Singer-songwriter Marley Blandford has been releasing original music for a number of years and is due to support Peter Andre in Southampton on 7th July 2018. A regular performer at festivals, the talented musician has already been booked for a couple in Portsmouth later this year and is preparing for his shows this month on The Coffee Beans Tour with Danny Gruff. Talking to Marley recently, we chat about his upcoming May tour, performing at Portsmouth Guildhall and O2 Academy Islington and his musical collaborations with Deltiimo and Janet Devlin.
Can you tell us about your recent single On My Own Again which you released with Deltiimo and how did the collaboration come about?
Yes, a bit of a different venture for me. I’ve always loved EDM and house, full of energy for bike rides, nights out, etc. but it’s never been something I’ve attempted to do myself. Deltiimo approached me for a collaboration, and I was on board straight away. A couple of days in the studio and we came out with this track, which has recently hit 100,000 plays on Spotify too!
You wrote the single Hiraeth with Janet Devlin, can you say more about this?
I met Janet when I supported her in 2016, we met up in 2017 and had little writing sessions and this song came from that. We had lyrical ideas and we both loved the word Hiraeth and the idea of it. It’s a Welsh word – a feeling of homesickness or nostalgia for a home/place that you cannot return to, or one that may have not even existed in the first place. We managed to write this one in one afternoon. It was a real pleasure, I’ve always loved Janet’s music so it was brilliant to be able to work with her.
Having previously released an EP, do you have plans to release another?
Indeed I have – once the tour is done and I’ve got a bit more free time, I’ll be straight in the studio for my next release!
You have a number of live shows coming up this month as part of The Coffee Beans Tour with Danny Gruff, how are you preparing for them and have you already decided on the set list?
Writing new tracks and rehearsing mostly to make sure all the songs are up to scratch. Nothing exciting at all, haha, the shows will be the fun part! I have about an hour of tracks which I’ll be picking from at the shows, I’ll be mixing it up a little each night.
In July, you are set to open for Peter Andre in Southampton, how does this feel and what has the audience response been so far on your previous support shows?
I’m real excited about this one. He’s such a lovely guy too, I’m pretty stoked to land a show opening for him!
The support is really nice actually, people always grabbing CDs and letting me know what they thought of the music. I love meeting new people, so it’s even better when people have come back to see me play after they saw me open a show for someone else.
What were your recent shows like at Portsmouth Guildhall and O2 Academy Islington?
Great, great fun! Two truly awesome venues and the support at recent shows has been lovely too. So many familiar faces at both of these shows. There’s something about playing big places like these too, all the people I love that have played there in the past, it’s a real cool feeling.
Will you be performing at any festivals this year that you can tell us about and are there plans for a headline tour?
There’s a few bits booked in that I’m not allowed to announce just yet, but I can announce that I’ll be playing Charmed Life Festival at Victoria Park, Portsmouth and Victorious Festival on the seafront of Portsmouth too alongside the likes of Paul Weller, Paloma Faith, Kaiser Chiefs and many more – I can’t wait for this one!
There’s nothing as of yet for a headline tour, but I’d love to be able to do this sometime. Fingers crossed.
Can you remember when and where you played your first ever gig?
I can indeed – I was playing drums for my first ever band Fake Shadows, a little folk-rock four piece with some childhood friends. I think I was 14, we were awful, haha! It was real good fun once I shrugged off the nervous feeling. My first ever show by myself was in 2012 at a place called The RMA in Portsmouth, and all my friends showed up. That was another level of nerves for my first time singing.
What musicians inspire you?
There’s way too many to name, but if I had to pick a handful – Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, Matt Cardle, Ben Howard, John Mayer, Cas Haley, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Sting (and The Police), etc.
You have previously uploaded covers to your YouTube channel, will you be uploading any more in the foreseeable future?
Funny you should ask, I’m going to be releasing a little cover of Roxanne by The Police. It will be live this month, you’ll be able to catch it here – https://www.youtube.com/marleyblandfordmusic.
If you weren’t a singer-songwriter, do you think you’d still have a job in the music industry?
For sure! Or at least I’d hope that I’d be doing something music-related. I often do session work – singing, playing piano and guitar for other people in studios and on stage, so I think I’d probably be doing that!
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