But we had no idea if people were going to get it or not. The early-Nineties airwaves were packed with fusions of rap and R&B: the whiplash-inducing pleasures of New Jack Swing, followed by sample-driven hip-hop soul, which made cross-genre collaborations commonplace. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Stuart: Well we absolutely loved doing the tour. While Urban Hang Suite is dashing and assured, its creator was profoundly ambivalent about his place in the music industry at the time. I was like, Thats the point it starts with an instrumental and ends with a slow version of the same instrumental. Try to find people who help you. When I was ten, I quite remember liking Maggie May, but that was it. Yes, I have. ' Maxwell recalls. We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. The band features instrumental songs and songs with guest vocalists. He just wears like latex dresses and hell film himself getting ready for the concert like putting on these dresses at home and then kind of films himself arriving at the concert and then hell film himself at the concert. Like most of the young men Id known in the 80s from soul boys to b-boys Id fallen in love with Sade upon the release of her multiplatinum first album Diamond Life in 1984. Of course, I replied, her pretty face and haunting voice drifting through my mind. I enjoyed all the answers and details. 1 talking about this. As beautifully sweet as she was wickedly talented, Sade was the anti-diva Diva. After releasing her album Lovers Rock in 2000, Sade wasnt heard again until 2010s Soldier of Love. Although, official solo music could be coming soon. So He Built His Own, A Breath of Fresh Air: How Giveon Became R&Bs King of Warmth, It Started as a College Project. Whenever Wherever Whatever, a drum-less Matthewman co-write that sets Maxwell against tense acoustic guitar, is the sets most blatant Sade homage. L+T: Have you encountered any crazed Sade fans? Stuart: Almost like watching a theater production or an opera or something where you can just completely change the stage. They released two albums, Sweetback (1996) and Stage 2 (2004).[5]. Gina Balarin speaks with IRs Stuart Matthewman. They have released two albums, Sweetback (1996) and Stage 2 (2004). In the fall of 1992, I received a call from the Epic Records press department in New York City. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. I was like, Its amazing, but it sounds like its already done. L+T: So now whats next for the band? It may be a bit more subdued with this tour, I mean from the very first date we did in Francethey just went insane! Sade: I love when our music is reclaimed to make something new. He is known for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Sea of Love (1989) and Spanglish (2004). What changes were they? He says, The key things to me are consistency, flexibility and collaboration with your key stakeholders: thats the rest of your marketing team around the globe as well as sales, service and people speaking to your customers and enablement. He adds that its critical to listen to the people in the regions for the nuances that happen locally and to work with them to make sure the campaign is actually going to land and work. His influences include Jr. Walker, King Curtis, Art Pepper, Gato Barbieri, Ernie Isley, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Wah Wah Watson, Issac Hayes, Bill Withers, Lee Perry, and Gustav Mahler. How did he do it? You know like the smooth jazz stations and the R&B stations werent quite sure at first but soon, once the actual fans and people actually just liked it for what it was, they kind of had to play it really by demand. Hes a really important member of the band. Yeah, I think so, but thats only because they see one level. Yeah. While Whenever Wherever Whatever is another demonstration of Maxwells dexterity in the upper register, Suitelady (The Proposal Jam) has more hoarse bite, along with a rhythmic slink not unlike what Prince was playing with around the same time. In the early 1990s, Stuart Matthewman, the writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist known for his work in Sade, heard a remarkable demo: a ballad that stretched out over nearly seven minutes, making room for daredevil falsetto and a bass line as elegant as a spiral staircase, building to a description of a sexual liaison so ecstatic that it lasts for days and eventually brings police to the door. Were a lot of things, but when youre singing, when youre presenting yourself, you dont give everything away. No, I wouldnt say that, but Im not a real jazz buff. Nobody knows all the answers. Flanked by Sweetback, Sade has crafted a sound that not only withstood the test of time, but arrived better with each return. Press J to jump to the feed. Life+Times: What do you aim to do differently with your live sets each time you tour? Privacy Policy. About. For more information, please see our I am an entrepreneurial, customer-centric and results focused marketing and consulting professional with extensive experience across diverse industries. When did you first became interested in music and thought it was something that you could do professionally? Stuart is also a member of Sweetback, and was one half of Twin Danger. INTERVIEW: Stuart Matthewman and Vanessa Bley are Twin Danger | The Couch Sessions INTERVIEW: Stuart Matthewman and Vanessa Bley are Twin Danger July 9, 2014 by adamascarnegie The past two decades have seen an increase in musical collaborations with artists from seemingly opposing genres. Sade: They are getting younger and older. The song just makes you recognize it. Did you start listening to jazz at that time? It was good, though, because it was a distraction. I wanted it to happen, but I was secretly afraid., Then Ascension came out, he adds, and the whole lack-of-visibility part didnt really work.. And if more people take responsibility the blame game goes away.. I listened to Drakes Take Care and Alison Krauss Forget About It. In 1995, percussionist Karl Vanden Bossche introduced Matthewman to then unknown singer Maxwell. There was a station called Radio Caroline. Days. I also liked the heavier stuff as well, like Gil Scott-Heron. Its like musical recycling. Stuart Matthewman, also known as Cottonbelly, is an accomplished writer, composer, producer, and of course, Sade's right-hand man; playing saxophone and guitar alongside her since their band, Sade's inception in 1983, releasing ten albums and collecting four Grammy awards