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Candie Payne may have a moniker that sounds like a porn star, but it’s a name that’s getting a lot of press for entirely different reasons. The 24 year old liverbird is set to tour with hot-shot producer Mark Ronson later this autumn hot on the heels of their collaborative release ‘No More Chances’ this month. Payne, who has been dubbed the ‘arch queen of 21st century melancholia’ in some quarters, came to Columbia label mate Ronson’s attention when he heard her debut album ‘Wish I Could Have Loved You More’ and immediately sparked a bond.
From the minute Gigwise sits down with Candie, she’s strikingly down to earth. Growing up with two brothers who went on to be successful musicians, must help. Her brothers Sean (The Zutons) and Howie (The Stands) have in her own words “always looked out for her.”
She explains the Mark Ronson collaboration in her soft Scouse tones: “I wasn’t happy with album version of ‘No More Chances’ as a single, but Columbia could see the potential in it and asked Mark if he wanted to get involved.” It’s obvious she’s passionate about her career but hides a lot of it behind humour. She doesn’t want to be Billie Holiday, she likes her life as it is and sees her songs as an extension of herself. Getting involved in musical arrangements “gives her a bird’s eye view and helps her stay objective.”
Working with Ronson was a case of jumping into the unknown as she usually works alongside musician Simon Dine. “It was weird handing over the reigns to someone else especially because my part took an hour or so and I wasn’t really that familiar with Mark’s work.” Candie continues: “I don’t want to sound arrogant or anything but I’m not intimidated by Mark’s reputation. I view him as a contemporary who’s very good at what he does.”
Payne seems to naturally gravitate towards a bygone era, both professionally and personally. Her retro look is put down to being a “happy coincidence” rather than anything else. Her vocals are more Dusty than dirty and she seems unperturbed to be joining a list of household names.
Candie will be sharing support duties on Ronson’s first major UK tour with Ali Love, who, of course, featured on The Chemical Brothers ‘Do It Again’. When Gigwise caught up with Ms Payne she was enjoying a few days of domesticity after a summer of festival appearances. She laughs: “You could say I’m getting in touch with my domestic goddess, but it’s just cool to normalise and see friends and family every now and then.”
Having, by her own admission, done the whole watching bands with rainwater up to her thighs thing she was delighted to be asked to perform in the Q tent still riding high from her last tour date in Manchester. The gig selling out meant a lot to her, it has given her confirmation that she is on the right track - “It really has been a highlight for me, I’ve been so lucky so far.”
When asked about personal highlights from possibly the dreariest summer ever to do the festival circuit she enthuses: “V Festival is probably most memorable so far - my brother Sean played drums for me so it was really special and the fact that we managed to fill the tent at all when Iggy Pop was playing is a massive thing to me too.”
To use a well worn Scouse phrase she’s made up that her orchestration has been compared to Scott Walker and frightfully modest when told a broadsheet proclaimed her debut album to be ‘the sexiest record of the year.’ “My family are the only people who have the real power to hurt me with their opinions because they mean so much to me.” She then laughs and apologises for getting deep.
Her appearance on Jools Holland earlier this year was “an incredibly surreal blur“. She was surprised by the amount of people who commented on her restarting a song. She sees that as part of her job. She insists: “Wherever I am, if I have to start again, I have to start again, it’s part of my job, I owe it to my audience.” Her performance was featured alongside Grinderman and said out of the whole experience, she remembers the intensity of Nick Cave’s performance was “like the devil was in the room.”
So what does the future hold for Candie Payne? Well you don’t need a crystal ball to guess that she’ll be working. She likes alternating between live and studio work because “it keeps things fresh.” “Simon and I are constantly writing we work in certain phases and we’re pretty prolific at putting things together.”
Although studio time has yet to be pencilled into Payne’s busy schedule she feels a new album in the offing. “When we went in the studio last time we didn’t know if we were going to come out with anything and ended up putting ‘Wish I Could Have Loved You More’ together I have the feeling that’s going to happen again.” Candie is also characteristically looking forward to seeing what will happen to Deltasonic label mates The Rascals.
“I remember seeing some of their last gigs as part of The Little Flames and it was sad and obvious that their hearts weren’t in it.”
Candie may be making a name for herself but whatever happens she remains fiercely loyal to her record label. “I’ve always trusted and admired the way that Deltasonic handle bands. You can talk to Alan on a very honest level. They have always supported a band on what they want to do. I hope Deltasonic continue to grow. I support them like they’ve supported me.”
And with that she says goodbye and sets about doing her washing and deciding what to make her friends for supper.
