One of the favourites to win tonight’s Mercury Music Prize for her album Everybody Down, Kate Tempest spoke to Gigwise on the red carpet at the Roundhouse in Camden.
“I think maybe this moment right now might be the most surreal moment of the year so far. This whole ride: this whole thing is surreal, like a dream, but the best dream ever. If you’e a musician you do dream about this, you do dream about people enjoying your work and being in a position you can be going to a really glamorous party. It is surreal but I know it’s happening.”
Watch: Kate Tempest speak to Gigwise above
It certainly contrasts with some of the tougher gigs Tempest has played on her way to getting signed, let alone nominated. “There have been so many really difficult gigs. Some of them have been so dire. One time we played at a festival, there was a storm coming and we were playing this gig the rain was coming through the tent, the tent broke, all the gear was getting flooded. There was a power cut I just had to start rapping a capella to the room. I was shouting to a whole room of people. Actually that was quite good fun! But The gear all got soaked and my band mates were having heart attacks all over the place.”
Things reached their nadir though with one gig which exemplifies every difficult a performance poet might experience. “Once I had to do a poetry gig in this pub it was me and this guy called Polar Bear booked to do this gig. We turned up to the pub and usually there’s a back room to do poetry but there wasn’t: we were just in this pub and the football’s on. There were all these people in the pub trying to watching the football but so we’d been booked: then there were four people who had come to watch us. We’ve got to stand there for the sake of these four people who have played £6 or whatever and try and tell poems. All these guys were going “Get out the way!” It’s been a lot of that.”
As for her own tastes, Tempest also firmly believes in the power of live hip-hop. The best she’s ever seen are a fellow Mercury nominee and label mate. “I could quite confidently said Young Fathers live show: it’s the best live hip-hop show I’ve ever seen. I would really recommend people see them: it’s life changing."
The other comparison is with a true hiphop legend. “I saw Mos Def a few years ago. I seen him obviously when I was kid I went to see him loads and he blew my mind. Seeing him recently, he just seemed so free and he seemed so present. He was really engaging with what he was saying and feeling. It was such a liberating experience to see him, this elder of hiphop, this legend. That was incredible. Young Fathers is a different feeling: It’s really spiritual and its raw and beautiful - they were really intimate with each other and really powerful. I really enjoy hiphop shows that push the boundaries where you can watch just being incredible at what they do without being tied to convention. They love the art and want to push it forward."
