Lisa first met Emily Capell at The Boisdale Awards last year, where she won Best Newcomer. She’s had a very busy year since then, and so it was great to catch up with her at Cornbury, where we talked about her music, guitars, The Clash, Steve Marriott, Tom Hardy, Danny McFly, and Jedward.
Hello Emily Capell! I last spoke to you at Boisdale…
Ah! Really!
Yes, and I interviewed you…
YES! And we spoke about Lord Of The Rings, do you remember?!
Yes! And I had a stupid microphone that didn’t work and we had to do the interview all over again!
I remember!
But this time I’m just doing it on my phone straight up.
So – we’re at Cornbury!
Yeah we are at Cornbury!
Did you enjoy yourself? Because you’ve performed already and you were amazing!
I did! And I have performed already, and thank you!
You’re not wearing your big dress [like at Boisedale]…
That was an award do…so I wore a big dress to that.
Oh I see! I thought this might be Summer Emily.
No and I’ve also got changed since I came off, I was a little hot.
Yes you were all in black!
Yeah but I had a massive pink bow, and it was really hurting. You know when you get a hairband headache, well it’s like that.
So what have been up to since that awards night?
When was that?
I can’t even remember…
Was it last year?
It was last year, maybe…
Maybe like almost a year ago now! So we’ve recorded an album!
Well done! What’s it called?
It’s called ‘Combat Frock’.
‘Combat Frock’. You are all about fashion aren’t you!
We’re waiting for the final mixing and mastering, and it will be out at the end of September/beginning of October.
What is a Combat Frock?
The Clash, who are my favourite band, had an album called ‘Combat Rock’, and so I’ve gone with ‘Combat Frock’. I wanted to get a nod to The Clash in there, it’s like combat, really hardcore girls, doing it in a nice dress.
That just sounds amazing. So how many songs are on the album?
12!
Twelve is a nice number for an album!
I think so! Sometimes you buy albums that are like, nine tracks, and I’m like, you cheated!
That’s basically an EP!
Yeah come on! Squeeze a couple more in there!
And look, when you’re listening to Spotify or whatever, 9 songs doesn’t even count as an entire album anyway [for the charts] so you’ve got to at least do 10.
Exactly! I wanted to do 14, but we ended up with 12.
What are you doing with the extra 2?
They’re going to be B-sides. So they haven’t gone to waste.
So they’re still there! So what happens next for you after this festival?
More festivals! We’ve got Kendall Calling, Green Man, we’re doing more festivals and then the album comes out.
[Emily sees my lockscreen pic on my iPad]
OH WHAT NO WAY!!!
YES!!
Ooh My God!
Wait it gets better! [shows a second pic for my homepage background]
John and Edward! Jedward!
They’re my faves!
They’re MY faves! I love them!
I have this thing where I have to mention them in every interview I do.
Well we’ve ticked them off today!
They’ve got a new album out too, ‘Voice Of A Rebel‘, with twenty-two songs on it!
Geez, twenty-two songs! Is it quite a lot of covers?
Noo it’s all original songs that they’ve written, and they’re all loads of different styles.
Nice!
Anyway enough about Jedward…
We can talk more about Jedward!
They’ve just done a UK tour!
Did they! Where did they play? In London?
Two nights at Camden Assembly [WOW did they!], and they did two nights at the Factory in Manchester, and two nights at the Glasgow Garage.
How many did you go to?
Six! [both laugh]
Wicked!
I was so stuffed by the end of it, I’ve got this knee injury, and my knee was like [makes noise like inflating a balloon] at the end of it.
They’re doing alright! Ten years in the business!
TEN YEARS! Well done Jedward!!
So yeah! So you’re doing loads of festivals, and your album comes out after the festivals…
Then we’ll tour the album…it’s all perfect timing.
Any more awards this year? Because you can’t be best newcomer anymore.
I know! Maybe they have an award for best golden oldie…”best one year into it”.
What’s your favourite sort of guitar?
The Gretsch. But mainly because they make really big ones, I like the big ones, Steve Marriott used to play one. I just like the big chunky ones, they make a really nice sound. Definitely Gretsch, they’re my favourite, I’ve got three!
Do you hang them up on the wall?
No I’ve got them under my bed.
Oh are they in cases?
Yes! I’ve got a banjo that my Mum got me for Christmas – thank you Mum – which I leave out because I can’t play as well as I can play the guitar, so I think if I leave it out I’m more likely to pick it up.
And does that work?
Yeah! But you have to wear these nail things, and they’re hard. It’s really odd, it’s like playing with fake nails on.
Do you think someone *could* play with fake nails on? You’d be risking them falling off wouldn’t you!
Dolly Parton tried at Glastonbury…if you can get someone really good to play behind you, then you’re laughing but you can’t play yourself.
One more question – what question do you wish someone would ask you in an interview but nobody ever does?
I’d like for people to ask me, “When is your wedding to Tom Hardy, and how did he propose to you?”
When IS your wedding to Tom Hardy? And how did he propose to you?
Well that’s not true is it! Gutted! As soon as it happens, that’s what I’d like people to ask me. Or Danny from McFly.
Isn’t he married?
But then divorce is a thing isn’t it.
Ah true.
Exactly!
Thank you for chatting to us Emily!
You can find Emily Capell online on her official website, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Stream and download her music from iTunes and Spotify.
