start to do music but there's a lot of other things that come along with that kind of media focus. There just lots of extremeties, some good things and some not so good things, and that was a really concentrated time, just very busy and lots to write about. 

soFem: You touch upon the theme of celebrity on the new ambum, and how it's changed your life; you went from being a soldier to being a pop star...How do you handle everything that comes with being a celebrity and being noticed wherever you go? Do you think you're lucky to be famous or do you sometimes miss being anonymous?
James: I think it's really interesting: we live in a society which defines success by how much money you earn or how famous you are, and I think if that's the way you look for satisfaction in life you probably won't find it and that's where you'll become slightly lost. I think maybe we need to give celebrity to people who are doctors and nurses, who do jobs where saving a life is something you can find more depth and meaning to. So yeah, I've definitely written about that perception from reality - I'm human, and yet I've read about this person in magazines, his name is James Blunt too and he's a celebrity, but I don't recognise much about him!

soFem: So you've distanced yourself from that?
No, it's just it doesn't exist. Celebrity is something that doesn't exist, it's a construct that media outlets will contruct in order to make money and it's interesting. But as a musician and as a human, it's been really interesting watching that change, and the public perception changing from reality to perceived reality.  

soFem: Does your dad still think music is unecessary noise?
James: My father still thinks that music is noise! But he's learning to enjoy it very much and he's very supportive of what I do.  

soFem: It must be very satisfying for you to win recognition for the music and for what you do, not from a celebrity point of view but in the eyes of your family?
James: Although my father was very nervous about me doing music, he soon became a huge supporter, just because it's a parent's role to advise any of their children; if their child decided to go that way most parents will show them support. The more more I do, the more noise there is, the more focus and pressure, the more reliant I am on my friends and my family and I've become very close to them as a result.

soFem: Now as I may or may not have mentioned, we've also got some slightl