11 replies to this topic

[Uno]

This is a great little Q&A interview with Amy from 2004, and she also answers the question about her favorite perfume(s) during this one ...



19 March 2004

Where do you live and why?
In Camden. I like the fact that it's close to town, packed on the weekend but quieter during the week. I used to sell clothes in the market.

How long have you lived there?
Just under a year. Before, I lived in East Finchley, where I grew up. I'd move back there in a heartbeat.

What advice would you give to a tourist?
To be honest, tourists can get on my nerves. I'd probably say, 'Don't go to that shop, go to this one.'

Who's in your secret address book?
I spend a lot of time in HMV on Oxford Street - I buy so much stuff there. I always get my hair cut at Frangelli in East Finchley. It's run by a lovely Hungarian called Tibor.

What have been your most memorable London meals?
I don't eat out much so probably my nan's meatballs and spaghetti bolognese.

Harvey Nicks or Selfridges?
I like Selfridges. You can try on beautiful clothes before you start saving up for them. But I'm more of a Fenwick girl - they mix expensive and affordable.

What do you miss most when you're out of London?
That feeling of just being at home - being in bed, watching TV, smoking a joint.

What are your favourite home comforts?
I always have music on and I love incense. I hate too much light - I prefer sitting in the dark with the TV on. I've got a guitar in every corner so I can just sit down and have a play when something pops into my head.

What would you do if you were Mayor for the day?
I'd let people smoke cannabis in the street and I'd have a street party. I could drive around in a specially made Mayor-mobile with the best sound system. The rapper Mos Def could be my chauffeur.

What is your life philosophy?
At the moment, my philosophy is that the colour coral goes with both red and pink outfits.

What items are in your spring wardrobe?
I've just had a lovely Dolce & Gabbana dress made for my new video - a short, pink denim one. Adidas gave me a load of stuff, including a black tracksuit top that I wear every day.

What are your current projects?
I'm looking forward to doing my next album. It should be similar to Frank - beat-driven and jazzy - but I intend to introduce new instrumentation.

What was the last book you bought?
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. It's about an autistic boy. I was reading it on a plane and crying throughout like some weirdo. Unfortunately, I left it on the flight.

What perfume do you wear?
I like Escada, which you can only get in America. And also Chanel No 5.

How do you get around town?
I walk mostly. I walk to the laundrette and the dry-cleaners and I am just about to walk to get a sunbed. If I had enough money I'd get a 1985 white Porsche with pink bits.

What was the last CD you bought?
The new Kanye West album. I love it - it's got some wicked themes, some wicked melodies. There's too much stupid music out there. There are too many idiots making music.

What are your extravagances?
Flowers. I was out with my boyfriend, Tyler, the other day and I told him I fancied spending £50 on flowers and he told me I was mad. I ended up spending £49 on roses. If I had more money I'd buy more shoes, too.

What was the last play you saw in London and did you enjoy it?
It was Topdog/Underdog with Mos Def at the Royal Court. I cried my eyes out the whole way through. Mos Def is my hero. He's such a talented rapper. I met him on 23 February 2003 - a date I won't forget.

Do you have a favourite pub?
I like going to the pool hall in Kentish Town - I'm a big fan of pool. But I'm not all that picky really. Anywhere that sells Jack Daniel's!


http://www.standard....se-7296562.html

[amylove]

I've just had a lovely Dolce & Gabbana dress made for my new video - a short, pink denim one.

is that the fuck me pumps one?

I prefer sitting in the dark

me too. and i thought i was weird.

[ancre]

Thanks Uno for this great interview - I haven't seen it before. So many interesting things innit.

What are your extravagances?
Flowers. I was out with my boyfriend, Tyler, the other day and I told him I fancied spending £50 on flowers and he told me I was mad. I ended up spending £49 on roses.

[amylove]

^as in Tyler James? I thought he said they were never together like that?!

[ladyamy]

I love her to infinity and beyond. How can she be so brilliant, charming, clever, funny and whatever you wanna add here?
I've discovered a lot of things on this interview (and now I miss her even more).
I didn't know she liked Mos Def so much and I had no clue she liked Kanye West. I can't stand him (or any rapper, tbh).
I hate too much light, too. I've spend LOTS of evenings listening to Back To Black with all the lights turn off except one. I've always thought it was more magical that way. I'm crazy, I know LOL

---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:41 PM ----------


It surprised me to read that she wanted to make an album similar to Frank, because she said many times that she wasn't happy with the sound. Besides, Back To Black has nothing to do with Frank, except for the lyrics and her voice, of course.
And my favorite one:
"What is your life philosophy?
At the moment, my philosophy is that the colour coral goes with both red and pink outfits." Simply brilliant.

[TBR]

^as in Tyler James? I thought he said they were never together like that?!

Same, but the press have called him her ex for years so maybe there was some truth in it after all? I always wondered if he's gay and she was helping him cover it up for some reason? I don't see why'd he'd need to, just always had that vibe. Maybe it's just wishful thinking haha.

