Interview: Valerie Francis is in the throws of awards season

Our Choice Music Prize preview week continues this time with Valerie Francis whose debut Slow Dynamo is among the 10 nominees. Knee-deep in awards season, we emailed a few question over to Valerie following her appearance at Friday night's Meteor awards where she was up for best Irish female.

First of all, congratulations on the recent award nominations. With the Choice, previous nominees have suggested that making the shortlist is as good as winning in terms of getting a bump in profile. With a Pat Kenny appearance under your belt, can you say the same?

Thank you! Yes absolutely. It definitely opens doors. I'm playing a headline in Whelan's. I couldn't do that without this exposure. It's given my album a second wind. All the air in my body couldn't have mustered that up.

Has the focus had a noticeable affect on album sales? Or are more people just downloading it for free...

I have no idea! I don't know how many albums have sold yet. I did meet someone at an opening who had just bought my album on iTunes. Which was very nice. She said she would never have recognised me because I wasn't blurry. In reference to my album cover. Funny!

How were the Meteors? An awards ceremony that gives Brian Kennedy a lifetime achievement and nominates a Snow Patrol 'best of' in its album category seems a bit bizarre to us but who are we to judge... (Oh and Yeasayer were very good by the way re: your Yeasayer vs Meteors tweet)

Ha! I would've loved to have seen Yeasayer. The Meteors were funny. I had 3 guests and we were running around trying to find the right way in. We were stopped a few times. And I thought we all scrubbed up pretty well! I asked security how to get to the orange carpet and they asked me if was I working on it. That kind of sums up my night. It was fun. We couldn't stop giggling! I did meet Wallis Bird beforehand and she was lovely. It felt good when her name was called out. She was cute about her shoes huh?

Looking forward to the Choice Prize, do the nominees take any notice at the annual bitching and moaning that goes on when the list is
announced? I mean none of it was aimed at you but do you think it's a bit over the top?

I don't know. People are passionate about the things they're passionate about. That's what I see there. 

Concentrating on the album, for a small-hours record, there's deceptively quite a lot going on on Slow Dynamo. Did you play everything on there?

Kevin Murphy played cello, Bill Blackmore played horns and Conor Murray played drums. Yes there are a lot of instruments on my record and lots of little sounds. On some songs we'd have up to 90 tracks. It was my first real stint in a studio with time to mess around so I did get a bit giddy recording tons of things. Jimmy (Eadie, producer) always wanted me to rehearse a part but I was too impatient. He actually does a very funny impression of me. "Record it now, record it now!!!" Like a child. He got his own back on me when we came to mixing though. He'd pull up the mess of tracks I'd made him record and say 'there ya go now little fella" and I'd have to sift through them. Clean 'em up. I can't take credit for the beautiful effects and little sounds that Jimmy created. He's brilliant. He spent hours one day making a delay that makes my voice sound like a gorgeous harmonica floating through space for a few seconds. That's what I hear anyways! 

Was most of the album fully conceived before recording or was there a lot of playing around with sounds in the studio?

All the songs were written but everything else was done in the studio. Apart from Trees and The Fire which I had recorded at home. Other than those two, the songs were bare bones. We both knew what we wanted the record to sound like though. We talked a lot about it before we started and I had given Jimmy songs that I liked the sound of with reasons why. Also I gave him all the songs recorded roughly. We would listen to tracks in the studio sometimes for inspiration. Jimmy had some great recordings of orchestras. Just recorded with stereo mics. Such a big sound with such little help. I like a lot of Brazilian music which we listened to also. I suppose a thread with a lot of songs I like is that something seemingly random happens and then disappears just as fast. Like an orchestra swelling for 3 seconds and then gone. I guess it's like getting a taste of something but not the whole meal. You want to go back and taste again because you're still hungry. 

From reading previous interviews and indeed from listening to the record, it seems like it was quite a collaborative process with Jimmy, perhaps more so than the usual producer-performer dynamic?

Jimmy is a musician and I am a sound engineer. I guess that made it more about the two of us making a record together than just producer-performer. I learned a lot from Jimmy in the studio. He's so enthusiastic about music. Not in a sickly way. He just loves what he does. Just when you'd think the night was over and we were about to wrap up. He'd get stuck into something and suddenly there was a whole new wave of interest. I had such a great time making this record.

From grabbing a certain US rapper's attention to winning Irish video of the year, Punches seems to have rubbished the idea that music videos are dead when there's more Hulk Hogan that music on MTV. It's proved a worthwhile investment I assume?

Yes but aside from the attention I've always felt music videos have an important place. I will always want videos for my songs. Beautiful 3 minute visions that encapsulate your song. What a privilege.

Would it be worth/ viable to doing another video or release a single to keep the album's momentum going?

I have a new video. For the song 'How'. Which is the next single. It was made by Andy Clarke and has a little boy called Elliot in it. It should be up very soon. 

What's the plan beyond next weekend's big headline show in Whelans and the Choice? Are you looking/hoping to play shows outside of Ireland?

I'd love that. I would love to release the album elsewhere. I want to work on getting a really nice live show together. That's my plan. Make it something special that I'd like to see. 

And are there any plans for album number two or is it too early to say?

I'm writing new songs and yes plans for a new album are brewing.