Online networks has repopularised your song Headlock, but how did it feel in the early 2000s when you had to create, advertise and market the Speak For Yourself album almost entirely solo?
At that time if you were fortunate you got into popular press outlets. The only real coverage I got was in the specialist audio publications, but then Hide and Seek was in a television series, Headlock got on the radio and I started getting recognition. Imagine having social media and all this no-cost advertising back then … but if I’d received then the kind of attention I get now, I might have made different life choices, so I wouldn’t have changed anything.
Is it true you refinanced your flat to finance Speak For Yourself?
Over a four-year period making an album in my band Frou Frou on Island Records, but it never recouped so I didn’t receive any payment. Making another album with that label would have felt like revisiting a failed partnership. When I terminated that agreement, no bank would provide financing. Then I realised that my apartment in that area I’d bought for a specific amount was worth significantly more a year later. I remortgaged it to make the album and never looked back. Amusingly, after all the social media buzz recently I’ve just received my earnings from Frou Frou after 25 years.
In the past, you recorded and toured with Jeff Beck. How did the partnership begin?
We were introduced when I was nineteen at a songwriting camp in Miles Copeland’s castle in the the countryside. I was the junior participant and shy so I got pretty drunk. I was sitting outside attempting music to myself and Jeff said: “Let me show you some shapes.” I said: “Wow, you’re good!” Later that night I ended up steering a golf caddy around the estate and crashing into Miles’s mum’s valued ceramics. Seven days after I got a message from my manager asking: “You encountered Jeff Beck?” He told me he was this really famous, legendary guitarist – I had no idea – who wanted me to feature on his album. I sang his beautiful track Nadia as best I could and did some shows with him. He was a kind person and I respected him deeply. Many individuals from that generation are just so appreciative to have been able to do what they loved all those years, and their egos are very small in comparison to the amount of fame they had.
‘Imagine having online platforms and all this complimentary exposure 20 years ago’ … the artist, her location, 2006.
Her autobiographical work is a innovative composition, intended to grow periodically every a seven-year cycle. How hard was it to condense years of life into a brief segment?
I’m unsure about my success, but I sat in a physical listening chair and asked audiences: “Which unwritten song matters to you?” There were countless different answers, but all connected to life stages. For anyone aged 0-7 it was simple responses like “cat” or “piano”, from childhood it was playful, adolescence was about personal identity and mature years “I’m in the wrong job and that maybe I shouldn’t be with my partner.” I never got around to that age range because my sister died in my that time and I was unable to continue, but I’m about to release the last installment, a 13-minute fiesta called the title, about who I am now. This project is all true. The line “Wonderbra thrown around the German classroom … I’ll never live it down” is about the time my schoolmate – took my stupid padded bra out of my drawer and tossed it. Then everyone threw it around. I was mortified.
How did you get the concept for that cheerful track? It reliably cheers my infant whenever I put it on, so gratitude.
A formula brand the company wanted to create a song that would make babies happier, so they put me in a collaborative environment. I developed musical elements depending on their responses. My two-year-old daughter Scout started some of the tunes. We’d taken her to the a museum so that’s where “bing bing on the bicycle, beep beep in the car” comes from. The sound at the outset is her laughing at my friend’s cat. Young listeners enjoy the music, but it calms stressed-out parents, too.
Did you often misbehave in education and if so what were you rebelling against?
It troubles me for some of the things I did. The breaking point came when I told the matron to F-off and they dismissed me, but they still needed me to be the highlight for the school performance, so I ended up living in the headmistress’s house and she was very supportive. I just found that environment tedious. I was recently diagnosed with neurodivergence, which might explain why I’ve always wanted to create change and do different projects.
What shades have you tried?
Probably more recently, actually, all kinds of green and stuff. When I was younger I had issues around my body, so like I’d wear garments to make my legs not look so thin or wear elaborate outfits with decorations. For the many years I’d style my hair into a huge bush because I felt my head was too petite. It’s only in the last few years I’ve realised I actually appreciate my appearance – I just needed to add some texture.
Many years since your last proper album. Will we ever get a follow-up?
Well, I did the Harry Potter album [The Music of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – in Four Contemporary Suites], and a previously I made the music to an Audible podcast called Climate of Change with my associate Dan O’Neill, who gave me a collection of audio like natural recordings, which we turned into a extended work. I just got tired of traditional formats, but now I’m really interested in spontaneity and creating spontaneously. I’ve spent countless time isolated creatively and I’ve sacrificed personally. There will be a release soon which will be the final piece of that old world but I’m more enthused by live creation.
‘I’ve spent thousands of hours caged up in the studio and I’ve foregone opportunities’ … Heap plays in LA, the near future.
During that period, the pop star invited fans to her residence to hear her new album the release while she offered treats. It seemed a very typical thing to do. Had you discussed listener connection when you collaborated on the closing track, that title?
Not specifically. I think, like me, she just values audience feedback. I’m constantly bringing guests going: “Can I play this?” It’s touching to see if something you’ve just finished resonates with others people. I’ve had many supporters round to private shows and I’m sure her fans are as friendly.
Last year, a feature on your plans to use AI to enhance your live performances. Fans expressed concerns. Is it still ongoing?
Definitely. When people think of technology they maybe think of this independent entity making all the music while I’m sitting there being a puppet. I see it as a collaboration. Say I’m in a park and there’s {dog sounds
