{"id":43281,"date":"2018-11-26T16:22:08","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T16:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=43281"},"modified":"2018-11-26T16:23:36","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T16:23:36","slug":"a-quick-chat-with-rising-star-mike-watson-following-his-single-black-and-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2018\/11\/a-quick-chat-with-rising-star-mike-watson-following-his-single-black-and-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quick Chat With Rising Star Mike Watson Following His Single &#8216;Black and Blue&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Manchester-born singer-songwriter, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mikewatsonofficial.com\/\">Mike Watson<\/a>, storms back from the break-up of his band with a passionate and fiery solo career. With the release of his latest single &#8216;Black and Blue&#8217; out earlier this month, we chatted with him to see what is in store next for this rising star.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>How did music play a part in your upbringing?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I grew up in a very musical family. My Dad gave me a guitar as soon as I was big enough to hold one, and my Grandmas both sang in choirs. So music was everywhere. Must have been painful for them to hear me struggling with the guitar in those early days, as I was very, very bad&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Random Ad stuff --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2076862002005673\" data-ad-slot=\"3107208401\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><\/p>\n<p><script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What motivated you to continue to create music after the band spilt up?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It was my decision to leave the band and concentrate on the music I enjoyed most. The band was an amazing experience and I learnt a lot from it, but I was never 100% onboard with the music and I knew to be completely happy musically I\u2019d have to go. Was tough to leave the safety net we had, but I\u2019m glad I took the jump.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>How is a solo career different from being in a band?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are parts I enjoy more and parts I miss. I miss the comrade we had when travelling together etc, and there was a sense of \u2018we\u2019re all in this together\u2019 when times got tough. But not having control over how I looked or what I sang was tough to live with. I\u2019d also say there\u2019s more pressure being a solo artist, as if I\u2019m sick or my voice is rough I can\u2019t rely on my mates to help me out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Do you miss it at all or is there more freedom to create what you want to produce?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are parts I miss, but the overriding factor in why I left was I wanted to be me.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>You clearly have a strong <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCf_5oEedpAVlfO4u19EdfCQ\">Youtube<\/a> community, how did you build this fanbase?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s taken a fair old time, just like anything worthwhile. But the thing that really kicked it off was when we started to cover songs from New Music Friday the day they came out. Some of the artists even started to retweet and share them such as Anne-Marie and Martin Solveig which was nice to see!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>How would you describe your style of music to someone who has not heard of you before?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That\u2019s a tough one. Essentially pop somewhere between The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes&#8230;that help? Ha. The first two singles were more upbeat, but this last one \u2018Black and Blue\u2019 is more down tempo and dark. I guess whether you like it is up to you, but I\u2019m proud of what\u2019s come out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What is the message behind your new single \u2018Black and Blue\u2019?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Black and Blue means a lot to me. It\u2019s about having to break up and part ways with someone you still really care about. It\u2019s a horrible situation to be in, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do for the best in the end. It\u2019s been really nice even in the few weeks its been out to receive comments saying the songs helped others get through something similar.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>You are set to release your debut EP in 2019, what can fans expect from it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I\u2019m very excited about it.\u00a0 Some of it I\u2019ve written already and I\u2019m going to be biased and say you\u2019ll like it&#8230; but I can definitely say the tracks on there will be my best yet. Melodically, lyrically, production will all be ramped up again and I think there\u2019s a little bit for everyone on it! Some darker down-tempo vibes, and some upbeat \u2018bangers\u2019 as my Grandad calls them&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Lastly, can fans expect to see you touring in 2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I\u2019m planning to tour in the second half of next year, once the EP is released. Dates will be released via my socials so keep your eye out!\u00a0 Let\u2019s just hope I\u2019m fighting fit as I don\u2019t have any band mates to now back me up \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oad67RvrXqg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Check out Mike on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mikewatsonofficial\/\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mikewatsonmusic\/\">Instagram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikewatsonmusic\">Twitter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester-born singer-songwriter, Mike Watson, storms back from the break-up of his band with a passionate and fiery solo career. With the release of his latest single &#8216;Black and Blue&#8217; out earlier this month, we chatted with him to see what is in store next for this rising star.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[641,7],"tags":[286,407,17201,12,989,67,939,68,77,370,1945,226,1181,103,268,81],"class_list":["post-43281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-music","tag-ep","tag-interview","tag-lottie-woodrow","tag-music","tag-new-artist","tag-new-artists","tag-new-ep","tag-new-music","tag-new-release","tag-new-single","tag-new-video","tag-pop","tag-singer-songwriter","tag-tour","tag-uk","tag-video"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yMhl-bg5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62031,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2020\/05\/australian-singer-imogen-clark-releases-new-single-found-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":43281,"position":0},"title":"Australian Singer Imogen Clark Releases New Single &#8216;Found Me&#8217;","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"01\/05\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Australian singer-songwriter, Imogen Clark today releases a brand new single \u2018FOUND ME\u2019, her first new music in two years and the first taste of her 'The Making Of Me' six-track EP, due out in August via Potts Entertainment\/MGM.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Imogen-Clark.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49211,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/04\/hollie-carmen-reveals-official-video-for-plan-b\/","url_meta":{"origin":43281,"position":1},"title":"HOLLIE CARMEN REVEALS OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR PLAN B","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"19\/04\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Rising star Hollie Carmen has just revealed her official music video for latest single, Plan B. 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