along the way. Stuart is also a member of Sweetback, and was one half of Twin Danger. Im a bit witchy; witchy woman. But we were accepted and there were no problems, no questions or conflicts because we were different. Matthewman reflects that as a young marketer he was very afraid of making a mistake or a campaign not working. He says, Its important to distil your message down to something that relates back to your companys purpose, translates across different markets and is the core of what you do, but allows the nuance to be added in specific markets. How does he do that? If I had to pick one it would be Cherish the Day, but I dont know why. re-igniting peoples passion, internally, for the brand, and the role employees play in making sure that the brand values are presented outwardly and consistently. I saw in the media how people are mocked and destroyed I didnt have that kind of thick skin., Maxwell assembled an unusual group of musicians: not just Matthewman, who recalls that the singer was very enamored with the Sade album, at the time, but also Leon Ware the singer-songwriter-producer, who, in one of the most outrageous acts of generosity in music history, donated a planned 1975 solo album to Marvin Gaye, resulting in the singers, Those were just a few elements of what the singer describes as a smorgasbord of cultures flowing into, . Some organisations focus on leads or marketing qualified leads (MQLs). The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Sadness in songs is positive because it brings it out of you; it brings the sadness out. In 2016, Stuart has kept busy back in his recording studio with several projects underway: co-writing and producing two songs on Maxwell's latest album earlier this year and composing the film score for the movie The Erotic Dreams Of The Chelsea Hotel. Then we feel were completely cut off and we could just get on with doing what we do. Sade: Yesterday I was in my car. Sade: If I could turn back time? In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, the renowned band revealed they are wrapping up the follow-up to 2010's Soldier of Love. L+T: Do you think that that preserves the organic quality of the music? I spoke to various people in the organisation who use the brand: people in the UX team, people in the culture team, solutions engineers who have to build technical documentation using our branding, salespeople who have to deal with PowerPoint slides and finding things on the internet, the product group I spoke to people far and wide, had workshops with people globally: got input from all parts of the world it has gone through many iterations to get to where we got to.. It doesnt work when one is dictating to the other. Good questions. But, hes also pretty punky and rocky at the same time. Maxwell: Towards a New Definition of the Elegant Soulman. L+T: When you finished recording By Your Side, did you have any idea that it was going to be so gigantic? Matthewman can be heard on saxophone, guitar, keyboards, and programming. I was so engrossed in the process of reading. ' Matthewman recalls. I was pretty much one of the lads, but I was an old soul even when I was a child. Neither is it surprising that he has helped turn the organisation around from being inward-focused to being an enabler of people by producing marketing that helps prospects solve their problems or that their revenue has tripled in the last five years. As Matthewman puts it, When you live and work somewhere, you understand the nuances between the people in different cities and states. You wont be in trouble. Everything changed around. It depends on each song, really, how it comes to be. helped prove that a prehip-hop R&B tradition could still be creatively and commercially viable at a time when rap was already taking over popular culture. Stuart Matthewman, also known as Cottonbelly, is an accomplished writer, composer, producer, and of course, Sade's right-hand man; playing saxophone and guitar alongside her since their band. [1] With Sade Adu, Paul S. Denman, and Andrew Hale, he gained worldwide fame as the guitarist/saxophonist of the band Sade. We dont always agree, but I always get my way. He reluctantly confides that his breakup with marketing came about partly because of his dissatisfaction with the way companies were doing it at the time. I collect ideas in my head all the time. You wont be sacked. They asked if I wanted to be the singer, but I told them, Im not a singer. We have no rules in the studio so anyone is, you know, always open to try anything. A lot of the results Matthewman has seen at IR relate to how he defines success, both in life and in marketing. It doesnt matter. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Urban Hang Suite is really just soul, with a lineage that reaches back to Keni Burkes Risin to the Top, Sades Haunt Me, the English group Loose Ends we both loved their mix of drum machines and live stuff, Matthewman says and Shuggie Otis, among others. Its funny, most of the songs I cant tell you if I really like them or not; its really hard to be objective about it. When you make a record its so concrete, you know? So were definitely not going to leave it that long. The more input you get from smart people, the more success youll have.. Or, slightly later, when I was 14 or 15 I started listening to Billie Holiday and Miles Davis; Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain. For all intents and purposes, they thought the industry was done with them. Teaming with bassist Paul S. Denman and keyboardist Andrew Hale, they formed the band Sade. [8] Vanessa Bley was killed in a car crash on 25 October 2019 in California.[9]. Maxwell enlisted other pros with enviable track records as well: David Gamson, a former member of, is springy and suave. They sat on the first album for a long time before they put it out in America.) I was in a studio apartment with one window that faced a brick wall, Maxwell remembers. In 2014 Twin Danger signed to Decca Classics/Universal records and released[7] their eponymously titled album in spring 2015. Soul Woman. Being a musician and fans of music, were obviously influenced by whats going on, but we never make a conscious decision to go oh we should do a track with more hip-hop or we should do a track thats kind of more reggae. We just do what we do and it comes out in some way. And also, if we leave it ten years, well never be able to get up on the side of the stage anymore. 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