On a beautiful, suspiciously hot, Tuesday afternoon, Rhodes has a quick chat with Burn about his upcoming debut album ‘Wishes’ and what he has been up to in getting his foot in the door of the music industry!
First off, you have been incredibly busy lately! What has been your highlight so far?
Well it’s pretty hard to pick a highlight at the moment; it has all been great for me for the last two years! I’ve been very lucky. I just played Glastonbury which was a dream, and I’ve toured with some amazing people. I just supported George Ezra on his tour, too, he’s a lovely guy and that was a lot of fun!
You have come a long way since 2013, at what moment did you think you had caught the big break?
I think it was probably finding out that Radio 1 had picked up my songs and started playing them. That was crazy to me. I never expected my music to get on the radio, let alone Radio 1, so that was really amazing. They have been really good to me!
You’ve supported some pretty great artists: Nick Mulvey, George Ezra; who has been your favourite to tour with?
It’s pretty hard to pick a favourite, but I really enjoyed supporting Ben Howard. He’s one of my favourite artists, so I had a bit of fanboy moment.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Definitely Ben Howard! I can hear his influence in my music, and I loved blues growing up, and early Coldplay. I would mainly raid my parents’ music so a lot of my influences are oldies!
Your debut album ‘Wishes’ is out at the end of summer- what’s the theme of the album and what was the inspiration behind the tracks?
Well I like to write about relationships, and not just romantic relationships, but friends and family. It’s also about my own growth and how I’ve changed in the last few years. I wouldn’t say I was completely folk, as that sort of implies the whole singer-songwriter thing, but I think I’m more cinematic folk, as I like to have a fuller sound.
What’s your favourite track on the album?
My favourite track on the album is one that no one has heard yet- it’s called You and I. It’s quite a sad song. It’s about a time when I bumped into an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, and they were in a bad way. It’s about letting people you love know that even though you aren’t always around all the time, you’re always going to be there for them, and I would want the same from my friends. It’s about staying in touch.
The music video for ‘Turning Back Around’ is pretty creative- what made you go in the Go-Pro/underwater direction?
The director of that video is known for that kind of style, and it was really beautiful. The song is about a difficult time in my life when I was leaving a band to pursue a solo career, so the visuals of the girl going in and out of the water as I was watching from a distance, and the look of her drowning was meant to portray that difficulty. We also got to shoot that video in Cyprus which was a lot of fun!
What has been your most nerve-wracking moment?
I think live TV, and even radio, is one of the scariest things. The first time I was live on radio was with Indiana, and I was singing a verse with her. I think what was scariest about that was knowing that it was her thing, so I really didn’t want to mess anything up! But being on live TV is terrifying, because you don’t know how many people could be watching you, thousands, or millions!
What’s next for Rhodes?
Well it’s summer time so it’s festival season so I’m focusing on that for now, then the album is coming out on September 1st so it’s going to be hectic promoting that and doing the tour, but I’m so excited!
