In Conversation With #236 - BANNERS
Liverpool native Michael Nelson, better known as the award-winning artist BANNERS has just released his new EP ‘I wish I was flawless, I’m Not’.
With a staggering 1.5 Billion streams to his name to date - not bad for a lad from Liverpool who began his musical career in the city's famous cathedral.
Having performed in Liverpool Cathedral's choir from the age of 7, in his teens he then went on to work as an assistant at Liverpool's renowned Parr Street Studios with his father, record producer Ken Nelson who produced records for; Gomez, Badly Drawn Boy and Coldplay's first three albums. Through that an opportunity arose to travel with his father to Canada, that eventually led to his own demos ending up in the hands of a producer Stephen Kozmeniuk (Koz) and things snowballed from there. Fast Forward to over a billion streams (you might recognise his hit 'Someone To You'), major syncs, some epic Tik Tok moments, a performance on Jimmy Kimmel and recently returning to the UK to launch a new chapter with Nettwerk.
BANNERS also recently announced a UK headline tour, the Perfectly Broken tour kicking off in Scotland at Glasgow's Oran Mor on February 18th the twelve date tour visits key cities across the country including London's Scala on February 23rd.
He took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there BANNERS - how are you? So your EP is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hello! I'm really good, thanks. It feels great. With the way streaming works it kinda encourages you to release one song at a time but I think it's still important to package them together because it gives you a bit of a full stop on that bit of your life. And, for the future, a way of returning to where you were emotionally and physically when you wrote it. Like a diary or a time capsule or something. These are the last of the songs that I wrote during the pandemic over zoom so I'm super grateful to all the people I wrote them with. Mainly for giving me a reason to get out of bed every day. I wrote In Your Universe about a month into lockdown and it's been one of my favourite songs of mine since then. That's like nearly 3 years ago so i'm mainly excited to finally get it out and for everyone to hear that one!
It is called ‘I Wish I Was Flawless, I'm Not’ - what is the meaning behind that?
We had to deal with the pandemic so strangely as a society. The only thing to combat it was to stay apart so we all had to do it on our own. A great big traumatic thing happened to everybody at the same time but just because it happened to everybody doesn't mean that we were able to deal with it collectively, together. Which is how humans have always dealt with great trauma. We all had to do it individually, basically alone. Every single person will have had their own mental health challenges and symptoms and I got really obsessed with my appearance. Really despairing of it. Standing in front of the mirror for hours hating what I looked like. I think it was a combination of not physically touching another human being for 4 months (I did the lockdowns on my own) and working in an industry of impossibly beautiful people that made me feel completely inadequate. It was horrible. Particularly when you're under a lot of pressure to use instagram and tiktok and you're doing a lot of zoom writing sessions. It's really hard to avoid your reflection. So that's what that lyric is about. I don't feel that way anymore. Well only a little bit.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
I met a producer called Cam Blackwood whose music I love and I asked him if he fancied recording an EP in the middle of nowhere and he was well into the idea. So we went to a studio called Black Bay Studios which is on the Isle of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides off the northern coast of Scotland. I just wanted to be somewhere where we could really focus on it. It's so unbelievably beautiful there that you can't help but be inspired by it. There's something so brilliant about going away to record because you become this little gang, all drawing inspiration from one another. There are no outside influences other than what is moving people musically and you can really rely on that to make the music good. I hope. One of my favourite bits is on In Your Universe. There's a big gang vocal part that comes in at the end: "Oh I love you and all that you're worth, there's a whole universe in your eyes." I just sort of came up with that bit on the spot when we were running through the song with the musicians and I think it really adds a great climax to the whole thing. You don't get those little moments of inspiration unless you're all playing together.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
Thematically I'm not sure if there's a through line from one song to the next. It would have been really easy to just give in to the despair and the loneliness of the pandemic happening. It was such an uncertain time for everybody and we really didn't know if the music industry was going to survive in the way we knew it. But I wanted to try to write songs that maybe would be a little bit of light in the darkness, even if they were just a distraction for 3 minutes. So I didn't want to write a load of sad, lonely songs even though that's how I (and everybody else) was feeling. So if there's a theme I suppose it's keeping going. Keeping your chin up and getting through because what other option is there?
If the EP could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
Haha! I don't know! In your universe has got a lovely spacey vibe. It's about time 2001: A space odyssey got updated in my opinion. Give it a chance to make something of itself. Who's even heard of that film? I reckon if In your universe was playing whilst he's orbiting the space station that film would have been a success...
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP - if so, which one and why?
I think it's probably "We didn't need fixing all of this time, cos all of your edges fit right into mine." Nobody is perfect really. And I'm not sure you'd want to be even if perfect did exist. We'd all be so boring then. It's our imperfections that make us interesting and unique. The cracks that let the light in. That's what makes us human. I spent all of the pandemic thinking that perfect did exist and I wasn't it so the realisation that that's not true changed everything. And I'm so much happier for knowing it.
Now the EP is out there - what next?
Oh my gosh. So much more music coming! But also playing on stage a load with my friends. Hugging people. Enjoying life in the moment as it's happening. Because who knows what's coming round the corner.
