22 March 2011
It’s as if pint-sized Irish, rockabilly Queen, Imelda May has stepped straight out of the 1950s, she’s brought with her more spunk and backbone than her size lets on.
Performing and writing since she was 16, the now 37-year-old chats to TMN from Byron Bay where she’s nursing golf ball sized mosquito bites and touring her 3x Platinum third release, Mayhem. The Meteor Award winner says critics and record labels who told her rockabilly was the kiss of death only made her want to add more of it to her music.
“I was told initially, ‘get rid off the rockabilly and you’ll do really well.’ But I couldn’t do that and I couldn’t understand why anybody could notwant rockabilly not to be a part of music.
“It did do me a favour coz it made me put rockabilly more into my music, I am stubborn in that way,” she laughs, she does that a lot.
Funnily enough, Universal, the label that rejected her demo with the aforementioned criticism in 2008 is the same label she is now happily signed to. Asked why she didn’t reject them right back May laughs and says, “I’m not stupid!”
It’s clear May has paved her path to success with tenacity and raw talent; she holds no animosity toward Universal and is instead, understanding. Having produced Mayhem and its predecessor Love Tattoo, she knows full well a label’s need to brand and market an artist.
“I think I was a risk. For a record company, it’s easier for them to sell and market something if it has a label,” she says. “They got me to record a demo and I didn’t hear anything back from them so I presumed that was that. They said afterwards that they just didn’t get it.”
May saw the dismissal as an opportunity, she record an album in a makeshift cowshed-turned-studio that her husband/guitarist built. Without the pressures of A&R input and politics, May released Love Tattoo in 2008. She may have had the talent all along but what happened next proves the unfortunate but true importance of a credible admirer. After a support slot on Jools Holland’s Australian tour the pianist/talk show host handpicked May to fill in for Natalie Cole on his television show …Later With Jools Holland.
“Then everything kicked off within hours, I got a call from Universal and they said ‘what we didn’t get about Imelda May last month we get now, can we talk?’ and I said ‘yes absolutely!”
As a major label with acts like Rihanna, The Killers and Lady Gagalisted in its catalogue, it’s understandable that Universal struggled at first to follow May’s fusion of blues, country and of course that supposed kiss of death, rockabilly. However, the uncontrollable inspiration May gets from her husband and band mate Darrel Highammore than makes sense.
“We’ve been together 14 years so when you’re been married for such a long time you’ve loads of ups and downs, he gives me plenty of fodder for writing.
“Sometimes I think he should be careful,” she giggles. “If we have a row I’ll write it down and put it on the next album,” she’s almost beside herself with laughter at this point. “I’ve threatened him with that all time, he says ‘don’t you dare!’ We do laugh about it.”
Another credible admirer who has inspired May is UK guitar legend,Jeff Beck. “To get the thumbs up from a genius like Jeff Beck who’s a fantastic guitar genius certainly does no harm,” she says. His public support of her work has lead to collaborations both onstage, honouring Les Paul at last years’ Grammy Awards, and in the studio on his album, Emotion & Commotion.
May’s gratitude towards Beck goes beyond borders when discussing their friendship. I imagine her eyes are glazed over in reverence for him when she says, “He does things with his guitar that really shouldn’t be able to be done physically with a guitar at all. He can move notes and make it sound like a human almost, it’s unbelievable…When I’m singing with Jeff it feels like we’re singing a duet.”
Just as Jeff Beck has made a perpetual imprint on music history, May aims to do the same and convert rockabilly skeptics by using her music as a gateway to veteran hall of famers.
“What I want to do is capture the excitement of the rockabilly and the rebelliousness, it’s quite a sexy music…I hate when you hear music playing and it has a nostalgic feel to it, it shouldn’t be like that.
“Some people say because of me and the band they’ve looked into rockabilly and are now mad Johnny Burnette fans. I hope I bring some excitement from rockabilly into today.”
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