Interview: George Ezra

Bristol Institute of Modern Music prodigy George Ezra has exploded into the mainstream since the release of his debut album Wanted on Voyage earlier this year.

Moving to Bristol aged 17 to study at the college on King Square, Ezra quickly made a name for himself on the live music circuit. But it was his performance for YouTube project Bristol Couch which caught the attentions of Columbia Records. Now, his debut album is number one in the album charts and he’s set to play a sold out gig at the O2 Academy next week.

Here is an artist not afraid to do things his own way. He doesn’t try and shy away from the pop-labelled elements of his music and tells Bristol24/7: “I’m fascinated by Miley Cyrus!”

“It’s a strange one” Ezra says. “Whenever somebody says punk-pop, I think those things don’t go together. Or if someone says bluesy-pop, I’m like, no, you can’t have blues pop music. But I’ve found myself in this weird place where I guess that is what I’m doing.”

While certainly the last few years have seen a bit of a blues and folk revival, with artists like Mumford and Sons commanding the charts between 2010 and 2013, Ezra gives us a sound we are not used to hearing. It’s familiar somehow, but altogether different. 

“I grew up listening to a lot of male American singer-songwriters,” Ezra tells us. “I was listing to a lot of Tom Waits, Woodie Guthrie and Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. I didn’t really have anyone else my age that was enjoying it with me at school. But it didn’t matter, I had headphones – they didn’t have to hear it.”

It’s hard to believe Ezra is just 21-years-old. His booming, gravelled voice sounds more like that of a blues veteran.

“I was getting into all these blues artists and I thought, I wonder if I try and sing like that I’ll be able to sing. I tried it and I could do it! When I first found out I could sing I loved it!”

After graduating BIMM, Ezra took an interrailing trip around Europe by himself, which is where he wrote the majority of his debut album Wanted on Voyage.    

“I think you can hear that it’s kind of almost European-sounding. It’s got some sort of travelling-pace to it. ‘Wanted on voyage’ used to be put onto people’s luggage when they were boarding ships to show that you wanted that item on your person during the journey and I loved that idea. I loved the idea of people travelling while listening to an album that was written while someone was travelling, and then wanting it to be on their journeys.”

Ezra says that Bristol is still his spiritual home. He has a small flat in the city and his latest New Year’s Resolution was to spend more time here.  

“It normally works out that I only get two days off, so often the first day I’ll get quite drunk with my friends and the second day I’ll pop down to Lush, get a bath bomb and watch Gogglebox! 

“I can never put my finger on what it is that Bristol has. I always find it hard to describe Bristol to people who haven’t been because you don’t want to sound corny. When you get the train into Bristol it feels like everyone is aware that they’re happy to be there and they’re aware that they’re lucky to live in a place like Bristol.”