Deniece Pearson
Deniece Pearson has already enjoyed huge success in the music industry as part of Five Star, in the theatre and TV show The Voice and now she is striking out on her own.
Close To Nowhere is her debut solo single and we caught up with her to chat about it and the forthcoming album.
- Close To Nowhere is set to be your debut solo single so what can we expect from the track? And what is it about?
Close To Nowhere is basically about what the person is about; it is not about the clothes you wear, it’s not about the lifestyle or the car that you drive it is about loving the person from within, I guess.
- Anyone who is familiar with yourself as an artist and the music that you have done in the past will know that you have had an R&B sound to your music so can they expect that from this track and further tracks down the line?
Yes there will some more R&B type songs. Five Star started out with Let Me Be The One and All Fall Down and we did actually cross over into pop; so pop has really been Five Star’s mainstream.
The majority of the album going to be pop and live acoustic guitars and vocals - there will be some beautiful live vocals.
- So how have you found the response to the new track so far?
Great, great. People seem to be really loving it. I shot a little bit of footage with the song playing in the foreground - it is a bit of a preview video - and it seems to be going down really well.
We shot it in Dubai and the sand was just so hot (laughs) and it would burn my feet. It was so secluded as it was just pure desert and we got some amazing shots.
- An album will dropping later this year but I was reading that you have been working on this record over the past five years so how exciting is it that the album is almost ready for release?
Yes, it is nearly here. I wrote the songs on a couple of writer’s retreats. Some of my fans have heard some of these songs but I have actually recorded a newer version of Close To Nowhere - so that is something to look forward to.
Also there is going to be a lot of brand new tracks that nobody has heard. I am writing with my producer Wayne Gerard and he has is just so amazing. There might also be a couple of covers on this album as well.
- So how did you and producer Wayne Gerard first meet?
When MySpace was the thing to have a lot of people would come onto my site and introduce themselves and sent me music and he was one of them.
I have loved his stuff from way back then and so I got back in touch with him. His stuff is sounding better than ever - I think he is writing his ninth movie score - and it is just so inspiring.
- We have talked about the album already but what are we going to get from that in terms of sound? And how does this first single introduce us to the rest of the record?
The first single is more acoustic and it features more of the vocal. I think the songs that we were very well known for were more pop - they were basically loads of vocals and a pop sound - but this record is more guitar and focusing on a more mature audience, I guess. So yeah it really is about the guitar and the vocal.
- We saw you appear on The Voice last year, where you were mentored by Tom Jones, so how was your time on the show? And what was it like working with him?
It was great. I was wondering ‘what do all these women see in this guy?’ because when you see him on TV he is ok but when you are in a room with him the answer is there.
He has this sex appeal and this aura about him that really is larger than life. He is just such a beautiful person. The experience was great as I met a load of talented people.
It was a lot of hard work, as it is in this industry, so there were a lot of early mornings and ate evenings doing filming and interviews and going through songs and learning songs.
But it was all worth it because I got to introduce myself to the BBC again and to eleven million viewers - so many people hadn’t seen me for so long.
- So what made you want to audition for the show as a lot of people wouldn’t go down this path?
A friend of mine called me when I was doing Respect La Diva at the Garrick Theatre and he said ‘it is not a gimmicky show as it focuses on the singing’. It is about pure talent and not about dancing dogs and things like that and so I decided to go ahead and do it and it was a great show.
I didn’t think that anyone would notice me at the auditions - I went in like anyone else and lined up at the hotel where the auditions were taking place.
When I was called back it was really exciting as I felt that I was talking a step forward for me as I had never done anything like this before. It was a challenge but it was great.
- You have been in the music industry for many a few years but were you able to take anything from the show that has helped you with the start of your solo career?
It was just great being back out there again. I got a lot of Twitter followers and it really introduced me to Twitter (laughs).
I am getting use to how the industry is now as it is so different to how it was. You have to be socially interactive with your fans, you have to build a profile and you have to get yourself out there where as before our manager, my dad, would do it.
The time that we put in was just to learn the songs and do the routines but now you have to do it all - it is like a full time job.
- And are you finding exciting going down these new avenues and finding new ways of connecting with your fans?
Absolutely. You only have one life to live and I am just having so much fun. I have just finished panto, I was doing Cinderella in Milton Keynes, and I have never acted before and I have never learnt lines before and I have never liked speaking publicly. So this was a new challenge for me and I leant them and it was just so amazing.
- You have been in a band, performed in the West End, been on The Voice and now striking out as a solo artist so how do you feel you have developed as a musician over the years? And how have all this different experiences helped you along the way?
I think life experiences have helped me grow and become more confident. But branching out on my own has made me more confident as I didn’t think that I could stand on a stage on my own without my brothers and sisters until I did Thriller - Live; I know I was with people outside of my family but they were such great people.
The overall experiences and going out and taking on these challenges are making me grow and I am having so much fun as well. I would recommend going out and learning new things to everyone (laughs).
- Going back to the single there is quite a personal feel to this new song so what inspires you to write? And have you draw on personal experience for the tracks on the rest of the album?
Absolutely. On Close to Nowhere I was in a relationship at the time and it was kind of… the three writers on this song just got together and this is how the lyrics came about.
It was more my own personal experience - I wasn’t dating anyone in the industry; back in the day my sister went out with Eddie Murphy but I was interested in the guy around the corner at the video store.
And it was like ’no, you have to find yourself someone now’ - this was at the height of our fame. It is expected that you date and do certain things that make you look good for the pictures but I have always been on to go with my heart and my head - be it a plumber or a millionaire (laughs).
- You are also going to be supporting The Jackson’s’ Unity Tour at the end of February so how did that come about?
It was my agent who made a call. We were just talking and he said ‘wouldn’t it be great to support the Jackson’s?’ and I was like ‘oh my god that would be a dream come true’ and he said that he was going to send an email. When I was doing my photo session he was like ‘we have got it’.
Five Star were dubbed the British Jackson’s and it is just an honour to be able to share the same stage. My constant thought every morning when I get up is ‘what kind of show are we going to put together?’ ‘which songs are we going to do?’ ‘we are going to edit this and edit that’.
- Finally what is next for you as the release of the single and album draw closer?
Keeping trim and getting into shape (laughs). I have got to get the video done and I will also be working on other tracks for the album. So I will just be applying myself and enjoying the ride and enjoying the journey.
Close To Nowhere is released March 11th.