I love these early interviews though, it's nice to hear her talking about doing normal shit before the paps started mobbing her.

[masterac]

I always wondered if he's gay and she was helping him cover it up for some reason? I don't see why'd he'd need to, just always had that vibe. Maybe it's just wishful thinking haha.

Yeah I definitely thought he might be gay also. This is totally off point and probably innapropriate seeing as we don't even know Tyler's real sexual preference, but it reminds me of a story I read in Ronnie Spector's (of The Ronettes) biography. At one point later in her career she became really good friends with a gay man and many people thought they were a couple. To make it even weirder, she was obsessed with having a child so she actually asked him to have sex with her, and he did, but they never got pregnant.

Like I said, weird ass story lol . . . .

[Uno]

Same, but the press have called him her ex for years so maybe there was some truth in it after all? I always wondered if he's gay and she was helping him cover it up for some reason? I don't see why'd he'd need to, just always had that vibe. Maybe it's just wishful thinking haha.

I love these early interviews though, it's nice to hear her talking about doing normal shit before the paps started mobbing her.

They make reference to Tyler being her boyfriend and them living together during in this 2004 interview from The Free Library ...

Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)
April 17, 2004

Taking a walk on the wild side; Chanteuse Amy Winehouse has attitude in spades and is proud of her couldn't-careless approach that's why she refused to be one of the girls at school and did her own thing 'Have you had sex to my album? Do you know anyone who has? That's the test of a wicked album. Ask your friends if they have I want to know'he test of a wicked album. Ask your friends if they have I want to know'.


SHE was turfed out of drama school for daring to pierce her nose, almost got into a fight the last time she played in Glasgow, has branded Dido 'bland' and wants the world to have sex listening to her album.

Yet jazz firebrand Amy Winehouse is still being lumped in with snooze- inducing chanteuses Katie Melua and Norah Jones as a cosy peddler of easy- listening ballads. Wrong.

Here's the truth Amy Winehouse has more attitude than Melua has sold singles or Jones has won Grammys. Her in-yer-face antics would make punk pin-up Pink's face go purple with shame.

Speaking from her home in Camden, London, ahead of her biggest tour to date, with a stop-off at Glasgow's Cottier Theatre next week, Amy is relaxed. Almost a little too relaxed, in fact.

'Sorry, I've just been having a wee,' says the brazen 20-year-old. Yes, Amy Winehouse is on the loo. 'I'm sorry. I do it all the time. Whenever I go to the toilet I take the phone with me.'

Lovely. Too much information. Still, it's typical of the singer's spunky nonchalance and couldn't-care-less approach to life.

If Katie Melua is the poster-girl of mum-swing, then Amy Winehouse is the ballsy tearaway mums don't want their wee girls playing with. After being thrown out of the prestigious Sylvia Young School in London, her parents sent their bold teen to an all-girls school.

Talk about square pegs and round holes. Put it this way Amy would never have played elastics with you, girls. Unless you were one of the lucky few.

'It was horrific,' she says.

'Disgusting. Girls are f****** mad. There's a reason why I didn't want to go to a school without any boys and that's because girls are just weird.

'They are so weird. You know how women go, 'Men are so weird, I don't understand them' and tell their mums, who say, 'You never will, dear'?

'Well, I don't agree with that, I think it's the other way round. Girls are mad.

'They were just backwards. You need men there.

'I ended up running the school. There were only two girls I liked all the rest of them were scared of us.

'They would try to talk to us and we'd be like, 'f*** off '.'

An apparent clash of personalities with a teacher at the revered theatrical breeding ground has left anti-academic Amy bitter and scathing of some aspects of the education system.

She says: 'When I left Sylvia Young, I hated school so much that I didn't want to go at all. That was horrid.

'I was gutted when I left, because there are some really dedicated people there, and Sylvia herself is brilliant.

'I pierced my nose when I was 13. They didn't like that. I brought my guitar to school every day because I was a guitarist and they'd tell me I couldn't.

'I was like, 'Well, look, I'm a singer, a musician, not an academic...' 'But that's what made me a better person, it showed me that you can't really be taught stuff, you have to go out there and find out for yourself.

'People go to university and they bow down to lecturers, who they perceive to be better than them because they possess all this knowledge they themselves have to study for.

'So they waste four years of their life being an underdog, being taught about something that really has no relevance in the real world. That's my opinion.'

Despite confessing to under-achieving in her GCSEs, Amy's now in a position where even a first in rocket science would be utterly useless.

'I don't look at anything with regret,' she says. 'The only thing I missed out on was meeting guys at uni. That's about it really. It's true. University to me is about cheap alcohol and nice boys, who get nicer the more cheap alcohol you have.'

She might have missed out on this supposed debauchery of the university scene, but she's hardly sitting at home alone with her cats either.

She's sitting at home with her boyfriend Tyler and other people's cats.

'They come by all the time. I love them,' she says, shooing another one away from her open front door to appease Tyler, who's not a feline fan.

'P*** off, Mr Cat. You can't come in. Tyler doesn't like you.'

