Watch the full video on Youtube here: Chris Martin. Zane Lowe. The Full Interview (by BBC Radio 1)
If you haven't heard or watched this Zane Lowe interview with Chris Martin? It is a fantastic insight into the workings of a successful band and the mind of a (very complex) songwriter.
Key highlights
The key thing that jumped out at me was the fact that even though Coldplay had had a huge amount of success they had a revelation that they needed help, they still needed development and they needed to continue learning and doing it together with a team around them. No artist can do it on their own - feedback and trustworthy support is not a nice extra - it is absolutely fundamental and critical in taking your music to the next level.
At 6 minutes
"We've worked really hard to bring out the best in everybody - and that started when we started working with Brian Eno. He would say you really have to respect the chemistry between you. ...There was a time when he kicked me out of the band for a few weeks to get everybody else's confidence up, because at that time I could be quite strong minded about 'it has to sound like this' and he taught us to let everyone get to the end of their idea before any judgment is passed..."
This is why Sound Consultancy builds its business services around mentoring - that process of listening, feedback, challenge and advice coming from years of experience of coming out the other side of what you are now going in to. We have deliberately recruited critically acclaimed producers, award winning songwriters, individuals with Masters Degrees in mentoring and coaching and so on... all to give you the best chance of finding a successful way forward with your music. Music is a team sport.
At 7:13
"We were coming off the back of Rush Of Blood To The Head stuff; our record label was all over the place; it was all like share prices and it was all very - wonderful - you know, learning period - but at the time it was chaos. So when Brian came in I was so grateful because it felt like we had a teacher. I was not aware you could keep learning after college finished, until I met him! And now that's all we care about - what can we learn next; how can we improve; how can we - you know - as people and as musicians. So when he came in it was like 'Ah! Thank you!' It was like a father figure coming in and saying 'you're a very talented band, but here's how we should rearrange the furniture."
- Who have you got feeding your development?
- How strong is the advice you are getting?
- How intentional are you about improving your sound; your business sense - and your profile and promotional nouse?
- Have you resolved within yourself yet the relationship between being creative - and being organised and savvy about the other stuff so that you can continue to be creative?!
- And how does money balance with your values and your desire to explore musical creativity?
- How would you feel about doing that?
- How does it work for you at the moment?
- How much do you have to give to various parties you work with?
- Would it be different if you were earning millions?
- With a record deal it is typical to give 40%-60% of your earnings straight to your management company. Artists working with Sound Consultancy keep ALL their rights so they take home all their earnings for themselves.
- Can you be a powerful songwriter without some kind of background pain and turmoil feeding your creativity?
- If your answer is yes - where do you get that level of inspiration from?
- If no - how can you manage it in a positive way and not get consumed by it?
At 11:40
Zane: "It's very important that musicians get paid. Which is harder and harder these days because music is becoming a free currency to most people - you can't tell a kid to pay for it they'll be like 'what?' they just wont understand. So when you break up your publishing it can be difficult to do that if bands or artists decide to do that according to who did what lyric and what line or musical note... But I think the greatest stories - and there are cases like yourself - like Coldplay - where you do go in with this equal approach..."
Chris: "Yeh it's basically 40(%) // 20% // 20% // 20%. That's how we do it. Everything else is 25% // 25% // 25% // 25% [between the 4 members of the band]"
The rest of the interview deals with the new album - some amazing insights into the writing process - and also some very (refreshingly) honest discussion of what has gone on in Chris's life and how he has learned to deal with it.
"Everyone in their life is given challenges that you either meet or you don't. What we decided to do on Ghost Stories is really be honest about it ...approach everything with love and see what happens - don't worry too much. I write music as a diary - I write it to survive and make sense of everything."
I'll leave you with that question. Enjoy the interview! Thank you Chris Martin!
If you feel you could do with some specific help with any aspect of your music development... just get in touch with Joel - 0114 327 24 74 or email joel@soundconsultancy.co.uk.