Paolo Nutini: Missing His Hearty Scottish Breakfasts But Filling His Musical Appetite

Twenty-two-year-old Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini is making his mark in the music world with his uplifting second album, Sunny Side Up, a brilliant follow up to his two-million selling debut. The new album includes ebullient numbers, soulful singles and cheery folky sing-a-longs. A few hours before he took the stage for his sold-out gig at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom, I had the chance to chat with him about touring, his idols and childhood memories.

YT: Did you always dream of becoming a star? Were you the sort of kid who stood in front of the mirror, singing into a hairbrush?
PN: I never sang into a hairbrush, I just sort of air guitared it. But nah, when I was young, I wanted to be all kinds of different things: Zorro, a WWF wrestler. I had a Hulk Hogan doll, I used to fight the thing, and I’d let it win sometimes so that I could win the belt back and my mom would hear all this banging about in my room and she’d bang on the door like, “What’s going on in there?” and I’d open the door sweating, “I’m wrestling Hulk Hogan.”

YT: What drove you to make the decision to move down to London?
PN: What drove me to make the decision really was just the kind of exposure, ya know. There were a few bills, five pound bills that was going on in places like in Balham, a place called The Bedford, little clubs called 12 Bar and Denmark Street and they were pretty happy to give you the chance to play three songs, and then when you did that, sometimes people would see you do it, they’d be there watching another artist.

YT: So is that how your signing with Atlantic Records came about?
PN: Pretty much that’s how I got the publishing deal, then we did some shows, one show two people came, the next show three people from Atlantic, the next show five, and then one show the whole guest list was pretty much Atlantic Records in the UK. It was a pretty natural progression as far as I know... pretty sure my manager was talking behind the scenes but I didn’t really have to bend too far to get there, which was good.

YT: Growing up, who were some of your childhood music idols?
PN: My mom had a lot of Elton John records so I listened to a lot of Elton John; it’s not the coolest of stuff, but his older records were great, like Madman Across the Water [1971], they were great songs — ya know, pre-Lion King. I mean I had the odd pop song that was in the charts that you sang along to ’cause it was on the radio so much, but I never really had that band or that person... just a lot of my parents’ music collection.

YT: When you were still living in Paisley, how did you get yourself out there as a musician? Did you perform open-mikes at pubs and cafes?
PN: Not so much. I mean, at the time I was 15 so I was able to get a lot of gigs in pubs and stuff. I sang one day in the town hall. I sang a song and one guy’s seen me, he’s to this day my manager and he set me up in a studio and I started writing songs. He’d worked in radio so he started sort of saying, “Check this guy out” and I think that kinda got me in people’s heads. Then it took a couple of years before anything really happened.

YT: What things do you miss most when you’re touring?
PN: I miss home, man. I miss my comforts. I bought a new house and I’ve hardly seen it. I miss my dad’s fish and chips, all unhealthy stuff, my breakfast, ya know, my good Scottish breakfast, Irn-Bru [a popular Scottish carbonated soft drink], yeah a lot of stuff that’s gonna give me a heart attack.

YT: I saw you at Glastonbury this summer and I remember singing along with my friends and feeling very connected to everyone else in the crowd. What would you say are the main differences with the crowd when playing festivals in comparison to performing in intimate clubs? What do you prefer personally?
PN: For me, I like the clubs a bit better ’cause I can see people and it’s not just like a mosh of bodies and you have definition and it sounds a lot more personal. I don’t know though, man, festivals, if that’s the vibe that’s going on, that’s nice to hear — that’s what, to me, a festival should be, how you should feel. And that’s what I think when you go see one of your favourite bands, I’ll just turn around and everybody’s all mates for that hour, that hour and a half, jumping up and down, singing, that’s what to me a festival kind of stands for.

I always enjoy Glastonbury, got to play a show in a small solar-powered tent this year. You know we did the other stage and we also got to play in the Shangri La area and it was wicked, man, everybody was barefoot and singing along, and the tent was rammed.

YT: Who did you enjoy seeing most at Glastonbury?
PN: Saw Neil Young, which was great. Saw the Tingari Men, you know them? They’re all nomads, desert rockers, so they all wear their full white robes and they just rock out on the stage. I’ve seen them about 10 times.

I saw the Noisettes... there were some bands that were just brilliant. Blur, I thought they were great; White Lies, I thought they were good. There were a lot of good bands, The View was there, a lot of good bands. Kasabian was pretty good.

