WeatheredMan, what a great name, are you really ‘weathered’ and why?

Ah thanks! Yeah I’m super weathered. I think I’m just being candid about how I’m getting on a bit, yet I’m still churning out the tunes and enjoying making records. And I love a pun. The dafter the better.

You’ve been on a TV show before, explain what happened with that?

It was called UK’s Best Part-Time Band. The idea was to focus on musicians who keep on playing for the love of the music, camaraderie and occasional nights out. It was ace. I’d kind of put music a bit in the background, so doing the show reminded me why it’s such an important part of my life. Also, I got to meet Peter Hook and hear him play ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, on an out of tune bass in my Mum’s bedroom. Not something you see every day.

You have a band, tell us more.

I’ve many bands! Roja is a mariachi thing that I was doing on the TV show and the guys in that band are people I’ve done music with, in some form or other, for the last 20 years. We take normal songs and put them through a bespoke mariachi brain filter, that makes them sound like a Tarantino soundtrack. There is also a live band for this project – WeatheredMan and The Noise. Just 2 loud men playing loud rock music loudly. It’s a lot of fun. Much easier to arrange rehearsals when there are just 2 of you…

WeatheredMan has had quite a few collaborations in the past, who have you worked with?

It’s essentially a duets project. I realised that not too many people were interested in me as a solo artist, so if I dragged other people on board then I had a much greater chance of being noticed. In essence, most days I behave like a 5-year-old child screaming “look at me”. Some people euphemistically describe me as being “big in the room” ha! So I’ve worked with Aaron Paul (ex-Worlds Apart), Danii Roundtree (Atlanta Jazz/RnB singer) and Tricia McTeague (Top 10 hit with Paul Van Dyke) amongst others. I can honestly say making these records has been the most fun I’ve ever had in the studio. Such different characters. Such different voices. Can’t believe they agreed to sing with me!

You’re currently working with Emma Stakes, who is she?

Emma is so many things! She’s A&R for X-Factor, plus runs an artist development company of her own. She’s a very busy lady! But she is also a quite brilliant singer. 

How did you get together with Emma?

Via my publisher – he suggested she might hook me up with one of her X-Factor artists to sing with but he also mentioned that if I was lucky then she’d offer to do it herself. I got lucky!

Your new song for Christmas is called ‘The Normalist Christmas’, where did the idea for this come from?

So originally, when I decided to write a Christmas song I couldn’t bear the idea of the words being twee or overly sentimental. The music was always going to try and hit all those Christmas notes – bells, harmonies, joyousness – but I thought it would be more interesting if the lyrics were a bit darker. To be honest, when I originally wrote the words they were all about the adventures of a hitman on Christmas day, but a number of people pointed out that it may be taking the “darkness” a bit too far. Fair point. So I settled on this story – what Christmas is for most of us. The fun. The annoyances. The happiness. The arguments. You know what I mean right? A normalChristmas…

What’s your Christmas day like?

5:30 – tell child to go back to bed

6:00 – repeat as above

7:00 – open stockings and drink first cup of tea

8:00 – give stocking presents to wife. Explain they were just a joke and her proper presents will be coming later

9:00 – second cup of tea and chocolate for breakfast

10:00 – tell child that we are not opening any presents yet

11:00 – tell child not to open my presents

12:00 – drink first alcoholic drink and open presents

12:01 – wonder why my pile is at around 10% of the amount it used to be

12:02 – finish opening presents

1:00 – spend 45 minutes throwing away wrapping paper silently tutting to myself

2:00 – Christmas TOTP

3:00 – Christmas dinner. Say once again that no it doesn’t bother me being a vegetarian. No. Not even at this time of year

4:00 – play a game. Could be anything

6:00 – movie. Could be anything

8:00 – eat leftovers until I am nearly sick.

10:00 – walk round the house screaming, “Where are the Rennie’s?”

11:00 – resolve to go to a restaurant next year for Christmas dinner

11:30 – fall asleep on the sofa using a Christmas jumper as a blanket

You’re a primary school teacher as your day job, what would it mean to you to scoop a Christmas chart hit?

It would be lovely. It’s what I asked Santa for and I’ve been really really good this year.

What’s next for WeatheredMan?

Easter song? Maybe I could work on some stuff for some more niche bank holiday events. Has St. George got a decent tune?