About CHAPMAN
CHAPMAN is a singer/songwriter heralding from the South Coast, blending elements of Folk, Vintage Soul and Rock with strings, brass and a truly unique vocal. Described by one critic as sounding like Crosby Stills and Nash meets The Rotary Connection CHAPMAN has followed up his successful debut album ‘Unexploded Bombshell’ with a bold new project.
2010 sees CHAPMAN release three albums simultaneously, which interpret the same 11 songs in three different ways. ‘The Bare Bones of Mr Ballad’ has CHAPMAN performing the songs live acoustically in their most embryonic form with no overdubs or studio tricks. ‘The Amplification of Mr Ballad’ is a much larger and more ambitious production, showcasing his unique vocal, drawing on soul, folk and pop influences using strings and brass to full effect. The third album is dance floor friendly, ‘The Remix of Mr Ballad’ where the 11 tracks are remixed by his producer alter ego OneFourForty. Mr. Ballad is a nickname coined by CHAPMAN’S myspace fans.
“I see this ambitious project of recording and releasing three albums as a way of maximising my audience,” says CHAPMAN, “reaching out to new fans and taking fans of my first, acoustic, album with me as I explore more musical styles.”
The 11 songs that feature on all three albums take in a range of subjects from becoming a father, examining mortality to living in a world where we create our own reality with each album interpreting the songs in a different way.
The opening track on ‘Amplification’, an up-tempo Alt Country/Folk fusion entitled Hum Along, “explores the idea that when a parent dies it brings your mortality into sharp focus,” explains CHAPMAN. “I don't believe that death is the end but with this song I'm considering what may happen when we leave this existence.”
This project does however find CHAPMAN in a happier space, relocated to the coast with his wife and daughter and this is underlined on the bold, uplifting track Things are Changing.
“I wrote a song called The River that featured on my debut album that was all about my capacity to self-sabotage anything good,” reflects CHAPMAN. Things are Changing, given a Moog driven disco re-edit on ‘The Remix’, is the sequel to this. “I've jumped into the river, arrived at the sea and all possibilities lie ahead of me. I feel like a captain more than a passenger,” laughs CHAPMAN.
That relocation to the coast resonates through Edge of the Island with haunting, melodic pipes underpinning the ‘Amplification’ version. “I believe we have lost our connection with the earth and nature. Nature is this thing that we observe from the outside, we aren’t embracing it, working with it. Now I live by the sea I feel that even more strongly,” explains CHAPMAN.
The track Raffi’s Song (The Answer is Love) started life as a serenade to CHAPMAN’s then unborn daughter as he sang to his wife’s bump daily. As the baby and track grew it became an anthem to the expectant joy and potential of new life and a world with love at its centre. It’s stripped down simplicity on ‘The Bare Bones’ gives the track a spaciousness that allows CHAPMAN’S unique vocal to breathe. “We should add love to everything we do – the difference would be incredible,” Says CHAPMAN.
CHAPMAN wrote his first song at the age of five on the inside of a shoebox lid and began playing local folk clubs before he was old enough to shave. Growing up, he was exposed to numerous styles of music - Cat Stevens, The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, The Jam, Prefab Sprout, Jim Croce, Motown, Harry Nilsson and Scott Walker all figured prominently in his early musical education.
After swapping Essex for London, he teamed up with dance act SCOPE, which resulted in the Radio 1 and XFM playlisted Busted EP, a remix for Afrika Bambaataa and a European tour. Soon after SCOPE split, CHAPMAN formed MacArthur with former My Life Story keyboard player Dan Turner. After recording a series of demos for Island Records they were signed by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart to his Artist Network label and recorded their eponymous debut album, featuring P-Funk/Parliament’s Gary ‘Mudbone’ Cooper on backing vocals and La’s, World Party and Oasis drummer Chris Sharrock. As the album was finished Artist Network collapsed into the hands of the official receivers along with the band’s masters.
After a period writing pop songs to order and years of collaboration, CHAPMAN decided to go out on his own and began to write a set of songs he truly believed in. Halfway through the process he suffered a series of devastating bereavements that had a profound affect on his life and his music. The result was 2006’s hauntingly beautiful self–produced solo debut Unexploded Bombshell. Massive support from myspace fans drove sales of the album and led to BBC Radio 2 airplay, a series of successful UK gigs and a promo for the evocative Burning Bridges. But in 2007 CHAPMAN left London with his wife and set up camp, and his new studio The Sound of St. Leonards, on the South Coast of England where he started working on his three album project.
From the Stax/Atlantic infused It Could Get Darker on ‘The Amplification of Mr Ballad, through thebig, brass driven, Balearic interpretation of Hum Along on ‘The Remix of Mr Ballad’ to the intimate, stripped simplicity of Edge of The Island on ‘The Bare Bones of Mr Ballad’, the Mr Ballad trilogy offers a collection of songs dripping with personality and honesty. It showcases CHAPMAN at his very best – a singer/ songwriter/producer of distinction and originality who demands to be heard, shared and enjoyed.
The Bare Bones, Amplification and Remix of Mr Ballad are available now from mrballad.com and all good online retailers.