Living with her boyfriend at 20 works for Amy. Tyler's lying on her couch doing his expenses, while she's fussing around collecting his washing.

'He cooks, I clean,' she says.

Amy's debut album, Frank, is vocally reminiscent in places of Nelly Furtado, stretched over a naggingly catchy jazz background. But it has more of an edge than her easily accessible chart-mates Melua and Jones.

She says: 'I would say that I don't rest in that category. Katie Melua is easy listening, and I wouldn't say that my music is. I dance to hip-hop and listen to it when I'm at home. But when I'm alone and there's no one else around, I'll listen to more personal music.

'You can have the music on, chill out and not give a f*** about anything. That's when you'd put on my album.

'I see my album as a night album, or a morning album. It's not a during-theday album.'

What she really means, of course, is that Frank is the kind of album you'd play if you want to get it on, as Marvin Gaye said. 'Have you had sex to my album?' she asks. Wow. Couldn't possibly say.

'Do you know anyone who has?' My, my. Again, couldn't possibly say. 'I'd love to know who has,' she says. 'That's the test of a wicked album. Ask all your friends if they've ever had sex to my album. That would be cool. It would mean people can totally be themselves with my music.'

She confesses soul singer D'Angelo is her favourite for action between the sheets, then adds: 'And there's also a compilation album called Babies Making Babies, which I guess was pretty much made for that purpose.'

Amy's album has been nominated for an Ivor Novello award and earlier this year, she missed out on two Brits.

But she was far from overawed by the experience. 'Not at all,' she says. 'Anyone who's that big isn't really going to be up for going to the Brit Awards, are they?

'My mate Jamie Cullum was there and I was delighted to see him, because it meant that my night wasn't going to be wasted after all. I just caught up with him and his girlfriend.'

Depending on which way you cut it, Amy has a healthy disregard for authority, or a prima donna- like arrogance.

Her album has sold well and the right noises are being made in the right places. But she has a fiery dislike for the manipulation doled out by record companies. Try telling her what to wear to a photo shoot and you'll more than likely wind up with an earful of dissent.

She says: 'Sometimes they'll tell me I can't wear stuff because it's too sexy and I'm like, 'f*** off I'd wear this out, so I'll wear it today, 'cos that's what I would be wearing if I didn't have to come and do s*** for you.' 'I'm not going to wear something outrageous for the sake of it. I want to wear what I want to wear, and what will look good and appropriate.'

So those of you with tickets for Cottiers, don't expect anything too racy.

'I'm a real girly girl,' she says.

She enjoys the Glasgow crowd and is looking forward to playing in the former church's cosy theatre.

'I like a small gig and to be able to see everyone in the audience, that's where I'm coming from,' she says.

She supported Cullum on an outing at Glasgow's King Tut's last year and the place made a big impression on her.

'That was a great gig for me, and for Jamie too. Everyone was singing his songs with him. It was brilliant.

'I loved it at King Tut's. I really, really like that place. There's aren't that many venues that have a pool table downstairs, you know.

'I put money on the side of the table and came back for my game, and these guys were playing.

'I was like, 'Hoi, I put my coin down' and they were like, 'No you didn't.' 'I took off before someone hit me with a pool cue.'

Look upon it as a lucky escape, lads. This girl can give as good as she gets.

http://www.thefreeli......-a0115453704

[AmysAngel92]

Cheers for all the interviews, great read ;-)

[inwinoveritas]

thx for the interviews.

i guess, that amy's romantic relationship to tyler was just a fake, maybe to hide his probable homosexuality (if he's gay), but also to push his own career, by saying, that he was amy#s boyfriend. i mean, i don't know the actual circumstances for this bf-story (these above are just theories, created by my own), but i remember a 2005 article, stating he was her current boyfriend, altough she wore blake#s name tattooed over her left breast back then...

i guess, we'll never know and aren't even supposed to

ps: sorry for my bad english, hope, you all get what i mean

[Mrs. Jones]

and that second interview confirms that Jamie Callum was her friend (her words, not his)...

[Elsie]

Talk about square pegs and round holes. Put it this way Amy would never have played elastics with you, girls. Unless you were one of the lucky few.

'It was horrific,' she says.

'Disgusting. Girls are f****** mad. There's a reason why I didn't want to go to a school without any boys and that's because girls are just weird.

'They are so weird. You know how women go, 'Men are so weird, I don't understand them' and tell their mums, who say, 'You never will, dear'?

'Well, I don't agree with that, I think it's the other way round. Girls are mad.

'They were just backwards. You need men there.

'I ended up running the school. There were only two girls I liked all the rest of them were scared of us.

'They would try to talk to us and we'd be like, 'f*** off '.'

Eh I didn't quite like this part. She was a bit oddly marketed in the beginnings wasn't she, like, I don't think you can afford being so arrogant so early in the career. Most of it is endearing now (the Dido comments etc) but it could be why Frank didn't have the success it deserved in the first place. Not saying it's right but that's kind of how it works, for women anyway.