YT: In what ways do you feel you have evolved as an artist with your second album, Sunny Side Up, as opposed to your first?
PN: I don’t know. I’m not really sure. It seems I’m able to take things a little bit better, in stride a little bit more. That aside, I’m just starting, you know. My favourite artists, my favourite people that I call artists, favourite songwriters, people that I call songwriters – they have such a wealth of work. I don't know... as long as it’s stuff that I feel good playing to people and releasing, then I’ll keep doing it. But i don't know how long that’ll go on so I’m just trying to develop and do it and bring other people in, other bands that we meet along the way, try and go and cut a song and have fun.

YT: Does the title of your second album (Sunny Side Up) at all refer to how you like your eggs?
PN: Well really, no, I like my eggs well done, but I think for me, it was just the way I felt about the record as a whole. I was just trying to think of the album name and that came out and I thought that works and I phoned around “What do you think of this” and they went “Ah, yeah that seems to get it.”

YT: What was it like to work with producer Ethan Johns (who's worked with Ryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright, Kings of Leon, Ben Kweller, Ray LaMontagne, The Vines)?
PN: I think it was a different vibe. Usually, Ethan Johns, the records he’s made, he’s in there from the beginning when the process all begins, but Ethan really came towards the end of it, you know. I mean I’ve sort of been in the role of a producer. I never really did that before but it was us, the band and a couple of engineers, so it was only really two great engineers, one especially, Danny, who’s invaluable man. And then Ethan came in towards the end to mix and give it a cohesiveness and actually just add some production because he’s Ethan Johns. If he had an idea and I liked it, then we did it! I think some of the things, I just had to trust him on and I’m glad I did – he just had a great ear. Obviously the family, the ears of the Jones’ family, seem to be very well-tuned and you know his father was one of the, well, I think he is probably the best engineer in the history of music [Glyn Johns who has produced Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones plus many more) And I think Ethan is well on his way to being regarded as one of the finest producers as well, if not already ’cause he’s a musician. He’s not a guy who thinks he knows everything, when he does a session, he’s there everyday, he’s in, you know he doesn’t make a record from the golf course and you feel like he’s part of the band ’cause essentially he is.

YT: How did Rico Rodriguez (The Specials) become involved with playing the trombone on your album?
PN: Basically he played in my favourite Jamaican, reggae, ska – I dunno what, I’ve not figured out all the proper definitions of Jamaican music – and he played on A Message To You Rudy, the original version, the earliest recording I think I’ve ever heard of it. And he’s playing the lead line and it was actually Ethan who thought, we had the brass player in our band and I had the line and eventually we’d get it, but he’s not a trombone player so Ethan went, “Why not ask Rico Rodriguez to do it?" And I thought, if he’s willing and he likes the song and if it’s something that he would lend his time to anyway, it would be an honour, you know?

He came down and had a great day. He put it down, he added his own bits and he says, “If you don’t mind, I think this should be like this.” I think that’s when I realized, you know that phrase “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” - I think in music, I think it applies and then I think you realize the reason you asked them there was because of his old tricks. He’s the originator, and I just think if you try to manipulate that too much, then I think you’d be a lot better getting in probably a younger session musician who can bend a lot more. You’ve gotta remember it’s an honour to have him there and what he wants to do on that track, you know you’ve phoned him, you’ve got him there because it’s him and whatever you get, that’s what you’ve asked for.

I think all of these different little lessons, all these different little things are things I’m happy I picked up and I’ve been able to sort of gain some perspective and remember it. You know, you learn a lot of things that go out your head the next day and all the things I remember from that process are stuck.

YT: Who have you been most star-struck by since gaining success in the music industry?
PN: There are a lot of people, but I remember Liza Minnelli... I was at a gig and you sort of go, “What am I doing on the bill with Liza Minnelli?: You know, real weird... But I’ve been most star-struck by a man called Sixto Rodriguez, a singer-songwriter I love, and he writes these amazing songs. I’ve been able to share a couple evenings with him, you know, played on stage with him once, went to his show and had some drinks afterwards... that really blew my mind.

YT: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
PN: Hopefully not in a box, man. Hopefully I’m vertical, you know, that’s the plan. So yeah, hopefully making music and probably going to the gym a hell of a lot more than I am now.