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Jodie Connor Interview
RnB/Hip Hop | Friday 16th December 2011 | Osh
Jodie Connor has been a busy woman crafting hits with the Godfather of grime himself Wiley and both Tinie Tempah and Chipmunk are fans. We caught up with her to talk working with Roc Nation and her rise to fame.
Wow you’re a hard lady to get hold of!
Yeah at the moment I’m really busy promoting the new single.
So the new single is ‘Now Or Never ft Wiley’ and your performing on platforms all across the UK. You’ve also got an up and coming album, with all this happening in you career is it probably a safe thing to say you’re blessed mentally and spiritually right now?
Definitely, if this had happened a few years ago I probably wouldn’t have been ready, but I’m in a good place, my music’s in a good place, I’m working with a great team of people so everything’s looking really good at the moment.
Your from Manchester and a proper country girl did you have a musical background when you were growing up?
I started off dancing years ago and entering competitions and I used to mime all the time and then at one point my mum said why don’t you try singing and then I didn’t shut up after that. (Laughs) She said I had a nice voice and used to pay for me to go to studios and doing covers, then I started sending demos off and all the usual things you do to try and get in the industry. The I just met the right people started writing, realized I had an interest In that and its just gone from there really.
So initially after you finished miming who were your music inspirations?
I think it was from my mum really, I used to listen to a lot of Randy Crawford, and a lot of 90’s RnB, and all the greats Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston.
I understand that Jazzie B also played a part in your development?
I started sending some demos off and got some management and he introduced me to another manager who brought me down to London and we had a meeting I played him some of the demos I’d done in the studio and he said ‘right I want to take you under my wing’. Nothing ever came out of it but it gave me a lot of experience in the studio working with songwriters. I used to work with Wookey, obviously had his own hits out, he basically just showed me how it work in a studio and I’ve gained a lot of knowledge to where I’ve got today really.
Also on your journey you were on Pop Idol?
Yes it was back in 2003, so it was quite a while ago. I saw the advertisement for it and everyone said I should go on it, so rather than pass up on the opportunity I thought I may as well go for it as I was already recording at the time. I went on the show and I think it was out of 30, 000 people I got down to the last 15 which is a big achievement. In a way I never felt that I got anything out of it, I sang on live TV which was an experience but other than that I don’t really think it was my calling. I met a lot of nice people and kind of just left it behind once I’d finished it. I started taking everything more seriously after with the songwriting, I didn’t want to become a manufactured pop artist.
On YouTube there a video of you singing ‘Let The Sun Shine’ accompanied by a piano, which I think really showcases your vocals, people are obviously aware of your vocals but less so on the songwriting front, what inspires you to write songs? Do you have a creative process?
I’ve spent a number of years working with the same producer his names Darwood he’s from Manchester also and basically we just got into the studio one day, he was playing a few different beats and I was singing, and we just came up with a way of working really. He comes up with the production, we sit down and hum melodies, like with ‘Good Times’ there’s not much meaning, it’s a feel good party track and then we just sit down and pen the lyrics.
One of the singles that really caught my attention is ‘ Lover Like You’ and there’s a remix with Benz, how did you create that?
Darwood did the beat, we came up with a hook idea and then we left it for ages, and then we asked Benz to come along and he put a hook on it. It was just on a pile with other tracks, we knew it kept sticking out but it didn’t have a verse and sometimes it just doesn’t come. We flew out to LA last summer with Roc Nations songwriters and Makeba Riddick who’s wrote a lot of Rihanna’s stuff, we sat down and wrote the verses together.
You used to work for youth offending services, has that experience made you more sensitive to social issues, would you consider using your fame now to help people in those situations?
Definitely I loved that job, I only left that job the week before ‘Good Times’ went to number one, and I was juggling the two for a while. I think what I’m doing now is inspiring to kids on the streets to pursue their dreams really and show you can spend a number of years trying but don’t give up because you never know what’s around the corner.
When you hooked up with Wiley things really started to take off for you, it’s a turning point in your career, how did that hook up take place?
Wiley was in Manchester at the time and a friend of mine who’s very big on the Drum and Bass scene called MC Trigga persuaded him to come up to the studio where I was working, it took him weeks and weeks to get him there. When he finally came he was like ‘ Whoa I like what your doing’ we need to do some more work. So I used to just do some features for him, I did the remix of ‘She’s Glowing’ and that’s how it started, lets do more; I came to London to work with him. We sent ‘Good Times’ to him and he was blown away and took it straight over to Relentless at Virgin and I got a deal.
You featured on Tinchy Strider’s track ‘In My System’ and then ‘Good Times’ on Roll Deeps track things went to another level there, and you’ve toured with Skepta on the MOBO tour. Exactly what would you say is your most stands out memory on stage?
In the last 8/9 months I’ve done so many different performances that have completely blown me away. I think its’ got to be O2 Wireless with Roll Deep, I couldn’t even see where the crowd ended. I could just see a sea of heads, and I’ve always wanted to do something like that and obviously Jay Z was headlining that day, the atmosphere was just brilliant.
Your signed to Polydor you also have a deal with Take Over management the European side of Roc Nation, do you feel any weight to deliver good material?
I think you always have to feel under pressure otherwise your not going to deliver your best. I have a great team and management and I just think it makes you more determined to push it even further, I’ve got to keep hold of this now.
The albums due for release late on this year and you’ve been working with some real heavy weight producers do they just add to your creative ideas?
I think I’ve been lucky that I’ve used the same producer Darwood, so he flew over to LA with me, and he’s produced all the music. We sat down with each writer and wrote what we felt was wrote, but Darwood’s kept it all together.
Now your Roc Nation you could get anyone on the album to collaborate with so what can we expect?
Well its not 100 per cent finished yet but obviously I’ve got the first track with Wiley, another track with Tinchy and were in discussions at the moment about getting a few more people on there.
Debut single ‘Now Or Never ft Wiley’ is out now
